Her Psycho Beasts, page 10
part #3 of Her Vicious Beasts Series
“We’re sending her right to the very people who want to take her,” Lyle snaps.
“We’ll all be there,” Scythe replies evenly. “Including Savage.”
The bastard knew the effect that would have on the spawn. She sits up in her seat, her breathing caught in her throat so it’s a squeak when she says, “Savage will be there?”
“He’s scheduled to meet us there, yes.”
“Then I’m there too.”
Lyle sighs. “Think about this, angel. Don’t be pressured into it.”
“I’m not,” Spawn says. “If this is part of the plan to save Sabrina, then of course I’ll do whatever it takes.” She looks around at her friends, all who nod as if they, too, are willing to risk their necks. Complete nutters.
“With Xander flying us, we’ll get there quickly.” Scythe nods at me. “Marduk, Minnie and Yeti are coming too. They’re our strongest felines.”
“Wait, what?” Aurelia cries, clutching her seat. “I don’t want Minnie mixed up in this!”
The little tigress smiles bravely at Aurelia. “You’re not the only one willing to risk your neck for a friend, Lia.” She straightens her shoulders as Yeti places a hand on her thigh. Her heart beats even faster as she declares, “I’m the strongest feline anima they know.” She nods to Lyle and Marduk.
The others gape. Raquel is the only one who grins and I’m guessing the word got around on the telepathic wolf network pretty quickly after Minnie stopped all the Serpent Court bullets from killing Spawn, Savage, Scythe and Lyle.
Spawn looks to Lyle for confirmation.
“It’s true,” the lion says. “I’ve never seen anyone come close to me until now.”
Yeti and Marduk can barely suppress their pride. Minnie’s cheeks turn pink as Spawn beams at her. My stomach churns.
Stacey, normally the quiet lioness of Spawn’s gang, clears her throat. “So the plan is to blast the Clawsons apart until you find Sabrina?”
“Almost,” Marduk says, with a dreamy sort of smile and I just know he’s imagining it as we speak. “Between the three of us, we have enough power to get her out…if, of course, the owners of the property are drawn out.”
“Cain Clawson is a powerful feline,” Scythe says, “And along with his sons, make up a majority of their power. If they’re not there, it’ll be a clean run. But if they are, things will get unnecessarily bloody.”
Spawn is biting her lip, her breathing a little faster now. She’s no doubt thinking about the infamous Cassius Clawson’s soul-bond to her mother. In another life, Cain Clawson would have been her uncle. If it weren’t for Mace Naga and Cain making a pact to clear out Cassius, that is.
“I’ll do it,” Spawn pipes. “If you think me being there will draw out Cain.”
I snort. “They won’t be able to help themselves. Once word gets out, the entire fucking underworld is going to show up. Anyone who is anyone will be there to see the Boneweavers come back from the dead.”
Spawn casts me a dark look and Scythe cuts me one of pure menacing warning. I give them both a droll look in return.
“Lia will be safe though, right?” Connor asks. “All of you will be there too?”
“I’ll be there,” Lyle growls. “And by that time, Savage will join us too.”
“Wait,” Aurelia says, frowning at me. “You can take all six of us?”
“Do not insult me, Serpent Spawn,” I snap. “I would barely notice the weight.”
Spawn scoffs. “So Dolores is just going to let us waltz out of here?”
“That’s the one complication,” Scythe says. “Our new deputy headmaster has one requirement.”
Chapter 18
Scythe
Damien returned to his office this afternoon to find it completely flooded with sewage water. Apparently, the school had decided it didn’t take well to a foreign phoenix torturing the students, including the only resident dragon.
As a result, Georgia has set up our new deputy an office in one of the smaller classrooms, the smell of sewage still lingering on his business shoes. I sit, with Lyle and Marduk, before the teacher’s desk as the fan whirrs above us, stirring the stands of my hair.
