Kissed by Claw and Fang novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: The Microphone

The room laughed before it understood what it was laughing at.

The next slide was a photo of my back seat.

It showed the flat pillow, the three blankets, and the jar of peanut butter on the floor mat.

Someone had taken it through the window while I was at work.

The slide after that was a photo of me at the gym entrance with a towel over my arm, circled in red.

"Welcome, alumni and friends!" Preston Gale said into the head table's microphone.

He stood at the podium in a navy blazer with the gold watch showing at his cuff.

Brielle sat beside him with her hands folded, glowing.

"We thought it would be fun to honor one of Wintermere's most dedicated scholarship families," Preston said. "Please enjoy a short retrospective."

A slide of a foreclosure notice went up.

There was a ripple of laughter, and a few people at the back table said "oh no" in the voice of people who were enjoying themselves.

I stood in the middle of the floor with two hundred people turned toward me.

My face was burning, and my hands were cold again.

On my left, Rhys had gone absolutely still.

On my right, Lucian said, very quietly, "Do not run."

"I'm not," I said.

I walked up the center aisle, past the banners and the good china and Larissa, who had started to stand.

I climbed the two steps to the head table.

"Excuse me," I said, and took the microphone out of Preston's hand.

He was so surprised that he let go.

The speakers thumped.

"Hi," I said. "I'm Juniper Pengelly. You can see that."

Nobody laughed.

I looked at the screen, at the filing with my father's signature on it.

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