31. Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
Delores
Even though I’m surrounded by three of my mates, my blood won’t stop pumping hard.
I wrap myself in the blanket Chess tucked around me and pretend it’s enough, even though we both know it isn’t.
His arm is tight around my shoulders now that we’ve all settled in to wait for the others.
I keep replaying the scene at the admin building, hearing Rockland’s meltdown-induced banshee shriek echoing in my skull.
Then comes the fiery anger about the audacity and the frustration of being this freaked out, although I could have taken her.
My bunny and my magic are displeased at being bound when the woman so richly deserves a violent lesson.
In the background, I hear Ren and Aubrey murmuring, their voices a low, soothing rumble like a distant storm.
Chessie is trying for normalcy, flipping through his phone with the steady, methodical rhythm embodied in doomscrolling.
He keeps peeking at me in the screen reflection and not bothering to hide it.
Eventually, my knight just gives up and smooths my hair like I’m a traumatized kitten.
I almost want to laugh, but my stomach is doing backflips and the rest of me feels as delicate as a shitty meringue.
The slam of the front door makes us all jump; this should be good.
I instinctively curl in tighter, which is not very rage-filled bunny of me, but today is a fuck-it day.
The noise from the hall confirms it’s the twins—sneakers scuffing, the familiar ‘do you ever lighten up, bro?’ back-and-forth, and the sarcastic tone of the rejoinder.
They sound normal, but they won’t soon enough, because today is not a ‘normal day’ and what happened will piss them off as much as it has everyone else.
Chess tenses, his whole body going from soft comfort-blanket to granite post in two heartbeats.
The cheetah’s eyes flick to the hallway, then back to me, and he tilts his head in silent question.
I manage a chin-dip nod that says I’m fine and this will be okay once they’ve blown off their steam.
He gives me a knowing grin and ruffles my hair again.
Now that feels normal, and it helps a lot; I think I can corral myself and all their tempers now.
The twins round the corner, and I try to force my face into something approximating a smile, but it doesn’t work.
Felix looks annoyed as hell, so his meeting must have gone terribly.
Fitz looks even more feral than usual, his hair wild as he rocks a shirtless chest under an unzipped hoodie.
Both of them have been through the grinder today somehow, but they freeze instantly when they see my face.
There’s a microsecond of silence as they process the scene in our living room.
I’m burrito-wrapped and flanked by everyone; Chess is on high alert, and the big guys are smooshed in like bookends around us.
Fitz’s bag hits the floor, its contents scattering, and in a breath, he’s crouched in front of me faster than you can say ‘flipped switch’.
“Who dies?” His question is not a joke, not even a little.
His gaze is so full of panic and murder that it’s almost funny.
I don’t laugh though; I just give him a sheepish expression.
“Not the time to be cute, Baby Girl. Whoever did this is going to die painfully, and I’ll collect my trophies while they still breathe. ”
Can’t complain about your mate offering that, especially not if you were raised like I was.
“Maybe wait for the explanation before we start the culling, psycho,” Felix says, but he’s also switched into ‘serious Felix’ mode. His eyes scan my hands, the pulse in my neck, and the way Chess’s body is acting as a support. “What the fuck happened, Princess?”
My mouth moves, but the words are still locked up behind the emotion clogging my throat. I look at Chess, hoping he’ll just give them the executive summary and save me the agony of repeating it, but he just keeps his hand on my shoulder and shakes his head.
“You told Aubrey and Ren we had to wait for everyone, Angel,” he says softly. “Now we’re all here, and you need to get it out. That will help you process your anger and upset, but also give the others the details of what happened.”
He’s not wrong, but I hate having to recount it. My cheeks burn, and I close my eyes, using one of Fitz’s techniques to even out my breathing. The tiger in question looks like he wants to bite someone, but settles for resting his hands on my knees, his gaze warm and steady as he waits for me.
“I assume it had to be Rockland given your behavior,” Felix growls, and the way he says her name is filled with venom thick enough to drown in. “That woman is a goddamn menace, and I’m so tired of her shit.”
I nod, and immediately Fitz lets out a low, guttural sound that is not remotely human. My lips curve as I reach down and run my hand through his locks.
“How did she fuck with you when the damn semester hasn’t even started yet?” Fitz asks in annoyance, and I know he’s mentally mapping all the arteries to slice and dice when he gets a chance. “She’s like a bad case of the clap—keeps coming back over and over to ruin your life.”
