Page 91 of Her Psycho Beasts

“You’re up, baby,”Savage says.

It takes me all of five minutes to break the serpent lock on the door. It’s similar to the way I read serpent blood contracts, except this one is made to be unravelled. After Scythe’s all clear, we open the door and head inside. There are two security cameras outside the main doors, but once we get inside, there are none.Thatwas a specific decision on my father’s part. He didn’t want footage in existence for someone to use against him.

The first thing I notice is the scent. The smell of my childhood home has not changed in all these years. The varnish of the wood, the metal of the brass Naga sigil mounted on the wall, the cleaning mixture used on the tiles. It hits me in the sternum harder than anything else. I pat a hand against my heart.

It’s okay,I tell myself.I’ll be alright.

And then Savage’s ancient pine and earthen scent wafts up my nose, and I smile faintly. My mates are here. Iwillbe fine.

Walking past four fallen security guards, I make my way to one of the entrances to the underground portion of the house.

I know this house like the back of my hand. Even after all these years, my father has not changed a physical thing. Even the decor, the paintings hanging in the entrance, the black fountain that greets us, bubbling away. It was here I used to ride my tricycle and play hide and seek. I had run around every part of this house, except the forbidden darkness beneath.

The forbidden door is a simple black and white wooden affair that is unlocked. Scythe clears us to enter but Savage opens it cautiously all the same. I expect to be greeted by a dark and cobwebbed passage, the worst my child’s imagination could come up with. Instead, we find a warmly lit, clean corridor, and a cushiony blood-red runner. The corridor is long and has a bend in it. A multitude of scents pepper the air, including a familiar one that is fresher than the others.

I’m speed-walking down the hall, pushing Savage’s warning hand off me.

“Wait a minute,”I say to Scythe as I reach the bend in the corridor and turn sharply left.

Because standing guard at the end of it, against a second entrance door, is a round-faced male I’ve known all my life. My most loving relative and one of Aunt Charlotte’s two mates, my Uncle Ben.

Scythe’s lethal power rolls past me.

“Wait!”I shout into the group chat.

I sense Scythe’s irritation, but he stops his power just in time.

“That’s my uncle.”

But Uncle Ben is already raising his walkie-talkie to his mouth and saying, “I see something.”

I’m sprinting down the corridor, throwing my invisibility shield off me and frantically waving my hands. Uncle Ben’s eyes widen and he drops the device with a heavy thud.

“Lia?” he whispers.

I reach him and he grabs my forearms, voice panicked, eyes wild. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? How did you—” His eyes slip past me, over my shoulder and widen with terror. “Holy shit!”

“They’re my mates and I love them,” I say quickly, surprising even myself. “But we’re going down there for Mum, and you’re not going to stop us.”

Uncle Ben’s eyes lock on mine, his shoulders sagging, his eyes glistening with sudden, raw emotion. His voice breaks as he whispers, “I’m so sorry, Lia. So sorry.”

My own voice is hard as steel. “How long have you known?”

“We don’t have time for this,” Scythe rasps.

“He’s right,” Uncle Ben says, stepping away from me.

But Idohave time for this. By the very air I breathe, Ineedto know. My voice drops into a fierce hiss. “How long have you known?”

Uncle Ben swallows, inhaling a shaky breath. “Charlotte let it slip a few months ago.”

Of course Aunt Charlotte had likely known from the beginning. She was just as culpable as my father. Anger rises up in my veins, making my senses painfully sharp.

“Let us through and don’t tell anyone,” I say quietly.

Uncle Ben’s eyes dart to the three terrifying males behind me, his mind appraising. He sees we are deathly serious. That people may die tonight. Uncle Ben has always been far too kind for this world. So instead of trying to convince us to leave, he holds my face in both hands and kisses my brow. “If you want to make it out alive,” he says. “You’ll need help. I’ll distract the?—”

“Uh-uh!” Savage says, plonking a heavy hand on Uncle Ben’s shoulder and taking off the swipe card from around his neck. “You’re coming with us.” He puts the ID card around his own neck with an amused chuckle.

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