Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale)

by Cassandra Gannon

  …Or maybe she hiding something.

  Marrok snapped off another piece of cookie and considered his options. “So… where is that glass slipper, now?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Prince Charming continues to pester me with phone calls, wanting to discuss Scarlett and Drusilla’s progress.

  I begin to worry that he might be in a deep state of denial. Could he really doubt that they are guilty?

  And, if he does, do we want someone so gullible in charge of a kingdom?

  Psychiatric case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae

  Cinderella looked down at the man handcuffed before her. “This isn’t Scarlett.”

  “No, majesty. This is Dower.” Gustav said seriously, as if it wasn’t obvious to everyone that the male wolf on the ground was just a tiny bit different from a redheaded ugly stepsister. “This is one of Scarlett’s friends, though. He escaped with her. The monkeys caught him this morning, near the Enchanted Forest, and turned him over for interrogation.”

  “I’m not Scarlett’s friend!” The wolf named Dower shrieked. He was shackled and kneeling on the floor of the throne room, looking like he’d been attacked by --well-- pissed off monkeys. “I was just in prison with her. I swear, I can’t stand that bitch.”

  “We need to know everything that happened.” Charming stepped forward. “Start from the beginning. No. Wait. First tell me if Letty and Dru are alright.”

  Cinderella exchanged a look with Jack. It infuriated her that the prince had stuck his nose into this. Jack and Gustav could’ve extracted all the information they needed from the wolf without all this pointless bullshit, but Charming just had to be involved. Had to stop the mice from doing what needed to be done. Had to be underfoot with his tedious morality and busybody ways.

  He was such a dope.

  “Scarlett’s fine.” Dower stared up at Charming like the prince was going to save him from further simian violence. If he thought those winged orangutans were mean, wait until the mice got him alone. “Dru was gassed by the purple smoke and is out of it, but she’s still alive and all.”

  Charming frowned in dopy concern.

  “Where are they?” Cinderella snapped, unwilling to wait for her brain dead fiancé to get to the heart of the matter. She loomed over Dower. “Answer now or you’ll be fucking sorry, wolf.” She hated wolves. They were such a disgusting, worthless, breed. She gave him a kick, just because she could. “Answer!”

  “Jesus!” Charming scowled over at her as Dower crumpled to the ground. “Is that really necessary?”

  “Yes. If you weren’t such a pussy, you’d realize that we need to be tough on Baddies or they’ll walk all over the rights of Good folk and…”

  “Letty said they were going to her grandmother’s house!” Dower cried, cutting her off. “She’s looking for a glass slipper!”

  Cinderella’s eyes slashed over to Jack. “Get him out of here.” She hissed.

  “Wait!” Charming kept his attention on Dower. “What glass slipper?”

  “What fucking glass slipper do you think?!” Dower screeched as the mouse started to drag him towards the dungeon. “Letty says she has Cinderella’s shoe, only it’s not Cinderella’s shoe. Letty says she can prove Cinderella is a liar. She says she can prove she’s not your bride!”

  Well shit.

  Charming’s head whipped around to face Cinderella, something like triumph filling his expression.

  In that second, she knew the prince believed that dirty wolf criminal over her. He believed Letty over her. Even through the spell, Charming had always sensed that something was wrong. He was happy that Cinderella was about to be exposed as a fraud. Happy that she wasn’t his destined princess. Two days before their beautiful wedding, the son-of-a-bitch was just looking for an excuse to leave her at the altar.

  “I knew it!” He jabbed a finger at her, his eyes bright with satisfaction. “I knew you weren’t my True Love!”

  Cinderella did what any poor mistreated girl would do when her delicate heart was broken by her handsome prince.

  She slugged the bastard.

  Her dainty manicured fist slammed into his face, bending the wire rims of his glasses into his nose. Charming stumbled back in shock and pain. Cinderella closed the distance, hitting him, again.

  Jack dropped his hold on Dower and rushed forward.

