Page 106 of Psycho Beasts

I needed to do something.

Desperately, I tried to speak and defuse the situation, but cold female hands grabbed me roughly and dragged me deeper.

Recover, the numb said softly.

Cold darkness consumed me once again, and I thrashed about for what felt like infinity in a cold abyss.

I drowned in water.

A light purring sensation vibrated across my chest and was the only thing that stopped the panic festering in my gut.

I didn’t know how long I drowned in the murky depths of a dark lake, but ever so slowly, I drifted upward.

Red droplets rippled across the surface and slowly sank past me into the darkness as I rose by them.

Distantly, something poked at my mouth, and I tried to swat it away.

It stabbed harder.

I surfaced.

Sitting up with a gasp, I patted my skin.

Even though I shivered like I’d been deep underwater, and phantom droplets clung to my skin, I was completely dry.

The poking sensation in my mouth was Aran sitting beside me in bed, shoving the end of the pipe between my lips.

“Really?” I sputtered and slapped it away.

Aran shrugged. “I thought maybe it would help.”

“You thought drugs would help?”

Aran didn’t respond, just threw herself onto the bed and squeezed me against her shaking body.

I relaxed into the warmth, my skin still raw from the sensation of drowning in ice-cold water.

“Why are you shivering?” Aran asked, her eyes narrowing. “What did you see while you were passed out? You muttered some interesting things. Tell me before the guys come back and smother you.”

Aran sensed my confusion and explained, “Cobra’s jewels turned to snakes, and he literally stood over you on the bed like you were his egg to defend or something bizarre. It was super creepy.”

She shook her head. “Everyone tried to pull him off you, but then you started muttering like you were talking to someone, and thrashing, and basically all of them went berserk. The men partially transformed, except for Xerxes, who shifted fully into a kitten and purred on your chest. It was the only thing that seemed to calm you.”

My jaw actually dropped at the thought of Xerxes trying to comfort me.

The bastard had been frigid ever since the shower situation.

He hated me.

Aran nodded. “I know, right? You stayed that way for a few hours, but suddenly Cobra’s shadows swarmed off his skin and made a big black snake. It tried to lay on you, which kitten Xerxes did not like. Jax tried to intervene and got covered in scratches and bites.”

She paused dramatically. “Then you started thrashing again, and Ascher’s creepy ram head bleated so loudly that Walter ran in and yelled at everyone to get out.”

Aran chuckled.

“You should have seen him. Kitten and snake in one hand, Ascher’s horn in his other, Walter threw them all out into the hall. Jax was the only one that went willingly. It was chaotic, and the most entertained I’ve been in months.”

I took a long draw from the pipe Aran was still pushing between my lips and explained the icy water that felt like a lake and the numb voice speaking to me.

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