Page 123 of Her Feral Beasts

The long rays of the afternoon sun cast the dorm in gold and there is a sharp growl in my inner ear, low and unhinged.

Running is pointless, Miss Aquinas. There is nowhere I could not find you.

Lyle has no idea what he’s led me into. No fucking idea. And he wouldn’t believe it if I told him.

“Miss Aquinas.” Lyle’s voice is taut, like a leash pulled tight.

Can he hear that warning growl too?

I turn around and stare at his broad chest. Despite the long drive, his shirt is crisp, his tie smooth. I want to run my fingers down its silken length. He undoes my handcuffs, careful to only touch the steel as if my very skin is venomous.

Perhaps it is.

Lyle says nothing for a moment and then, “Look at me.”

Reluctantly, I oblige.

His amber eyes are darkened though the rest of his face remains blank. I don’t know what he sees in my eyes, maybe a cornered beast. Maybe the anger I feel stoking deep within the base of my stomach.

I think that he’s going to say something inspirational. Something nice, like ‘well done. You did well. We tried’. That’s what a normal person would say, isn’t it?

Apparently, all he has left is apathy, because he says, “I’ll call for you when I have the verdict.”

“How long?” My voice is as dull as old brass.

He blinks, staring into my corneas. “A few hours.”

I can’t help it. My vision blurs and a tear slips from one eye. I’m not even embarrassed because the growling inside my head only gets louder.

Without another word, I turn around and swipe myself into the dorm.

Heaviness clings to my frame, threatening to drag me under the stairs of this old building and bury me underneath. I fought. I ran. I sat at that tribunal and suffered the public humiliation. By tomorrow, those journalists will put everything they saw into the state newspapers.

The growling inside my head spreads through my entire body. Henry makes a frightened noise. When I reach the third floor corridor, I stare at the portrait of the dragon flying happily above the mountains. Freedom. Blue and shiny. That is what that painting represents.

In my room, Minnie, Raquel, Sabrina, Stacey and Connor are all waiting for me. Their nimpins chirp a greeting. But the grins of their owners all slide off their faces when they see me through the open doorway.

“Oh, Lia.” Minnie rushes for me and pulls me into her arms. “It’s alright. It’ll be alright.”

I squeeze my eyes shut just before the other animas huddle around us. I’m squashed on all sides. Someone’s boobs are pressed against my cheek and I know it’s Sabrina. It’s sort of comforting, actually. Raquel’s arm is around my back and Stacey’s cheek is pressed against mine. The growling quietens, just a little.

Connor rests his chin on the top of my head. “Those bastards are ruthless,” he mumbles into my crown. “Fucking council bastards. Who do they think they are?”

“Fuckers, the lot of them,” Sabrina mumbles.

“We should s-set fire to their c-cars,” Raquel says.

The laughter comes tumbling out of my mouth because a fire is just what this is. When my father set fire to Halfeather’s mansion, he set fire to my life too.

Minnie squeezes me tighter, as if she can hold me together by sheer force of will. Stacey swears and admonishes Raquel for the fire remark.

Eventually, we ease apart.

“When will you get the result?” Minnie asks quietly.

I wipe my eyes. “Lyle thinks it’ll be a few hours.”

“Lia,” Stacey says quietly, “these things were here when we got back to your room from lunch.”

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