“I’m handsome.” The way he said it, the words weren’t bragging or even prideful. They were almost like a curse. “That’s all I’ve even been.”
“You are handsome.” Letty agreed. “But that’s not all you are. Do you think I’d sleep with someone just because he was handsome? Would I tell him I loved him? Is that all you think I am? Someone that shallow?”
His eyebrows drew together. “No! Of course not, Letty.”
“Do you not trust me?”
“I trust you more than I trust myself.”
“Then believe me when I tell you you’re worrying over nothing. We’re supposed to be together. You’re the one who convinced me of that, remember?”
“I know, but…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just feel like something’s going to go wrong. It can’t be this easy.”
“You think this has been easy?”
“I think a whole lot of people should be keeping me away from you and nobody is. Not even you. That seems very fucked up. Nothing has ever gone this right for me.”
“Well, my grandmother certainly isn’t going to keep us apart. In fact, she’s probably coming over here to talk to you. She likes you waaaay more than me.”
“No.” He shook his head, taking the comment seriously. “Jana and I both love you more than anything. She’s trusting me with you. I have no clue why.”
“Because she knows you’ll die for me.”
That got his attention. “Yeah.” He said starkly. “I would. Without even a second thought.”
Tears filled her eyes and Letty cleared her throat. “So, when our daughter brings home her True Love, are you going to care what he looks like? Or are you going to care that he’d give his life to keep her safe? Which part seems ‘all he is’ to you?”
Silence.
“Because to me,” Scarlett continued, “it’s a lot more important that he loves her and makes her happy. My grandmothers feels the same and that’s why she you’re biggest fan.” She paused. “Also, she really is your biggest fan. That’s probably coming into play. She has your trading cards and everything. I think there’s a calendar of your team down in the tunnels if…” She trailed off with a squeak as he yanked her forward.
Marrok’s arms crushed Letty against his chest. His huge body curved around hers, holding tight. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
Scarlett leaned into his embrace. “I would die for you, too.” She whispered after a long moment.
“I’ll kill you if you even try it.”
She snorted. “You really are a poet.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You’re just lucky Letty doesn’t rhyme with pain-in-the-ass.”
“Marrok?” Jana called, getting closer to them. “You’d better come over here. I don’t like the looks of one of our new arrivals.”
“See?” Letty arched a brow at him. “Told you she was looking for you and not me. You’re teacher’s pet.”
He winked at her and headed over to Jana. “New guy bothering you, huh? Want me to kill him? Because, I can kill him.”
“God, I like you.” Jana pinched his cheek and Marrok smiled at her.
“We’re not killing anyone on the very first day.” Letty told them. It was sweet to see the two of them bonding, but, left to their own devices, they’d probably be scheduling public executions by nightfall. “What did this guy do to upset you, Grandma? It couldn’t have been anything too terrible or you would’ve taken care of him yourself.”
“That’s true enough.” Jana agreed. “But, he’s still gonna be a probbbb-lllem.” She was doing that sing-songy thing with her voice. That never boded well.
Letty sighed. “Alright, let’s go deal with the problem, then.” As they walked towards the tents, she took hold of Marrok’s hand and he gave her fingers a squeeze. Whatever this “problem” was, she was sure they could…
Her thoughts skidded to a halt as she came face-to-face with one of Cinderella’s rats.
Gustav stood with his arms crossed over his chest, bruises covering his body. Someone had taken his weapons, but he was still dressed in a palace guard uniform. From his stiff posture and the way his eyes were cutting around, Scarlett could tell he was terrified.
So was she.
She still had nightmares about Cinderella’s henchman dragging her away.
Marrok glanced down sharply, feeling Letty freeze. “Are you alright?” His eyes slashed back over to the rat and he quickly pieced it together. “Son-of-a-bitch. Is he one of Cinderella’s pets? One of the men who arrested you?”
Scarlett nodded.
“Told you he was a problem.” Jana chimed in.
