SWNOVELS Defiant Princess Chapter 5
JULIET
We spread Layla's blanket out on the edge of the lawn, under a massive oak tree with leaves that shush in the sea breeze blowing over the university walls. Layla has brought chocolate croissants, bananas, and a whole pineapple she liberated from the dining hall this morning. I've brought myself, my new water bottle from the school supply stash on my desk, and a promise to help refill the food stash at dinner.
If there's one thing, I'm good at, it's liberating food without getting caught. If I weren't, there's a good chance I would have starved to death long before Ford showed up at the circus.
“Do owls not eat bananas? Or pineapple?” I ask as Layla unpacks the snacks and Diana backs away, as if repulsed.
She shrugs. “Not sure. Diana just prefers small, skittery things. But she only hunts in the back part of the forest, where there's no risk of her snatching up a rat that isn't just a rat, if you know what I mean. There are only a few shifters small enough to be mistaken for an owl snack, but better safe than a murderer”
Diana hoots her agreement and scratches the air twice, in a sign Layla seems to understand.
“Yeah, that's cool,” Layla says. “We'll save the good gossip until you get back."
With a warble low in her throat, Diana takes to the sky, zooming off toward a part of campus I haven't seen yet. “The forest i back that way?” I ask, tipping my head.
Layla nods. “Yeah. She went hunting last night, but she says first day of school nerves make her snacky. Can't really blame her for being nervous. She's not only a Variant, she’s also the only bird student on campus—until you learn to shift, at least- and the only shifter not currently in her original form. Diana's actually a wolf. Or she was, before all the shit went down with the Parallel and her brothers.”
My brows shoot up. “That's the second time someone's mentioned the Parallel. So that was a big deal, huh?”
Layla snorts as she tears off a piece of croissant. “Um, yeah, girl. A little bit. As in, it changed the entire shifter world forever. You been living under a rock or something?”
I chew a bite of banana and swallow. “Something like that.”
Layla waits to see if 'm going to say more but doesn't push when I don't. “So yeah, it was a big deal.” She glances around ou isolated corner before leaning closer and adding in a softer voice, “A lot of people are still pretty pissed about it, and her brothers were the two who brought everything crashing down.”
“What?” I blink. “Her brother is...” F**k, what was that guy's name? Thankfully it comes to me a beat later. “Maxim? Right? Maxim Thorn?”
The one my father wants to kill...
“Yeah,” Layla says, checking our surroundings again. “But don’t spread it around. The faculty and Diana want that kept as. quiet as possible. She's already going to stand out like a sore thumb. No need to put a target on her back by letting everyon, know her big brother is basically the shifter president. But she wanted us to know, you and me. She's going to need a place to relax and be herself, you know? And no better place for that than the privacy of her own dorm room.”
I nod. “Absolutely. I don’t intend to share your or Diana's personal business with anyone.” Except maybe, Ford, I silently add, but only if it's something he needs to know to keep us safe here.
or if it's something we can use to take down Hammer.
Surely, Diana would be okay with that, however, considering eliminating my father eliminates a serious threat to her brother “Same,” Layla says with a pointed look. “So, you can share if you want. When you feel like it. I know it's kind of corny, but the school therapists are right. Talking about the bad shit with other people who have been through bad shit, makes it easier to carry”
Pressing my lips together for a beat, I nod. “Thank you. But honestly, it will probably take some time. I don't open up very well. It gives me hives. And makes me even crankier than usual”
Layla smiles. “You don't seem cranky to me, but I hear you. It gave me hives at first, too. But now I can say, I was kept as a slave pet by a pathetic little rich boy who liked “exotic companions’ without feeling weird about it”
“I'm sorry,” I say, meaning it. “How long?”
