“I’m not leaving anyone behind.” More cynically, Scarlett was also pretty sure nobody in the group was willing to fall on their sword for the others. Baddies weren’t into self-sacrifice, so Plan A was doomed. “That’s why I’m voting that we go with the basement option.”
Avenant gave a “told ya so” wave of his elegant palm.
“I’m not going down there!” Rumpelstiltskin insisted.
“I didn’t say you had to do it.” Scarlett retorted. “I’m saying one of us will have to sneak into the dungeon and…”
Marrok laid a hand on her arm, forestalling her words. Scarlett glanced over at him in surprise and saw that his attention was fixed on a pack of men stalking across the cafeteria towards them. Dower’s cronies were looking for him and conducting a table-by-table search. Terrified inmates shrunk down in their seats as the four hulking wolves demanded answers from them.
…And now the pack’s eyes had fallen on Marrok.
“Oh no.” Scarlett glanced over at him and tried not to panic. “Now, what?”
Topaz eyes glowed. “Just don’t say anything. You suck at lying.”
Her grandmother was always saying the same thing.
“What are we lying about?” Esmeralda turned to look at the wolves. “Wait, did we have something to do with Dower going missing?”
Scarlett winced. “Kinda.”
“Am I supposed to know who Dower is?” Avenant inquired. “Because, I don’t.”
“He’s the guy Marrok and I left tied up in the library.” Scarlett tried not to stare at the wolves bearing down on them. “I think his men have noticed he’s gone.”
Rumpelstiltskin groaned and scurried under the table to hide.
“Fellas.” Marrok leaned back in his chair like he didn’t have a care in the world and casually smiled as the other wolves surrounded their table. “Did you want something?”
“Where the fuck is Dow?” Richardson, the biggest of the men, snarled.
Avenant shrugged. “I still have no idea who that is. The rabble just becomes a blur of faces and whining.” He drank from his paper carton and sighed. “And why do we never have chocolate milk?”
“This has your paw-prints all over it, Marrok.” Richardson loomed over him. “You’ve always had it in for Dow.”
“We have religious differences.” Marrok allowed. “I want him to rot in hell and he disagrees.”
“Where is he?!” Richardson bellowed. His beefy hand seized Marrok by the shirtfront and hefted him out of the chair. “Tell me, you son-of-a-bitch!”
“Good news, Red.” Marrok’s gaze slid over to hers for half-a-second before sighting on Richardson’s fuming face. “I don’t think we’ll have to sneak into the dungeon, after all.” His skull slammed forward, crushing the bridge of Richardson’s nose.
Scarlett’s eyes went wide as all hell broke loose.
She shouted Marrok’s name in panic as the other wolves surged forward to attack him. He went careening backwards into the table, sending trays and chairs in every direction. The fight was six against one.
“No!” Scarlett leapt forward to try and help him, although she had no idea what good she could do. The wolves were all trained fighters and double her size. She just knew she couldn’t stand by and watch Marrok get hurt.
Avenant leapt to his feet to avoid flying globs of porridge. “Oh for God’s sake, it’s like dealing with children.”
Forgetting that she was now housed in the body of an eight foot ogre, Esmeralda tried to scramble out of the fray. She climbed up on one of the mismatched wooden benches along the wall, only to hit her head on the ceiling. She grabbed up at her skull, cursing in the forgotten language of witches. Thankfully, everyone was too busy to notice.
The room descended into chaos as fighting broke out at everywhere simultaneously. The cafeteria attendants desperately tried to restore order as all the aggrieved inmates took this golden opportunity to attack each other. Trolls and monsters and sorcerers and enchanted beings of every sort threw food, and plastic silverware, and punches. The emergency siren sounded a continuing loop of high-pitched sound.
“Marrok!” Scarlett grabbed one of the wolves by his blond ponytail, wrenching him away. “Stop! Leave him alone!”
The blond wolf turned with a snarl of fury. He drew his hand back and punched her.
Punched her!
