Page 175 of Her Psycho Beasts

My regina’s voice resounds in my head.“It’s me and you against the dark, shark-man.”

The glowing drop expands. It fills me with pure Boneweaver power, wild like a tempest storm.

That primal shark within me makes its own vow.“I will walk in the dark with you for all of eternity. And for every eternity thereafter.”

Power erupts from my core, funnelling through every blood vessel, every artery and vein, filling the chambers of my heart, flushing the venom away. I roar in triumph, planting my other foot in front of me and rising to my full height once again. My face flushes with heat, and I know from the gasps and the heat that my eyes have turned a glowing gold. My teeth extend into weapons wholly sharp and lethal.

Had they forgotten who is King of the Marine Court? Had they forgotten who’d given the sea a voice?

Had they forgotten my regina is the Lady Aurelia Boneweaver?

A wave of power roars from me like a tsunami, and it floods the area, sweeping every beast up in its wake, grasping their hearts and rendering them frozen, eyes wild with terror.

Hammer goes toppling to the ground, his chains clanking. He unravels himself like a bucking, rabid animal and gets to his feet, then sprints past me and towards the water.

The scent of fear and horror fill the air, and it’s then that I realise it.

My phantoms. My apparitions. They’ve fallen back. Their voices silenced. My mind is…

Free.

Their voices and images are not gone, exactly, but they are held back as a dam holds back the colossal weight of thousands of gallons of water. Frowning, I look around my internal forces.

I seek it out, the layers of Boneweaver magic, and just as I had once stripped back Aurelia’s seven layers of magic, I leaf through the layers of her power. Eagle, wolf, lion, shark, crocodile, phoenix; a whisper of her beasts lie within me,but there, glittering with precious force, is something that is uniquely hers. Only Aurelia’s.

It stretches out within me, a layer of glittering, celestial water that protects me from the psychosis.

Not water,Boneweaver tears.

Because what are tears but brine filled with emotion, in the same way the sea is laden with power?

A clatter of wood tells me the arrows have been pushed out and have fallen from my body, useless now.

Cain roars, breaking free of my hold. I come back to my external world to see the massive tiger charging towards me.

But something in the night sky distracts the both of us, stopping him short.

It’s fiery and red, travelling at colossal speed. Like a comet, but flying way too low…

The very earth trembles.

I fling my arm up over my head just as Celeste slams into the ground in a shower of sparks and embers. She shifts into her human form and extends her hand out to me. “Come with me.Now.”

“Gladly, my lady.”

She shifts back into her phoenix form and soars over me, her talons angled in my direction. I get my hands up just in time and she grabs on to them in each of her claws, effortlessly lifting me up. My feet leave the ground, and within seconds, I’m being hauled over the city, Cain shouting in rage after us.

“Brace yourself,”is all the warning she gives me before she accelerates with speed only a phoenix is capable of. My eardrums pop as she breaks the sound barrier, sending us hurtling across the state.

Chapter 96

Aurelia

Two guards wrap gloved hands around my biceps and turn me around to face Savage and Lyle.

“Say goodbye to your little mates.” Ghoul’s deep voice is the sound of male arrogance. “Boys, say farewell to your regina.”

Even against my powerful shield, Savage opens his mouth and roars a mighty bellow.

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