Sympathy For The Devil
Fitz has been taunting Aubrey about the now infamous ‘Vom Prom’ for days. After he delivered the medical staff, the beleaguered dragon lost the one sober witness he claimed to see, shredded his shirt, and got vomit on his favorite shoes. We’ve listened to him bitch ad nauseam and I’m going to lose my temper if my twin doesn’t stop baiting him.
“You survived, you old grouch! I know you hate leaving your trash can to deal with people, but you aren’t dead.”
I look over at my brother, deciding I might live without him if he gets the dragon going again.
“The library is hardly a trash can, Fitzgerald, though sometimes I wonder if it’s a brothel because of you.” His lips curl up as he narrows his gaze on my lazing twin. “I do not appreciate your disrespect regarding my library or the safety of the students.”
“You’re laser focused on this chick, lizard man. Feels like you’re less concerned with finding out why she wasn’t sick and more like you have a great big dragon woody for her,” Fitz drawls with a smug grin.
“I know why she wasn’t sick, you dipshit. She didn’t drink that nasty punch. And you shouldn’t even be speaking of her!” Aubrey jumps to his feet, advancing on my brother with a dark look that makes Chess shrink back. “She was as pristine as porcelain, her golden hair glowing in the lights like a seraphim. Not once did she look sweaty or ashen, like the rest of the students. Her features were perfect: a testament to Fibonacci’s ratio if I’ve ever seen one!”
What’s gotten up the lizard king’s ass today?
“Fibonacci was an uptight prick,” Renard mutters from his perch on the balcony.
I’d ask, but the gargoyle isn’t one to elaborate and I’m not sure I really want to know.
Fitz, however, is nonplussed. Aubrey’s outburst doesn’t ruffle him because he was trying to piss the dragon off. He turns to Chess, grinning broadly. “You realize he’s talking about the baby girl we saw in the courtyard, right?”
The cheetah turns red and stammers, “Oh? I didn’t know she was here again. I almost forgot about it, to tell the truth.”
My brother lets out a derisive snort as he stares at his consort. “Uh-huh. Sure you did, baby.”
Fuck, Fitz, is it really the time to pick a fight, especially one you don’t want to win?
“We should find out if the nurses know what they added to the punch and why it made everyone sick.” I look at the huffy dragon expectantly. “Have you spoken to them yet, Aubrey?”
I don’t want any of them to realize how angry I am. My tiger is pissed as fuck that someone infiltrated our home and tried to harm people we’re responsible for. Not only did they get past the school defenses and security, but they flew under the radar of all the preds employed here as well. It makes us all look like incompetent fools.
Especially my brother and the dragon king I sent to represent us.
Apex Academy is our home now. None of us have lands to defend or people to rule, but this was a direct challenge to all authority on campus, including the higher tier exiles like myself. The four people I care about most in the world are in this room and depending on what the poison was, it could have harmed them, too.
This is more than just making snooty Council kids toss their cookies at a dance.
It’s defiance and I won’t stand for it.
“Felix. Felix, stop. Hey, bro. Calm down,” Fitz says.
Blinking, I look down at my hand where my claws are digging into the arms of my large armchair. Shit. “Sorry,” I mutter.
My twin is in front of me in a blink, pressing his cheek to mine in a soothing gesture. When my tiger settles, he pulls back and grins. “I may have more intel to share. Some cockrocket named Todd spiked the punch, so if we can find out what he and his fellow douchenozzles were drinking, we can rule something out.”
“That would help us determine why that alcohol neutralized the poison’s effects enough to only cause vomiting!” Aubrey gives me a begrudgingly pleased look as he re-settles on his throne. “Do you want to locate him, or should I?”
Fitz gives him a shrug, but I can see the wheels turning in my brother’s head. “You do it, man. I have another project to work on.”
What the fuck is up with him and that girl?
I chuckle as Aubrey pulls out his phone and starts stabbing at it with a muttered curse. Looking down at Fitz, I ruffle my hand over his hair. “Where did you get this info? You know, I enjoy hearing about your methods of squeezing intel out of people.”
“I just asked her, man. It’s not like I need to beat on a chick,” Fitz says, looking uncomfortable. “Unlike Senor Firepants over there, I found her on prom night.”
Every one of us stare at my twin as if he’s grown a third head.
“When did this happen?” Aubrey and Chess blurt at almost the same time.
Fitz winks at Chess, ignoring Aubrey so he can needle the cheetah. “I thought you’d all but forgotten her?”
“Stop,” I growl in warning. We need to work together, not provoke one another if we’re going to identify the threat to our home. I don’t mind Fitz giving them shit when it’s not serious, but now isn’t the time to divide us to amuse himself.
Waiting until Fitz submits, I sigh and let go of his hair. “Aubrey is tracking the Council heirs. We’ll find out who they are so we can pay them a visit this summer when everyone is far away from their schools and most of the parents have fucked off to their summer homes.”
“That’s a good idea, Felix,” Chess says softly. “Obviously, most of them aren’t as powerful as Khans, but we don’t want to draw unwanted attention. Also, I’d prefer if no one got hurt by an overzealous bodyguard.”
“I won’t allow anyone to be harmed, Chess,” I reply on a rumble.
Renard snorts from the balcony, but not everyone has rocky armor like him.
“Oh, save me, Mr. Growly Tiger King,” Aubrey says as he looks up from his phone with a smirk.
That makes Fitz snarl and his white tiger ripples under his skin as he looks at the dragon mocking me. Aubrey simply smirks, his eyes turning iridescent as scales appear and disappear at will on his bare skin. It’s a not-so-subtle reminder that his beast could swallow all of us whole and not even get indigestion, and I don’t miss it.
And Bast help us if the damn gargoyle joins him.
“We may poke fun, but you are correct, my tiger friend.” I almost jump out of my chair when the silent gargoyle actually speaks. “For all we know, the Council themselves are behind this.”
His suggestion sucks the playfulness out of the room, and we all look at one another in apprehension. Being exiles, we don’t give a fuck about them unless they specifically come for us, but every other shifter at the school is under their rule. People who piss off the Council usually get sent to Bloodstone—not poisoned at their crown jewel school.
“Why would they do this and put their own heirs at risk? Seems like a dumb plan,” I say as I scratch my chin.
His eyes are pitch black as he looks at us. “I watch things. Therefore, I see more than most. In the many years I’ve been at Apex, I have never seen so many potential targets in one place. The bulk of the kids here are heirs or have ties to them. We should find this Todd, but it’s unlikely he did anything but make a lucky mistake. Something of this scale feels like a larger plot aimed at much bigger prey.”
Who is bigger than the Council and their heirs?
“I’m going after the moron myself,” Fitz growls as he rolls to his feet and walks over to sit with Chess. “I have unfinished business with him.”
Frowning, I look at him as he snuggles Chess and buries his face in his neck. Fitz is rarely ever this worked up over a chick. He’s almost protective, and that only extends to our ambush. This silly girl, a Council heir, has wrapped him around her finger and I don’t have a clue how she did it.
Courtesans and queens have tried to entice my brother, but he fucks them and moves on.
We’re in big trouble.