Beauty is the Beast: Beasts Among Us - Book 1

by Jennifer Zamboni

  She made it up the ladder carrying a basket of things from the basement. She looked around at all the girls, then at Hades, who was also carrying a basket.

  “Shut the door, would you, hun?” she asked, setting her basket on the floor next to the work table.

  Hades knelt by the hole in the floor, pulled the ladder up, and secured the trapdoor.

  “Girls, I’m afraid there’s not time to dance around the issues here. You’re going to see things that may frighten you, but I’m going to ask you to put that fear aside because I need your help. I’m afraid I can’t work as I am.” Percy took a deep breath then released her glamour. The power shone over her in the poorly-lit room, until she lit the kerosene lamps with a flick of her fingers.

  “So, what happened?” she asked, ignoring the gasps of the girls.

  “We met with the alpha changer tonight to get Doug bitten.”

  “He did it, then.” She laid a hand on his forehead, then felt for the pulse in his neck, nodding grimly.

  “That’s the idea. He’ll be like me if he lives. Kaine said oozing blood is okay. Anything more than that is bad because the saliva will run out with it. I’ve been keeping his arm up, but he started bleeding pretty good after we got inside.”

  “All right. Let’s get these rags off him, get him cleaned up, and I’ll see if I can stitch him up.” Percy picked up a pair of sewing scissors. “Toni, there’s distilled water in that jug over there. Pour some in the electric kettle, and plug it in, would you? Gretchen, keep his arm elevated for me.” She began cutting away the sodden cloth, releasing more blood. The coppery scent tickled my nose, and I fought my predator instinct that wanted me to put him out of his misery.

  “What can I do?” Meredith asked, stepping up to the table, hands clenched behind her back.

  “Open my basket, and hand me things when I ask for them,” Percy answered, completely absorbed in her task.

  I watched, fascinated, as she exposed the wound, carefully peeling away more of my sad looking bandage. It looked like a ragged dog bite, though much larger than your average pooch’s maw. In other words: Doug’s arm was a mess. I don’t know how she’d keep it clean long enough to stitch one ragged side to the other.

  I came to fully appreciate the fact that I too had been unconscious for my change.

  “There’s a list of herbs right on top. If you could gather the jars from the shelf over there, everything should be labeled.” She addressed Meredith.

  “Sure.” Meredith didn’t move

  “Meredith, are you all right?” I asked.

  “Uh,” she said, looking less than all right. “Hades, Percy, what are you guys?” She looked from one to the other, as they were both in full fae mode.

  “Ever heard the myth about Persephone and Hades?” I asked her.

  She nodded.

  “It’s not a myth.”

  She stumbled back a couple of steps, then started loudly rummaging through the jars. I thought she was taking it quite well.

  “Wait, what?” Meredith paused in her search.

  After swallowing the excess saliva that hungrily pooled in my mouth, I explained. “Myths, fairy tales, and some horror stories have some basis in reality.” The piercing whistle of the kettle saved me from having to explain further.

  “There are measurements next to each item. If you’d put them in the wooden bowl, then Toni can pour the boiling water over it all. Mem, there are clean bandages in the plastic drawer set. Bring some to me.” Percy turned her lavender gaze on Mem, who was patiently waiting for instructions.

  They all kept moving, hopefully not thinking too hard on what they were willingly participating in. While the herbs and bandages sat steeping, Percy became the subject of much scrutiny.

  “So, you’re like a goddess?” Meredith asked, watching her through the rising steam.

  “Yes, though that bit is a little fictional. I’m just a fae.” Percy said, giving the bandages as stir.

  “She’s the queen of the land of the dead.” Hades supplied what he probably thought was helpful information.

  “Yeah, I’d forgotten about that part,” Fern gulped.

  “So, Gretchen, is that your real name? Are you a goddess too?” Toni asked, watching the goings on with great curiosity and without the smallest scent of fear.

  “It’s been my name for a very long time, but I used to be called Maude. I didn’t think it fit me, so I changed it. No, I’m not quite fae.”