I arch a brow, the corner of my mouth quirking. “I hope you don’t understand that metaphor personally, Fitzgerald Khan.”
That gets a snort and a chuckle from Aubrey and Rennie, followed by the tiniest choking sound from Felix. Fitzy rolls his eyes and sighs hard before he replies, “No, I do not. But I watch documentaries sometimes when I’m coding, and they cover lots of shit. Now, spill.”
“Everything was fine at first,” Chess says, his voice low. “I picked her up, and we went to the Dupree. It was a bit nerve-wracking to be back, I think, but we had it covered until the damn door flew open.”
Felix’s nostrils flare, but he says nothing. He just moves to the kitchen and pours a scotch as if that will bolster him. His younger twin doesn’t move from his spot—if anything, he moves closer, putting his forehead practically on my lap as he looks up at me.
“Whatever happened, you’re safe now, Baby Girl,” he says. “So you can tell us about it, and we’ll all be mad and rage and whatever. No one will be upset with you, though, and we know you didn’t do a damn thing to provoke it.”
I know that, but being from my household, hearing it is always important, and Fitz never forgets that.
My mates cluster around me as I get ready, forming a wall of body and intent. Fitz is the closest, kneeling, and Chess is glued to my side. Felix leans against the back of the couch, while Aubrey and Renard stay close enough to block out the entire room from anything bad ever getting in again.
“Okay, snack size,” Aubrey says, his voice velvety with concern. “Whenever you’re ready, we’re all here.”
I’m not ready, but I want it done.
The guys who weren’t with me need to know just how deranged the woman in the admin office was, even with Chessie present. I take a breath, and I start at the beginning. That’s the hair, because somehow, that’s how I knew she was going to go nuclear.
“It’s like she found my nightmares and then recreated them on purpose,” I say.
“She bleached it—like, not ‘gently highlighting your summer’ kind of bleach, but strip-mine-the-earth levels of bleach. It was glowing, man. And then, because that wasn’t enough, she rainbowed it like she dumped a pack of highlighters in a toilet and used it as a dye mask.
That doesn’t sound bad, but in a place like this?
It’s going to draw attention, and it’s going to ignite some very shitty behavior. ”
Fitz snorts, unable to help himself, but the look on his face says he is ready to shave the woman’s head via ninja strike if I ask.
Chess rubs my back in tiny circles, his hand never leaving my skin as he nods in agreement.
I know they’re all trying to understand, but no matter how much they want to, men can’t grasp the way women work to destroy each other in ways that aren’t claws and fisticuffs.
Rockland has ensured that every immature jackass snot in this place—staff or student—has ammunition to target me with before the first day. It’s a coordinated attack, and an insult rolled into one.
“She was even dressed like me in uniform,” I add, staring at my hands so I don’t have to see the disgust on anyone’s face.
“But it wasn’t… It looked like one of those costume store uniforms, but made for someone who gets off on seeing girls who look like they’re in the eighth grade.
Everything about it was so over the top, like she’s not even bothering to hide the fact that she’s obsessed. ”
Felix mutters, “The bitch is sick as hell and cracked in the head.” His voice is a string of piano wire, pulled tight and sharp as he continues. “I don’t know if this is more dangerous, or if it will finally show the admin here that they need to remove her.”
I shrug my shoulders in response. “She spotted us, and you could see every tiny, pretend bit of professionalism she fakes just… fall off. The door was yanked so hard that it almost broke. Then she started screaming at me that I ruined her life. Not like, ‘I hate you’ but that I am personally destroying her. She called me a thief, a slut, a freak show, and she said she was going to get me thrown out of school.”
None of which is new, but it was loud and very unprompted by an incident this time, which is important.
“She called you a slut?” Aubrey says, and his voice is thick with disbelief and fury. “How is this woman not unemployed? You have fated mates; she knows that. Who exactly is she thinking you’re sleeping with besides us?”
“Not the point, Flames,” Rennie says softly as he gives me a worried frown. “She’s not right in the head, so reality isn’t what she’s working from.”
“Yeah,” I say, feeling the blood drain from my cheeks. “She said—exact words—‘little slut’. It was as if she was proud to say it, and then she got right up in my face. The woman spat at me, missed my face, and then said I was making her the laughingstock of the university.”
