Page 150 of Her Tortured Beasts

Ten minutes later, Aurelia is in the shower with Lyle and my shark-brother watches on as I take a claw to Xander’s skin. He sits on a dining chair with a plastic drop sheet underneath us, his dripping sweat the only tell that he’s in great pain.

I savour it like a full roast dinner.

“She wasn’t sure,” he says through gritted teeth. His first words in ten minutes. “She wasn’t sure if she should let us do it.”

“It’s not her choice,” I say, squinting at the red muscle under the tattooed skin I’m slicing away. I’m pretty good with my claws, very precise if I want to be. Scythe has many knives, but I’m old-fashioned. I’m also only doing it slow to drag it out. I can skin a lot more quickly in a regular situation. “How long will it take you to grow a new lizard skin anyway?”

“Don’t know.”

“I give you three weeks,” I say. “Because I’m going to pour salt on it after and bandage it tight.”

Xander’s jaw clenches and he takes a deep breath as I cut a particularly deep slice, cutting a bit of muscle for good measure.

“Yeah?” he says, voice strained. “How much do you want to bet she’ll try to heal me?”

I growl, tugging on the flap of skin in my left hand so hard Xander makes a sound in his throat. “Fuck you, Xander. Fuck your dad. Fuck your entire estate. I should skin your whole body and make crackling out of it.”

Xander tilts his head back and laughs like a madman, sweat dripping off his temples. “Fuck,” he drawls. “I fucking missed you, Sav.”

I drop his skin and step back, frowning at him, then at Scythe. “He’s gone off.” Sometimes that happens when you torture someone past a certain point. They go delirious and mad.

“We’ll take it up again tomorrow,” Scythe says, straightening off the table he was leaning against.

“No.” Xander shakes his head. “Get it done. Today. I want to show her.”

I roll my eyes. “This is a performance for him!” I say to Scythe. “Completely showing off.”

Scythe eyes Xander in an assessing way. “If he wants to do it. Let him.”

“It’s not fun for me if he wants it,” I complain, crossing my arms.

“Come on,” Xander groans. “You can’t stop now.”

I glare at him.

“I’ll do it,” Scythe rasps, unsheathing a small knife and coming to my side. “And I’m not stopping for anything.” There’s a determined look in his eye that scares me, so I put my claw away and head into the bathroom to find my regina, my only comfort in this life.

Chapter 89

Xander

Say Yes to Heaven — Lana Del Rey

Scythe has just finished with the last piece of my skin at my hand when Aurelia comes into the dining room, freshly showered and smelling sweet and fresh. She freezes in the doorway.

I stand up, showing her the bloody mess of my arm, skinless and free of the tattoo that shackled me. That told the world I belonged to something I abhor. Her eyes flick from my arm to the silver bowl full of my tattooed skin Scythe has on the floor.

Her eyes grow wide, her pupils dilate, and she makes a strangled sound before she whirls around and flees for the bathroom, a hand covering her mouth.

“Aurelia,” I cry, rushing for her, my arm outstretched.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Scythe says, pushing his body into my way.

I snarl, “Give me a moment with her, for fuck’s sake!”

Lyle shoulders past Scythe, meeting me nose for nose. He snarls, the rabid in his eyes on full display. “Push me, Xander. I fucking dare you to push me.”

For a moment, I wonder if we should let our mad monsters at one another. My mouth twitches in annoyance and pain of a different sort. “I did this for her.”

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