  “She’s a werewolf,” supplied Fern.

  If I had thought things were going well, my perceptions were dashed as the girls backed away from me in a hurry, and the tang of fear rose to frenzying levels.

  “Oh for heaven’s sake, I’m not going to bite you or anything. I didn’t do this to Doug. The alpha changer did.” I rolled my eyes in Percy’s direction, and she grinned at me.

  Great, she thought it was funny that the girls were terrified of me. That’s so nice.

  “Seriously, ladies, I’m housebroken.” I leaned towards the steam to muddle their scents.

  “You were changing, weren’t you? That day, when that guy was being an ass?” Toni asked. Her voice lacked its normal volume.

  “Uh, yeah, but I got a hold of myself, and now it’s all good.” It’s all good? It wasn’t all good. I held less and less control every day. I was supposed to be gaining control with the new moon just days away.

  It got quiet as Percy used one of the bandage strips to wash away the gore that coated Doug’s arm.

  Maybe it isn’t that bad. Maybe the blood just makes it look worse than it is.

  I glanced down. Nope, it really was just as bad as I thought. No imagination required to amp up the adrenaline.

  Percy, seemingly unimpressed by it all, kept her composure professional. She didn’t bother with latex gloves—the magic would kill any bacteria she might spread—and I had a feeling she was using a fair amount of her own. She even skipped the plier-like instruments that doctors used to keep the needle clean and used her own fingers to sew with the curved needle. The thread she used looked like silk and smelled like flesh.

  I didn’t want to know where she got thread made of skin.

  “Oh gross, gross, gross!” Meredith looked away, suddenly becoming squeamish.

  Mem and Toni looked on with interest. I assumed they’d had the opportunity to see stitches performed before on people they cared more about.

  Fern was at the other end of the room, collecting gauze and more clean bandages.

  “I’m thinking it would be good if he didn’t get dehydrated,” Toni said, touching Doug’s forehead.

  “You’re correct. Would you go pour a cup of water and get a dropper out of the glass cabinet?” Percy kept her eyes on her work.

  “So what is Lacey-Marie?” Meredith asked, staring at the rafters.

  “Work now, questions later,” said Percy.

  Hades was guarding the trapdoor like a dog with a favorite bone. We would have to make sure the girls would keep their mouths shut about us before we could let them go. So far, they were handling our revelation well. Greek and Roman gods didn’t have the best of reps. Werewolves were considered outright monsters, but there was no question that vampires killed people in any of the stories. I suppose it was a good thing that Lacey had run away from the smell of Doug’s blood.

  Toni rejoined us at the table, bearing a glass of water and a dropper.

  “Go ahead and give him some. Gretchen, you’ll have to pry his mouth open for her. We don’t want to accidentally drown him, so only a squirt or two at a time. I don’t know how well he’ll be able to swallow,” Percy continued, repairing the extensive damage.

  With the hand I wasn’t using to prop up Doug’s arm, I shoved a couple of fingers in his mouth. His jaw was clenched like a steel trap, but I managed to jam my index finger into the little space in the back with no teeth, then squished my thumb in with it. It took some doing, but I opened my pinched fingers in his mouth, forcing his jaw open.

  Ton
i was ready with the water dropper, squirting in a small amount of liquid as soon as she saw Doug’s teeth separate from each other. At my nod, she repeated it, and we waited.

  The liquid sat on his tongue for a moment, then I tilted his head back, my fingers still in his mouth, and he swallowed.

  “More,” I commanded, wanting to get as much liquid into him as we could while I had his jaw pried open.

  Toni obliged, and again I tilted his head back, forcing him to swallow.

  Percy tied off the thread and cut another length to work on another section of damage.

  It was very slow going, and the girls were helpful, but I wanted Percy to hurry. I wanted to know that everything was going to be okay. With Doug. With the girls.

  Meredith started pacing, wringing her hands and muttering. She was the one who worried me the most. Toni seemed like a level-headed woman, but Meredith was unpredictable. She did as she was told and was, for all intents and purposes, a good girl. There was just something, maybe just her youth, that put me on edge.