Marrok muttered another curse, his hand smoothing over Scarlett’s hair. “Wait here, baby.” He stalked towards Gustav, his eyes going cold. “You miserable little fuck. You show up here after you put your goddamn hands on my wife?”
“I really like him.” Jana stage whispered.
“Scarlett said we could all start over.” Gustav backed up a step as Marrok drew closer. “She said all Bad folk were welcomed in the Enchanted Forest now.”
“She didn’t mean you.” Marrok seized him by the front of his uniform. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“He’s a spy.” Jana gave an “obviously” sort of hand wave. “Cindy sent him here to infiltrate us.”
“No!” Gustav’s beady eyes widened. “She has no idea I even left. She’d kill me if she did.”
“She’d have to wait in line.”
Gustav swallowed at Marrok’s threat and looked over at Scarlett. “I’m sorry for what happened at the ball. I am. But, I heard your speech and I thought that this was my chance to get away from Cinderella. You’re the only one she’s afraid of. I can help you stop her.”
Jana glanced at Marrok. “He’s lying. I hate liars.”
“Me too.” Marrok nodded and hefted the rat straight off the ground. “Let’s go feed him to the trees.”
“I can help you!” Gustav shouted, again. “Please, just hear me out. I swear, I hate Cinderella more than you do! I’ll do anything to see her destroyed.”
Scarlett’s attention stayed fixed on his battered face. “Did Cindy beat you?” She asked quietly.
“Of course she did! She’s an evil, violent bitch, who keeps us as slaves. She had the other men do this because I told her it was impossible to recast the spell on Charming. It is impossible! Once a spell is broken, it can’t be…”
“Charming remembers?” Scarlett interrupted excitedly. “He knows that the slipper is Dru’s? That’s why Cindy locked him up?”
“Yes! He’s refusing to marry Cinderella and she’s going crazy.” Gustav’s tone grew more fervent. “Even if you do kill me, at least I’ll die free. Her fucking hands will never touch me or force me to play any of her perverted games…” He trailed off with a shudder, his eyes dropping in shame.
Oh Jesus.
“Marrok?” Scarlett cleared her throat. “Love, let him go.”
“He’s lying!” Jana insisted.
“He’s not lying.” Scarlett had seen that exact same expression on Marrok’s face when he talked about his past. She glanced over at her True Love and knew he recognized it, too.
Marrok dropped Gustav to the ground.
The rat straightened his uniform, still not looking at them. “I just want to be free.” He repeated in a shaky voice. “I can’t ever go back there.”
Scarlett took a deep breath. “You won’t.” She promised. “You’re safe here with us.”
Gustav glanced over at her like she was an angel sent from heaven. “Really?” He whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
Jana rolled her eyes in disgust.
“Really.” Scarlett said.
Marrok sighed. “Letty,” he backtracked and leaned down closer to her ear so they could speak privately, “I see what you’re thinking, but no.”
“He could’ve been you.” Her palm came up to touch his cheek. “Marrok, how could I ever turn away someone
who could’ve been you?”
“You don’t have to turn him away. I’ll do it.”
“He needs our help. The whole point of this is to protect people.” She slowly shook her head. “And Cinderella does force the rats to sleep with her. I told you there was something weird going on. She hits them and treats them like dirt and…”
“And all that’s probably brainwashed them into following her every order.” He interrupted. “Your grandma’s right. Cindy sent him here to spy on us.”
“I don’t think so.” Gustav looked too grateful and relieved to be faking this. He was presently trying to hug Jana. Hopefully, he’d live through it.
Marrok wasn’t giving up. “You’re thinking about my past? Well, I’m thinking about yours. This guy helped drag you off to the WUB Club, Letty. He sure didn’t try to help you when you needed it.”
“I know.” She bit her bottom lip. “I can forgive him, though.”
“Why would you ever…?”
“But, you were in the WUB Club. How else would we have found each other?”
Marrok’s eyes narrowed at that argument and she knew she’d won. “That was a really underhanded card to play, Red.”