The three of us large males sitting here should be something out of a comedy, if it wasn’t for the look of pale-faced shock on Damien’s face as Marduk shows him a photo on his phone.
I don’t know what it is, only that it’s some heavy blackmailing material that’s making Damien all but soil his pants. It’s likely to be some sort of unsavoury fetish. It always is.
“If Mr Pardalia is permitted to be in the faculty despite his regina being a student, then I will be too,” Marduk says, pocketing his phone. “Isn’t that right, my good Lord Agnis?”
Damien audibly swallows, eyeing the tiger with nervousness. “Very well, Marduk. That seems to be in order. You…You will submit your teaching plans to me by the end of the week.”
Marduk grins, the picture of pure male joy. “Very well, Lord Phoenix! Now we can put this little mishap all behind us and move forward into the semester.”
Lyle casts me a dark look and I don’t know if he’s more concerned about Damien’s response to this or Marduk’s idea of what teaching a class looks like.
“There is the other matter,” I say, leaning back into my chair, making it creak under my weight, “of me needing to take Aurelia away this weekend.”
“I will also be taking my pack,” Marduk adds, clasping his hands in front of him. “The Devi pack.” He beams at us.
Minnie has been rather shy around Marduk’s intimidating presence, but he’s determined to prove himself and is holding his enthusiasm back with great discipline.
“I will not allow it,” Damien says tightly, looking between Lyle and I. “It is highly out of order. She is still under the Council’s jurisdiction.”
“Aurelia needs to be seen,” I say. “This is her right as the only living Boneweaver. The other territory leaders will demand it soon enough.”
“She is still a criminal,” Damien presses. “She has been tried for murder and arson at court and her execution has only been delayed—”
Lyle waves his hand in annoyance. “We all know that is a moot point now. No one is executing a Boneweaver.”
Damien raises a brow. “You are very sure of that. While her execution might now be in question, she still needs to be held accountable for the crimes she was tried as guilty for. You took her to court, Lyle, but it is now my responsibility to ensure justice is served.”
“Celeste advised—”
“Celeste,” Damien spits harshly, “is still in meditation, and as such, has no say in this.”
If I was a laughing sort of beast, I would have laughed at the clearly troubled look Damien has on his face right now. Celeste had been in meditation for longer than would be considered normal for a phoenix, but it’s important work and the school is ensuring she’s not disturbed by securing the door to her apartment.
I throw a winning hand onto the table. “Aurelia has agreed to your terms.”
That shuts the phoenix lord up. He wasn’t expecting it to be so easy, and frankly, neither had I. It seems that none of us expected Aurelia’s level of loyalty to her friends.
“Well.” Damien’s aura suddenly flashes an elated yellow. “She has some sense, I see.”
Lyle abruptly stands as if he can’t stomach sitting here any longer. “You can expect her during dinner service at the jungle gym. It’s the best place for this.”
Damien purses his lips but has no choice but to acquiesce as Lyle stalks for the door. Marduk sweeps a courtly bow before also leaving.
I stare at the phoenix for a moment, simply watching the colours of his aura tremble and shake around him, just as my ghosts and ghouls swarm around me. Damien meets my gaze for as long as he can before looking down. Despite his draconic protective charm, he is still frightened of me.
But I am not interested in his fear. There is something notable hovering in the air next to him that is new. A transparent female figure, slender and older. Possibly a mother or aunt, long dead but not long gone from this plane. She hovers there, watching over him with sad eyes. She shakes her head, red hair floating in its own ghostly breeze.
Sometimes it’s hard to discern whether a vision is a hallucination or an actual ghost. But my hallucinations are almost always negative or malevolent in nature, and this woman appears sad, not evil.
She shakes her head at me again, signalling with her hands. She shows me a photo of a little boy, undoubtedly a young Damien, then moves her hand in the shape of a path, crossing her fists together to make an X.
I sigh. When I first arrived here, any negative entity, ghost or spirit immediately fled upon feeling my presence. I didn’t like talking to them, and I made it clear I was no messenger. But every so often, usually mothers or children, persisted through the discomfort of me.