  “That’s all it takes?” She screamed. “The secondhand word of an escaped mental patient is all it takes for you to dump me?!” Jack seized Charming by the arms, holding him still so she could keep hitting him. “I am the most perfect woman in this kingdom and you want a fucking ugly stepsister instead?!”

  “Oh great.” Dower groaned as the mouse wrestled Charming to the ground. “Damn Marrok. This is all his fault. He’s the one who wanted Letty. Not me.”

  Cinderella’s head came around with a snap. “What?”

  “Marrok Wolf! He’s the one you want!”

  “The Wolfball player?”

  “Yes! He’s obsessed with Scarlett. That’s what started this. I didn’t even want to leave the hospital. I was a hostage.”

  The handsomest man in the Four Kingdom’s wanted Letty? Jesus! The bastard was a mindless animal, but he could probably fuck better than three other men combined. She’d never met Marrok, but Cinderella could certainly imagine all the nasty things someone like him would do to a woman in bed. All the marks and bruises and degradation as he took his fill.

  How did Scarlett always get so lucky?

  Why was everything in this world so unfair?!

  “What do you think you’re doing?!” Charming roared as Jack cuffed his wrists. “I’m the prince of this kingdom! You can’t do this!”

  “It’s already done.” Cinderella stood over her fiancé and hated the jackass. “I wanted to do this the pretty way, with the cake and the flowers and the all the peasants throwing rice at me. But, you couldn’t let that happen, could you? You want to ruin everything for me.”

  “You aren’t my princess.” The spell was failing now that he’d realized the truth. She could see awareness entering Charming’s eyes as his memories came rushing back. “The shoe didn’t fit you.” He breathed in astonishment. “The wolf is right. It wasn’t you!”

  “No, but it was me who slaved over the seating chart for our wedding!” God knew, he’d been no help at all. Cinderella had tirelessly planned an entire reception and he’d never once said thank you. But somehow she was the villain in all this. “I have a hundred and fifty-six lobsters coming in tomorrow, you selfish bastard!”

  “You locked up my True Love!” Charming struggled to get free. “You bitch.”

  “She deserved it!”

  Goddamn it, why did every little thing in Cinderella’s life have to go wrong? Didn’t she deserve one special day? Especially, when Letty was being pleasured by The Big Bad Wolf at that very moment? How was it that an ugly stepsister got a man like that and all Cinderella got was this pitiful bleating goat? How was that fair?!

  She pressed her hands to her temples and bit back a scream of frustration.

  When she thought of all the time she’d spent selecting the perfect pink for her color scheme. Her beautiful ice sculptures and a whole fleet of doves couldn’t just be wasted. Everyone in the Four Kingdoms needed to watch her walk down the aisle. She needed to bask in the glow of their envy.

  Charming’s stubbornness was not going to ruin it for her!

  “What now, majesty?” Gusatv asked.

  Jack dragged Charming to his feet. “We should kill him.”

  “No. He’s going to marry me.” She couldn’t give it up. The royal wedding was her due! “I don’t care what it takes, get that asshole back here to recast the spell and make Charming forget all this, again.”

  “Majesty, that won’t work. You know that once a spell is broken…”

  “Do it, Gustav!”

  He obediently bowed his head, but she’d have the other men punish him later. Strenuously. No one questioned her orders and got away wi
th it unscathed.

  “I’ll die before I marry you.” Charming spat. “There’s only one woman I love.”

  Cinderella rolled her eyes. “Oh, shut-up.”

  “This is why Scarlett escaped. She’s coming here. She’ll set me free and…”

  Jack smashed Charming’s skull against the wall, which did them all a favor and stopped her groom’s blathering. The prince dropped to the ground in an unconscious heap.

  “About time.” Cinderella looked over at Jack and reached up to fluff her hair. “Now, call the news stations. Tell them their princess has something to say.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Why does the wolf persist in ignoring my Good advice? He looks right through me during our sessions. Instead, all his attention seems fixed on an ugly stepsister, who throws herself at him in

  increasingly shameless and disgusting ways.

