Thriller
Delores
After my adventure with Chess, we updated all the boards in the Tower and everyone took extra assignments.
Aubrey took the painting of super great grandaddy Khan to the library to run tests on it while Felix agreed to work with me on the scary alpha thing. I couldn’t replicate it for them—of course—but they believed Chess when he said he felt the push. Everyone but Fitz gave each other terrified looks as he described it, and I considered bopping them all in the nose.
Not comforting, assholes.
Time passed quickly between our detective work and focusing on my end of the year projects and exams. The threat of the killer is still a concern, but the Heathers aren’t bothering me. Between my bullies’ distraction and the workload, the rest of their minions have dropped their campaign of whispers down to sneers. People have approached me since the talent show video went viral, but they were fine with either joining the bullies or doing nothing to help until three weeks ago.
Barf. I’m not putting stock in their fickle loyalties.
One good thing came out of my fifteen minutes of fame: it made it much harder for Pink to use her dad’s connections and her platform to fuck with me. That quieted the Apex boards down and I’m not constantly bothered by the dings of being tagged in nasty shit—for the moment.
Yellow seems to have fully ingratiated herself with the group, so she’s following orders instead of trying to get attention. It wasn’t hard to figure out she was behind the plagiarism bullshit. Cranky old Professor Cormac made her the Apex paper delivery person and even the asshole Abel is giving her a wide berth. It solidified her place with my ex-frenemies, but made her toxic waste to the staff.
Not that she seems to care.
It feels fantastic to be free of the constant buzzing for the last part of my freshman year, though. I’d much prefer to be working on the mystery, my classes, and my relationships. The Heathers are part of my past that won’t let go because of their petty need for narcissistic supply. Each day I’m supported by people who actually care about someone other than themselves, and I get farther away from them and my psyche gets healthier.
I have better things to do with my life than play games with such vain, immature sociopaths.
While studying for final exams, Aubrey has been sending me tidbits from his research to look over whenever I take a break. We’ve been texting theories back and forth—including one that all the drawings are actually map overlays. We’re not sure what the remaining three go to, but we think getting the painting and puzzle box to reveal their secrets will help.
Renard is the one who figured out we need to take everything to that atrium on the night of the Blood Moon at the end of this week. We decided not to risk waiting for the next one, which sent everyone scrambling for answers. I have to focus on working my cottontail off for my finals while they do their things. Lucille wasn't serious with her show of support and will lash out if I flunk because of searching secret tunnels.
My mother is up to her neck in this bullshit, just like it seems the twins’ father might be. What I don’t know is why the Council is stealing or killing students… But the ‘how’ has to relate to Lucille’s slip about the ‘Society tunnels’. Somewhere on campus, the damn things must be accessible from an outside entrance. That’s how the killers and kidnappers are getting past security on the ground and in the air.
Felix is determined to find and plug that leak in the perimeter, so until he does, I’m not allowed to go anywhere without my escorts.
This is going to be a long, long week.
Sighing, I turn off the shower and step out into my steamy bathroom. I’m supposed to meet my ‘escort’ in a few minutes, so I have to dress for tonight’s super-secret prowling activities quickly. Somehow, I doubt the rest of my guys will take this as seriously as Fitz intoned, but I’m going to humor him. Even if we don’t find a damn thing with the ritual Aubrey finally found behind the painting, I’ll keep the shining chain from the puzzle box. It’s got two tiger charms on it and I think it’s a Khan relic.
Now it’s mine and I’ll use it to remind myself I have a phony tiger king of Bloodstone to deal with later.
Pushing aside my fury for another day, I walk to my closet. The black leather catsuit Rufus helped me pick out fits like a glove. I lace up the thigh-high combat boots with a smile of satisfaction, knowing the glowing collar Rennie gave me will keep this from getting destroyed. Heading to the mirror, I pull my rainbow waves into a high ponytail, add some smoky, bunny-burglar eye makeup, and tuck my phone into the hidden pocket on my hip.
What else will I need? I hate to be unprepared.
Frowning, I reach into my top drawer and pull out the folding knife Fitz gave me, clipping it inside my bra. It’s hidden by my boobalicious cleavage in the half-zipped suit. As Felix says, inside of thirty-four feet, I have an extra edge with a knife and combat skills. Outside of that, I can run my ass off until I find better ground.
