Page 52 of Her Rabid Beasts

“Let him go,”Xander drawls.“She’s probably just lost a makeup brush or something.”

Promising that I’m going to tear him up when I return, I bound through the hallways, stopping only to unlatch a door with my teeth and rush outside and straight to the anima dorm.

The door is closed and I don’t have a swipe card to get in. I growl up at Christine to let me in.

“Nuh-uh!” she calls down. “Not today, Satan!”

I’m too violent to return to my human form to climb up like I did last night. Cracking my neck on both sides, I prepare to charge through the glass, backing up a couple of steps. It’s non-smashable glass so it might crack my skull, but I don’t fucking care right now.

But Minnie is suddenly next to me, panting loudly, and I snap at her, telling her to hurry up. Her eyes are wide as she yanks off her lanyard and hurtles right at the door. Smashing her ID card at the sensor, she then yanks on the door.

But it doesn’t click open. The door remains shut.

“Nope, he’ll come right in with you,” Christine pipes.

For Lia. For Lia I can concentrate.

Taking a deep breath, I picture my regina and her magnificent blue eyes. The way she felt to hold last night. Soft and warm and all mine.

I shift back into human form and roar up at Christine, “Let me in you stone cunt!”

“Nope!” she shouts back just as loud.

Minnie swears and shakes her little fist up at the gargoyle. “Come on, Christine!”

Ignoring the both of them, I leap up like I did last night, ready to climb up to her room.

Except, where yesterday my fingers easily gripped the bottom of the first-floor ledge, today, my fingers hit an invisiblebarrier of slippery magic. I fall back to the ground in a heap. A sheet of magic protects the column of balconies all the way up to the third floor.

I jump back up to my feet and immediately see that though Christine has protected my climbing path, she’s leftherselfopen.

“I’m going to tear your head off this building!” I roar, and without waiting for a reply, I charge at the door, leaping up at the last minute and scrambling up until I get my fingers around the upper ledge. I haul myself up and straddle Christine from behind, grabbing her head in both hands and pulling with all my might.

“Argh!” Christine screams. “Help!”

“Let me in or you’re dead!” I cry.

The stone groans and I hear a distant crack.

“Oh my God!” shrieks Minnie.

Xander strolls up, joint in his mouth. “Oh no you don’t,” he growls, before assuming a baseball pitching position, turning on his side, raising his hands and one knee. A fire ball appears in his hands, glowing a mad orange-red, and he piffs it right at me.

I have no choice but to leap off the gargoyle, right back for the ground, where I land, rolling. I leap to my feet yet again, shoving at Xander, who slugs me right in the nose.

There’s a crack inside my face.

“Control yourself,” he snarls.

“I want my regina!” I roar, grabbing my nose and pushing it straight. “Lia is hurting.”

I’m vaguely aware of Minnie bashing her ID card against the sensor, but Christine is wailing and swearing, not letting her in.

“Now you’ve done it!” Minnie shouts, stomping over to me and pushing me hard in the chest. I barely move, but Xander and I both peer down at her tiny, round form in surprise. “You’ve fucked up the door, Savage!” she cries.

Xander lets out a low laugh. “Then use your little Tigger powers and throw something at the glass.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’ll get in trouble,” she says, as if he’s an idiot. “You’rethe dragon, here. Command her to open.”

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