Page 68 of Her Feral Beasts

It feels good to admit it, but when I look back up at Lyle, he’s gone rigid in his seat. But his voice returns to shopping-list flat. “Your father told me you were a liar.”

“And you believe him?”

“He is a respected member of the council. And Halfeather was an unmated eagle with substantial wealth. He had a long line of animas wanting to wed him.”

“You’re implying that I tried to marry him for his money?” I say in disbelief. Beasts often marry if they don’t find their mates, often for protection or if they’re getting older and want children.

He shrugs. “It’s a claim that makes sense. They will use this at the trial.”

I want to vomit and sucker punch him at the same time. In all my time living in my bungalow, I never tried to steal or obtain more money other than by working. Until I was literally starving and forced to steal, that is. Now they’re going to use this against me in court.

My voice is deadly quiet when I say, “My father sold me, Mr Pardalia.”

But he’s sitting there shaking his head as if I’m full of it. “Your father actively speaks out against bridal and breeding contracts. He’s been trying to improve the image of serpents in society, which is a noble thing for him to do. To do what you are saying would make him a—

“A Liar,” I hiss. “A hypocrite. A manipulator.”

And that is why he’s so good at what he does.

“Funny,” Lyle deadpans. He looks me straight in the eyes. “He said the same thing of you.”

I want to scream. The rage that pours from me at this injustice is a tempest that wracks my very bones. As if he knows, Henry scrambles out of my grip and begins pecking me on the cheek, but it does not stop my shaking.

“Well,” I bite out through clenched teeth. “Looks like you have it all figured out then, don’t you? If you’re so friendly with my father, why do you need to speak to me at all?”

“I am trying to help you, Miss Aquinas.” His eyes flash. “Like Ihelpedyou when those beasts tried to kidnap you.”

“Thank you for doing your job, Mr Pardalia,” I reply smoothly. And a beam of wicked inspiration springs through me, wild as an autumn wind. “As grateful as I am, you hardly have a handle at your school. Did you know, for example,those beastshave their own dragon trick floor in the unmated dorms?” When he stares at me, I know that he didn’t know and I run with it. “That’s right. And did you know they killed a serpent up there? Right in front of me, to prove a point.”

His entire demeanour changes.

Lyle seems to darken at the edges, and though he remains perfectly still, his stillness changes from that of a contemplative repose to coiled, lethal predator preparing to strike. I canfeelthe contained violence rolling off him like summer heat.

My hackles rise in warning as alarm bells ring loud and clear in my head. Henry puffs up on my shoulder, as if he’s ready to finally do something.

His voice is nothing more than deathly quiet when he says, “What were you doing up there, Aurelia?”

I’m so taken aback by the sudden change that I open and close my mouth like a blowfish. My voice is stuck in the depths of me as my anima cries out in warning.

“Get out,” he says in a voice of pure command. “This session is done.”

I stare at him, because he didnotjust dismiss me like—

“Get. Out.” His voice holds a lethal punch of command and my anima has me lurching out of my seat and stumbling towards the door like our life depends on it. Yanking it open, I rush past Georgia and the guards and stab the button for the elevator. Thankfully, it opens with a soft whoosh and I stumble in. It’s not until the guards file in and the door closes that I clutch onto Henry and gasp a full breath.

One of the guards chuckles at the sight of me and says with a grin at his comrade, “They don’t call him the Beast Breaker for no reason.”

What the hell just happened?

Chapter31

Aurelia

My guards take me straight back to my dorm.

Henry and I tremble the whole way. Maybe this is normal. Maybe this is who the deputy headmaster of this school is. Violence kept hidden behind an Italian three-piece suit.

It’s both shocking and completely makes sense. A weak beast couldn’t run this school. And a beast who walks around with that much power and arrogance is going to show it sometimes.

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