“What can I say? I’m Bad.” She shrugged. “Beside, you were just telling me that we needed more information before we invaded the Westlands. Gustav can help us.”
“Are you kidding? I don’t trust a damn word he says.”
“He hasn’t gotten to say anything, yet.” She arched a brow. “Seriously, you’re always claiming I can talk people into things. Just let me talk to him. You’re standing right here with me. What’s the worst that could happen? We can always kill him later, but we can’t unkill him once he’s dead.”
Marrok made a sound of frustration that Scarlett took as another victory.
She gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you.” She marched towards the rat and got straight to the point. Who knew how long she had before Marrok and/or Jana snapped. “Who’s helping Cinderella with the spell on Charming? She doesn’t have any powers, so she must have hired someone to do the heavy lifting. Who is it?”
“Trevelyan.” Gustav said instantly. “Cinderella’s working with the dragon.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Even for a crazy person, Trevelyan was crazy.
It was impossible to predict or understand him. Personally, I was glad when he escaped and we were rid of him, once and for all. The man’s feelings journal was the stuff of nightmares,
Psychiatric case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae
Even on her wedding day, Cinderella was harassed.
She shoved aside the useless Baddie stylist who was doing a half-assed job on her hair and glowered at the dragon in her heart shaped mirror. “I paid you a fortune and the spell didn’t work! That’s the bottom line here. I don’t care about your idiotic excuses, I just want results. FIX HIM!”
Trevelyan wasn’t impressed with her completely logical orders. The man was a disgrace to magic. “Once a spell is broken it can’t be recast.” Even in his human form, his voice sounded like a dragon’s, seeping out like a low rumble of thunder. “Everyone knows that.”
As usual, Trevelyan wore an ankle-length trench coat with decorative flames embroidered along the bottom hem. It molded around his muscular body like a second skin. With his exotic features and long ebony hair studded with silver beads, he really was stunning.
An asshole, but stunning.
Cinderella had considered taking Trevelyan to bed, just to add some variety to her life, but he was impossible enough to deal with when he had his clothes on. God only knew what he’d be like naked. Besides, what if dragons mated in their animal form the way wolves did? Cinderella enjoyed some erotic pain as much as the next princess, but fucking an actual dragon might prove difficult even for her.
“A second spell can be done.” She insisted. “You’re just too chicken shit to try it.”
“Your majesty, please.” The troll hairdresser tried to stick some more pins into Cinderella’s golden coif. “Let me just finish…”
“Get out!” Cinderella surged to her feet and all but threw the hideous woman from the room. She was so sick of Bad folk disrespecting her. She slamming the door shut and angrily shook out her golden curls in a fit of spite.
Where the hell was Gustav? He’d been missing since the other mice had punished him with that well deserved beating. That had been last night, though! That pussy should’ve been back on his feet and ready to serve her, again. Why did she have to do everything herself?
Trevelyan’s vivid green gaze stayed fixed on her. “If I do anything else to Charming, it will probably turn his brain to scrambled eggs.”
“Like he’s such a fucking rocket scientist, now?” Cinderella retorted. “I’ll take my chances.”
“I won’t.”
Cinderella hurled a hairbrush at the dragon’s stupid head. “You’re so goddamn useless!” He didn’t even bother to duck as the brush sailed passed his skull. That only made her angrier. “What am I supposed to do, huh? Marry that asshole from his cell in the dungeon? My dress will get filthy! Did you even think about that?”
“A bigger problem will be getting him to say ‘I do’ when the only word he seems to be screaming is, ‘Drusilla.’”
“Bastard.” She wasn’t sure if that was directed at Charming or Trevelyan, because it certainly applied to them both. “You told me it was Scarlett in that garden. If I’d known it was Dru, I could’ve broken her weeks ago.”
“I didn’t tell you it was Scarlett. I didn’t even know their names. You smuggled me into the castle, because you knew that shoe wouldn’t fit you, and I tailed Charming until I saw him put it on his destined bride.” He arched a brow. “I described it all to you and you’re the one who said it must have been Scarlett.”
