Xander snorts in my head.“I should have known.”
The bass vibrates through my shoes as Xander pays the ten-dollar fee to get us into the darkened space beyond. I clock Savage and Scythe immediately in the corner, mostly because Savage is already dancing like a madman near the front where a large stage is set, heavy black curtains setting the scene for something interesting.
The bar is busy on the left-hand side, teeming with writhing bodies. A girl in only a black thong and Catwoman mask slides past me. Revulsion whips through my body, and I turn away from her to Xander. The dragon notices this, and I just know he’s smirking under that mask, but I jerk my thumb towards the bar and make my way over there.
The alcohol is just a pretence, of course, but Xander knocks his whiskey back like he needs it. It’s serpent strength, and will be the equivalent of water in his big body, but to my surprise, he joins the crowd jumping up and down to the beat.“Gotta look the part,”he shouts in my head.“Does the headmaster dance?”
Suddenly, Savage appears out of nowhere and grabs my hand, pulling me into the throng. It’s a trance version ofPaint It Black,and under the anonymity of the mask, I give in. My lion purrs under the beat, the electricity in the air, and a scent that sits on the edge of chaos.
Moments later, at exactly 10 p.m., the beat changes.
The fast pace melts into something slower. The crowd is in tune with the change, almost as if expecting it. There are more people jammed in here now, and they move in a lilting, twisting motion more akin to a mosh pit. It’s easy for Xander and me to adjust our movements, and ahead of me, Savage is moving along too, a fine sheen of sweat on his muscled back catching the strobe lights above. Scythe’s voice slides into the group chat though I can’t see him.“I’m counting six serpent generals on tiers behind you.”
Adrenaline spikes in my blood once again, and I subtly glance around as the music morphs intoAngelby Massive Attack, turning the scene even slower.“And where is the seventh?”I muse.
Everyone turns towards the stage just as Savage makes a choked noise. Serpents are heading towards a designated pit I can now see in front of the stage. They discard their scant clothing and costumes before shifting and entering the mass of serpentine bodies. We’re swept forward by the space created as they shift and more people enter the club behind us. The pit quickly becomes filled with nothing but serpents, and I see more than a few attempting to copulate.
“Serpent orgy,” says Xander with resignation.
But then the black curtain behind the stage ripples, and I grab Xander’s arm?—
Just before a fully grown basilisk slithers out from between the curtains.
More than a few people cheer and whoop with excitement as Ghoul shakes out the spines of his head that almost reach the ceiling. There’s a black band of shadow around his eyes, protecting the crowd from the death of his gaze, and he towers over us, the black scales of his body gleaming under golden lights directed at him. His serpentine body seems to go on forever, the hard muscle joining the rest of him on the stage. He’s as big as a dragon. And even without the wings and limbs, you get the distinct feeling of colossal, mythic power.
We all see it at the same time. The naked woman on his back, her bare legs astride him, breasts and stomach pressed against the black scales. The crowd’s noise lulls to a hush as they see Aurelia. Her face and back are covered by a glittering, sheer black veil. The veil is fit into something that could only be described as a tall black diadem and falls to cover her eyes and nose, leaving only red painted lips and white pointed fangsfor us to see. The veil is long enough that it drapes around her shoulders, seductively trailing down to her lower back.
I feel like I’m in a dream, because this cannot bemyreality. Aurelia is a known figure amongst the wider community. They have seen videos and newspaper articles time and again, and the entirety of Animus Academy knows exactly what she looks like. Her body is distinct. All creatures of the mythic orders are. And if she turns only a little, the unique scars on her stomach will show. Her face isbarelyobscured under the material.
Aurelia looks like a basilisk’s dark bride, and my entire body stands to attention as I register the message that’s being sent. My regina bares her teeth at us, a clear hissing sound filling the air before she’s joined by the hissing of the serpents roiling beneath us. She presses a cheek affectionately to Ghoul’s serpent body, reared up and baring his own fangs at us. His long tail circles protectively around her before he lets out a hissing, growling sound that ripples over my own skin.
This is a declaration.
Thiswasa trap after all. Just not the type we’d expected.
Chapter 66
Aurelia
It’s hard not to get caught up in this moment.
The music, the hard body beneath me, the scent of lust and excitement in the air. This…announcement.
With Ghoul, I see a glimpse of what my life could have been. What the love of a family of my serpent community could have felt like—in the traditional clothes of the Naga, a serpent claiming his regina as his own, proudly telling the world that she is his. But I know this is an illusion. This is theatre, and I have played my part well.
The long veil and my angle, pressed up against him, shields my body. For all intents and purposes, I am Jade Brown, and this is a power play between the generals of the serpent court and its wider people. My father needed a display of power to rally the beasts of his court. A display of hope for his campaign. That is why he’d needed Ghoul to show himself with his bride. A court with its own powerful mythical creatures—the heralds of death, no less—makes him a formidable enemy and a powerful ally. None of the other courts would try to defy him after they realise he’s breeding his basilisk.
The warm, humid air of the club caresses my skin as the combined hissing fills my ears, a satisfying, communal sound. After so many years of feeling like I belonged nowhere…this does something to me. But the regina in my bones suddenly notices that she’s not alone with her basilisk. Points of light appear through the dark of the crowd and gauze of the veil.
Savage gapes up at me from the snake pit. Lyle and Xander look on seriously. And in the far corner, Scythe’s raw Antarctic power tunnels its way toward the stage, never one to be left behind. I feel his piercing gaze on my skinandmy actions tonight.“I’m sorry,”I whisper through the air.“I should have told you.”
“But then where would all the drama be?”Xander’s voice is dark in my head.
“And I wouldn’t get to wear my sparkly pants,”Savage says quietly.“It’s okay, regina. You’re allowed to have fun.”
“Don’t let us stop you,”Lyle says, but he can’t hide the jealousy and possessiveness in his voice.
Suddenly, I’m aware that my mates areseething.Ghoul’s chuckle is vicious in my ear because this is exactly what he intended. I look to the spot of cold in the far corner that is Scythe, but he says nothing. He merely stares at me. It makes my heart pound at a fast, feral beat. My fingers twitch towards Ghoul’s neck, and I raise my hand, letting my fingertips trail down his scales in a soft caress.
