He couldn’t even look at Letty, ashamed that she was seeing this.
All his life, his looks had drawn attention he didn’t necessarily want. He’d grown up alone, after his parents had been killed by some punk kid named Peter. Marrok barely remembered them. He’d been on his own and trying survive when he was drafted into Wolfball. It was participation or death.
And, too many times, “participation” meant some woman he didn’t want touching him because she’d made a deal with his beloved coach. At the beginning, he’d been at the mercy of everyone bigger and meaner. Now, he was strong enough to defend himself physically, but that didn’t mean as much inside the WUB Club. The power structure was different and people would always try to prey on someone they saw as weaker than themselves.
He would never escape what he was. He was resigned to that.
Scarlett wasn’t.
“You can’t ask Marrok to sleep with someone to further your own plans.” She snapped. “It’s immoral and unethical. Besides, we have rules about the patients engaging in sexual activity. It’s in chapter three of the handbook.”
Marrok’s mouth curved. Both at her heartfelt defense of his honor and because she’d actually read the stupid handbook they handed out to the inmates. If she kept it up, he was just going to die from her terminal adorableness.
“Well, there are rules and then there are rules.” Dr. White chuckled like she hadn’t just used the exact same phrasing five minutes before. “I mean, the man isn’t called the Big Bad Wolf for nothing. If he seduces that troublesome ugly stepsister and solves our problems, it’s just nature taking its course.”
Marrok’s small smile faded. “She’s not ugly.” He reiterated firmly. “While the doctors are messing with Letty’s records, maybe we should recheck what exactly she is, because there’s no way she’s an…”
“She’s Bad.” Scarlett interrupted. “That’s what she is. Very, very Bad.”
He looked over at her in frustration.
She made “shut-up” sort of face at him.
“Well, whatever she is, I can seduce her, Dr. White.” He kept his attention on Letty. “I’ll just need constant access to her. Oh, and there can’t be a lot of guards around. The girl will never get naked with an audience. At least, not yet. I’ll need some privacy to get the job done.”
Scarlett’s mouth parted as she realized that he’d just cleared the way for them to operate without dwarf surveillance. Her saw her eyes light up with excited understanding.
No Baddie could ever look so delightfully delighted.
“Of course.” Dr. White agreed. “Do whatever you want with her. Just remember that we’re on a schedule here and…” The intercom on her desk buzzed and she reached over to hit it. “Yes?”
“Dr. White? The cameras are all down and the security office is burning. We think it was the fire imps, again. The dwarves say they need you.”
“Oh for God’s sake… I have to do everything around here.” Dr. White got to her feet and went stalking towards the door. “See him back to the craft room, Ramona.” As she passed, she ran her mirrored talons across the width of Marrok’s shoulder. “I’ll be expecting a detailed update later, Wolf.” She leaned down closer to his ear. “Very detailed.”
Marrok shifted out from under her touch, stifling a cringe. He didn’t like being pawed at, especially not in front of his True Love. He hadn’t been interested in Dr. White before he found Letty, so he sure as shit wasn’t interested now. Wolves were loyal to their True Loves. Always. Something else Good folk could never wrap their brains around.
One day, Dr. White was going to stop with the “subtle” and start with the demands. It was a big reason why he tried to play nice at the WUB Club and not draw her attention. He wasn’t going to do what the person in charge of assigning electroshock therapy wanted him to do. That wasn’t a great spot to be in.
Scarlett’s eyes narrowed. Her head whipped around to look at him as Dr. White swept from the room. “She’s sexually harassing you!” She said with righteous indignation
Marrok’s jaw ticked. “Yeah, well, I’m just an irresistible guy.”
“It’s not a joke.” Scarlett had been openly hostile to him for weeks, mostly because he’d been trying to get a rise out of her. Now, her hostility faded and she gazed at him with genuine concern. “Does she treat you that way all the time?”
“A lot of people treat me that way.” He said flatly.
