“Indeed.”
But something niggles at me. “So what’syourname going to be?”
Xander’s expression turns sombre. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just Xander now.”
As night falls and Lyle arranges our dinner, I can’t help but look around the dining table and the five plates Savage is carefully setting down. It pokes at something in my soul. Nudges the deep-seated regina instinct in me that knows it should be six places. Suddenly, there is a hole in my chest that gapes far and wide, and it only seems to widen as I sit down for dinner in Lyle’s lap, and he feeds me pesto fettuccine and garlic bread. After dinner, I announce that I’m going to my shift for sky patrol.
“Can I come this time?” Savage asks hopefully.
“No, it’s my turn,” Lyle says.
They both turn to me as if I need to make the decision. I smile softly at my mates. “I think I need some alone time tonight. Is that okay?”
Savage pouts but nods all the same. Lyle pulls me into his body and kisses me on the crown. “You don’t need permission for that, but as soon as you get tired, promise me you’ll pass the watch over to Beak and the others.”
“I will.”
Scythe is watching me closely, but I give him a smile as I head out to the roof and send a quick message to Beak that I won’t be on patrol tonight. I put on my invisible shield as soon as I take my phoenix form and launch into the air, high above the clouds. I fly for a kilometre before collecting my power and slingshotting across the land right towards the house of my fifth mate.
Was finding Ghoul supposed to be difficult? Because there are a few lights on inside his house, and my phoenix ears catch his heavy footfalls along with multiple others. Now, the stalker becomes the stalked.
Landing on gentle claws in the darkness of the house opposite his, it’s three breaths before I let myself take a new form, the elastic strap of my bag shrinking with me. It’s not often I have to use the possum, but they’re great at climbing and seeing in the dark. Plus, they can hold things in little hands, the absence of which is a big setback for most animal forms.
Scuttling into Ghoul’s front yard, I climb up onto the fence between his property and the next, and listen in. There are two black SUVs parked on the street in front of his house, and it’s then I hear the multiple female voices murmuring within. Heels click down the stairs, and at least four pairs of the other shoes clomp down after it. Shadows move behind the front doorbefore it swings open to reveal—to my great disgust—my aunt Charlotte, followed by four young ladies in black silk dresses.
“Get in,” Charlotte snaps, waving them towards the cars. She stands aside and turns to the large figure of Ghoul now taking up the entire doorway.
“Iexpectto see her next week for her checkup,” Charlotte says shortly. “Basilisk guard or no, she is a pregnant serpent, General, and youwilldo what’s best for the hatchling’s health, upon His Majesty’s orders.”
“I’ll do what needs to be done, Mrs Naga,” Ghoul says, but it sounds mocking to me.
Charlotte turns on her heel and follows the girls into one of the SUVs. One of them is sobbing inside the car, and I can’t help the way my stomach roils. Ghoul heads back inside as the cars take off and I consider my options.
He probably has human-type security on his house to stop both human criminals and other serpents from slithering in when he’s not home. But video motion detectors only work onvisibleprey. General Ghoul isnotthe type of beast who spends a lot of time at home, especially at night, so within ten minutes of his guests leaving, he’s out the front door. Man becomes shadow, and the mass of power zooms up into the air like a corrupted helium balloon before zipping away.
I head around the back to the laundry door, and the sudden mental image of Ghoul scooping up laundry powder makes me snort through my possum nose. Shifting into human form, I finally reach into my elastic pouch and take out the lock picks Sabrina gifted me so long ago. She would be so proud right now if she knew what I was doing. I can’t tell her yet, of course, but I just know she’d be cheering me on.
Under my ministrations, the door opens in less than a minute. Quiet as a shadow of my own, I slip inside. The laundry is spotless, I note as I pass through it. From what I rememberfrom when I was a child, my father’s seven generals had small teams of serpents who maintained their personal needs like laundry, cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping so they could spend their full time on their work.
The quiet corridors show signs of being recently cleaned, and I narrow my eyes at the shiny black tiles, wondering which serpent he trusts enough to come into his personal space. He turned off the lights before he left, so it’s with my eagle eyes that I make sure I don’t trip as I make my way up the lacquered wooden stairs. A floorboard creaks as I step onto the second floor, and I take a moment to cringe before continuing on to his bedroom.
Though I’ve been in here before, being in someone else’s bedroom without them feels like a special sort of intrusion. It’s probably why my body hunches in on itself as I creep through the dark, as if I’m cringing against the feeling of being a criminal. It’s so funny that I’d been accused of being a criminal for so long, accused of doing things I never did, that when I actually do them, it feels like nostalgia. It feels like I’m coming full circle.
In the end, Ididbecome an arsonist who burned full mansions down.
Ididbecome a murderer of multiple beasts.
I escaped capture by the council and others multiple times.
And I regret none of it.
I really do belong at Animus Academy after all. Beak had been right in his assessment so long ago when we’d first met. Lyle will be so happy to hear his assessment had also been right when he’d caught me with his bazooka net.Gods,I’d hated him then. How things change.
So I channel my inner criminal and think of the places Ghoul would hide his prized possessions. Gazing upon the king bed that takes up the back of the room, I wonder if the basilisk lord has any prized possessions at all. Wherehadhe come from?I run my fingers in the air over the bedspread. It’s expensive silk, the dark pattern notably South Asian. Perhaps the better question is, where had my fathergottenhim from?
The headboard and side tables have the distinct colouring of heavy mangowood, and when I open the drawers, I find nothing at all. Frowning, I head over to the inset wardrobe, sliding open the matching wooden panel. As expected, there are multiple sets of his serpent general uniform. Black shirts and pants, and Kevlar vests with little pockets that I think he must wear for fun. On the bottom sit rows of black boots, some more worn than others. With nothing more of interest here, I leave this room and find the bathroom next door.
It would be foolish to turn on the light, so I settle for my eagle vision, startling myself when I see my own big eyes in the mirror. The cabinet over the sink contains shaving paraphenalia, an electric toothbrush and toothpaste, along with dental floss and mouthwash. It’s the same green liquid of the brand we had in the Naga household. Something about this is unsettling, perhaps humanising the beast I know so little about.
