Her Psycho Beasts, page 29
part #3 of Her Vicious Beasts Series
And today, he is furious.
Every member of the court must watch the king’s judgement in the town hall. They must all learn the power of the Serpent Court.
And, standing by the king’s throne in line with the six other generals, I watch them all.
The serpent king’s black eyes flit over each one of the accused, their faces dirty with the ash and grime of seven days’ sweat and blood, their clothes torn and bloody under the ministrations of the court’s torture master. He has changed since the death of his son by the hand of Xander Drakos. Now, his only happiness lies in the wielding of a needle-fine, serrated blade.
“Vermin stand before me,” Mace Naga sneers. “You failed.” He pauses. “You failed me. You failed this court. You failed in our cause.”
They know better than to beg. Instead, they pray.
The shadows beckon to me, their song sweet and profound. I let them take me over and cover my body. A child in the court gasps.
“Let it be done,” the king says, gesturing to me. My blood stirs at the command in his tone.
I stalk forwards slowly, letting their fear soak through my shadows, into my skin.
They are mesmerised for a moment. Their eyes wide, their hearts fluttering like mice. There will be no bodies for their families to bury. No vessel for the ancient death rituals of the Nagas. They forfeit that right when they failed their king. The two eagles forfeited that right when they were born as avians.
“By the will of the king,” I announce.
I save Ben for last, his wife—princess in title only, Charlotte Naga—standing tall and proud, blond hair perfectly curled, red lipstick accurately applied. She refuses to look away, although her essence trembles in terrible fear.
I take off my bone mask, letting them feel the full force of the brutal power behind my eyes.
Hair burns, flesh sizzles, offal spills, and an acrid smell fills the air for just a moment before disappearing completely.
There is nothing left of them but smoke.
Putting my mask back in place, I turn around and command my spine to bend.
Mace Naga inclines his head to me. “I remind you now who we fight against. Beasts who think they are better than us. Beasts who think we should be marked and barcoded for having the privilege, the gift of venom. They are afraid of the power we yield. The power that flows in our veins. The power we have to dominate. And they tricked us. They filled our heads with a narrative: that we are poison. That we are toxic. That we should be locked away and hidden, all because we were born with gifts.
“Well, I tell you now, our time is coming. It is time for our family to rise up. To claim what we are owed. What has been robbed from us for generations. The big predators have run unchecked for too long. It’s time for the balance to be set right. We are going to deal to them what was dealt to us for decades.”
“All hail the king cobra,” I call.
“All hail the king cobra,” they chorus.
My king smiles at me, his lips cutting upwards in pleasure—a motion reserved for his most favoured serpent general. “You always serve me well, Lord Basilisk.”
Chapter 58
Aurelia
Late the next day, the Devi pack brings my animas to see me in the dining room of our suite. They each hug me, one by one, and present me with a lovely card, which Stacey illustrated with flowers and nimpins. It says ‘We love you to infinity’ on the front and they’ve all drawn a picture inside. Minnie hands me a bunch of flowers and Connor plonks down an entire platter of food, clearly taken straight from the lunch service.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he chides me. “I have connections in the kitchen, remember? And Dolores wasn’t even supervising today.”
“That’s always a plus,” Stacey says, handing me a plate with a cheese and tomato toastie. “He’s been particularly fussy lately. But we don’t want to talk about him.”
“We want to hear about you,” Sabrina says quietly, tugging her hood down. “Are you alright, Aurelia?”
I smile sadly at my leopard friend. “It was probably the worst day of my life.” I tell them mostly everything after that, the males talking amongst themselves in the TV room. Minnie holds my hand when I talk about meeting my mum for the first time. We all cry quietly when I talk about the funeral, and even though I was reluctant to share it, it eased something in my stomach to feel the support of my friends around me.
Only Minnie remains by the evening when the others leave to attend to various detentions or homework.
It’s then that both of our packs gather to speak about my fifth mate.
“He was there,” I say to Minnie, fiddling with the edge of my placemat. “Ghoul works for my father.”
Minnie gapes around the table, her eyes finally landing on Marduk.
“I’ve been investigating the serpent generals for years,” the Caspian tiger says, his hands steepled on the dining table. “And the one made of smoke has always eluded me.”
“For good reason,” Scythe says darkly. “His shadows are highly effective at concealment.”
“Basilisk shadows,” I say.
Eugene, who is sitting quietly on the table between Minnie and me, visibly flinches.
I stroke his warm, soft feathers. It feels strange to say it out loud for the first time. I’d been thinking about it ever since Savage had commanded Eugene to ‘guard’ me.
“You’ve got to be joking!” Minnie cries. “You’ve got a Goddess-cursed basilisk in your pack! What was the Mother thinking?”
Savage makes a disgusted sound and gestures at Minnie as if to say ‘Right?!’ He’s re-claimed Toastie the wombat from zookeeper Rick and absently pats his rounded lump that is the wombat joey’s body, hidden inside the cotton sack.
But it’s Marduk who makes a contemplative noise and says, “I suppose the Wild Mother had no choice. There are no basilisks left that we know of. As it is, Ghoul suddenly appeared within the ranks of Mace’s generals out of thin air, seven years ago.”