  Psychiatric case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae

  Scarlett stepped out of the tub and dried off. She hadn’t had a hot shower in six weeks. The water at the WUB Club never rose above “tepid,” so it had felt wonderful to stand under the scorching spray and let all her problems wash away.

  Except they hadn’t really been washed anywhere.

  Cinderella was still ensconced in the palace, planning to kill Scarlett and Dru and everyone else who might cross her. Until Cindy was gone, no one was safe. Scarlett hated to leave the steamy warmth of the shower, but she had a thousand other things she needed to accomplish if she was going to overthrow her evil stepsister and save the Four Kingdoms.

  The bathroom looked exactly the same as it had when Letty was growing up, the walls covered in a hand painted mural of happy bunnies and sunshine. In fact, everything in the house looked the same as it had looked ever since Letty could remember. Jana made sure to keep everything familiar and unchanging.

  …And camouflaged as the cheery cottage of a sweet little old lady.

  Wrapping a robe around herself, Scarlett headed out into her bedroom. The room was decorated in warm yellows and bright blues, with a canopy bed draped with breezy fabric. It was designed to allay suspicions, should anyone come snooping around, but Scarlett had always liked the pretty, girly space.

  She’d spent most of her life in the Westlands with her mother and stepfather, but Jana’s house had always been Letty’s home. Luckily, she kept some clothes in the festively painted armoire. She never wanted to see those red sweatpants and “EVIL” shirt again, but she couldn’t exactly wear a fuzzy bathrobe on her mission.

  She was debating which outfit would be best for infiltrating the palace, when she spotted Marrok. He was sitting on her favorite sunflower pattered arm chair as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  …In his hand was the glass slipper.

  Letty mentally cursed her grandmother. Jana was the only one who could’ve given it to him. The two of them were like the tag team from hell.

  “What are you doing?” She demanded, afraid to move for fear of what he might do.

  “Look at this thing.” He held it up with a baffled shake of his head. “What kind of dumbass makes their footwear out of glass? One stubbed toe and you’re crippled for life. It’s just soooo breakable.”

  “Put it down.”

  He casually tossed the delicate crystal shoe from palm to palm. “What would happen if I smashed it, do you think? Would Charming believe you about Cinderella being a fraud even without the proof?”

  Letty tried to brazen it out. “Of course he would.”

  “I would believe you.” Marrok’s eyes stayed on hers. “I would always know you were mine. But, I’m going to bet that Charming would need more proof.” He pretended to brighten. “Hey, maybe you could tell him something that only the two of you would know. Like maybe… something about that night in the garden. You guys were the only ones there, right? He has to remember that.”

  Scarlett took a determined step forward, only to freeze when he held the glass slipper at arm’s length over the hardwood floor.

  “Because, God knows, I can’t get the images of you two together out of my head.” He dangled the shoe by one finger. “My True Love and the Prince of the Westlands rolling around in topiary and flowers… It’s burned into my skull like acid.”

  Letty made a sound of extreme annoyance. “Of course, it’s all about you.”

  Marrok arched a brow. “You think I’m being conceited, because I don’t want my wife sleeping with another man?”

  “I think you’re an asshole, because you’re being an asshole.” Scarlett corrected. “I mean talk about a double standard! Am I supposed to believe you’ve kept yourself as virginal as a unicorn all this time?” She didn’t even want to imagine the number of women he’d slept with. It would be like counting all the stars in the sky. “You’ve probably been with every evil beauty queen in the Four Kingdoms.”

  “I didn’t care about them, though. No one else has ever meant anything to me. Not the way Charming apparently does to you.”

  “So, in your world, random hook-ups with many people is better than having meaningful relationships with very few?”

  “Yes.”

  “That makes no sense, at all!”

  “I’ve slept with other people.” He dropped his eyes. “Sometimes because I wanted to and sometimes, especially when I was younger, because I was forced to.”