Scarlett doubled over in surprise and pain, her eyes watering. No one had ever hit her before. It hurt! The guy prepared to strike her again and she wasn’t sure what to…
Marrok tackled the guy with a manic roar. He launched himself at the blond wolf’s midsection, dragging him to the ground. The greatest player in Wolfball took down his enemy like the other guy was sack of flour. They hit the floor hard enough to send them both sliding ten feet across the room, Marrok was already on top and beating him.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” He slammed his fist into the other man’s face, looking incensed. “You just hit my True Love!”
Scarlett’s eyebrows soared.
Hang on, what did he say? Had she heard that wrong over all the noise?
The guy tried to break free of Marrok’s attack, still fixated on Scarlett. He was a Wolfball player, too, and he seemed to think his best chance of survival was to get to Scarlett and use her as a shield against Marrok. The sport was brutal and basically without rules, so it was probably instinctive to use an opponent’s weakness against him.
The guy struggled to reach her, his hands clawing on the linoleum for purchase. Scarlett was too surprised to move… but she didn’t have to. He wasn’t getting close to her, anyway. Marrok wrenched him back, catching him in a chokehold. The other wolf flailed around like a fish on a hook. Scarlett just stood there breathing hard, knowing she was safe from the man.
Marrok was protecting her.
“What the hell?” Richardson grabbed Scarlett’s arm and dragged her closer. “You’re Marrok’s True Love?” He got right in her face, breathing deep. “Holy shit, you’re Good?!”
“No, I’m…” Her protest ended with a cry as he yanked her around. Her back was against his front, his hand at her throat.
“Marrok!” He bellowed. “You ready to tell me where Dower is, now?” His sharpened nails dug into her skin and Scarlett flinched.
Marrok froze. His normally sardonic face was deadly serious as he slowly released the other wolf and stood up. The blond guy was now unconscious. “Let her go.” The tone was ice cold.
“Fuck you. Where’s Dow?”
“Let her go.” This time it was an order.
“You want her back, you tell me what I want to know.” Richardson dipped his head to sniff at her hair. “And I’m betting you want her back bad. Christ, I hate her kind, by they always smell so damn… Good.” He smirked at the pun.
Marrok’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t you tell him anything.” Scarlett warned, her attention on Marrok. Dow knew too much. If he was released, the whole plan was ruined.
“Shut-up!” Richardson screamed. “Marrok is going to tell what I want to know or his woman will be headless in about three seconds…”
He broke off abruptly and Scarlett felt the impact of something right through his body. Then, Richardson was toppling over on top of her, his whole form going limp. She heard Marrok swearing viciously as she was dragged to the dirty floor.
She looked up and saw Avenant standing there, one of the metal cafeteria trays in his hands.
“I have no idea why hitting people when their backs are turned has such a bad reputation. I’ve always found it most effective.” Casually dropping the makeshift weapon, he sat back down and resumed drinking his milk.
“Letty!” Marrok raced over to crouch down next to her. “Are you okay?” He pulled her free of Richardson’s unconscious weight, helping her up. “Are you hurt?” His palm caressed her bruised cheek, scanning for more injuries.
Her heart flipped over in her chest at his gentle touch. “No, I’m…”
The swinging doo
rs to the cafeteria burst open and the dwarf guards came charging in dressed in full SWAT gear. They began hitting patients with their riot sticks and screaming orders. People who’d had nothing to do with the fight were beaten to the ground.
At least two dozen inmates shouted, “They did it!” it panicked unison. Fingers pointed at Scarlett and Marrok.
“Okay.” Letty swallowed hard as the guard closed in. She quickly tossed Avenant Ramona’s key and started desperately whispering instructions. “Let yourselves out of your cells tonight. Remember, Benji will be back at midnight. You guys take out the primary power ten minutes before that. We’ll do the backup. Then, we’ll meet in the library. Make sure everyone is there.”
“Do what now?” Avenant asked with a frown. It was impossible to know if he was hazy from the drugs or just not listening.
