Golden Beauty (Tales of Grimm Hollow Book 2)

by LeAnn Mason

  I wasn’t sure I’d ever be sane again.

  “Hey, Mae, is it? You all right? I’m Jason, a friend of Allya’s,” a guy asked, suddenly looming over me from out of nowhere. This not being able to move, to see my surroundings, kicked up my panic to immeasurable levels.

  I couldn’t tell him I was hyperventilating, that my vision was tunneling and I was going to pass out. I couldn’t articulate that I sure as hell was not “okay.”

  I heard something approaching, fast, but I was too tired, too worn out. My body gave up, finally sending me plummeting into blessed darkness. Maybe I’d wake to find that this entire day, from dawn to well past dusk, was nothing more than some crazy, fitful dream conjured by my fear for Allya’s welfare. Maybe my mind then twisted that fear and turned it into the worst nightmare I’d ever endured.

  I prayed I’d wake up in my own bed, free of the nightmare that seemed like so much more.

  Pain radiated from my side and shoulder but not nearly as much as there should have been, considering. Unless it had all been a dream. Opening my eyes didn’t give me any more indication of what was going on. The moon was waning, and there was little light.

  “Glad you are awake. Makes it easier to transport you.”

  “What?” I croaked wearily. My head was fuzzy, and my entire being hurt, but I had spoken. The word had made it out into the ether. I snapped my eyes to my hand holding my weight where I sat upright in the dirt. My body worked. “Is it over?” I jerked my attention toward where the shadowed figure knelt before me. The most I could discern at this moment was that it was a woman, and that was from the voice. “Where’s Allya? That man, he… killed my parents.”

  “Let’s get you cleaned up, we closed the wounds but you’ll be sore for a while.” The woman stood swiftly, her darkened outline rising fluidly before she reached a hand out to help me up. The voice was pleasant, but not what I would call “warm.”

  At the mention of wounds, my hand lifted to my left shoulder, finding my shirt sticky and wet but with minimal pain. I had a feeling I’d be glad I couldn’t see how much blood stained the fabric. I felt lightheaded. “I’m sorry. I’d like to just sit for a moment if you don’t mind. I’ve been forced to stand since I was taken.”

  “Come, Allya and Jason need to return to Grimm Hollow. Quickly if possible.”

  “Allya? Is she okay?” The thought of my friend brought me to my feet without hesitation. I needed to see her. If she had gone up against that sadistic man… “I need to make sure she’s all right.”

  “Child, you do not want to see her now. She needs more medical attention. I was able to seal the wounds, but she still isn’t out of the woods yet.” The woman chuckled to herself. “Out of the woods. Literally. We must go.”

  There was a bustle of activity fluttering around the area as I cautiously trailed behind the mystery woman. My legs were stiff, and my ribs, shoulder, and neck burned. My face still throbbed from the punch I’d taken in my kitchen, but I was alive and amazingly mobile for the injuries I imagined were sustained by that gigantic animal. Spinning, I looked back toward where I’d lain but saw no giant heap of animal. “What happened to the… animal.” It was an animal, wasn’t it? “That attacked me? What was it?”

  Did it run off? Was it killed?

  “Jason, please take her. She is aggravating me with her questions.” And just like that, I was dismissed. Handed off to someone else to follow back to… wherever she’d said. A large man unfolded himself from his position between two still forms on the ground, one smaller than the other. The longer I moved around in the darkness, the more I was able to see.

  “Allya!” I collapsed next to the mangled body of my best friend. Bloodied, especially around her neck and face, she’d been draped in a blanket or something where she lay unmoving on the leaf-strewn ground. With shaking hands, I reached to soothe her. I hovered over her, not sure where to touch, what to do.

  “Please, Mae, give her some room,” the big man almost growled at me, drawing my attention with his hostility. My hands retreated back to my lap of their own accord.

  “Will she be okay?” I couldn’t think about her being another casualty of her father. The thought drew my attention to the other heap a few paces away. It was distinctly more animal in its appearance. Furry, with four long, thin protrusions that I figured to be legs.