  Why was I more willing to trust the older women? Age did not always come with a ready supply of wisdom.

  After what I considered to be a satisfactory amount of water had been squirted into Doug, I waved Toni away.

  “Thanks.” I extracted my fingers from his mouth and touched his hairy cheek with my fingertips. So far, there were no signs of the magic doing anything about the excess hair. I had some extreme doubts, as I had voiced to him, but I hoped something would happen, for his sake.

  I honestly didn’t care what he looked like under all the fluff. I’d grown accustomed to his appearance. His hair was shorter than when I had first met him. I found myself wondering what Ulysses thought of his new cut.

  Doug hated his condition, hated the stares it drew. All he had wanted was to be normal, at least on the outside, to not be considered a freak. Of course, by attempting the change, he was becoming a true freak. Like me. I wondered how much he had really thought about it.

  My research on the condition hadn’t been as thorough as I would have liked, so I didn’t know if there were any medical side effects to the mutation besides the hair. Maybe I would ask him after it was all over. Right now, he just needed to stop bleeding and survive.

  The blood that Percy wiped away as she worked became less and less. Was that because her stitches were keeping it in where it belonged, or because he didn’t have much left?

  “Gretchen, you can set his arm down now.” Percy set her supplies on a clean white towel and wiped her hands on another.

  “Are you sure?” I continued clutching his arm.

  She patted my hand and smiled reassuringly. “Yes, dear.”

  “I have to pee,” Meredith announced, heading for the trapdoor.

  Hades blocked her path.

  “Gretch, why don’t you take her?” Percy suggested.

  “Fine.” I could use the escape for a couple of minutes, even if it was only for guard duty.

  Hades knelt down and opened the door, sending the ladder crashing to the floor below.

  “I’ll go first.” I didn’t wait for an argument. Meredith wouldn’t get the chance to run away. Not that it mattered if she tried. I was faster.

  I ran down the ladder as if it was a staircase, having plenty of practice and the coordination, and waited at the bottom, as Meredith descended at a much slower pace. When her toes touched the hardwood floors, I steered her towards my own suite, as it contained the closest bathroom. I didn’t think there was a chance she’d try to jump out the window.

  “Come on in,” I invited, holding the door open for her, mentally thanking the house for keeping my room in its place. “It’s the door on the left.” I took a seat on my armchair, too nerved up to care about the blood I was probably depositing on the upholstery.

  Were we bad people for keeping our friends prisoners? I hoped not, and I hoped they understood.

  I heard the toilet flush, then the sink run for a few seconds before Meredith reemerged. She seemed to be in no particular hurry to go back upstairs. I can’t say that I blamed her. The atmosphere was intense. Instead, she wandered over to the shelving I was seated next to.

  She pulled a picture down for closer inspection. “Is this you?” she turned the photo around.

  A big soft-eyed wolf stared trustingly back at the camera.

  “Yes.” I decided the simple answer was the best one.

  “Whoa.” She replaced the photo and took down one of me and Lacey-Marie running together.

  I surmised the exclamation was for the size of my wolf in comparison to my petite friend, who was wearing a pink sports bra and running shorts.

  She put that one back as well and continued looking. I had no old photographs—these were all from the past 10 years or so.

  “So, is Doug going to be all right?” Of all the questions she could have asked, that wasn’t one of the ones I’d been expecting.

  “I don’t know. I hope so.” I fidgeted with the seam of the cushion I was seated on.

  “Me too.”

  “Do you need anything else while we’re down here, or are you ready to go back up?”

  “No, I’m good.”

  I pushed myself up out of the comfy oversized chair and escorted her back to the ladder.

  Percy was applying herbal-smelling goop and a bandage.

  “How is he?” I asked, rushing over.

  “He’s breathing. I think if he makes it through the rest of the night, he’ll be fine.” Percy stepped back from the table, again wiping her hands on a clean towel.

