Page 71 of Her Psycho Beasts

Chapter 34

Savage

Two days later, we drive through the black and gold coiling gates of Animus Academy. Sabrina grips Aurelia’s hand tightly in her own, her other hand perched on the open window of the SUV. I watch them carefully from where I sit shotgun up the front with Yeti driving. My regina offers Sabrina another corn chip, and the little leopard opens her mouth for her to pop it in. She already looks better. A little colour returned to her cheeks this morning before they all did their make up together.

“I have to look good for my comeback,” Sabrina said softly, brushing on mascara in our big motel room. “I have to let everyone know those bastards couldn’t break me.”

My regina cried herself to sleep last night. She and Minnie slept in Sabrina’s bed so she wouldn’t be alone, and when she eventually came to mine and Lyle’s bed at 2 a.m., I stroked her hair and kissed her tears away.

Marduk insisted on keeping watch by sitting on the doorstep of the motel room, while Yeti slept by the door and my regina put shields all around the entire motel. I think it was only all of these things put together that got Sabrina to eventually fall asleep.

We drive up right into the medical centre drop-off where we came in for enrolment, and there’s an entire welcoming party that Aurelia and Minnie organised via telepathy with Raquel.

Connor and Raquel stand with a giant hand-painted banner stretched out between them that says ‘Welcome home our favourite Hoe’. Stacey holds Eugene, who holds a single balloon in his beak while Theresa, the animas’ counsellor, holds a whole bunch of rainbow-coloured balloons. I can sense Scythe and Xander further in the medical centre. They arrived two days ago on dragon-back and have been sorting things out with the new boss bird of the school.

I hop out of the car to see Sabrina’s face lighting up, and I see a tiny bit of her old self come through as she sashays up to Stacey with her arms out. My regina lets out a sigh of relief at the leopard’s reaction.

“She thrives being around people, regina,”I say to her, mind-to-mind.“Sort of like a wolf, I think. She’ll heal being around her friends.”

My regina looks at me with shining eyes and takes my hand as we follow our party into a private room where an eagle-eyed nurse takes Sabrina’s vital signs.

“I’d like her to have a bag of fluid and IV paracetamol and ondansetron,” Lyle says bossily to the doctor. “She’s not been eating very well and has a number of bruises.”

Sabrina bites her lip. “I feel kind of vomit-y.”

Connor brings out a bag of buffet pastries from nowhere, plonking it on the table. “I’ll feed you myself, babe, and we’ll have you dancing in no time.”

“But you can take all the time you need,” Stacey says hurriedly. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

We let the nurses do their job for a bit, and once Sabrina is settled on the bed, she demands to hear the gossip from the school.

“That giantb-bin chickenhas been on the w-warpath since you guys left,” Raquel mutters.

“It’s a disaster!” Connor cries. “Dolores has taken the nimpins hostage!”

“Hostage!” Minnie and Aurelia exclaim at the same time.

“C-Confiscated them,” Raquel clarifies. “Said we d-didn’t need them. Said they were a h-hazard”

“He’s got them starving in a dungeon somewhere, I just know it,” Stacey says, sniffing.

“That bastard!” Minnie says stomping her foot. “Gertie must be so confused!”

The animas relied on their nimpins more than I realised until I saw how much Henry comforted Aurelia during her time stuck in lioness form in the cavern under the school. He’d helped me feed her,evenafter I’d threatened to eat him whole, bones and all. The nimpins are important.

“Zookeeper Rick would never put them in a dungeon,” I say calmly, “but we’ll send Lyle to check. What else?”

“The place has gone to the dogs,” Stacey says. “No offense,” she adds, glancing at me. I shrug. “He works us like convicts in the yard!”

“But theschoolh-has b-been protesting,” Raquel says, brown eyes excited.

“Like when it wouldn’t let Dolores back in his office?” Connor says. “Except better. There’s been pipes exploding, a classroom collapsed on itself, and the entire computer network wouldn’t work for a full day. A bit annoying, but it’s had Dolores running around like a headless chook.” We all glance at Eugene. “No offense.”

My regina is smirking.

“Sharing is caring,”I say into the group chat.

“I had a word with Christine and Bastien before I left,”she replies.“Looks like they kept up their promise.”

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