Page 32 of Her Vicious Beasts: The Beginning
I know he’s a lion by his tanned, angelic features and the mane to match—long, honey-gold hair tied back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He has the look of a put together aristocrat, not a hair askew and definitely out of place in this motel. A bounty hunter maybe? No, not dressed like that, and my father would die before he dealt with lions.
When he speaks, his voice is deep and holds the command of someone used to being obeyed. “Get out of the vehicle, Aurelia.” Even with his voice muffled through the glass, my anima demands I submit to his dominance and I struggle with it for a moment.
He knows my name. I hide my fear with a scoff. But he just pins me with his amber eyes and says, “You and I are going to have a chat.”
Somehow, he makes me feel like I’m back at school again and I’m in trouble for doing something stupid. He’s freezing me with the most lethal glare. He can only be in his late twenties, and fuck, he’s hot. Who the hell is he?
Chapter 22
Aurelia
He sighs, as if irritated by me. “I’m not here to hurt you, Aurelia. But if you don’t get out of your car, I’m going to tear it to shreds, piece by piece.”
Shit.
I have no choice here. I slap my palm to my forehead and swear out loud at my well-laid plans falling apart. Has he heard about the fire? Has it made the news? I haven’t yet had the chance to check if it made it intoAnimalia Today.Halfeather was wealthy enough that his death has every right to be on the news.
I look back at the lion, who is glaring at me as if I’m wasting his time.Shit, Aurelia, we can do this. Predator, remember? That’s what you are. And we can’t let him hurt Maisy.
Slowly, I unlock my car door and push it open. Trying not to tremble, and very aware a six-foot-something ridiculous tall lion is watching my every move, I step out.
The first thing I do is look behind my car, where I find the bloodied bodies of the five serpents. One has a broken neck, but the other four have been disembowelled with long, bloody slashes. I quickly look back at the lion, who has walked two silent steps closer to me since my brief look away from him. I jump alittle and take a step back, looking down at his hands where, no doubt, claws had been just a minute ago.
He’s killed five of my father’s hunting snakes in less than a minute.
I meet his eye and say darkly, “My father will kill you for that.”
The corner of his lip quirks, but he does not smile. “Oh, quite a few people try regularly. I rather enjoy sending them back corpses.”
Something about his arrogant tone angers me, and I narrow my eyes at him. “Who do you think you are? You can’t just come in my motel and?—”
“Yourmotel?” He raises an elegant male brow.
I cross my arms and he nods to the buildings behind me. “Incidentally, this is one ofmymotels.”
I only just manage to stop my jaw from dropping. “What the fuck?”
“Language, Miss Aquinas,” he chides.
I stare at him. He’s talking to me like a high school teacher. Who the hell does he think he is?
He must see the crazed look on my face because he says drolly, “My name is Lyle Pardalia. I’m Deputy Headmaster of Animus Academy.”
Oh shit. He’s come here to retrieve me. They sent the Deputy Headmaster of the prison schoolhimself?
“You’re not safe here.” He looks at my car with a slight curl to the lip, as if he finds it distasteful.
“I know that,” I say through gritted teeth, taking great offence. “That’s why I was leaving before you interrupted me.”
He levels me with a very unimpressed look that has me instantly raging. “You cannot be running around as you are.”
Running around?!
“Aurelia.” He says my name as if he’s reading from a very long, particularly boring shopping list. “Let me help you.”
I take a deep breath to calm myself. “How did you find me?”
He leans against Maisy, regarding me like a particularly uninteresting specimen. “Your phone is trackable.”