“People just expect you to sleep with them, because you’re good looking?”
“People expect me to sleep with them, because they think I’ll trade sex for whatever it is they’re offering. Buying yourself a player for the night is just part of the wonderful game of Wolfball.”
“That’s not a game.”
Why would this girl be the only one to understand that? Not even Marrok could explain his hatred of the age-old process. Good folk were constantly angered and confused by his resistance. Most of his Badness arrests were directly related to his refusal to submit. But, even knowing that it would just mean more pain and trouble, he’d never willingly sold himself. Maybe, on some level, he’d been imagining this exact conversation with his True Love. He’d wanted to be able to look her in the eye and tell the truth.
He met her gaze. “You were right earlier. I never wanted to be a part of those stupid games. A lot of us don’t. They force the wolves into it. Out there is worse than in here for me. No matter where I go, I’m caged. At least here, I don’t get attacked or pawed at as much.”
“You’re supposed to be safe in this hospital, though. Instead, Dr. White is using her position to exploit you. You shouldn’t have to put up with being threatened, Marrok.”
“I have never touched that woman.” It was important that she know that. “I won’t sleep with Snow White, not matter how many times she offers me a better room, or a shortened sentence, or a…”
“Of course you won’t!” Letty interrupted as if that was obvious.
Even Marrok had questioned why he bothered to resist Dr. White. He could’ve been out of here months ago if he just submitted. He’d done far worse things, but he’d never been able to bring himself to even consider it. Scarlett clearly never doubted he’d make the pointlessly moral choice, though.
He wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“I’m sorry.” Scarlett continued. “I didn’t know how hard it was for you. No wonder you want to escape from the hospital and from Wolfball.”
He didn’t want Letty to know about any of this. It would be hard for someone so clean to ever fully comprehend what it meant to feel dirty. “I never considered escaping until you came along.” He said honestly.
Maybe it took someone Good to have that much optimism. To think they could stage a jailbreak and make things better. Baddies were used to losing. They just sat behind bars and endured. The WUB Club didn’t have breakouts because none of the inmates had enough hope to even try for freedom. It was why the staff was so complacent and arrogant.
Aside from Trevelyan, no one had ever escaped. And even the dragon had been convinced he’d be killed in his jailbreak attempt. He just hadn’t care. Trevelyan had reached the point where he’d rather die trying than stay imprisoned. No doubt he’d been shocked when he actually got away. That was so different than Letty’s boundless faith.
“Well, we’re going to get out of here, okay?” Scarlett leaned forward and gently took hold of his hand. It was quite possibly the first time in his life he’d been touched with nothing but caring. “It isn’t your fault.” She said sincerely. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
No one had ever said that to him before.
Marrok folded his fingers around her palms, not sure how to respond. What she’d said was ludicrous. It was the exact kind of bullshit he’d normally scoff at, but he was actually touched by her words. He’d been a provoking jackass to Scarlett every day since they’d met. He was twice her size and a thousand times more ruthless, but she was promising to k
eep him safe. And she meant it.
Jesus, this girl was Good.
He looked into her wrong colored eyes, saw the soul deep purity of his recklessly kindhearted True Love, and he… believed.
He believed every crazy story she’d ever told in share circle. Believed all the loony claims about Cinderella stealing the prince. Believed that shoeless bitch was the actual ugly stepsister. Believed that Letty had been set-up.
“That glass slipper doesn’t belong to Cinderella, does it?” He asked quietly.
She slowly shook her head.
Marrok believed her. Believed all of it.
…He just didn’t care.
Marrok had waited too long to find Scarlett to ever give her up. Maybe she wasn’t exactly how he’d pictured his True Love, but there was something very appealing about the girl. The mix of the soft and the tyrannical charmed him.
More importantly, she reached out to offer him comfort when there was absolutely nothing in it for her. He’d never imagined having a True Love that nice. He’d never even liked nice before, but he liked it now. Every selfish, criminally inclined, biologically driven instinct in his body told him to do whatever it took to keep Scarlett.