Letty wanted to shake him. “Pay attention! If you forget any of this, we’re screwed!”
Marrok sighed as they were surrounded by armed dwarves. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Red, I think we’re already screwed.”
Chapter Nine
We intercepted more letters intended for Prince Charming today. Scarlett is still determined to contact him.
I’ve upped her medication.
Again.
Psychiatric case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae
Cinderella barely resisted the urge to push the wedding cake onto the floor.
She imagined smashing the hideous pink rosettes against the black and white tiles, her too big feet jumping up and down on the stupid sparkly monogram. Then she’d rub the simpering baker’s face in the mess and have her mice beat him with the dorky cake topper of a couple dancing.
She asked for so little. Demanded nothing more than her due as a princess. And, her disloyal subjects rewarded her restraint and kindness by giving her even less. They wanted her wedding to be an embarrassing farce. They wanted her to suffer.
Either that or they were trying to make her snap.
Maybe this was all a plan to incite her. To make her to lose her temper in front of Charming. Well, provoking her wouldn’t work. Cinderella had spent years crafting her perfect image and she wasn’t about to lose it in front of her groom. Even under a spell, Charming was suspicious of her. So outwardly she would keep her cool and smile through the constant attacks. She would show them all she was a real princess. Sweet and benevolent and serene.
…Even though she wanted to kill every single asshole out to ruin her wedding.
Even the two shuddering climaxes she’d had from scrubbing at Gustav’s feet couldn’t make up for this. Her gaze slashed over to Charming, trying to gauge his reaction to the grotesque monstrosity of a cake. Surely he saw it was a direct insult to his gentle bride. Not even someone as blandly, blindly Good as the prince could miss this outrage.
“It’s gorgeous, Antonio.” He told the fuckwad baker. “You’re really outdone yourself.”
Cinderella wished a house would fall on his head.
Charming was a blond Adonis of a man, with sunshine hair and rich chocolaty eyes. But, his good looks were squandered on someone sickeningly… earnest.
Charming favored tailored slacks and turtleneck sweaters. With his wire rim glasses and constant intellectual chatter, he always seemed more liked a college professor than a royalty. He liked to have boring discussions about philosophy and social justice with Scarlett. But did he ever want to do anything that Cindy enjoyed? Of course not. The one time Cindy had convinced him to go to the hairdresser with her, he’d seem bored.
And now this.
Antonio grinned, obviously laughing that his disrespectful slight against Cinderella was going unpunished. Like all Baddies, he was stupid and worthless and scheming. “I did my best to make the cake perfect for you and our princess, majesty.” He simpered.
Charming gave the furry idiot a pat on his arm and glanced down at Cinderella. “Didn’t he do an incredible job?” He prompted when she remained silent.
Somehow she found it in her to hide her hatred. It felt like spikes were being driven into her cheeks, but she even managed a smile. “Well… I know he tried his best.”
Antonio’s face fell.
Charming looked annoyed at her for some reason. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
He drew her to the other side of the royal kitchen. Everyone thought he was such a gentleman, but really he was just weak. The thought of being married to someone so weak was repulsive.
“The staff just wants to please you.” He said in a disapproving tone. “Can’t you try harder to…?”
She cut him off. “That thing,” she pointed to the cake with a wild gesture of her hand, “is a blight on baked goods! I wouldn’t feed it to a pig, let alone present it to a royal princess. You must see that!”
He looked confused by what was painfully obvious to anyone with eyes. “It’s beautiful, Cindy. Probably the most beautiful cake I’ve ever seen.”
The man was either blind or stupid.
“Bullshit! That fucking tree ogre probably got his dirty green hairs all over the frosting!”
“Antonio is the best baker in the Westlands.”
Tears burned Cinderella’s eyes. Why was everything so impossibly hard? Why couldn’t she have one nice thing? “I just want our wedding to be perfect. Don’t you want that? Do you want the other kingdoms to mock us?”
