Page 8 of Psycho Beasts

“Same,” Xerxes said.

His long blond hair was plastered against his body as he stood in front of Lucinda. He also used his body to protect her from the worst of the rain, and I was grateful that he was helping my little sister.

Our driver walked ahead of us and looked back every few seconds. He didn’t even flinch at the torrential downpour and still wore sunglasses at night like a complete psychopath.

I could practically feel the judgment radiating off him.

Not cute.

Also, what kind of professional Mafia driver, who was allegedly bringing us to the don that ran the city, didn’t carry around a black umbrella?

I’d seen some bootleg human movies about gangs back in the shifter realm.

He was either shit at his job or a fraud, because they always had umbrellas. It added to the scary gang energy.

Everyone knew that.

Another gust tunneled through the buildings, and I tensed my thighs to steady us.

Would it be wrong to throw Aran’s limp body at the driver if he turned out to be a bad guy? Knowing Aran, she’d be honored to act as a battering ram.

I jostled my arms back and forth and tried blowing on her face. “Not the time for beauty sleep. Just so you know, right now, you’re a royal pain in my ass.”

Aran mumbled incoherently, but didn’t wake.

She was disguised as a boy again, but I didn’t care what features she wore. No matter what, she was Aran.

My bestie.

Cobra narrowed his snake eyes and shifted forward like he was about to rip her from my hands.

My arm cramped, and I tensed my core as I tried to radiate “I’m a competent woman” instead of grimacing like I was constipated.

Once again, I really needed to hit the gym and lift. Muscles would really come in handy in times like this.

Aran mumbled some nonsense about blood, but didn’t wake.

Great, my best friend was having a nightmare about me, just another thing to add to the therapy list.

I stumbled, and Ascher narrowed his eyes at me like he could tell I was struggling to carry her.

“There was a rock,” I mumbled.

Ascher raised a golden eyebrow and pointedly looked down at the smooth, paved sidewalk.

“Wake up. You’re embarrassing me,” I growled into Aran’s ear as another gust of stiff wind hit us, and I shivered.

Don’t ask me how I grew up in the negative freezing temperatures of the shifter realm, but a chilly breeze almost had me on my knees.

At that frigid moment, I really missed the two hot suns of the fae realm. Even though everyone had awkwardly tried to murder us, the climate was unbeatable.

I would definitely go back on a vacation.

Hopefully, they would forget about Aran eating the forbidden snack and me throwing my blood around like a parasite.

On second thought, maybe I’d vacation somewhere else.

“We’re here,” our driver said in a gruff voice. He had zero facial expressions, and his entire body stood unnaturally still in the rain.

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