Page 84 of Her Psycho Beasts

Savage stands behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle as if he’s trying to loan me his strength as I consider the blueprints and plot the ruination of my father.

It’s the underground portion of the house that I’m the least familiar with. But like any good crime family, our old mansion has an extensive series of underground tunnels, passageways, and dungeons. Including a crematory.

“We’ve already been making plans,” Scythe tells me, glancing at Marduk, who nods vigorously.

My heart swells. Scythe had been planning my mother’s rescue before I’d even asked him. Before he’d even been certain about my mother’s condition. In fact, the way he and Marduk murmur with each other suddenly has the look and feel of familiar habit. As if they’ve done this many times before. Scythe’s ‘business’ suddenly takes on a whole new meaning. Who better than to take down trafficking rings than a person who’d been inside the heart of one?

“It’s a tricky extraction, Lady Boneweaver,” Marduk says in that mild but serious way of his. “But with the right beasts involved…” His eyes search my own.

“You mean me?” I say carefully. “Well of course I’m going to be there.”

Lyle shifts. “You don’t have to do this, angel.”

“Of course I do,” I say sharply. “It’s not even a question.”

“You have a lot to be angry about,” Lyle says gently. “We need the team to have a level head.”

“This is mymother,” I hiss, my blood suddenly hot. “I will doanything. I will kill anyone, maimanyoneto. Get. Her. Out.That’swhat you need on the team. Do you understand?”

Savage makes a choked sound, and I turn to find him smiling at me like he’s seen the sun. “There she is,” he beams with a hand on his heart. “My Boneweaver Queen.”

I blink at him in shock. Then around the dead silent room to see Scythe laser-focused on me, breathing hard. His intensity startles me out of my anger.

But then I return his intensity tenfold—until Scythe’s eyes shift to something behind me, his pupils dilating in surprise. Marduk’s eyes also widen.

A heat explodes from my back. Savage, Lyle, and I whirl around to see Xander, his eyes a pure and molten gold. Heat roils off him and I know at once his dragon has taken over when he speaks with a guttural, draconic voice. “Once, theBoneweavers were kings and queens of all beasts of the jungle and sea. Tall and proud and ferocious. My lady, not since your great foremothers has this land seen a true Boneweaver. Until you.” He bows.

This is so unexpected that his words hit me right in the gut. I want to cry, but I grit my teeth to make that burn go away.

Xander wrestles back control from his dragon, his glowing eyes flashing between gold and white multiple times before he mutters in a very Xander voice, “For fuck’s sake.”

Marduk laughs, breaking the spell on all of us. “A delight,” he says, shaking his head. “A true delight.”

“What are you all looking at?” Xander snaps viciously. “Get back to it.”

“The aim is to get in and out without anyone knowing,” Scythe says, carrying on like nothing happened. “Otherwise, we risk a long car chase.”

“We need a stealth attack,” Savage clarifies.

“The place will be guarded to the nines,” I say carefully, looking at all the tunnels that weave like a rabbit warren around the page. “Getting past all those protections. Human, beast orotherwise,will be difficult.”

“We’ve isolated a time when the estate will be the most quiet,” Marduk says. “A week from now, Mace and his generals will be having a meeting with some stakeholders in his business on the other side of town. In the middle of their meeting, Xander will organise a surprise attack on one of their holding vaults, splitting up their forces and, hopefully, taking up a significant amount of their time.”

“Leaving us to get into the mansion,” I say. “But there’ll be worse than serpent generals protecting my mother.”

“There will be serpent magic guarding her?” Lyle says.

“Without a doubt. It’s my father’s favourite weapon.”

“There is also the matter of the monster who guards the entrance of the innermost segment,” Marduk says. “It is best to time our entry so that he will not be there.”

“But we will still take Eugene,” Savage says hurriedly, patting the rooster standing on the dining table. “Just in case.”

Xander snorts rudely, and I give him a frown. Eugene’s five second flash-forward visions into the future would help us avoid any surprises. On the other hand, his flashes of warning were not predictable by any means so I’m not entirely sure how much Savage expects him to help.

Scythe says, “Did you ever wonder why your father chose to marry you to Charles Halfeather?”

Both Savage and Lyle let out involuntary growls at the memory of it.

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