Page 199 of Psycho Beasts

Aran didn’t flinch, just calmly piled her mashed potatoes into a small mountain.

Xerxes kept reading, “A woman covered in scars who is suspected of being a half-breed is expected to have kidnapped her. Contact the High Court if you have information.”

Tension was a tangible weight, and my head spun with relief that my enchanted ring concealed my scars, and terror for my friend.

Everyone waited for Aran to break down or say something.

When she finally spoke, it was just to say, “I don’t have a middle name. They should fix that.”

She was too beat down to even care.

Once again, we were fucked.

Chapter 35

Sadie

SHOPPING

“Um, there’s been a mistake,” I said as I peeked my head out of the dressing room.

Xerxes had taken us to the “shopping district” of the city, which was one massive skyscraper.

The central part of the building was hollowed out, and a glass elevator went up and down continuously.

On all sides, going 120 floors into the sky, were shops for clothes, the home, and everything else a person could think of.

It was a far cry from the small businesses in the shifter realm.

I didn’t even know it was possible for so much stuff to exist.

“No, there hasn’t,” Aran said tiredly as she tapped her foot outside the changing room.

After the flyer got delivered yesterday, she’d sat in the corner of the room, in the dark, with a pipe in her mouth.

She wouldn’t come to bed or talk to me.

I’d forced her to come along on the trip, knowing she loved shopping.

She’d pointed out that I was risking getting executed and she was risking being forced to rule a bloodthirsty realm, all so we could pick out clothes for a BDSM club.

I’d told her it was worth the risk.

I was pretty sure she’d only agreed to the trip because she was low-key hoping we’d be attacked and she’d have a reason to fight people.

Sadly for her, she was still enchanted as a boy and the High Court had released a picture of her looking very girly and different with pin-straight hair.

But she still wore a baseball cap and sunglasses to hide her curly blue hair and bright-blue eyes.

Odds were basically zero that she’d be recognized.

As long as her disguise held, we were safe.

I called out from the changing room, “No, there definitely has been a mistake. I don’t understand how they made it so the straps cover everything but my boobs and vagina. How does that make any sense?”

I quickly pulled back the curtain to flash her my outfit.

The black material crisscrossed in straps starting at my ankles and climbing up to cover my throat.

---