  A wolf, maybe?

  “She’d better be,” the man across from me rumbled. “We’re ready to head back. I’m going to carry her. Will you follow us? I know she would want you there when she wakes.”

  “I have nothing left for me here. She and my sisters are all that I have left. But I will need to return.” To bury my parents.

  The man turned to face me, glowing eyes now on full display, making me fall back a step. There was nothing natural in that look. My captor had looked at me with eyes much the same…

  “I am Jason. Allya’s… mentor. Please do not fear me. You have nothing to fear in my presence.”

  “His eyes glowed, too,” I stated.

  “They were not natural. My wolf is a part of me. My other half. His was stolen. Like everything in his possession.” The vehemence in the man’s words left me taken aback. There was true hatred in his voice. A tone I would most likely share once the reality of my situation sank in. Right now, I refused to succumb, so I pushed all the anguish to the rear of my mind.

  I was only as good as my mind, and I needed it clear if I was going to move forward with my life. One thing was for certain. My goals had changed. I no longer wished to go to college to escape small-town life. Now, I just wanted to survive.

  Jason bent to one knee and dove his arms underneath my friend’s prone and too-limp body, scooping her up like one would a bride. “Let’s get back to Grimm Hollow. I believe they have transportation set up for the return.” With that, he turned and marched away, into the woods. “Come on!”

  His voice fluttering back toward my ears finally got my feet moving even if my brain wasn’t sure I should follow. It was the best option at the moment. Luckily, Jason picked his way gingerly through the trees and winding underbrush, making sure that Allya was wrapped and unmarred by the protruding items. His care gave me pause, his hold fierce but gentle, forehead creased with worry, and I was pretty sure that I heard him whispering to her unconscious form.

  The man was in love with my best friend. Three weeks away from Winchester, at most, and she’d found love.

  Lucky girl.

  My mental musings eliminated the time and distance it took to reach our transportation. A large SUV idled perpendicular to our trajectory, doors flung open wide. Yellow light glowed from within the vehicle, and an annoying bing-bing-bing sounded. The closer I got to the grating chime, the tighter I clenched my jaw. I hated that sound. Luckily, the cicadas were going to town tonight, and it drowned out the homicide inducing sound.

  My nerves were frayed, and I was trying really hard not to fall apart. It made me cranky.

  Several people filed into the car's cavity before we reached its frame faintly glimmering in the moonlight. Jason didn't even break stride, just gathered Allya closer, hunched a bit, and stepped up into the lit interior. No hands needed for this dude.

  I needed out of these God-forsaken woods. Needed time… and space to process all that I'd lost today. Reaching for the handle attached at the apex just inside the rear door, I pulled myself wearily into the warm cavity and was immediately swarmed by a myriad of voices speaking over each other. Some frantically. Looking out the window, I felt confusion swamp me. We headed further into the trees.

  “I thought we were going to your town,” I asked Jason lowly. My eyes caught on Allya bloody and still wrapped in Jason’s arms. I ran my fingers through her dark locks, pulling the shorter pieces away from where they lay across her face. “I knew she wasn’t just home with the flu. God, I hope she’ll be all right. I can’t lose her, too.”

  “She’ll be fine. She has to be. I refuse to think otherwise.” Jason’s hand took over so
othing my friend when I pulled back at his vehemence.

  “I hope you’re right.” It must be so nice to have someone who would do anything for you. Not because you were blood. Not because they were obligated to but because you called to their soul.

  Right now, I’d give everything I had for my parents to be alive. I'd take that familial love and strangle-hug it to within an inch of sanity. Turning to the window in perfect time for the water gathering in my eyes to fall silently, I allowed myself to mourn all that I’d lost in a bubble of solitude. Even if that bubble was an illusion.

  CHAPTER 5

  Grimm Hollow shouldn't exist. The town was in the middle of thousands of acres of densely wooded land, surrounded on all sides by only the road we drove on as a means of paved escape. No one had ever mentioned a random town in the forest, and hunters were always traipsing around looking for animals to shoot for either food or trophy.