And for a guy serving time in a psych ward for Baddies “whatever it took” was a pretty broad mandate.
“The shoe will prove Cinderella isn’t the real princess?” He persisted. “That’s why she wants it? To destroy the evidence?”
Charming wanted to marry a foot. At least that’s how it seemed to Marrok.
Some fairy godmother had given him the glass slipper right before that infamous costume ball a couple months back and told him it would only fit his destined princess. If Cinderella had somehow tricked that nimrod and the shoe didn’t actually fit her, she’d be out of the castle on her ass.
“That slipper will blow Cindy right out of the water.” Scarlett confirmed with visible satisfaction. “It doesn’t fit her and I can prove it. Once Charming sees that she’s an imposter, it’s all over for that twisted nymphomaniac.”
“Does she really fuck those mice?”
“They’re rats and yes she does. I’ll be telling Charming about that, too.”
“You really think he’ll believe you? Even with the shoe?”
“Yes.” There was absolute conviction in Scarlett’s tone. “Charming is under some kind of spell, but I know we can get through to him. We grew-up together. Dru and I wouldn’t even be in here if he’d been able to prevent it.”
Unfortunately, Marrok believed that too. Why wouldn’t the Prince of Blondness want Letty? Especially, if they had a history. Which meant Marrok’s True Love was Charming’s destined bride.
Fuck.
Marrok and Cinderella were actually on the same side in this. That shoe couldn’t see the light of day. He had to find it and make sure that Scarlett didn’t show it to Charming. Otherwise, the closest Marrok would ever get to Letty was chasing after Charming’s ridiculous pumpkin-shaped coach.
“That’s why we need to escape.” Scarlett continued earnestly. “Once I get the glass slipper, everything will be the way it’s supposed to be.”
Marrok smiled and thanked the Lord he was unrepentantly evil. “Oh, absolutely it will.” He agreed. “I’ll make sure everything works out how it should. No matter what I have to do.”
Chapter Five
Scarlett’s delusions about her stepsister grow more elaborate and perverse.
I can’t even speculate on what kind of damaged mind would concoct such twisted tales about our beautiful Cinderella.
Psychiatric case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae
Cinderella slapped her dressmaker, knocking the woman to the ground. “You stupid cow! You call this a wedding gown. I wouldn’t wear this to clean out a sewer!” She gave the embroidered silk a vicious yank, tearing the fabric from her body. Pearls scattered as threads ripped, destroying days of work. The round gems scattered around the bedroom, bouncing on the marble floor.
The goblin seamstress desperately tried to gather up them up, again. “But, your highness, we made it exactly to your specifications.”
“Bullshit! It’s a rag. Is that what you want me to wear when I become princess of the Westlands? Rags?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re mocking me, aren’t you?” She gave the woman another shove. Like most of the castle’s servants, the dressmaker was a Bad folk, so of course she’d be a deceitful bitch. “You’re mocking me!”
“No! Your highness, I swear I…”
“Isn’t it enough that I suffered all my life?” Cinderella’s eyes filled with misty tears. “That I’ve worked and slaved every day, with nothing but my gentle nature to get me through? Now, you don’t even want me to have a dress on my special day. You want me to be a laughingstock!”
“But your highness, the greatest designers in the Four Kingdoms worked to create this dress for you. It’s the most expensive and beautiful…”
“Mice!” Cinderella shrieked, cutting her off. Instantly, the double doors to her golden bedroom were thrown open and her gang of rodents marched in.
Since moving into the castle, she’d given all the human-sized mice blue palace uniforms and made them guards. They were now in every vital position within the Westlands, answerable only to her. They were her only defense against dissidents in her new kingdom; all the naysayers and whiners and assholes who were working against her. Agitators were everywhere.
She knew it.
