Page 144 of Psycho Beasts

My heart melted.

He raised his voice again and bellowed, “EVERYONE SHE WOKE UP!”

Everyone was yelling recently; we really needed to work on effective communication.

There were loud banging noises and a mix of more shouting voices. Like I said, none of us had any voice control.

“Get out of my way,” Aran said, followed by a loud thunking noise.

Cobra hissed back at her, “She’s my kitten. I get to see her first.”

“Please, she’s still mad at you,” Aran said as the bed shook with what felt like two people wrestling atop me.

“Great, smother me to death,” I said dryly, as my sternum ached with pain. “Not that the voice in my head would just let me die,” I complained.

“What did you say?” Xerxes asked softly, his mouth so close to my ear that I could feel each of his cinnamon breaths across my face.

“Did she just say she wanted to die?” Ascher’s words were clipped.

There was a loud goat’s bleat and the crashing of what sounded like a fist going through a wall.

“Y’all need help,” I mumbled.

With my eyes closed, I slapped my hands at the two figures, who were still very much trying to crush me.

Lucinda cried, and small hands gripped my broken arm. “Sadie, please be okay. It was awful. We thought you were dead. You were all broken and bloody. And then the don stopped by and said we have to go to school. This realm is awful, and I told him you wouldn’t make us.”

I gritted through my teeth, “Lucinda, release my broken arm.”

The excruciating stabbing sensation disappeared, and I relaxed back into the comfortable bed.

“Also, yes, you’re going to school. I can’t believe you’d try to manipulate a pathetic, broken woman.”

Aran guffawed. “You ain’t no woman.”

“At least I have tits.”

“Oh please. Don’t act like you aren’t attracted to my male form.”

I chuckled, but the only problem was my ribs and lungs were definitely shattered, and a weird rattling noise sounded as I tried to exhale air.

“Did you really try to die?” Jinx asked curiously.

“Yeah, but the damn voice in my head wouldn’t let me,” I said honestly.

There was another crack as I assumed Ascher punched the wall, and the bed shook with the vibrations from Cobra’s hiss.

Jinx didn’t sound impressed. “Then why aren’t you dead?”

“Jinx!” Jess and Jala said at once.

“It’s rude to ask someone why they aren’t dead. We’ve talked about pretending to be normal,” Jess scolded her younger sister.

I waved my hands to dismiss Jess.

“Are you having an episode?” Aran asked. “Open your eyes, woman. It’s creeping me out.”

With extreme fortitude, I dragged open my crusty lids and moaned at the brightness.

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