Page 172 of Her Tortured Beasts

There are no stars tonight. No moon. Just the faint blue glow of the security dome.

“Regina, tell us what you’re trying to do,” Savage urges.

“No time!” I say, whipping my shirt off.

Marduk yelps and turns around as Minnie and Stacey step forward. My power is so irritable that when I explode into my phoenix form, I shower my friends with glittering, crimson feathers.

“No,” Scythe says, understanding immediately. “I should never have told you about Celeste.”

But hehadtold me how Celeste had broken the sound barrier carrying him back to the academy after I’d left.

Too bad, so sad. He’d given me a gift.

Stacey finally shows my mates her illustration. “What in the chamber of secrets is that!” Savage exclaims, wildly gesticulating at the drawing.

My beak is smirking, but no one else but me can tell. I’m too jittery, too full of fire to even joke about it. “I’m going with or without you.” I spread my wings, flapping so they get battered with air, before I angle them downwards and launch into the sky.

“Regina!” Savage screams in panic as I gain height. “I’m coming!”

“Good boy,”I tell him as I tip, ready to swoop.“Lyle, strongest first.”

Lyle frowns and glances at Scythe. I know they hate this, but they have no choice as I dive towards Lyle, my right leg bent up to protect it, my left claw ready to receive. Lyle shouts out, but he reaches for me, Henry clutching onto his hair as I shove my claw in Lyle’s face. He grips it in one hand. Savage leaps to attention as I sweep Lyle into the air and he catches Lyle’s legs just as he’s lifted off. Scythe snarls up at me, but I ignore him as he adds his weight to Savage’s

“Quick!” Marduk says as I bring them up higher, pulling Scythe above the ground with my teeth clenched against this new power. The Caspian tiger grabs Scythe around the legs, and with a loudfuckthat comes out as a high-pitched cry, Marduk’s feet leave the ground. He’s followed by Yeti. There’s no physical force keeping me afloat, all power, no physics as my irritated, immense strength is let out in near-full force, my anima finally getting what she wants.

We wobble in the air, the males hardly keeping still as I beat my powerful wings.

“Ready?” I ask everyone, taking a deep breath as I head for the dome.

“Wait for me!” Minnie exclaims.

We all look down at the same time to see Minnie leaping up and wrapping herself around the front of Yeti like a koala joey.

“No, regina!” Marduk cries.

“It’s a chain of friendship!” Minnie happily shouts up at me, pointedly ignoring the protests of her mates. “Go, Lia, go!”

Blair and Blade let out awhoop!as Stacey and Sabrina cheer me on. Honestly, it’s lucky my friends are as crazy as I am.

My power cushions Minnie and Yeti from underneath, but the combined feline telekinetic powers keeps the entire chain stable for me. They sway in a long chain below as I beat my wings to gain more height.

I close my eyes as we touch the protective dome, but just as I’d suspected, given its mistress is a phoenix, it lets another phoenix out. I envelop everyone in my power, and only once Minnie and Yeti are safely through do I pause and stare into the dark distance.

My power gathers around me like clouds gathering before a cyclone and I funnel all my rage, all my need for vengeance, and all my pain into that power. Lyle swears beneath me, his hands tight around my leg.

“Someone count me in,” I say tightly.

Funnel. Funnel. Funnel.

“One!” Minnie cries.

I think of Lady Drakos in her bed and Selena thrashing on the floor under her father’s power.

“Two!” Savage cries.

I think of Lorian, lying on the floor of The Collector’s dungeon, no light, no moon shining on that fair face.

“Three!”

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