“six months. Then his latest “companion’ shredded him in his sleep, and we all escaped. She was a cougar” She rolls her eyes. “He thought that was funny. That she was both a sexy older woman and a literal cougar shifter.” She pops another bite of croissant between her lips. “He was joking about it with his drinking buddies a few hours before she ripped his intestines out”
“Good for her. And you, I say. “So, what's Diana's story? If you don't think she'd mind you sharing. How did she stop being a wolf and start being an owl?”
“A curse of some kind.’ Layla's dark eyes glitter as she adds, “Diana's pretty sure it was a s* curse. She banged a witch's favorite familiar, some fine a*s cat shifter who was fighting for the resistance, and then...poof. She's white and feathery instead of furry”
“Wow. 'm not one who usually gets excited about gossip, but that's some juicy stuff. “What happened to the guy?”
“No one knows,” Layla says. “Mr. Sexy Cat dropped off the face of the earth. Like he never even existed."
My lips twist. “Well, if he pissed off a witch powerful enough to change a woman into an owl with a long-distance s* curse... “Yeah, probably dead,” Layla says. “That's what I thought, too. But I didn’t say anything to Diana. I didn’t want to add any gui to her plate over something that's obviously not her fault”
“No," I agree. “Especially since no one knows for sure.’
“Totally. But anyway, her family's apparently tried everything to change her back—counter curses, hypnosis, gray magic—but nothing's worked.” Layla shrugs. “So, she decided to come here. It's the only place a girl trapped in an owl's body can get a higher education, and she figured it was time to stop putting her life on hold, waiting for a cure that might never come” “Makes sense,” I say, my head spinning a little from the sudden influx of information. But my thoughts keep circling back around to the Parallel, this mysterious alternate dimension I had no idea existed until Natalie brought it up a couple days ago. “50, did everyone know about the Parallel? Like...before the portals between the worlds collapsed?”
Layla c***s her head, considering that a moment as she lifts the pineapple, shifting just her claws long enough to slice it int four juicy wheels. “I don't know. I mean, I knew about it because my gram used to work in Parallel Atlanta when I was a kid. But I guess some people might not have known. My other shifter friends didn't talk about it much.” She grunts as if she’s made a sudden discovery. “Could be like having relatives in prison.’
My lips twitch. “Sorry?”
“Like, when you grow up having relatives in prison, you just assume everyone has relatives in prison. And that like, everyone is a little bit afraid that they might end up in prison one day like Aunty K.K. and cousin Shelly.” She wipes her now fully human hand on a cloth napkin from her bag. “Then you grow up, get to know different kinds of folks, and realize most peopl don't have that experience. It's just you and your poor a*s family.” She arches a meaningful brow. “Like you, princess. You don't have any relatives in prison, do you?”
“Why call me princess?” I ask, my stomach dropping.
How could she know? How could my cover have been blown already? I haven't said anything. I've been careful.
“Sorry,” she says, her brow furrowing. “It wasn't an insult or anything. I just meant that you're really beautiful and classy looking. You look like you should be waving at someone from a beauty queen float, not visiting your family behind bars." “Well, looks can be deceiving," I say, relief and suspicion swirling in my blood, making my hands shake as I claim a pineappl wheel.
Is she telling the truth? Or is she toying with me?
My gut says Layla isn't a threat, but the suspicious voice in my head is shouting that we can't trust anyone. My own parents both betrayed me. And if you can't trust the people who brought you in to the world, you can't trust anyone.
Ican't trust anyone.
“I didn’t know about the Parallel" I say, choosing my words even more carefully, being sure to conceal anything that might give my real backstory away. “But I only had shifter family for a short time in Alaska. When I was really young. And they were...controlling”
“A lot of families are” Her nose wrinkles. “I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. In my head, princess was a compliment. I spent a lot of time as a kid wishing I looked like a princess or a beauty queen instead of cute for a poor kid."
“You're beautiful I say, because she is. “But I get it. I'm pretty sure this sweater cost a small fortune. But it's a hand-me- down from Natalie, not mine. I think she feels sorry for me."