“Can I help you with anything else?” Damien’s voice is stiff as he marks his papers with irritable strokes of his ballpoint pen.
“No,” I say flatly. “Your mother is a different story, however.”
His head snaps up, golden eyes blazing with fury.
I hold his gaze steadily, and for a breath in time, I consider not telling him. But this may actually benefit me. “She’s saying that the path you travel is the wrong one. Your downfall lies at its end.”
Damien’s fist closes around his pen before he shoots to his feet, pointing at me. “Is that a threat? How dare you! You—”
“When spirits give you warnings, you heed them,” I say dryly.
Damien’s nostrils flare, shoulders heaving under heavy inhalations.
I rise to my feet, turning to the old Lady Agnis. “It’s up to him now, my lady.”
Her eyes glisten, but she can only stare longingly at her son.
As I leave, my gathering swarm leaves with me.
Chapter 19
Ghoul
Iaccept my plate of rare beef and potatoes from the pretty jaguar with the red lipstick and even redder bra and panties. Cain Clawson likes his female subordinates scantily clad around the house, and while none of the males complain, it leaves a lecherous scent permanently in the air.
This new place is smaller than the last, and made with a lot less money. The dungeons are a lot smaller, but effective at detainment nonetheless. Once Titus gained some of his brains back, he’d asked for him and the girl to be moved to his father’s property. He has some grand plans, I’ll give him that. But if he’s going to pretend to be a rex of a new, self-built pack, he has to get out of the hospital bed first. I chuckle into my plate, making the females waiting on me glance at each other in panic.
I’ve barely tucked into my food when a snivelling lynx rushes into the room, smelling of sweat. “My lord!”
I raise my head, swallowing my mouthful before gesturing to the floor next to me. He dutifully slows down his steps and kneels by my side with his head down.
“What is it? Speak up, son. You’re among friends.” I take another mouthful of meat.
“There’s a…situation that requires your attention, sir.”
There always bloody is. Useless pieces of shit. “And?”
“The new girl in the dungeon? Rob and Tony have—are— I mean—”
I put down my knife and fork so quickly the lynx flinches. Standing so fast my chair skids backwards, I wipe my mouth on my napkin and stride out of the room, barely containing my fury, my need to shift and tear this fucking room apart.
I’m down in the cells within seconds, sending the guards skittering like the filth they are. The old, cast-iron door to the series of cells is already open, and when I enter, I see both Rob and Tony on their knees before the cell, their hands reaching through the bars, tangling with the fingers of the leopard girl as she quietly sobs.
“Regina,” Tony whispers.
Rob jumps to his feet when he sees me, protectively trying to shield the other two. He doesn’t get time to do anything because I grab him by the hair and slam him into the bars. His eyes roll to the back of his head and he slumps to the floor.
Sabrina cries out and Tony scrambles backward, his eyes wild. Pathetic.
“Stand up,” I command.
He glances at his regina before obeying. As soon as he’s up, I shove him into the white stone wall hard enough to knock him out, too. The smell of blood reaches my nose and I’m happy they’ll both get a little concussion.
This all makes me feel drastically better.
“That was unexpected,” I say lightly, wiping my hands on my trousers. “How exciting for everyone.”
The girl blinks rapidly, her breath light and fast, clutching her blanket with white knuckles.
“Oh, don’t worry about them,” I wave a hand reassuringly. “They’ll be fine.”
“Don’t hurt them,” she whispers. “Please.”
I crouch down to get to eye level with her, assessing the resolve in her eyes. “Finding your mate can give a beast new life,” I say sagely. “But losing one…” I tut. “We don’t want that, do we, feline?”
She shakes her head, brown eyes wide and red-rimmed. “No.”
“Alright then.” I straighten, grabbing Tony, then Rob by his collar and drag them out, leaving two bloody skid marks along the flagstones.
