Page 126 of Her Rabid Beasts

A narrow, lanky build, inky black hair that flops over his forehead and the hunched stance of a half-rabid serpent.

It’s Thomas Krait.

With his slitted serpent’s eyes narrowed at directly at us. His forked tongue darts out, tasting the air. Of course, he can’t smell me. His pupils, however… dilate as they focus on my face.

He must’ve followed us here. Must’ve sensed our heat and vibration leaving the animus dorm and we’d been so caught up in victory we’d not noticed him stalking behind us.

I squeeze Sabrina’s arm and talk into her mind.“We need to walk very slowly out of here, or we’re fucked.”

She can’t reply to me, but I shriek out for Raquel.“Mayday, mayday! Snake alert!”

Raquel mutters expletives in my head before there’s a growled,“We’re still leaving the dining hall. You have to take him out, Lia.”

Sabrina and I take a few steps towards him.

“Thomas,” I say, faking a cheery accent, “what are you doing here?”

Thomas looks from me to Sabrina and what she has in her hands. I cringe internally. Like something from an awful dream, Thomas’ voice is a rasping, hissing thing. “Thievessss.” His fangs snap down and he snarls in warning.

We’re almost at the mouth of the alley, but we freeze in front of him.

“Take him out, you two!”Raquel shouts in our heads.

While I would eventually be fine if Thomas attacked me, Sabrina wouldn’t.

I step in front of my leopard friend.

“Shit,” Sabrina mutters.

Thomas takes a single step forward and a clear drop of venom falls from one fang onto his lip. He licks it off. My heart thunders under my sternum.

Even one drop of that would kill Sabrina within minutes. Henry and Cherry both let out chirps of warning. But Thomas was once a rabid serpent—still is, to some extent. His psychic shields are in full force around him. The nimpins will be of no use here.

“Aurelia Aquinassssss.”

The hate I hear in that unused voice has my hackles raised. I clear my throat and try to sound as unbothered as I can. “Hey, Thomas, let us pass.”

“Move aside, animus,” Sabrina says haughtily.

Thomas doesn’t move a muscle, nor do his fangs. He looks so much like Theo that my stomach twists at the sight.

A metal table under bright lights.

Obsidian shackles glimmering on hands and wrists.

A voice, scared and sobbing in agony. “Please,” Theo gasped. “Please my king.”

My own voice, shrill and hoarse from crying. “Theo I’m sorry!”

My hands ball into fists. The scars on my stomach burn. I deserved them, I fucking deserve all of this pain tenfold.

“Lia!”Raquel shouts in my head.

But I can’t. I can’t strike him. I can’t hurt him or tell Henry to. There’s only hate in Thomas’ slitted eyes, and I deserve every inch of that. I?—

Out of nowhere, Raquel appears behind Thomas and shoves him hard on the shoulder blades. A surprised Thomas tumbles to the ground with a choked breath.

“Run!” Raquel shouts, just as Thomas lets out this mad hiss and disappears into his T-shirt and shorts as he shifts. Sabrina is out of the alleyway first, hurtling for the dorm, Raquel andStacey behind her. But I can’t run. And I don’t. I step out of the alley and watch as Thomas slithers out of his clothes at speed. The black scales have the series of white crossbars of his species, a pattern unique to their kind. Theo showed me his pattern once, and I called him beautiful. Thomas’ markings are near-identical. A tear slips out of my eye as I watch him slither in the direction of the dining hall.

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