Because of the twins, I’m ready for anything.
A sharp knock at my door startles me, but a sniff tells me it’s my gargoyle patiently waiting like a shadow in the bright hallway. Renard would never just barge into my room like Fitz, even if it doesn’t bother me at all when the tiger does it. His odd mix of courtly manners and hungry desire are such a contrast, and I can’t help but feel my stomach tingling as I think about it.
“Coming!” I call as I tuck the brass knuckles Aubrey slipped me after our date in the opposite pocket. I’ve missed my guys while we all worked, and I’m hoping to reconnect in the nest tonight. Renard’s low chuckle makes my core ache, and I grin as I throw the door open. “Ready to solve a mystery, big guy?”
He snorts, taking his eyes over the skin tight suit as his tail flicks up one of my legs slowly. “Someone’s channeling Emma Peel tonight.”
My lips curve as I do a little twirl, summoning the bunny tail I know they all love. “I look super stealthy, right?”
“Indeed, ma petite .” His smirk deepens as his tail slides up my tummy. “What else is hiding under there?”
“Wouldn’t you love to know?” I push up on my toes and kiss his lips lightly before giving his ass a light smack. His eyes widen and I giggle, feeling confident under his hungry gaze. “Let’s go find the others before we get distracted.”
Winking, I turn on my heel, putting a little sashay into my steps as I head down the hall to the elevator. I can feel his eyes on my ass, and a tremble of excitement races through me at the thought of finally getting some answers, so I can focus on luring the rest of my guys into admitting how they feel.
It’s time for me to show these men who’s really in charge.
Once we’re gathered in the tunnels, I can feel the tension that won’t seem to go away. The twins are worried about the connection to their father. Ren is fretting about the magic he can’t confirm, and I’m panicking about Lucille. The only ones who haven’t found a tie to their pasts yet are Chess and Aubrey, but it seems likely we’re going to expose a vast network of rich assholes. That might include people they know soon enough.
Hera help us if we can’t find this shit before our enemies do, because we have no idea why they want it.
“The Captain and his crew should be ready any moment, ma petite ,” Rennie murmurs as he leans in close.
I nod, swallowing hard as my eyes sweep over the room again. My men mean so much to me, and I don’t want this to hurt any of them. I’ll never forgive myself if it does. Re-centering myself, I focus on half-shifting to my bunny. It’s getting easier every time, so when it happens, I’m less discombobulated than I have been in the past. I walk to the pedestal, putting my hand on it as my ears twitch.
This is it, Dolly—the moment of truth.
Ren walks over to me, looking pleased at the ears, tail, nose, and claws I’m sporting. “Are we ready to find out what this all means?”
Chess nods, reaching out to place his hand on top of mine. “ Absolutely. I want to find the next clue and the next until we can keep our angel safe.”
Felix does the same, then Fitz, then Aubrey, and Rennie smiles as he uses his tail for contact so he can hold the ritual notes. His voice is deep and smooth, not stumbling once over all the foreign words and text he has to read. When he finishes, we all wait, holding our breath for something to happen, but it doesn’t.
I frown. This can’t be—everything Aubrey and I found pointed to doing this on the Blood Moon, and here we are.
Yet not a damn thing is happening….
“What the fuck?” I mutter as I glare at the pedestal. “Work, you stupid ritual bullshit!”
“I’m not sure that’s going to help,” Chess says with a fond smile. “It’s not like Aubrey when his Smackbook annoys him.”
A disappointed expression crosses my gargoyle’s face as he reviews the notes, and my anger bubbles to the surface, threatening to overflow. All of this research and frustration has been for nothing—I’ll still be looking over my shoulder all next year. A deep growl of irritation escapes my throat, and even my tigers look surprised.
“Tell them to let it rip, Rennie!” I snarl. “It’s obvious this needs a little more power. It’s time for Plan B.” The others give me a curious look, and I gesture to the walls, letting them know to get back.
Within seconds, a loud boom shakes the ground of the clearing, sending dirt and rocks cascading from the concealed doorway in the tree trunk. Once the dust settles, we find a bunch of dancing racoons in pirate hats pumping their tiny fists in front of a blasted out archway leading to the antechamber.
