Page 144 of Her Tortured Beasts

“You wouldn’t fall off,” Lyle says. “Not how I’ve seen you on the back of—” He cuts himself off, an air of disgust forming around him.

A dragon, is what he meant. Riding the back of Xander for so many years made Savage and Scythe agile in high places.

I make an annoyed, tired sound through my beak.

“Let her sleep,”Savage admonishes.“She’s tired.”

Late in the afternoon, I wake up, cocooned in Lyle’s arms in the TV room, with Savage wafting a ham and cheese croissant under my nose. My wolf grins at me.

“See, I knew it would work. She loves these.” He breaks a piece off and offers it to my beak. I pluck it from his fingers, gobbling it down. Savage licks those same fingers and offers me another piece.

Lyle strokes my wings in a soothing motion. “They’ll assemble for Xander’s speech soon. Do you want to be in human form or eagle form for that?”

How could I forget the formal apology Xander was supposed to be writing? I sigh.“Human form, I suppose.”

I shift in his arms, bringing my human legs up and curling myself in Lyle’s lap. He holds me close, burying his nose in my hair and inhaling. “Angel, you know you can talk to us about what happened. We promise not to react adversely.”

“How can you make that promise?” I murmur, toying with a piece of bread. “How do I know you won’t want to kill him?”

“Do you not want him dead, regina?” Savage asks. “It’s your right.”

My chest goes tight again, my heart suddenly pounding as if it wants release. I squeeze my fists to avoid the tremble I know is coming. “Where is Minnie?”

Five minutes later, Minnie and Eugene are walking into the TV room, leaving Yeti and Marduk with Savage and Lyle in the dining room. Eugene was doing the rounds with the animas since Xander disappeared for the afternoon and Stacey took him to visit Raquel.

My tigress curls up on the couch next to me. “They’re making popcorn downstairs,” she muses. “You can smell it all the way to the second floor. And someone has a spit roast going on the front lawn. I don’t know who approved that.”

I can barely crack the smile she’s trying to coax out of me. “I don’t feel like laughing tonight, Min.”

She takes my hand and drops her head back onto the headrest. “I know. Of course I bloody know. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, Lia, let alone my best friend.”

A tear slips down my cheek. “I can’t handle this pain, Min. I just can’t.”

She clutches her own chest. “I feel mine here. Like something inside of me is torn, and the frayed pieces are flapping hopelessly in the wind. Like fingers reaching out for someone who’ll never reach back.”

I can’t bear to tell her about the last time I saw Titus. She already knows the type of person he is. I brush at my cheeks. “What the fuck do we do? A part of me doesn’t want to live, Min. Every time I look at him, I just…”

“It feels like it’s breaking all over again, I know.” She puts her arms around me, resting her temple against mine. “I don’t even have to look at Titus this frequently and it still hurts like a bitch.”

“He wants forgiveness, Min.”

Minnie sighs as she considers this.

It’s Lyle’s voice that sails into my mind.“Guilt doesn’t entitle someone to forgiveness, regina. Neither do his words, and what he says in a speech. It’ll be what he does that will tell you if you should trust him.”

I remember something Scythe said to me long ago, when Sabrina was taken.Judge a man by his actions.

“Are you ready?” Minnie asks.

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”

She grins. “Yeah you do. We can cancel this whole thing if you want. But…a little birdy called Marduk tells me you’ll want to see this.”

Chapter 86

Xander

Peer Gynt, Op. 23: IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King — Edvard Greig

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