Page 97 of Her Feral Beasts

I mean, it’s not theworstdragon insult out there—to compare him to a reptile—but Xander already hates me enough that I suppose that makes it worse. I recline in my chair. “I neverdidsee your animus out there, dragon-man, but I sure heard you.”

Xander sneers at me. “You won’t be going to Blackwater,snake. When you’re found guilty, you’ll be going back to your father to be executed according to the Old Laws. You won’t even get a choice.”

I blink at him as everything else in the room disappears.

“What, Pardalia didn’t tell you that?” he finishes irritably.

No, not that part he hadn’t. Xander knows how this world works and so do I. My father willmakethis a certainty.

I think that there’s a tether all beasts place upon ourselves. A chain of our own making that keeps us from losing our human side completely. Some beast’s tethers are made of fine metal, intricate but easily breakable. Some beasts’ tethers are made of wood. Sturdy but breakable with right pressure.

Mine?

I had a tether on myself that was as cold as a steel chain and hard as bone. I’d wrapped that grip around my body and mind until it kept me upright. And I’d relied upon it to keep me standing on my feet for the last seven years.

And with Xander’s words, a hairline fracture forms in that tether. And it makes my mind and body stumble where I sit.

Scythe abruptly stands up. “Let’s go.” It’s a command for the entire table and everyone scrambles to obey. Except me. I just stay seated while my entire world opens like a death maw before me. Savage leisurely gets up, his fingers lazily tracing up my bare arm like he can’t help himself. When he leaves, I feel his absence like a cold wind at my side.

It’s not my anima who screams this time, but my heart.

“Lia?” Minnie hisses. I can’t even look at her, I just stare into space as my dad’s face and form swim into my vision.One thing you must learn is thatwe don’t always get what we want. “Lia, you’re scaring me.” Minnie rushes around to my side of the table, pulling me up by the arm and hisses, “Bestie, if you’re going to have a breakdown, let’s do it where we don’t have enemies watching us!”

Henry squawks sharply in my ear.

“Enemies,” I repeat absently.

There has only ever been one enemy.

Chapter43

Aurelia

The Old Laws are the tenets we brought with us when we appeared in this world hundreds of years ago. They’re mostly misogynistic and brutal ways that dictate how animalia should live their lives. The right for my father to give me away in a bridal contract without my consent is one of those laws. The right for my father to execute me for crimes against my family is another of them.

Not everyone in modern times follows these laws, but there are parts of the modern constitution that allow those of us who want to practise the option to do so.

I know my father and the awful things he’s capable of. I know he wants to use me for my ‘market value’. Xander’s words are clear to me. If I’m found guilty in the trial, they’ll return me to my father. He’ll no doubt give an official notice for my execution to kill me off legally. Then he’ll do what he did with Halfeather—start a bidding war for me and kill the winner off to take their money.

Then, he might breed me with one of his highest-ranking serpent generals, one of the rarer snakes, an anaconda, or there was a rumour he found a basilisk.

With an army of warriors like that, he’ll be unstoppable.

A court to take over the world.

While I’m at the academy, I’m safe. But afterwards? I need to win this trial. End of story.

It’s just my luck that before class on Wednesday morning, Scythe saunters in. Savage is not present in classes today as Class B is focusing on their literacy, but the other two have been a dark presence wherever I look.

“Shark incoming,” Stacey mutters, sliding down her seat as if she can escape him by going under the table. Minnie audibly gulps, but I remain still, determined not to let him get to me.

Still, the memory of him slicing my shields like paper weighs heavily on me. He could have done it at any time, if it were not for his shackles. And it’s only this that has me sitting still and not crying out for the guards.

A female beast behind me sighs as Scythe approaches. Heisstunning to look at. But if he’s an angel, he’s lucifer; beautiful and deadly. The devil of the water. Cold and lethal. Even his walk is mesmerising, made to draw a woman’s eyes. It’s fluid, like he’s gliding through water, but a prowl that screams strength.

He pauses a polite distance away, though he’s so tall that he still manages to loom over us.

“Can I have a word, Aurelia?”

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