  “How much night is there left?” There were no windows in the attic through which to view the night sky.

  “A couple of hours. You should get some rest. You all should. The salon is open tomorrow to select clients, but we are open. Feel free to crash in the extra bedrooms.” Percy finished up her application and stepped back to examine her work.

  I was surprised there wasn’t a mad dash for the ladder. Instead, everyone stood around in a daze.

  “What about Doug? Shouldn’t we move him?” I stared at his prone figure. Where to? The guest rooms were being occupied.

  “Where do you want him?” Percy asked, rolling up her tools in the remaining towel and placing them in her basket.

  I wanted him wherever I could keep watch over him, but Mem still used my room

  “I’ll sleep in the library,” Mem volunteered. “Just give me a couple of blankets, and I’ll be just ducky.”

  “In my room, then,” I decided.

  “Will you sleep, or stay awake to watch him?” Percy asked.

  Was it a trick question? She’d told me to get some sleep, but I bet Doug needed some extra attention.

  “Hades will put him in your room, but only if you promise to get some rest. I’ll bring you some supplies. If anything happens, you come get me right away. Understood?” Percy directed.

  I nodded.

  “Good, if you’d help me get cleaned up, that would be wonderful.”

  While we were talking, the others had filed down the stairs.

  When I finally got a chance to schlep into my own room, I found Doug already tucked in on one side of the bed.

  I quickly stripped down to my underthings and threw on a set of navy blue pinstriped pjs. Getting under the covers without jostling the invalid was a bit of a challenge, but I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  I would wish I’d gotten more sleep.

  I woke up to Percy seating herself on Doug’s other side just as the sun was rising. Pushing up carefully, I watched as she gently unwound the bandage from his upper arm, revealing the scabbed over bite that looked remarkably less angry than I expected. Better yet, Doug was still breathing, and it no longer felt as if I were lying next to a lump of lava. His human smell was dull, replaced by the more pungent smell of wolf.

  He had made it through the night. He was going to live.

  “I’ll take out the stitches tonight. In the meantime, we’ll notify his friends
of his whereabouts. I’m sure they’re worried sick about him.” Percy applied more goop and a new bandage.

  I groaned as I glanced at my alarm clock, a whole three-and-a-half hours of sleep. Peachy.

  “Coffee?” I questioned.

  “I suppose,” Percy relented, not liking the combination of me and caffeine.

  “Yay!” I made a point to bounce extra carefully when propelling myself out of bed. Doug didn’t even utter a moan.

  If I kept moving, maybe I wouldn’t realize how stressed and tired I was. I grabbed an outfit from my closet, then proceeded to fall asleep in the shower. The water felt so warm and wonderful, and I’d only sat down to let the water beat on my back for a moment. There was banging coming from my bathroom door, rousing me once again.

  “Coffee’s on!” Lacey-Marie’s muffled voice filtered through the door.

  “Thanks, Lace. I’ll be down in a minute.”

  I glanced down at my stubble-covered legs and decided they could wait. I’d be wearing pants and boots anyhow. How did I come to live in a house of early risers? Lacey-Marie never rose early. She could always be depended on to be the last one downstairs in the morning. Why did she have to go and change her routine on me?

  I stood under the spray for another minute, then forced myself to turn off the water and get out. My clothes sat waiting for me on the counter, and I pulled them on before I was fully dry. Shivering, I scrunched the water out of my hair with a towel, then threw in silk drops. It’s the only stuff that will allow me to get a comb through my mass of curls. They weren’t super tight, just wild and thick.

  Today was destined to be a straight hair day, so I plugged in my flat iron, got out my goops and sprays, and began blow-drying with a huge round brush. When I finally finished I studied the effect in the mirror. Not quite right. I pulled the hair around my hairline into a loose angel braid, which was sort of like a French braid except only hair from the very edges is included. Including all my hair in the back, I pulled the top strands down so they cradled the sides of my head, and pinned the bulk of the braid up underneath. It’s a simple updo that’s always pretty on long hair.