I can’t help smiling at the picture they make, even though fury is still pumping through my veins like lava.
Is it weird to be so angry you can’t speak and still be amused? Hell if I know, but I’m a big sloppy mess of emotions at the moment.
Turning to face my guys, I plaster on a cheerful grin. “Come on, guys. If being here on the right night didn’t do it alone, we need more ideas.”
When they give me matching defeated looks, I growl again. That changes the tenor of the room immediately and my brow furrows. “What?”
Fitz grins through dropped tiger fangs, his expression hungry as he replies, “Chess was right, baby girl. Your alpha is fucking spank. My cock is ready to rip out of my pants like the Hulk.”
“You look like dinner,” Rennie says as he grins slowly, walking around the pedestal with a predatory gleam in his eyes. “Doesn’t she, Flames?”
“Dinner’s off the table until we figure out what to do with this thing,” I snark playfully. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t give chase later.”
When I look over at Felix, he’s partially shifted and something about it feels like we’re headed in the right direction. Chess catches my look and suddenly, he’s a cheetah. He leads the twins to the pedestal, so we’re all touching it now. My dragon continues his reign of silence against the wall, and I chuckle. He throws up his hands when I pout, finally giving in without me having to ask.
Aubrey’s scales shimmer in the moonlight as looks at the designs on the stone shining in the moonlight. He arches a brow at Rennie. “Maybe the Captain did us a bigger favor than making the chamber accessible. These runes, cuneiform, and symbols are lighting up with the moon’s light. Try the words again, Rennie.”
“You need to move a little to the left, tigers. Flames, you go right a bit. We’re blocking a few of the designs,” the gargoyle says.
Felix and Fitz retreat as one, and the dragon steps aside, his wings folded in. Unobstructed moonlight streams through the gap near the ceiling. It hits the stone altar and suddenly, the entire chamber is filled with a prism of colorful light.
Not just on the Blood Moon, but in the Blood Moon’s light…
“Now what?” Felix says, looking at the designs on the walls in confusion. “It’s like they’re supposed to show us something, but all I see is these ugly murals.”
Renard grins. “Get your phones out. Everyone use the panoramic setting and spin around the room taking pictures. We’re all different heights and that might be important.”
“Huh?” I ask curiously. “Why?”
“Because I think Chess needs to do what he did to the maps Flames found under this paint. One is this campus and the others might be the locations of more artifacts or info about the Society. These designs will help us figure shit out about where that might be and what to look for.”
Felix tilts his head. “Why do you say that?”
“Because there are five major pred academies in the world, Baby Girl. If they stored some of this shit at Apex, what are the odds that the other maps are for Capital Prep, Académie des Crocs et des Griffes, Zhuǎnxíng U & M, and Bloodstone,” Fitz says as he rolls his eyes. “Duh, eggheads. All the languages correspond to that area, don’t they?”
Aubrey turns to me, looking like he’s been smacked with a smelly fish. “What in the name of Athena’s toga have you done to that tiger?”
Rolling my eyes, I stomp my foot. “You guys need to stop acting like I fixed Fitz. He’s always been fine, and he’s smart as hell. No one accommodated his neurodiversity before, so he stopped trying to prove himself. The next person to suggest I did anything but listen is getting my boot straight up their ass.”
“They might like it, Baby Girl. Who knows?” Fitz gives me a smirk, but I can see the flush on his cheeks at my fervent defense. He knows his friends don’t mean anything bad, but I’m damn tired of them doing what everyone used to do to me—talk like I’m too dumb to get shit when they didn’t give me the right info to understand.
It’s time they understand he’s a person, too, and they’re being assholes, even unintentionally.
Felix walks over and claps his hand on his twin’s shoulder. “Sorry we underestimated you, bro. I could blame it on how we were brought up, but that’s just an excuse. Every idiot in this room is smart enough to have made the connection if we’d paid attention better.”
“It’s all good,” my tiger says hoarsely. He looks over at me, his eyes shining a little. “Should we get this show on the road now?”
I nod, grabbing my phone and starting my circular spin around the room. Each one of them follows suit, getting their pictures at every angle possible, so we miss nothing. I’m eager to place the maps and symbols when we get back—it may mean we have to take trips.
