Page 83 of Her Psycho Beasts

Something happens to my face that has rarely happened in the last ten years.

As carefully as I can, I get myself and Aurelia off the bed, cover her in a blanket, and barefoot, walk us out of the animus dorms.

Christine lets me into the anima dorms with a sleepy, gargoyle mumble and wave of her spindly fingers. Since Marduk destroyed the pool I normally use, I’ve had to use the underground cavern Aurelia occupied as her hideout during her rabid phase.

I head right through the dragon portrait at the end of Aurelia’s old corridor and down the spiralling staircase, the orange flames of the dragon wall sconces spluttering to life as we pass.

Aurelia must scent the place and recall it because she raises her head as we arrive at the wide canal with the ancient wooden boat. I kneel down on the black stone floor.

“Want to try again?”

She lets out a breathy sigh through her beak.“Roll me in.”

Aurelia shifts as I oblige her wish, splashing into the water and shifting at the same time. Her body rapidly elongates, her skin changing and becoming thicker as she becomes something older than trees themselves. Her beak transforms into something much more ferocious. The backs of my eyes prickle as her dorsal fin pierces the surface of the water. She was always beautiful as an eagle, but it takes my breath away to see her as a Great White shark.

And something ancient and primal at my core roars in triumphant agreement.

She does a lap of the water, exploring this new body, because this has the feel of something new and novel.

Returning to me, her broad nose skimming the top of the water, she whispers into my mind,“Let me see you.”

In a trance, I unbutton my shirt and pants, sliding them off me with the type of disbelief that assails a man who’s always walked a world apart from everyone else. With a deep exhale, I drop into the water and shift.

My bones breathe a sigh of relief as they crunch, and my skin grows warm as it thickens. My mind calms and expands, settling like a baby held by its mother. Five gill slits open along both sides of my neck and only when I’m completely in my animus form do I turn to look at Aurelia.

Her mating mark glows white under the surface just above her gill slits. The beat of her heart resounds through the water, a song that calms my own rapid drumming.

We circle each other. Simply watching. Simply existing in the muffled sounds of the canal, away from the horrors that await both of us above. I wish I could take her into the heart of the Pacific and show her the beauty that lies there. The great depth. The great wisdom of the water.

But I realise something now. That the enchantment of the sea pales in comparison to my regina.Sheis a thing of profound beauty, and I would forever rue the day I ever thought to end her.

I never expected this. Had never dared to entertain the hope of experiencing the water with a pack member, let alone my regina.

Aurelia does not say anything. But her eyes, brilliant and blue—they tell me everything I need to know.

The tragedy of the truth is written in blood upon my own heart. Every first of ours would be a last. And every last, I would cherish until my final day upon land.

I owe my regina that.

Chapter 41

Aurelia

The feeling of being in Scythe’s arms all night had changed something in me. Something old and wise and honest. I felt a primal tug, and before I knew it, a sharp pain in my neck told me I had gills and suddenly everyone’s heartbeats were all I could hear. But then I couldn’t manage to catch a breath, and my anima had panicked and shifted back.

Scythe had known what to do. In his cold, water-logged heart, he’d brought me here, and whether he’d intended to or not, is swimming with me.

I’ve seen Great Whites before. They’re terrifying, beautiful creatures; but Scythe in his animus form is a thing of raw, monstrous power. My heart pitter-patters at the sight and sheer size of him. All monster. All power. All perfect.

I want to tell him that. Want to tell him that his name is written in my tired, bleeding heart and that despite everything that had happened, I forgive him. That I can see his pain and how it mirrors my own. I can sense that he keeps me at a distance. Even now under the water, a place where only I can really be with him, he circles me at a distance, only coming close enough for the current he made to brush across my gills, but no more.

He gives me the time to enjoy myself, and get used to this new, powerful body in his presence. Finding and settling into a new form is always a unique type of joy that lights up my soul in a way nothing else can. It’s like the surprised delight of discovering a new aspect of yourself, or a new talent. The possibility of what I can do is exciting.

Eventually Scythe heads back toward the beginning of the canal and in silence, I follow him. He doesn’t bother dressing himself and I get the feeling he doesn’t want to wipe the water away. I end up shifting into an eagle once again and even though it’s embarrassing to have those bald patches on my skin, the way Scythe bundles me in the blanket and picks me up without hesitation makes up for it. I rest my head on the muscle of his chest and close my eyes as he carries me up the staircase, listening to the steady thump of his heart as I let my healing magic flood my veins and heal any remaining damage.

We don’t tell the others when we get back. Don’t need to when we return naked, quiet, with wet hair and salt on our skin.

I don’t attend class that day, and no one makes me. Lyle informs Minnie and the others at my request, so I don’t have to go through the saying of what I’d learned yesterday. Instead, I watch as Marduk extracts the blueprints of my childhood home and presents them to us on the dining room table of our suite above the animus dorms.

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