  Her brows drew together at that admission, although it sadly didn’t surprise her. Anyone who looked like Marrok would be prey for the monsters of this world, when he wasn’t strong enough to defend himself. Nobody would’ve stepped in to help a wolf or any Bad folk being abused.

  Why wasn’t there a place where they could be safe?

  “If you want, I will postpone the Cinderella thing to help you hunt down and kill anyone who’s ever hurt you.” She said quietly. “I swear it.”

  His gaze flicked back up to hers and she still saw uncertainty there. “I just want you to understand that I have been with other people, but I have never loved anyone but you, Letty.”

  Scarlett felt her lips part in astonishment.

  “Maybe you’re not ready to feel that way about me, yet.” He continued, his eyes intent. “I can accept that. But, it bothers me --a lot-- that you would feel that way about someone else.”

  She had a sudden flash of Marrok telling her that he loved some other woman. That he wanted someone else for his bride. Just the idea of it had Letty wincing.

  She felt very… attached to this man.

  “Just tell me the truth.” He continued intently. “Do you love Charming?”

  Scarlett very slowly shook her head.

  Marrok sagged forward in relief. “You’re sure you don’t love him?” He pressed like he still wasn’t completely sure. “Really?”

  “Really. He’s just a friend.”

  “I don’t see you having garden sex with ‘just a friend.’”

  What could she tell him that wouldn’t be a lie? “Well, that was an odd night.”

  He studied her and she could see his mind working. The man was so damn clever. “So… on this ‘odd night,’ Charming had sex in the garden?”

  “Yes. He did. I swear.”

  “With you or with someone else?”

  She faltered, her mind racing. Damn it! Why was he making this so hard?

  Marrok’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction when she couldn’t come up with a quick evasion. “See I knew something was off about that story. You were acting too sketchy about it. If it really had been you he slept with, you would’ve been screaming out the placement of his moles to prove Cinderella was a fake.” He made a considering face. “Overall, I’m impressed with how well you kept up the story, though. You can be kinda devious, Red. For a Good Folk.”

  She appreciated his support of her Badness, but the last thing she needed was him digging into the night of the ball. “Just give me back my shoe.”

  Marrok wasn’t going to let it go. “So, Charming slept with Cinderella. That must have been quite a disappointm
ent for you.” He didn’t sound particularly sympathetic. “Tell me how it happened. Did she drug him or is he just an idiot? Please say idiot. I have a bet with your grandma.”

  Scarlett lips pressed together, refusing to answer him.

  He gave the shoe another perilous waggle above the hardwood floor. “Bear in mind, I’m pissed over your lying and holding your glass slipper hostage.”

  “I haven’t lied to you!”

  “You let me think you had sex with Charming. How is that not a lie?”

  “It’s none of your business who I had sex with, before we even met!”

  “I know that, so why did you lie about it?”

  Scarlett studied him. “You’re not going to break that shoe.” She finally decided.

  He gave the glass slipper a taunting toss in the air. Scarlett’s heart went up and down with its assent and fall. Marrok easily caught it and smirked at her. “Are you really willing to bet on me not smashing this thing?”

  “Yeah, I am.” She kept her gaze on his. “Because, you know that shoe is important to me. If you’re my True Love, you’re programmed not do anything that would hurt me.”

  Marrok hesitated, staring at her.

  She arched a brow at him.

  “Fuck.” He didn’t look happy about it, but he stopped threatening shoe-murder. He set the glass slipper on a round side table and made an irritated face. “Feeling pretty smug, aren’t you?”

  “A little bit. It’s your own fault, though. If I believe you love me, then I also believe you’re going to do right by me.” She shrugged, because it was all very clear. “And I believe you love me.”

  “Fuck.” He muttered again. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”

  “I don’t think you had to tell me.” Once he said it, she’d realized she’d already known. “You lifted my sister out of that library window before you saved yourself. You shielded me from bullets with your own body. You smile at me differently than you do everyone else.” She edged closer to him. “I don’t think you’re gentle with many people, but you’re always gentle with me.”