“Of course I want the wedding to be perfect.” Charming agreed, but his voice wasn’t enthusiastic. If her bitch of a stepsister was here, he’d probably be thrilled to get her an adequate cake. He’d make sure every detail was up to standards. “But, I don’t see that necessitates treating people so…”
“They aren’t people!” She interrupted. “They’re servants. They’re Bad folk. If you can’t control their disrespect, I’ll do it myself!”
“You’re being irrational.”
“And you’re being a pussy!” She shrieked. “You’ve resented me ever since the ball!” The spell couldn’t make him love her. It just muddled his mind, so he thought she was the one who’d fit the shoe. Still, anyone should be thrilled to have her for a bride. “You blame me for what happened to Letty and Dru, even though I was the victim!”
“The girls wouldn’t intentionally harm you.” He said. “They wouldn’t harm anyone. Under the law, I can’t get them out of that prison yet, but I know there has to have been a mistake.”
“The wizard-judge said they were probably plotting my death! You’ve heard the rumors about their mother’s family and still all you care about is setting them free.”
“That has nothing to do with…”
She started sobbing. “If it was up to you, I’d be dead. That’s what you really want!”
“That’s not true.”
“It is! You’re taking their side over mine! Admit it.”
“I just know the judge was wrong. I know Letty. I know Dru. If they’d been able to have a real trial and they weren’t carted off before I could talk to them…”
“Bad folk don’t deserve trials! It’s in the constitution!”
“Well, I’m in the process of changing that law.” He retorted. They’d had this argument before. “Once I do, I can force the courts to reexamine their case and we can find out what really happened at that ball.”
“I already told you what happened.” She hissed. “Don’t you believe me?”
He paused for a moment too long. “Of course I do.”
“You’re lying!”
“I just think you must have mistaken some of the facts. I can’t imagine Scarlett coming at you with a hatchet.”
“Well, she did.” Jesus, was it really so hard to imagine Letty as an attempted axe murderer? Cinderella could picture it so clearly that she almost believed it had happened herself. It wasn’t a lie so much as a preemptive strike. She’d just accused her stepsister of something before Letty had a chance to ruin her. How did he not see it? “And what kind of prince doubts his bride’s word?” It was infuriating that he didn’t trust her.
<
br /> Charming arched a brow. “Scarlett was in a gown, at the palace, attending the ball, when she allegedly attacked you.”
“So?”
“So, where on earth did she get a hatchet?”
Silence.
Cinderella glowered up at him. “You and I had sex that night in the garden.” She finally spat out. “You know we did. I’m your True Love. You’d better get used to it and let this drop, or you’re never going to touch me, again. You can go fuck those Baddies you love so much.”
Charming slowly shook his head and that familiar look of disgust passed over his face. He tried to hide it, but it was always there just under the surface. Charming wanted nothing to do with her. “I know you’re supposed to be my True Love. And the glass slipper says you’re my destined princess. I’m trying to respect all that. But, don’t fight me about getting Letty and Dru out of jail, because it will happen.”
Cinderella was too angry to even speak. Prince or not, he was such a whiny loser.
Turning on her heel, she headed for the door. Sooner or later, Charming would discover the truth. Cinderella had placed hundreds of calls to the idiot she’d bought the spell from, hoping for some way to ramp up Charming’s dosage, but there was no answer. Typical of a Bad folk to be so totally unprofessional.
But, honestly, it wouldn’t matter anyway. There was no way Cinderella could keep him in the dark forever, especially not if he was determined to get to Letty. The spell would break if he uncovered the truth and Scarlett would do anything to destroy Cinderella’s life. She’d tell him everything just as soon as she could.
So there was only one thing of a real princess to do.
After all, Cinderella needed Charming to get the crown, but she didn’t need him to keep it. Come her wedding night, his royal righteousness was a dead man.
Chapter Ten
Marrok begins to show signs of sexual interest in Scarlett.
This can only be further proof of his masochistic leanings.
Psychiatric case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae
Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) Page 10
