Page 138 of Her Psycho Beasts

The pain of his words is almost too much to bear. My soul is scored with five names. I can never change that. Don’t want to change that. They are mine. They always would be, whether they wanted it or not.

Scythe does not look at me. He stares out the windscreen, his hands loose in his lap. “However…” I hang onto his every word. “I have a replacement planned. Beak’s nest is dead. His regina died a very long time ago, and he’s been looking for a home ever since. He’s a powerful eagle and…you’re missing an avian in your pack.”

Every word he speaks is the swipe of a machete. Cutting me down. Tearing me open. Scarring me. Horror is the coil of a whip around my neck.

“You’ve been planning this for a while,” I whisper in disbelief. “Planning to leave me?” Planning to replace himself, just like he replaced Sabrina’s mates.

“You’ve always had a chemistry with Beak, and since his regina is gone?—”

“Fuck you!” It’s a scream that tears from the depths of my being. “Fuck. You. Scythe.” I shove open the door and hurl myself out, furiously wiping tears from my eyes. He thinks he can justswaphimself out of my pack, my life?

I sprint across the carpark and jab the button for the lifts over and over again, my vision blurry. The elevator groans on its cables as Scythe’s hand finds my elbow.

“Do not fucking touch me!” I scream, jerking out of his grip. “I am not mymother,Scythe. I won’t let you do whatever the hell you want to me. You think you can just— Who the fuck do you think you are?”

He steps back like I’ve slapped him, his face going stone cold. I’m so furious that I don’t even feel bad.

“After everything we’ve been through?” I hiss. “After everything you’ve said to me?” I wipe at my face. The elevator doors open and I step inside, jabbing at the button for the ground floor.

The entire metal box shudders as the doors close.

“Aurelia,” Scythe warns. “You need to control?—”

“Fuck you,” I say viciously. The floor trembles again.

Scythe grabs me by the arms and twists me to look at him, his eyes flaming with cold fire. “You donotspeak to me like that, Aurelia Boneweaver. Control. Yourself.”

I wrench myself out of his grip and he allows it. But I say nothing. Do nothing, except pant, my mind racing in a furious storm.

The doors open to the ground floor. I step out.

“We need to get back to the academy,” he says calmly, placing a hand on the door. “Xander is waiting on the helipad.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I say viciously.

His stare is challenging. Dominant.

Well guess fucking what?Noonetells me what to do. I turn my back on him and stride out into the busy lobby. Healthcare workers, service staff and families linger at the cafe, the pharmacy and convenience store. It’s bright and airy. Impressive, but I can’t appreciate that right now because my eyes are set on the big sliding glass doors that lead to my freedom from the cold-hearted predator stalking behind me.

People stare as I storm past them, but I give them no heed as my power pulses dangerously around me like a massive, lethal dome. The front doors slide open and I stride out into the fresh air, inhaling deeply and letting the cold air cool my lungs.

“Aurelia, stop. Where are you going?”

“I’ll make my own way,” I say furiously, turning back around. “I always have. You can stop following me now.”

He’s calm. Way too fucking calm. “No.”

The glass behind him shatters. He flinches in surprise as tiny glass shards rain down onto the concrete sidewalk, bouncing off his broad shoulders and the back of his head. Someone inside screams. I press my lips together, determined not to show a reaction. He’s equally determined to stare at me, unblinking. Unmoving. “Send me the bill,” I say, before exploding into my eagle form and hurtling into the air. I fling my telepathy across the land. I can make my own way back to the academy. I roughly know the way from the dragon flight and what I’d seen of maps. But fuck, I’ve left my phone in Scythe’s car.

It doesn’t matter. I’ll just follow the roads, and once I get closer, I can track Savage and Lyle by feel.

“Regina?”Savage’s voice is faint in my head because of the distance, but I still hear him clearly.

“Hi,”I say dryly.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

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