Her expression warms. “Natalie is a bleeding heart, that's for sure. But she’s a good one. She made me want to come here, anyway. Not twelve hours after I called Lost Moon, she was in San Antonio, helping me get an apartment for a few months until it was time to fly up for orientation. She paid the deposit out of her own pocket, since I didn't have jack shit at that point except the diamond collar Dick Head bought for me to wear at parties.” Her voice cools as she adds, “I hocked it befor Iflew up here to pay for my airfare and put the rest of the money in savings. When I get out, I should have enough left over to pay for a sweet little condo on the beach and start my new life in style. I'm going to be a pharmacist. Or one of those chemists who works on experiments to make new drugs. Humans will always get sick, you know. Those are the kind of careers that'll have staying power. What about you?”
“Military major,” I say, adding, “I think.”
Her brows lift. “Military. Okay. Wasn't expecting that, but you go, lady, embrace that inner badass.”
“Or not," I say, placing my now empty rind on top of hers in the middle of the blanket. “I'll get serious about picking a major when I actually make it through the trials. Even Natalie admitted my odds aren't great, with never having shifted before and being about twenty pounds under my fighting weight”
“Well, shit, girl, we can take care of that in two weeks. No problem. You stick with me. Gammy always said if our family know: how to do one thing right, it's how to eat.” She passes a croissant my way, and I accept it with a smile.
Vm about to thank her again—for her kindness and the warm welcome—when her eyes widen, and a faintly sour smell begin to rise from her skin.
“What's wrong?” I ask, my spine going stiff.
“Wolf” she whispers, her lips barely moving. “Headed this way. Extremely intense energy. Insanely huge. Probably coming to kick our a*s for being where Variants aren't supposed to be."
I.drop the pastry and brush the crumbs off my hands. “Good. We'll get this fight out of the way on day one and be free to enjoy ourselves.”
Layla gulps. “Unless we're in pieces.”
“We won't be in pieces. This is a school. I'm pretty sure other students aren't allowed to kill us, at least not in broad daylight in sight of the faculty building" I stand and spin to face the incoming bully, only to come face to chest with a very familiar s¢ of pecs.
Pecs I was rubbing all over just a few hours ago, in fact, while I claimed his gorgeous c**k as my territory.
I glance up to see Ford staring down at me with a more-than-friendly look in his eyes and my nipples tighten inside my bra. Refusing to acknowledge the surge of awareness his presence sends surging through my system, I widen my eyes and say, “Hey there, old friend. Meet Layla, one of my new roomies. Layla, this is Ford, the wolf I told you about. He used to tease me at summer camp when I was a kid."
“Hey, Layla," Ford says, casting a kind, if slightly distracted smile her way before locking his gaze on mine. “Can we talk? I know we were going to catch up later, but I overhead something I think you'll want to know about. ASAP"
“Sure, no problem.” I turn back to Layla to see her studying us with a scandalized delight that makes it clear she isn't buying the fact that we're “just friends” for a hot second and say, “I'll meet you guys back in the room before dinner?”
“Yeah, sure thing,” Layla says with a flash of her teeth. “See you then, roomie. Nice meeting you, Ford."
“Same,” he says, lifting a hand her way before taking my arm and drawing me toward a break in the trees.
I'start to ask him what's up, but he presses a finger to his lips and nods down the narrow path leading toward another,
slightly smaller lawn with a pond on the other side of it. I nod, and follow him, wondering what the hell he could have
overhead in an hour apart that warranted an immediate strategy huddle.
Or maybe he was just missing you. Like you missed him.
I barely resist rolling my eyes at the inner voice of Girlish Idiocy or Raging Hormones or whatever it is.
This is something serious or Ford wouldn't be here. The rational person inside of me knows that even before he turns to fac me beneath the farthest tree and says, “The doctor's refusing to do it. He won't take out your implant before the trials. Not even when Natalie threatened to pull strings to get him fired.”