Page 14 of Her Psycho Beasts

“I have a few announcements to make,” Lyle says, assuming his deputy headmaster’s tone. “There are rumours going around after tonight’s events and you will hear the truth directly from me now.” The students exchange nervous glances while trying not to stare at Aurelia. “I am no longer your deputy headmaster. As of tonight, I will be stepping down. And that”—he stares down the entire room as his mating mark flashes with celestial light—“is because Aurelia is my regina.”

A shocked silence sweeps through the room like a fell wind. Auras shift from an uncertain yellow to a curious, probing orange and envious deep green.

“That’s all you need to know for the moment,” Lyle says with finality.

Beak glances at me for approval, and I nod. He and the rest of our beasts cross their arms and stare down the students to discourage any dissent or mutterings that are bound to take place. By the calculating looks, I know some of them have put two and two together, even if they hadn’t heard the guards gossiping.

By tomorrow morning, the entire school will know that Aurelia is a Boneweaver.

A hyena respectfully raises his hand.

“Yes, Billy?”

The fact that Lyle knows the name of every student in this school is admirable.

Billy nervously clears his throat. “Who will be our new deputy headmaster?”

Worried mumbles spread throughout the hall. The new leader of this school holds substantial power over them all. They have every right to be worried.

“There are a few names on the cards,” Lyle says evenly. “We won’t know who the council has chosen for a few days. It’s not an easy position to fill.”

That’s for sure. Before Lyle came along, no one had lasted more than a year in the role. Lyle silences the further mutterings with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Back to your dinners, gentlemen.”

Beak strides forward and grabs the collar of the tiger who’d soiled himself. My wolves pull the other two to their feet before escorting them back to their rooms, where they’ll remain for the remainder of the lockdown.

The students disperse, and after Lyle fills two plates for Aurelia and himself, they follow me out of the rec room and back to our suite.

Weariness tugs at my mind as the day’s events catch up with me. My shark had taken over my consciousness and things had almost fallen to disaster. As usual, we’d pulled through, and yet…

Fredrick Ulman. The renowned biologist who’d been breeding Lyle’s parents. The fact that Mace Naga had found and brought him here made my hackles rise.

They had collaborated. Had been collaborating for some time.

This new information adds things to a picture that I do not want to see.

Two demons circle around me, their ghostly forms prowling in a malevolent, seductive dance. But for once, their inane, dark mutterings are silent. I clear the last step into our living room and head to the liquor cabinet. Xander isn’t here to fix my drink, and I already miss his sharp presence and dark commentary.

Selecting a whiskey decanter, I unstopper the crystal, filling a glass with two knuckles’ length of the poison.

Turning around, I watch Lyle and Aurelia set their full plates down on the dinner table.

“Marduk is almost here,” I say to Lyle. “I’ve directed him into the motel in town until the lockdown is complete.”

Lyle goes still. My eyes hone in on a lone movement by Aurelia’s waist. He has his arm around her, the hand curving around to rest lightly on her lower stomach, the fingers dipping into the top of her shorts to skim her panty line. Those fingers move slowly, lazily in a circular motion.

Something new flits through my blood. Sharp like a serrated tooth, scoring my insides.

“MadMarduk?” Lyle asks. “The Caspian tiger? What for, Scythe? Is he sworn to you?”

“Not sworn to me. He’s an independent creature. But I owe him a favour or two and I trust him more than most.”

Lyle doesn’t look convinced, and knowing Marduk’s reputation as a beast of lethal calculation, I don’t blame him. “How can you trust a tiger like that?”

Marduk isn’t mad. People just think he is because he hides nothing from the world. He shows his true self and doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. He has no mask, and that is something I respect. That is something I trust.

But I don’t reply to Lyle, because something has just hit me. I realise what this new feeling is, the one that’s cutting through me while I’m studying Lyle and Aurelia.

It’s jealousy.

---