Page 44 of Her Psycho Beasts

Next to him is what looks like a ball of pink cotton wool with ski goggles.

“What on earth are you wearing?” I ask Minnie.

“What, this?” Minnie points to the pink unicorn patterned fleece-hoodie-blanket thing she’s wearing. She’s tied the hood part around her neck so tightly all I can see is a little brown nose and mouth. “Or this?” she adjusts the pink ski goggles that take up the top half of her face.

“She doesn’t like the cold,” Yeti says defensively, pulling her to his side.

“And I suggested the goggles,” Marduk says, putting his own goggles on. “I don’t want her getting dry eyeballs during the flight.”

“Lia might be able to grow a clear protective eyelid, but I can’t, and I want to see the view!” She bobs up and down just like a nimpin. She’s so excited it almost makes up for the other unmentionables of the night. Eugene, Gertie and Henry had to be left with the others for safekeeping. Dragon-back is no place for tiny fluffballs and poultry.

I sigh, turning around to check the sky. The expanse of eternity waits for me, a void shot through with the fingerprints of the dragons that came before me. My dragon huffs impatiently. Excitedly.

He wants the snake spawn to put her legs around him. To feel her warmth against our monstrous body.

I can’t fucking imagine anything worse.

With a snarl, I explode into my dragon form. Growing huge, being the biggest thing in the night, the most terrifying thing is incredibly satisfying. It’s showing the world the glory of what I truly am. And yet there is always the searing pain in my skull, behind my orbital bones and the stretching of the old, scarred flesh. That is a pain like no other, and it always remains with me. A charred stain upon my soul.

Minnie and the snake spawn shriek as my feet land heavily upon the dragon stone. Marduk laughs and claps, and honestly, I don’t know why the rest aren’t.

I can feelhereyes on me, feel her awe at my beauty. My power. The hue of my scales, the enormity of my blue-tinged black wings.

I don’t like this. I fucking hate this.

“Such a pretty boy,” Yeti coos.

I turn around and huff at him, hot smoke from my nostrils becoming steam. He bats it away with a grin.

Scythe instructs them how to get on by climbing up the steel ladder he’s brought up for the animas. Marduk heads up first, his feet and hands as sure as any great cat’s, and assumes theend position. Minnie is practically carried up by Yeti, settling her between the two males. She giggles the entire way, fussing over my scales.

“Ooh, they’re warm!” she laughs. “I don’t know why I thought they’d be cool.”

I envelop the three of them in a radiant warming energy as Lyle clambers up with the snake spawn and I almost snort imagining Yeti being forced to cosy up behind Lyle, and then that means the spawn has to be cozied up to Scythe, and he’s probably going to enjoy that too much.

More smoke streams into the night.

“If anyone falls off, it’s not my fault,”I say into the group chat.

“If anyone falls off, I’ll just go after them,”Snake Spawn snaps back.“You’re not the only one with wings around here.”

No doubt she thinks themostof herself now she’s added phoenix to her repertoire.I huff irritably as they all wiggle into position, six caterpillars tickling my back.

“Ready?” Scythe calls, checking the luggage secured at the front.

“Ready!” cheers Minnie, waving her hands in the air like she’s at a school excursion.

I launch into the sky, thoroughly pleased with the multiple screams that sound in my wake.

Chapter 22

Aurelia

Whatever I thought flying on dragon-back would be like, it wasn’t in a Lyle and Scythe sandwich. I’ve been all up in Lyle’s business for the last couple of weeks and having him pressed up against my ass is now known as my happy place.

But the moment Scythe climbed up Xander’s foreleg with the grace and ease like he’d been doing it all his life and then having all six foot six of him settle in front of me was like something out of a dream.

I don’t know where to put my hands. I don’t know where to put my tits. Hell, I don’t know how to breathe.

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