Page 125 of Her Feral Beasts

I shake my head. “I want to bath Henry.” One last time. I don’t say it out loud, but they all hear it. The nimpins all bob up and down excitedly at the thought of their favourite thing, but Henry just stares at me like he’s trying to tell me something. I climb to my feet as the animas gather the towels and brushes.

Those twin snakes sway threateningly. The growling in my body makes my whole body tremble.

Each way I turn leads to running. And at the end of each path waits an apex predator, determined to sink their teeth into me. Xander’s dragon was wrong. We would be parted, whether he liked it or not.

Always running. Always hunted. Always prey.

Minnie is eyeing me as she soaps up Gertie, but I avoid her eyes and concentrate on massaging Henry, who is also staring me down.

We wash and groom our nimpins quietly, the other animas voices no more than murmurs. The nimpins love the water and find it relaxing. They recharge their batteries this way, dozing off in between massages, and it makes them smell like soap and bubble bath.

It’s a good distraction from what’s to come.

And the entire time, I keep my back turned to the bundle still lying on my bed.

* * *

It’s well and truly dark by the time the knock comes at our door. Georgia is standing there with two guards flanking her and Theresa behind them. “You need to come with me, Miss Aquinas.”

It’s not her words that make my blood run cold, but the absence of any smirk. Of any attitude. Her face is dead serious.

A dark feeling solidifies in my chest. “Right.”

I turn around, but Minnie is already at my side and wraps her arms right around me. “I’ll be right here, Lia,” she says. Then her voice trembles and she meaningfully squeezes my hand. “Waiting right here for when you come back.”

My heart. How is it possible that I feel it cracking open and swelling at the same time? I take her hands in mine because I want to look at her as I say this.

“Minnie, you’ve been a good friend to me,” I whisper. “The best. Thank you for your friendship.”

I turn away from her before the tears spill from her eyes because if I see that, I might lose my nerve completely.

“I’ll come with you, Lia,” Theresa says, but there is also a shimmer to her eyes. “I’ll be with you all the way.”

“Thank you.”

She hasn’t noticed anything different about the room. I zip up my jacket.

I turn to look at my friends one last time. Minnie is holding Raquel’s hand, her pink hair bright, her eyes shining. Raquel grabs Sabrina’s hand as if they need to and my leopard friend bites her lip. Stacey is wiping her nose on her sleeve and she too grabs Sabrina’s hand.

I’m glad they have each other.

But Connor bites his lip as he clasps Stacey’s, and the conflict in his eyes beams right through me. He knows they’re my mates. I wonder if my secret will be all out now. I wonder if it matters anymore.

“I love you guys,” I say. “You’ve been more like family to me than anyone ever has in the last seven years.”

“Don’t say it, Lia,” Raquel bites out. “Don’t fucking say it.”

I smile at them because it’s the first time since I’ve known her, Raquel did not stutter. “I’m not going to die,” I reassure them with a weak smile. “That’s not the way it will go.”

Minnie nods eagerly and I force a smile for her.

The guards put steel handcuffs on me and I’m followed out, Theresa falling into step beside me.

The walk is quiet, but immediately I see that we’re not headed towards Lyle’s office. Instead, we’re walking the opposite way, towards the medical wing. I say nothing as we walk through the double locked doors and the familiar smell of hand sanitiser and disinfectant wash hits my nose, both comforting and anxiety-inducing at the same time.

Adrenaline cuts through my veins like glass and I barely suppress the full-body shake that’s trying to tear me apart. I’ve only known terror like this in nightmares.

Only known it as waking up sweat-soaked with rib-crushing heart beats.

---