  Someone should have noticed.

  Then there was the fact that there were no electrical lines leading into or out of the town, yet it was alight with ample sources of luminosity. Our vehicle was not alone, and I didn't notice any horses or other means of… lesser transportation. The people roaming the main street appeared just like those of any other small town in the area. It was almost eerie. A hidden town inhabited by at least a few citizens who look like they could be walking along any street in America.

  The town was probably not much bigger than my own, but it was vastly different. It was inordinately clean and pristine. Everything looked immaculate. We stopped in front of the cutest little blue house with a huge garden leading to its doorstep.

  “Jason, get her inside. Her bed is ready for her. Mae, is it? If you'll follow me, I may be able to fill you in.” The older woman, who looked a lot like my friend, spoke over her shoulder and half-turned from her spot in the front passenger seat. It was the first time I’d heard her talk since I’d come into their company. Maybe I’d been too out of it to notice if she had.

  Jason released a hand from Allya just long enough to open the door. Then, he was out of the SUV. I exited more slowly, my head on a swivel as I looked all around the tidy street filled with houses just as picturesque as the one I walked stiffly toward.

  “I know this must all be a lot for you. Maybe change and get some rest, and then we can talk, child,” the woman said from my elbow. I hadn’t realized she was there, so her words made me jump. “I’m sorry, dear. I’ll show you to a room. We can talk in the morning.”

  Her words pulled me from my daze enough for me to respond even if my words were slow and stilted. “No. I’d prefer to stay with Allya. Please.” I needed to keep my eyes on my friend. I’d lost her once already. I’d lost even more today. “I need to be with my friend.”

  The old woman nodded silently before moving to climb the stairs. “Come, the rooms are up here. I’ll have Jason move an armchair into the room. Maybe then you can both comfort yourself with her presence.” She looked over her shoulder and waved me forward with a hidden smile before finishing her thought. “Sleep may come easier then.”

  I was in the house of a total stranger, in an anomaly of a town. I’d been kidnapped by some sort of demented magic man who had enjoyed killing my parents and burning my entire life to the ground.

  Literally.

  I doubted sleep would come. But I nodded to placate the woman. “Thank you… forgive me. I don’t know your name.” I felt a bit sheepish at the admission. I knew so little about my situation. How did I know these people were any better than the last predicament I’d found myself in? At least, inside the room, I would have Allya, and I could lock us inside if I deemed the measure necessary.

  “Jason, would you please bring my chair from downstairs for Mae to sit here with Allya?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Thank you, son.”

  The woman went to the far side of the bed where Allya lay nearly motionless atop the covers of a large, plush mattress. With tenderness in her gaze that rivaled the affection I’d noticed in Jason, she pushed a clump of blood crusted dark hair away from Allya’s closed eyes.

  “Who are you?”

  “Hmm?” she answered, pausing her movement back around the bed toward the doorway. “What was that, child?”

  Didn’t mean to say that out loud, but now was as good a time as any to ask. “Who are you to Allya? You look… similar, very familiar with her though I don’t recall her ever speaking of any family.”

  “You are right to assume a familial tie. She is my great-niece. The granddaughter of my twin sister. My name is Elsie.”

  “Elsie. Nice to meet you. Thank you for allowing me into your home tonight.” No reason to not be polite. Until a reason presented itself.

  Jason appeared in the doorway, barely discernible behind the bulky wooden rocker. He paused when the rails knocked into the frame of the door, too wide for entry. Turning, he backed through the doorway, moving the chair to hold the high back against his chest and taking small, measured steps, angling the larger bottom through as needed. I watched the spectacle with barely contained amusement, oddly tickled at his efforts.

  I smothered my smile in time to thank him for bringing the chair for my comfort while I stayed near Allya’s side. I settled into the confines of the seat once Jason threw the paisley cushion back onto the wood and extended his hand in an exaggerated motion.