Lucille and Bruno never let me travel with them.
A large set of five lines at the very top of one wall makes my brow furrow, and I walk over to it. Under the light, circles and staffs in the mural seem to perfectly fit on them and my eyes widen.
“Shit! It’s music!”
“What is bite size?” Aubrey rumbles, looking at me curiously.
Winking at him, I head to the wall, pushing up on my toes to zoom in on the snippet of music. “Find out if there are four more.”
Each of them walks to a different section of the moonlight, calling out when they locate their bars of melody. The one I saw was in the Apex portion, so it must be something… Oh!
“Follow me!” I yell as I dash away from the atrium to the locked Shirdal door. When I get there, I rap the pattern of notes on the door and it pops open like it was just waiting for me.
Holy shit, that worked.
“Let’s go on an adventure!” I grab Fitz’s hand, tugging him toward the gaping doorway that opened. The rest of them grin, following us into what turns out to be another fucking tunnel rather than a room.
Humming the jaunty dwarf song under my breath as we follow the dimly lit path, I hear Felix whisper ‘what the hell?’ from the back of the group. I shake my head, leading the group through the darkened passageway towards a faint light in the distance. Fitz’s hand is warm in mine, and my frustration from earlier fades as we get closer to unveiling the secrets of this place.
“Watch those wings, dragon,” I frown as someone growls into the darkness.
“It wasn’t me, Felix. Perhaps you ran into a sconce,” the dragon harrumphs, but I feel a slight breeze as he readjusts his wings, anyway.
When we get to the end of the tunnel, we emerge in a clearing surrounded by thick forest. I have a vague idea of how far we walked and in what direction, but the space we’re standing in is completely foreign to me.
Letting go of Fitz’s hand, I walk to the center of what appears to be a circle made of unfamiliar symbols burned into the grass. Before I can open my mouth to ask Aubrey about the markings on the ground, Fitz lets out a snarl.
“Did any of you see that? It looked like someone wearing a fucking cloak, hiding in the trees.”
Renard stalks to the edge of the circle, peering into the darkness suspiciously. “I did… and the smell is familiar...”
“Over here!” Felix yells, stomping in a completely different direction to glare at the thick foliage.
One by one, we all glimpse the figure, even as they seem to disappear and reappear at will. Throughout it all, I stand in the middle of the circle as my guys sniff and snarl at the edges of the clearing. Their backs are to me as they try to suss out exactly where the hooded stranger is and I’m trapped in the middle of their protective ring.
I feel a shiver start at the base of my spine as I consider the possibility there could be more than one—closing in on us. My ears twitch one after the other, flopping into my face limply, and I shake my head, annoyed to lose control of my shift again. I open my mouth to get their attention, but a sudden burst of light in the middle of my chest makes me shriek in pain.
What’s happening to me?!
The sensation of a hard punch to the gut forces me to double over in pain, and when I can’t stand any longer, I fall to my knees on the grass. Smells, sounds, and colors flood my vision, and I dig my claws into the earth as if to hold on. Panting, my head drops and I close my eyes to keep the vertigo from making me barf, wishing I could call for help.
My body feels like it’s a roiling tempest. Darkness invades my brain, and my eyes pop open to look up at the round, full Blood Moon. Snowy white fur sprouts up in thick patches, poking out of the sleeves and neckline of my catsuit. I’ve never half-shifted this completely before and I have no idea what to do, especially since it comes with some sort of electricity shooting from my frame.
The weird lightning gets the attention of my men.
They spin to face me as I notice they’re standing on five marked points in the circle. Before I can attempt to speak, something inside of me snaps. My eyes ache and burn and the fangs Felix loves to talk about drop in my mouth. I raise my hand, holding it out for help, but it’s glowing like some sort of superhero origin story. They’re all staring at me in shock.
Lucille was right. I’ll be lucky if anyone wants an abomination like me.
My wail of pain echoes over the landscape and I clench my fists to stop the weird shit from escaping my hands. Unwilling to watch everything I care about crumble, I lick my elongated fangs and turn tail. Leaving my men behind, I run through the woods at top speed to escape my inevitable heartbreak.
I’m some sort of freak—the Heathers and everyone else were right.
No one will want me now that they know I’m cursed.