Page 41 of Psycho Beasts

I needed a hot bath and a mountain of warm bread with butter. The nightmare of the server still shook me to my core. Then I needed to sleep for a decade until I forgot about everything that kept happening in my life.

With a heavy sigh of determination, I turned toward the building and limped forward.

My mouth dropped open, and I stopped.

Xerxes and Ascher almost ran into me, and both immediately wrapped their arms around my sides as I collapsed.

I was so stunned I didn’t bother to correct them as they carried me forward together like I couldn’t walk.

Holy mother of the moon goddess.

We were walking toward a mansion.

Massive skyscrapers towered off in the distance. It was still Serpentine City, but different.

I whipped my concussed head back and forth.

Behind us, massive, gnarled trees covered in white-and-pink flowers lined the city street, creating a tunnel of blooms.

In front of us, a mansion of gothic architecture towered and was more expansive than the training center back in the shifter realm. Ivy crawled across the brick.

As we approached the wrought-iron gate in front of the house, it glowed with enchantment and swung open.

“Welcome home, Master Xerxes,” a thickly accented voice said from nowhere.

I turned to gape at the omega, who was casually carrying me toward the mansion like it was no big deal.

“Master?” I squeaked out.

Xerxes shook his head with a sigh, long blond hair plastered across his face. “ABOs are very dramatic. Those with old money still follow archaic traditions from centuries ago. It’s hard to move forward when ABOs live for so long.”

I sputtered as we got closer to the stately mansion. “So you’re a part of this old money?”

“Unfortunately,” he muttered.

I nodded, grateful that Ascher and Xerxes were carrying me, because my legs would have probably given out.

“That sucks.” I grimaced.

Xerxes looked at me weirdly. His purple eyes narrowed as he stared at me with intensity. “What do you mean?”

I gave him a confused look back; it seemed pretty clear to me. “That you have to follow old rules and bullshit. I’m guessing you can’t just do what you want while you’re in this realm?”

He didn’t respond, and I narrowed my eyes at him as he dragged me forward toward the shadowy mansion.

I could practically hear the rich children back in the shifter realm, scoffing at my ripped clothes. They’d made fun of the threadbare sheets the school had lent me.

In every realm, there were rich people who thought they were better than others.

I shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold.

At least when you were poor, you could see how egotistical the rich pricks were. How blinded they were by their parents’ money. Too obsessed with their status to realize their perception of self-importance shackled them.

Xerxes rapped his knuckles against the massive front door. He was still staring at me, and the silence gnawed at me.

“So do you hate it, or are you also a rich prick?” I asked softly and couldn’t keep the sass out of my voice.

My stomach pinched as the memories of my days serving pretentious men in business suits who groped and pawed at me like I was an object.

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