Page 143 of Her Tortured Beasts

Minnie’s cheeks turn pink as Yeti and Marduk grin with pride. “Well, we spent the night brainstorming, Scythe. There was a lot to think about.”

Scythe nods in approval. His voice enters my head.“May I have my own orders for Xander, regina?”

“Of course.”

He smiles at me. I blush every time Scythe asks my permission for something, or smiles. Or does anything, really. I doubt I’ll ever get used to the fact that he’s here and mine.

“You’re staring, angel,”Lyle says into my head, a hint of jealousy in that baritone.

I blink in surprise and smile sheepishly at them both.“I’ll stare at you in the next class,” I reassure my lion.

“And me in the next,”Savage interjects.

It’s then that I notice Xander is staring at me from over his shoulder. I can’t decipher the look on his face, but the smile fades off mine, and he purses his lips.

I’d been an outsider once. I know how that feels to be at the edge of everything, cast aside like something less than. Rotten. Unwanted. Watching from the outside as everyone else enjoys company. My father had done that to me. And then Xander had done that again. The walls of the classroom close in on me like the bars of my cage in Xander’s room. My lungs collapse, my ears turn fuzzy. I have to get out. I need the air, the open air and nothing else. I need to be free.

Before my next breath, I drop Xander’s chain and am hobbling out of the room and out the door. I can’t do this. I can’t be at the academy and pretend that I’m fine. I’m not fine. I’m a mess. Mentally and physically.

Lightning strikes my leg again and my sob turns into a yelp. My eagle has no choice but to burst from my skin and it feels like a sweet release to be off my leg and flying through the corridors with the speed I desire.

My mates call after me, but I need to keep moving. I need the air. I back flap to turn a corner and use my beak to butt open a glass door. Warm air meets my face and I move my wings in the way I love best. Sweeping and catching the wind, feeling it move over my feathers in powerful movements.

My chest opens up and I can finally let in air again, the spring air blasting past my face, refreshing me and keeping me focused. I sigh in a long exhale and wheel high above the school. The tall gum trees that line the perimeter look welcoming, and I choose the tallest, settling into the highest branches, the ones that sway like a pendulum under my weight. Gently I ease my weight onto the branch, my left claw secure around it and my right lightly clasping it for stability. I take a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment and calming the braying of my broken soul.

“No fair, regina,”comes Savage’s voice in my head. He’s in wolf form, a black mass of fur at the base of the tree.“I can’t get up that high.”

“She wouldn’t be up there if she wanted your company,”Scythe says firmly. “Give her a moment.”

I can feel Savage’s sulking from up here, but he ends up settling on his belly. Lyle is in his shifted form to my surprise, telling me he’s feeling my pain and probably his own too. He sits on his belly next to Savage, and they face away from me as if protecting the tree from enemies. Or maybe one enemy in particular.

Scythe lights a joint and sits down next to Lyle, stretching out his muscular legs and resting his back against the smooth trunk of the gum.

With the three of them settled, I cast my eye up to the open blue. There are a few clouds scattered through the periwinkle and not much else. I scratch at an itch under my wing, yanking at the feather that sits on top of it. The burn is sweet.

“Sabrina and Minnie are asking if you need them,”Savage says, likely talking through another wolf.

I don’t know what I need. There’s a dark feeling inside my chest and I don’t think anything is ever going to make it go away. I pull at an irritating feather below my wing again, the sensation of the burn as I pull at it grounding me. The feather comes out,the sting hitting two parts of me, knitting them together for a few short moments. I drop the feather from my beak and watch it fall before I sweep it behind the tree with my telekinesis.

A prickle of awareness makes me cast my eye over the academy grounds. From the dining hall entrance, the tall figure of Xander, shredded abdomen and all, emerges. He pauses at the entrance, uncertain if he should move closer.

It’s then that Scythe gets up and makes his way over to the dragon, silver hair rippling in the breeze, making it look like it has a silver halo, which should be funny given that it’s Scythe, the grim reaper himself. But I don’t have it in me to laugh as the two of them have a conversation I wish I could hear. Scythe’s shoulders are tight, as if he doesn’t like the idea of being that close to, or talking to Xander.

My chest clenches at the sight of them. Xander nods and waves a hand, dismissing something, but I can’t read the words his mouth is making.

They both turn away and head in opposite directions, except Xander stops to take a seat by the doorway of the dining hall, taking out a joint and lighting it with his finger. Scythe returns to the base of my tree.

Eventually, my left leg gets sore from carrying the brunt of my weight and I spread out my wings, fluttering down and back flapping to slow my landing right onto Savage’s back. He raises his head, ears pinning back, and I flop onto my belly on top of him, turning my head to the side and resting it on his warm, thick fur.

Scythe comes over and checks my leg. “You need to rest it, regina,” he says.

“I like being high in a tree.”

My shark tilts his head back, looking up into the branches above us. “Next time, I’ll climb up with you.”

“Really?”

He looks down at me, smiling. “Yes, regina. You know we’ll do anything you need, and”—he shrugs—“I’m guessing you’ll catch me if I fall off.”

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