Page 93 of Her Tortured Beasts

My sister hurries Delilah towards the kitchen, where Emmerson is nervously waiting. I, however, head downstairs, towards the dungeons.

Spawn has to shift to keep up with my stride, but to my surprise, she chooses her wolf form of midnight fur. Some far away part of me recognises she must be thinking about Savage, but at the forefront of my mind is a single need.

My business shoes hit the flagstones of the dungeon floor, because I’m not bothering to hide that I’m coming.

As expected, neither Ghoul or any of the other serpent generals are anywhere to be heard. There are only the scientists typing on their computers, processing files and samples. Solomon and a few others stop their chatter.

“My lord,” Solomon says, getting to his feet. “We weren’t expecting?—”

I may not have my power. I may not have physical vision, but I have everything else. I stride right up to him, and my hands take the sides of his face and snap it hard to the side.

The rest of them try to run, but a growling wolf at the door blocks their path. I’m on them in an instant, and one by one, they fall, their heads twisted at odd angles.

It doesn’t take me long to find lengths of rope in a storage closet. Once I’ve tied them all up, I fetch one of the heavy-duty trolleys the scientists use for transporting equipment.

Working without my power is annoying, but I can manage just fine. There is more than one way to skin a snake.

There’s a bit of fuss and bother going up the stairs with the trolley, but I manage it in the end, carrying it most of the way. Through it all, I feel Spawn’s eyes on me.

When I get up to the open turret that is our launching pad, I arrange my bounty carefully and in the traditional manner. First, by tying the rope around their necks and securing the other end of the rope to metal stakes cemented into the stone just for this purpose. Finally, I throw their bodies over the ramparts, where they dangle for all to see.

Where, to a good pair of eyes, they’ll be visible for a great distance.

I inhale the afternoon air, deeply and thoroughly. Behind me, Spawn does the same. I angle my face towards the sky, where I know it must shine bright blue. The warmth of the sun doesn’t reach my darkest places. Perhaps it never will.

Her heart beats behind me. A little fast, but steady. No fear comes from her. Unlike me, her power is free for all to feel if she chooses. Right now, it sways around her like a tree in the wind. She is, no doubt, conflicted. She has never taken on a dragon before and come out the victor. Very few beasts can claim such a fact.

From one of those dark, lost places within me, the words come out between clenched teeth. “Thank you.”

Chapter 52

Ghoul

Deep in our brand-new underground facility, I have the head of the Serrated Serpent between my fingers. He’s a death adder, and I’m one of the few he permits to milk him.

Us generals all milk each other.

“What are you smiling about, Lord Basilisk?” Charlotte Naga asks me from where she’s writing the labels for our contributions.

“Things not meant for a lady’s ears,” I say smoothly, observing the volume of the milky liquid. “All done.”

I release the old adder, and he slithers away for his turn in the shedding cave.

“I’ve often wondered what goes on in your mind,” Charlotte says a little tightly as I hand her the container.

“Death,” I say simply.

Her entire body flinches at that. I don’t particularly care if she’s forgiven me for executing her mate, Ben, but that flinch tells me she’s still affected by it. She can’t really complain, can she? Not when her brother was the one who ordered it. Not when her mate helped the snakelet.

“They say that you see them,” Charlotte says quietly, marking off something on her list. “The dead.”

“I’m not a shark,” I say, beckoning to the next general to slither forth.

“So you don’t?” Charlotte presses.

I take the Adder by his serpentine face. He bares his fangs and I angle the container under him. Only after he pierces the plastic, I reply, “I didn’t say that.”

At that point, Mace Naga walks into the clinical room. “What is the status of the venom stores?”

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