The next day, I take the brothers back down to the dungeon. Moving the girl was a complete disaster. No one expected for her to find her mates here.
I enjoy a good surprise, but some surprises deserve to die a sad and lonely death.
Pausing outside the room that houses her cell, I brief the two leopard brothers. “If either of you deviate from the script, I will execute her immediately. Do you understand?”
Rob’s hands tremble as he tucks the script into his pocket, “Yes, my lord.”
“Good boy.” I look to his brother, Tony.
“Yes, my lord,” he also says, submissively bowing his head.
I grunt, and we enter the dungeon. It smells of slop and anxiety and something that must be her regina’s lure. Leading the brothers to her cell, I regard the small, shivering figure covered in the threadbare blanket. It’s not until the males step up to the cell that she raises a dirty, tear-streaked face.
“Regina,” Tony whispers, trying to stick his face between the metal bars.
Sabrina’s eyes lock on him for a breath before darting to Rob, then me. Her fear skyrockets.
“Are you okay?” she whispers.
“We’re here to help you,” Rob says carefully. “You need to listen to us.”
The girl reaches out a hand. “I… I’ve waited so long.”
Tony flinches. He’s losing his resolve. I shift behind him, letting him know I’m readying myself to end his woman.
“We waited f-for you too,” Tony says. “But listen, you really need to do what you’re being told.”
“You’ve got to obey your orders. It’s the only way they’ll let you out of here. It’s the only way they’ll give you a better room and…and a proper toilet.”
“Say it again,” Sabrina whispers.
They’re silent before Tony says, “Regina.”
Sabrina closes her eyes. A single tear slips out from one eye.
I sigh in irritation. “This is useless. Get out.”
They both cast a longing look at the leopard before taking the longest time to turn around.
“Wait. Tell her,” I command.
They both turn back around.
“Our allegiance is first to the Clawsons,” Tony’s voice breaks as he says it. “It always will be.”
Sabrina’s mouth falls open, but she closes it before nodding. “Right.”
I impatiently gesture for the two males to leave, a thread of my shadows reaching for them. They practically bolt through the door.
When we’re back out in the corridor, Tony, clearly the bolder of the two, but less intelligent, says, “C-Can we not put her in a cell with a flushing toilet, my lord?”
Turning my back on them as we walk down the corridor, I say simply, “Ask again and I’ll rip your lips from your mouth and you’ll never get to kiss your regina, flushing toilet or no.”
They both let out shaky breaths.
I roll my eyes because none of them realise the truth: I’m definitely going to have to kill them before the end of this.
Chapter 20
Aurelia
Lyle protectively hovers behind me, with one hand around my waist as we wait in the jungle gym. It’s a simulated jungle inside a massive warehouse on the far side of the academy. Each order has scheduled times they’re allowed to visit and run around in their shifted forms. Mating groups can even apply to have hunting parties in here, often just before or after the monthly lockdown. But for me, this is my first time coming in, as our particular group of animas normally prefer to go to the student village and get a coffee instead of getting sweaty and dirty and bitten by bugs.
There are a couple of rosellas singing in the highest trees and there’s the fresh and clean scent of the eucalyptus and gum trees over the dank manure smell. They have the roof open today, so the sun streams through, tickling the very tops of the biggest trees.
Lyle’s thumb stroking my stomach is just as gentle as his voice in my mind. “Are you alright, angel?”
I take a measured breath as I reply into his mind. “Part of me is worried it won’t work…and another part of me is worried that it will.”
He leans down, lips brushing my neck in a kiss that makes my toes curl. “I’ll still love you, no matter what happens.”
My breath catches and I spin around in his arms, staring up at his perfect, smiling face until my vision blurs. Just as I’m about to say something back, it’s then that Xander and Scythe decide to grace us with their presence and the heavy metal door to the jungle gym squeals open.
Scythe prowls towards us, and I swear his hard gaze wraps a cold wind around Lyle and me.