Everywhere she looked she saw smirking and judgment; heard whispers and snickering. Her men were making sure all those enemies were punished. Unlike Charming’s dickless guards, her men weren’t afraid to get the job done.
It was gratifying to see the goblin’s eyes widen in panic as the mice bore down on her. You had to show the Baddies who was boss.
“Wait!” The woman scrambled to her feet. “I didn’t do anything! Don’t let the rats…” She trailed off with a scream as two of them seized her arms and dragged her from the room.
“They’re mice.” Cinderella shrieked after her. Why did everyone want to belittle everything she had? What had she done to make the entire world turn against her? Why was she soooooo unappreciated?
“Your highness?” Gustav, her top mouse, stepped into the room and closed the door, lowering his eyes respectfully. Because, why wouldn’t you address a future princess in a deferential and obedient way? Was it really so much to ask that she be given just the tiniest bit of reverence? “May I speak with you?”
“Yes.” She decided, because she was a gracious and giving person, goddamn it.
“We had another call from the Wicked, Ugly and Bad Prison.” Gustav was taller than she was, with the long nose, red eyes, and sharp teeth of a mouse. Not a rat. She would never surround herself with rats. He was a mouse. “Dr. White says she may have had a breakthrough with finding your glass slipper.”
Cinderella’s lips pressed together, trying to hold back a fit of totally justifiable swearing. Everything in her life came down to a fucking shoe! This was all Scarlett’s fault. Her stepsister was the most petty and uncooperative bitch in the world. “What kind of breakthrough? Does she have my slipper or not?”
“Thus far? Not.”
Cinderella’s hands clenched around Snow White’s invisible throat, a strangled sound of frustration in her throat. “How hard is it to just beat some information out of someone? Huh?! It’s like that slut of a doctor is trying to make this difficult!”
Maybe she was. Maybe Scarlett had gotten to her.
Cinderella’s eyes narrowed in consideration.
Everyone was against her.
“Once again, your highness, I would be happy to question Scarlett for you. I know I could get her to…”
“I told you that won’t work!” She tore off her veil and threw it at him. “Charming would find out if I had Letty tortured by my men! He’s so pathetically Good.”
Sometimes he would look at her and Cinderella sensed that Charming didn’t want her at all. Ever with the spell convincing him
that she was the one who fit that glass slipper, he looked mildly repulsed with his destined bride. He’d seize any opportunity to leave her.
It wasn’t fair.
Cinderella’s lower lip trembled in self-pity. “Letty would’ve already gotten word to Charming, if she wasn’t safely locked away. He’s always liked her and Dru better than me. He’d be getting them out of the WUB Club, right now, if he could.” His disloyalty made her hate him, but Charming was the only way to the crown. “Do you want my future husband to think I’m some kind of monster? Do you?!”
“Of course not, your highness. I seek only to make your life perfect.”
“How can it be perfect when everyone wants to see me fail?” Cinderella wiped at her eyes. She was under attack from every direction. “I need that shoe! Why won’t Scarlett just give it to me? How did she even smuggle it out of the Westlands?”
“I don’t know, but we searched everywhere and it’s definitely not in this kingdom.”
“She’s so duplicitous.” Cindy sniffed back more tears. “And I can’t find a single black-market godmother to make me another one. It was mystically patented or some fucking thing. What am I supposed to do if Scarlett somehow gets free and shows everyone the truth?”
“We could just kill her, your majesty.”
“You think that hasn’t occurred to me?! But, you heard her shouting when they dragged her away. She said she sent the shoe to some friend of hers, who will take it straight to Charming if anything happens to her or Dru. He’s already fighting the spell. That could tip him over the edge into remembering.”
“Do you believe her?”
Cinderella couldn’t take the chance. Not with the rumors about Scarlett’s family. “First, I need to find that shoe and get through the wedding.” Once she was officially a princess not even Letty could fuck things up. “Then, I can kill her.”
Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) Page 6