  “Get some rest. We’ll watch over her and clean her up. If she wakes, I’ll wake you. You are a bit slighter than our dear Allya, but you can grab something clean and take a shower if you wish. The bath is out and to the right, at the end of the hall,” Elsie said, having returned to the room. She quietly began wiping Allya’s blood-soaked skin. I couldn’t help but watch as slowly, it returned to its bronze hue if a bit more ashen. At least the ghastly crimson had been wiped clean. With the wetting of the blood came the reemergence of the stench of it. A metallic tang with undercurrents of wet animal and earth bloomed within the small room.

  I took that as my cue to clean myself up and was cemented in my conviction when Elsie asked us to vacate so she could get her niece into clean, comfortable clothing. After I'd gathered some necessities to sleep in, Jason followed me as far as the door, pulling it closed behind him to stand sentry. Arms crossed and worried scowl firmly affixed, he stood planted, reminding me of a bodyguard.

  No more harm would come to Allya this night. Not on his watch.

  Eyes red-rimmed and puffy after another bout of mourning within the confines of the shower, I made my way back to Allya's room.

  “Elsie? Would it be possible to call my sisters… you know, to let them know I'm alive?” I was sure they'd already been contacted by the police. They would know our parents were dead, but there would only be two bodies discovered in the wreckage of our home. Who knew if they'd identified them yet? My mother and I were about the same height…

  “Sure, dear. I understand wanting to put their minds at ease, but what are you going to tell them? Would you like me to have someone take you back to Winchester? That's where you're from, yes?” the old woman asked kindly, her dark eyes peering to search my soul. A small, serene smile tugged at her thin lips, and the crow’s feet at the corners of those deep eyes deepened with the expression. “They don't want you to be sad.”

  “Hmm? I'm sorry, what?” Her last comment was rather random, but again… be polite Mae.

  “Your parents. They do not want you to be sad. They are just happy you're all right.”

  “My parents…” This woman had no idea about my parents. We'd never met. Anger boiled within me like a tea kettle on high. “How would you know what my parents would think? You don't know them. Don't try to placate me. My parents just died!”

  “You're right, my dear, I'm sorry.”

  “But Elsie—” Jason started, confusion painted on his face. He sat at the edge of the bed, pulling his attention from Allya's resting form, his hand clasped around hers.

  “A lot has happened today. Speak to your sisters, decid
e what you would like to do, and get some rest. Not necessarily in that order. In fact, maybe in the reverse?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Those eyes crinkled again as another small smile graced her face. “Rest first. Then worry about what comes next.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Sleeping in a wooden rocking chair is harder than you'd think. Every time my weight shifted or my head fell forward—because that always happened when you attempted to sleep upright—the stinking chair would rock. The motion would freak me out enough to spook me out of my pseudo-snooze.

  I was still exhausted. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. I wasn't much good to anyone at the moment. But Allya still hadn't woken, and my phone call to my sisters didn't do much to ease my burden. I couldn't tell them that Mom and Dad had been murdered by some psycho Warlock. Elsie had explained some things when I woke this morning, but the information didn't ease any of my internal struggles and contributed to my current state of frazzleness.

  It did, however, help me make sense of Allya.

  Al could see auras, lived with vile, shape-shifting Warlocks who'd killed her grandmother, and I hadn't known any of it. For a few minutes, that reality took the fore of my reeling mind. Witches were real. Shapeshifters were real. Psychics were real, and Allya was one. Not to mention all the other things I now knew I’d find walking the streets of this hidden town.

  Elsie hadn't gotten too in-depth in her explanation. Probably so that she could gauge my reaction, wondering if I could handle the information. Little did she know what effect these revelations would have on me. Allya could tell her… once she woke up.

  I was fascinated. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything.

  But I needed to wait. I needed to see that Allya was all right—so she needed to wake up—and I needed to go to my parents' funeral and give closure to my sisters. The funeral was on Tuesday, so I had two days to rouse my friend. I'd need her comfort and support at the funeral, not to mention I'd need her if I wanted to make it back to Grimm Hollow.