“Did she touch you?” Felix asks, and it’s the way he asks it that makes me want to turn and hug him. He’s pissed as fuck and keeping his cool so I don’t get even more upset than I already am.
“Not really. She poked, but Chessie blocked it. Like I said, the spit hit my arm, but that’s all.”
The silence is so intense I think the entire room might fracture under it as Fitz grips my legs hard.
“I’m sorry… what did you just say?” Fitz asks, very, very quietly. “Say it again, Baby Girl.”
Uh-oh.
“She tried to poke me, but Chessie blocked it, and her spit only hit my sleeve,” I repeat carefully. “The actual hero is my knight for stepping in between us and having a handkerchief to wipe that shit off. He really showed his spots, baby.”
Fitz stands up so fast he almost knocks over the coffee table, pacing in circles as he runs his hands through his hair. “I’ll gut her. I’ll hang her from the fucking admin building. I’ll—”
“Sit down,” Felix says, but his own voice is rough and guttural. “You know we can’t do that yet. Tell us the rest, Princess. We need it all, so we can work through it.”
I nod, swallowing against the thickness in my throat. “After that, she told me she was going to make sure I never play another match. She said she would have me banned from every school, from every Pred Games, and that everyone would see me as a talentless thief.”
“That woman is gone so far off the rails that she can’t come back,” Renard says, not moving an inch, but his hands are fists on his thighs and the stone on his arms is pushing through his skin.
“I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit at these schools, but this is above and beyond. She’s fixated on our mate, and it’s going to get worse,” Chess adds as he looks at the Raj. “I know we can’t kill her just yet, but we can’t let her be alone with Dolly. She’s dangerously unhinged.”
Taking a deep breath, I look at them, each face a map of fury and protectiveness.
“I’m worried I’ll lose control of the magic like with Abel if she keeps doing this,” I say in a voice so small it doesn’t sound like me.
“I know she wants to push me until I break and do something they can expel me for. The real problem is that I have powers I am teaching myself to use and control, and I don’t have anyone else around who knows how to help.
When my rabbit gets angry, the magic is following, and it’s…
I’m doing my best, is all, but I might fail if she’s like this every day. ”
“She will not touch you again,” Fitz says, pacing like a caged animal. “If she even comes close—”
“Let’s be clear,” Felix interrupts, his gaze flinty and cold. “She physically attacked you, tried to provoke you, and is openly threatening your future here. Is that right?”
Chess nods. “It will not stop; she’s on a crusade now. You saw how she was last year, but this is truly mental illness. She won’t care if she gets fired or disciplined.”
Aubrey’s eyes change in the light, his dragon close to the surface. “Is there any way to document this? Any witnesses?”
“Maybe security footage?” I suggest and then wrinkle my nose. “But probably not—she’s good at making sure she looks professional to anyone else.”
“We’ll check, but we won’t depend on it, especially if you’re worried about revealing magic,” Felix says. “Right now, our priority has to be helping you keep that under wraps when it can’t be blamed on the Fae. If she goes after you again, I want witnesses so we have a file big enough to bury her.”
“Farley said he could help,” Renard offers. “Maybe he’s found something new?”
Fitz finally sits, but only because he’s vibrating with so much anger that he might break something. “Baby Girl, we’re going to figure out a way to make sure you don’t have to go there alone. Even if I have to glue myself to your side or—”
“Or what?” I say, forcing a smile that doesn’t make it all the way up. “Stalk me through the vents? Dress up as a potted plant?”
He grins, but the effect is a little terrifying. “If that’s what it takes? Fuck, yes.”
Aubrey puts his hand on my head, ruffling my hair with so much gentleness that it almost undoes me. “We will fix it, snack size. If the school won’t help, we will.”
The silence that follows is not empty—it’s full of the sound of six people plotting a defensive campaign against a single, rainbow-headed, delusional whack-a-doo. I don’t feel better, exactly, but I feel… protected again.
“We should eat Chess’s food while we wait for the badger to reply,” Renard says softly. “You will need the energy for tomorrow, and for what comes next. Plus, until we hear from him, Felix and Fitz will be bouncing off the walls.”
One more night together before the real trouble starts, and we’re waiting on my lawyer yet again.
Seriously, fuck my life.