“Seven,” I reply dully. “Just as I’d left the family house.”
“He is highly prized amongst the serpents,” Marduk says gently. “They’ve kept the secret locked tightly. No doubt his ability to kill with just his gaze helped keep them quiet.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be there,” Lyle says. “I guess he couldn’t give up the opportunity.”
“What opportunity?” I ask.
My mates all raise their brows at me. Savage grumbles, “To see you, of course.”
I stare at them, my throat suddenly tight, my palms suddenly sweaty. He’d been here, at the academy. Stalking me, watching me, all the while reporting back to my father. And then he had the audacity to desire to see me?
“Fuck him,” I mutter. “He’s been snitching on me this whole time!”
“We think, at least in part,” Scythe says. “He is…complicated.” My shark’s eyes glitter dangerously. Complicated like him. Like all my mates. None of our relationships have been simple and they know it.
“He’s got to be a bit cuckoo, though,” Minnie says. “If he’s your literal enemy. Those text messages he was sending you were all just fluff then? Just trying to manipulate you?”
“It’s the regina draw,” Scythe says. “Even the most psychopathic beasts struggle to withstand it. They get too curious.”
I note that Marduk reaches for Minnie’s hand under the table. Even Titus couldn’t withstand his draw to Minnie, and he’d still hurt her in the worst possible way. My heart suddenly aches for the both of us. Reginas with dangerous, cruel mates.
Suddenly, Minnie tosses her head and those bubblegum pink curls go bouncing. “The Wild Mother must think you can handle it, Lia. That’s the only possible reason.”
Smiling at my friend, I nod. “Perhaps so. Perhaps he’s just an asshole. But he can’t be trusted, whatever he is.”
“He has been somewhat useful now and again,” Scythe says. “But his so-called help is always twisted to his advantage somehow. It may be because of him that we have this.” He turns expectantly to Lyle, who has a new ring binder in front of him.
“I’ve been trying to organise it,” Lyle says, pushing the simple white binder towards me. “But these archived notes from years ago were present in your mother’s room.”
My muscles seize up as I stare at the aged papers within the folder. I don’t touch the thing, my hands refusing to move towards it. Minnie takes my left hand in hers as Lyle opens it up in front of me.
A wind howls outside, whistling past the windows. Under my bare feet, the floor trembles slightly.
“If it’s too much, we don’t have to look at it,” Lyle says gently. “We can do it another time.”
I take a deep breath and the floor goes still. “Is there anything important in there? Honestly, I just want to burn it.”
Lyle nods. “Yes, regina,” he says quietly. “I found records of blood draws. They were drawing blood so regularly it drew my attention. And none of them came with blood test results. It leads me to believe they were selling her blood.”
A pressure on my heart makes it hard to breathe. “He couldn’t get children from her, so he started selling her blood.” The ways he wanted to exploit her were boundless. “But of what value is her blood?”
“Her blood. Her venom, too, but they couldn’t get that as regularly.”
“How did they even expect to bypass the conception ritual?” Minnie asks, her voice harsher than I’ve ever heard it. “Why didn’t he keep her awake?”
“The notes indicate she was conscious for some time,” Lyle says, leafing through more yellowed notes at the back of the binder. “But eventually, they sedated her, and somewhere along the line, her body gave up. They should have let her go, but Mace gave the order to keep her on life support, then he hired Halfeather and his specialist eagles.”
I rub my eyes and push the folder away. “I don’t want it, Lyle. Thank you for getting it and the information, but…you keep it for the moment.”
“Of course, regina,” he says, closing it and taking it off the table. “I’ll have it if you ever want to look at it.”
I swallow the nausea down. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at that thing. And if Ghoul was the one who provided it for us…well I can’t even begin to understand what that means.
Chapter 59
Aurelia
Somewhere around noon the next day, as I lie fast asleep in the pack bed, Scythe’s hand skims along my thigh. Sleepily, I place my hand over his and am suddenly greeted with a nose to my pussy.
My eyes fly open.
Scythe looks up at me from between my legs, and it’s a stunning sight until he rasps, “Blood.”
I am slick between my legs, and I’m suddenly aware of a terrible ache in my uterus.
“Oh fuckity fuck,” I mutter.
“Pardon?” Lyle asks, rolling over and looking very offended.
“Painkillers,” I moan. “Wait, do we even keep any around here?”
“What for?” Savage asks, alarmed, grabbing my thigh from my other side.
I cry out, throwing the sheet over Scythe’s head and pulling my underwear down. “Oh no!”
“What’s wrong!” Savage exclaims. Then he too starts sniffing.
“Nothing,” Scythe says, pulling the sheet down to free his face. “It’s her cycle.”
Everyone except me leaps off the bed all at once, striding in all different directions for some reason I can’t fathom. In the distance, Savage gives an excited shout, “I’ve been waiting for this!”
Which makes me frown as I roll off the bed and walk bow-legged to my wardrobe, where I have stowed one regular pad from the communal stash in the anima dorm. My periods have been so infrequent and irregular that while I’ve been at the academy, I’ve never bothered with keeping much of a supply. But Savage bursts back into the room, doing a sharp left-hand turn when he realises I’m not in the bed.
