Page 11 of Psycho Beasts

“You’re the weight of a small elephant. If you collapse, I’m not carrying you.”

“Please,” she scoffed. “You’re just jealous of my muscles.”

She paused to flex her impressively striated biceps and quad. When she went to lift her wet shirt to show off her abdominal lines, I slapped her hands away.

“It’s probably just the enchantment,” I grumbled with envy.

“Enchantment can’t glamour what wasn’t already there. We both know these muscles are all mine.” Aran smirked, but her smile fell as she glanced at the bloody words on the wall.

I took some deep breaths and reminded myself that it was not rational to be offended by the fact that my best friend passed out at the sight of blood, just because I had newfound blood powers.

The song of the hunt—which would always be the numb to me—had been revealed to be so much more and less than it was.

Relief lightened my chest.

The half warriors had said they could also hear it during battle, which meant I wasn’t going crazy and I wasn’t that special.

It was normal.

There was some mundane, half-breed explanation for the numb.

For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t drowning in circumstances I didn’t understand.

The big picture didn’t seem as complex.

It was all just chance and circumstances.

I was going to be fine.

“Should we be worried?” Lucinda asked as she grimaced at the wall.

I thought about it for a moment and shook my head. “We’ve literally survived the evil fae queen. How bad could the Mafia be? Plus, we’ve got Aran.”

The way my already pale best friend went white as a ghost let me know that we very much did not have Aran. She was stuck somewhere in the past and clearly needed a long nap and a bubble bath.

Sunglasses Man gestured for us to walk through another door.

“Everyone, stay behind me,” Cobra said to the group.

Jax scoffed and pushed past him, and everyone followed.

Cobra entered the room last, and his snake eyes flickered. I could practically see steam coming from his ears.

I couldn’t swallow down the manic giggle that bubbled up my throat. He was just so unwell. It was amusing.

Abruptly, Jax stopped walking, and I peered over his shoulder.

Nope, I took it back.

We were screwed.

Chapter 2

Sadie

MEETING THE DON

Sure, the fae realm had been less than ideal: evil queen, gladiator matches, millions of bloodthirsty fae screaming “die, cunt,” and the sour reek of the patriarchy.

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