Page 16 of Her Rabid Beasts

“It’s been a week, Lyle. You need to see her.”

Headmistress Celeste Agnios casts me a wry, red-lipped smile from across her desk. I sit in her office on the invisible topmost floor of the central offices of Animus Academy. A phoenix being granted keeper of a dragon’s mansion was unheard of until Celeste’s ancestor helped the Draykaris family in a dire situation generations ago. With the dragon population dwindling, and the Draykaris line dying out, the Agnios line was given ownership of the land. The dragon-made mansion respected her as the lady of the house, with only a small tantrum now and again. I imagine that Celeste being one of the mythic orders made the transition smoother. No one really knows the extent of the phoenix power because they keep themselves quiet and secret in the same way the dragons do. Seeing mating bonds between beasts made them powerful enough and it was no wonder there were people who wanted control of them. It was for that reason Celeste had confined herself here.

But now, the academy housesthreecreatures from mythic orders. I wonder if that is why the property allowed Aurelia to access one of its secret chambers. There are many such passagesand chambers hidden around and under the school, but rarely did the spirit that ran the place grant restricted access to students.

I meet Celeste’s dancing golden gaze and say evenly, “We’re still not out of the water, Celeste. My voicemails are full of threats and inquiries. The first phoenix injunction in decades has everyone extremely curious.”

And nervous.

I managed to avoid questions from the other students by telling them I placed Aurelia in solitary confinement. Whether they interpreted that as a punishment or a safety measure was of no consequence to me.

The media filled my inbox the entire week, and while I managed to avoid making a statement, time is running out.

As the face of an academy for budding ferals and criminals, I’ve spent my career maintaining a good relationship with the media. I spoke about my programs, showed them my meticulously kept data and success rates. One nosy reporter looking too closely into my dark past could completely derail everything I’ve worked for. Everyone knew that I’d entered Blackwater Penitentiary ten years ago, but that was all. Nobody knew the full story of what had come before. And I’m going to keep it that way.

Celeste’s reply is smooth and confident, as always. “Phoenix Court has made our statement. We are investigating. That will placate the council for the moment.”

Even Mace Naga was forced to quiet his protests once Celeste put out the notice via a message carried across the state with phoenix fire. I wish I could have seen the look on the face of the Serpent King when he saw the words written in licking red flames bright enough to sear the retinas.

The ancient and noble Court of Phoenix hereby places a formal injunction upon the execution of Aurelia Aquinas,pending an investigation. Further notice to be given at a later date.

Timely and precise. But also vague. Irritatingly so for Aurelia’s scheming father. A beast we’d all thought was trying to improve Serpent Court for the betterment of his people.

“But for how long?” I say.

“For as long as we need to figure out what to do with our… situation.”

The council will intervene as soon as they have the chance, and we both know it.

Celeste eyes my swinging foot and I cease my fidgeting under her acute gaze. She’s always been able to read me better than most. Since the first day I met her at a difficult time in my life, she’s been a mentor; not quite a mother, more like a stern aunt. She’d given me a chance when I’d been ready to throw myself to the executioner’s block. “You’re worried about the effect she’ll have on you. You’re worried she’ll trigger you.”

I don’t reply, wondering how the hell I’m supposed to answer that. But Celeste knows me too well and continues in that ever-calm voice of hers. “I think she will benefit from you being there. Regina or not, a student needs you and your particular skill set. Youwillgo to her aid.”

Something in me settles a little at her order. Aurelia is nothing more than a challenging student who requires my instruction. Remedial instruction. I’ve been monitoring the situation from afar. Minnie and the other animas have been with her near-constantly, including overnight. They are dedicated friends. Savage, on the other hand has decided that he wants her and has been more than obsessed. He’s been attending enough classes that I don’t have to pull him up on it but then rushing back to her every evening. I should have known that his wolfish instincts would lead him to her. That he would be the first of usto succumb. But the rest of us have more sense and if we are careful, he will be the only one.

I rise from my seat, pulling down the cuffs of my suit jacket. “Very well. I’ll do my rounds with the rabid students and then go to see her.”

Celeste nods imperiously, the edges of her lips twitching as she muses. “How long I’ve waited, Lyle. How longwe’vewaited.”

Animus Academy is best known for our flagship civilisation program. My hand-selected team is made of those passionate and skilled in helping young animalia be the best people they can be. I rarely venture out to teach those classes because I picked the best to do it for me.

But the rabid students are handled by me directly. There is no structure, no textbook or training guide that knows how to free a human mind from inside their beast. I consider it an art form more than a science.

Rick, my veterinarian and zoologist, is the only other person I permit down in the underground system of impenetrable glass rooms I built when Celeste appointed me as her deputy four years ago.

“G’day, Lyle,” Rick says cheerily, handing me the clipboard with his overnight notes for the group. “The rooms have been cleaned and the students are fed. Titus is in a better mood today. We even went for a bit of a swim. Thomas was drawing some pictures in the night, mostly gigantic monster-snakes. The usual. The others all slept.”

I thank him and he heads off to bed, cheerily waving goodbye to Titus as he goes.

The rabid tiger, for his part, lies on his bed in naked human form, scowling at me. After weeks, his skin is finally grime free. Big cats love to swim, contrary to popular belief, and I built the connected pool with the hope of sneaking some hygiene in. There are a variety of plants in each room as well as sensory items, personal effects from home and pictures of their family to prompt them to remember who they are.

Strolling up to the glass wall that separates his room from the rest of the cavern, I speak through the speaking holes, “How are you this morning, Titus?”

He grunts at me and under his thick black beard and shaggy hair. He’s grinding his square jaw as if he hates having to ask. “More food now.”

In the last three months, I’ve managed to increase his vocabulary significantly. Unlike some of my other students, Titus wants to be human. He’s also quite intelligent, which helps, but is arrogant, which doesn’t. After my investigation, I discovered that his rabidity is only recent. He spent most of his life feral, but I have yet to learn what triggered this episode of rabidity.

“More food?” I smile at him. “Give me a new word, Titus.” I nod at his laptop on the desk next to the TV, where I’d written his words for the week. “And I’ll give you a whole goat to hunt.”

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