“Regina, I’ve been saving these!” He opens a big paper bag that’s filled to the brim with packets of sanitary pads and tampons of all different brands and sizes. “I didn’t know what you would like best,” he says, excitedly pulling a packet out. “See, I thought you’d like this because it’s purple, but I looked inside and the actual pad isn’t purple, which seems like false advertising to me. And then there’s little writing on the back and I got Xander to read the back of it and he told me they were different facts!” He looks back up at me with a puzzled expression. “Why do they have to teach you things when you’re on your period?”
I grab a packet of super-size pads in one hand, and a new pair of undies in the other.
“Shall I rub your tummy?” he asks.
“I need to clean up first.”
I head to the bathroom. “And actually, ‘why are they so expensive?’ is the better question.”
Savage dutifully follows me right into the toilet and I have to force him to turn around and he does so with a harrumph.
“Lyle told me they have a period tax!” Savage exclaims. “So I said I was going to rip out the neck of the man who invented that.”
“Hmm,” I say vaguely, sitting down and pulling on the new pair of underwear and sticking the pad to it. “At least he could use one of these to mop up the blood.”
“Yeah,” Savage nods sagely. “Are you done yet? Next time, I’ll stick the pad to the underwear because you’re the regina. I’ll be the pad-sticker monitor.”
There’s a knock at the door. “What are you two doing in there?” Lyle asks suspiciously.
I’ve just managed to pull up my underwear when Savage opens the door to find both Lyle and Scythe waiting.
I clutch my stomach as nausea wracks up my throat.
“Give me that,” Lyle says bossily.
I pull my bloody underwear out of his reach. “Excuse you!”
He gives me an exasperated look. “Angel.”
“I’ll just throw it out,” I say, angrily pushing my way past the three of them, with one hand on my stomach and heading back to the room. “There have to be painkillers around here somewhere,” I mutter to myself.
They stalk after me, practically stepping on my heels as I arrive back into the bedroom and stare at the bloody spot in the middle of the pack bed.
“I’ll get the sheets,” Lyle says quickly.
“I have five different types of pills,” Scythe says, turning me around by the elbow and showing me an open plastic box with a variety of medications inside.
“Some of those are illegal, aren’t they?” I say mildly, examining the labels and selecting the paracetamol and ibuprofen.
He remains silent.
“She shouldn’t have that on an empty stomach,” Lyle says disapprovingly, tossing the dirty sheets aside and unfolding a new set.
“I’ll get the food!” Savage announces, shifting into his wolf form—presumably to get there faster—and bounding away with his tongue hanging out one side of his mouth.
Once the new sheets are on, Lyle reaches over to grab me.
“I’m not an invalid!” I cry, shooing him off. “It’s just my period.” A cramp assaults me and I double over with a groan. “Just gotta wait for the painkillers.”
“Would you prefer them IV?” Scythe asks seriously.
I wave him away, climbing into bed an inch at a time like I’ve aged forty years. “Being a woman is fucked up,” I groan.
“I know, angel,” Lyle says, brushing my hair as I lay my head down.
“You don’t know anything,” I grumble back.
Something warm presses against my back and I know it’s a hot water bottle. Instantly, I feel bad. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
“Is there any chocolate?”
Three minutes later, Savage returns with a bag of lunch sandwiches in his maw.
“You’ve got slobber all over it now,” Lyle mutters.
Savage shifts and removes it from his now human mouth. “No, it’s fine.”
It’s an entire operation after that. Savage feeds me tiny bites of ham and cheese toasties and then Lyle puts pills onto my tongue and holds a glass and straw up to my mouth.
“I’m really not sick,” I say, clutching the hot-water bottle to my stomach and grimacing until Savage offers me a tiny square of fairy-bread.
“Every animus enjoys this, Aurelia,” Scythe says from where he’s on his laptop in the tub chair. “Let them do it.”
“Yes, take pity on us,” Savage says happily.
I’m never going to forget how Scythe called me baby the other night. It still makes me feel giddy to hear that dark rasp in my memory.
Savage puts a hand to the side of his mouth like he’s telling me a secret, but says quite loudly, “His shark probably wants a taste of your— Argh!” A book flies through the air and slams into Savage’s head.
But Scythe is now ignoring us and has already gone back to his work. I cast wide eyes at Savage and he nods his head conspiratorially. That explains his nose buried between my legs from before. He has been sort of obsessed with my blood.
Lyle and Savage spend the rest of the day taking turns rubbing my back and feeding me food and tablets. I manage to dodge Savage each time I need to change my pad, but he’s content with the job of ‘pad-sticking monitor’. After I get back into bed each time, I make him try and read each of the random facts on the paper protectors he’s been collecting.
This works surprisingly well.
I make him copy down the facts word by word into a new exercise book he’s labelled ‘Savage’s book of diddlings and doodlings’. I mean, if he wants to make up words, I don’t see why not if it makes him connect the sounds to the letters. He’s been using the book to write down lyrics to his songs and poems about me, but until now, they’ve mostly been pictures. Now that’s changing, and he’s super happy about it.