“I thought it was!” Why did everyone want to blame Cinderella for their own failings? “You said it was homely redhead and naturally I thought of Scarlett. Dru’s such a little nothing. How could I even guess Charming would want her?”
“Well, either way, I can’t respell him.”
“If you’re so concerned about Charming, maybe you should consider that there are worst things for him than spending the rest of his life as a drooling idiot.”
“Like marrying you?”
“Like making him marry me.” She snarled. “Because, he’s going to be my beloved groom if I have to break every bone in his body to get him down the aisle.” She shook her head in disgust. “This is all your fault. Charming’s been fighting me this whole time, because he still subconsciously remembers Dru. You should have cast the spell before he slept with her. The True Love bond wouldn’t have been so indelible.”
“And miss the little porn show they put on? Where’s the fun in that?”
“You did it just to screw me over!” Cinderella raged. “You knew he’d sense I wasn’t his True Love. You deliberately made it even harder for me to convince him, but letting Dru touch him. Admit it!”
“Yeah, well, I don’t like you.”
“Then why the hell are you here!”
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Your check cleared.”
There had to be more to it than that. He wanted something. Otherwise he would’ve just ignored her summons, like he had the dozens of other times she called. From the second he’d unexpectedly shown up this morning, she’d felt Trevelyan’s restless energy.
Like he was… waiting.
He kept talking, ignoring her suspicious frown. “Look, my point is, I know which girl had that glass slipper on, even if I wasn’t sure on her name. Trust me. I saw a lot of her in that garden. Charming isn’t after Scarlett. He wants Dru.”
“Drusilla is nothing.” Cinderella reiterated. “Less than nothing. The flies on the crap of nothing. So is Charming. They’d never get together if it wasn’t for Letty. She’s the one who’s trying to bring me down. She’s the one I have to worry about.”
“Scarlett interests me.” He said softly. “I’ll confess,
I was satisfied being the only inmate to have broken out of the WUB Club. The distinction had a certain cachet. But, now that my record is tied, I find I have a lot of questions on how she pulled it off. No one understands the difficulties of that place better than I do. How the hell did she even get across the Lake of Forgetting?”
Cinderella made a face. “She stole a boat.”
“A boat?” His eyebrows climbed. “That’s it? That actually worked?”
“Disgusting, isn’t it? I’ll see everyone in that hospital dead, I swear to Jesus. Incompetent morons.”
“A boat.” He still seemed amazed. “I never thought of that. Why didn’t I think of that? It’s so…”
“Stupid? Childish? Evil?!”
His mouth curved. “Clever.”
Cinderella didn’t appreciate the new gleam in his eyes. “She’s not clever, she’s a duplicitous bitch. You saw her traitorous internet video, inciting my citizens to turn against me.”
“I saw it. For a clever girl, it doesn’t make much sense. No one with a brain would buy any of that sentimental bullshit about justice and sharing.” Trevelyan snorted. “I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt, though. Maybe she’s planning to lure other Baddies to the Enchanted Forest so she can rob ‘em.”
Cinderella’s lips pressed together. “She’s planning to ruin my wedding. That’s what she’s doing.”
“Well, you have mice all over the Westlands, poised to execute her if she shows her face.” He paused. “A face that isn’t so ugly for an ugly stepsister, now that I think about it.”
“She’s a hideous monster!”
“The wolf doesn’t think so.” Trevelyan’s tone changed. “Pretty clear from that video that he’ll be with her if she shows up and Marrok isn’t a man you want to cross. My guess is you’re gonna have one hell of a reception on your hands.”
Cinderella glanced over at him thoughtfully. Did he and the wolf have some kind of history? Maybe that was the dragon’s game. Maybe he was trying to get hired on as an assassin.
She tested the waters, not wanting to appear too eager, even though she was desperate. “If you refuse to cast another spell on Charming, the least you can do is stay and help me carry out the wedding, then. I might just need the extra protection from party-crashers.”
Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) Page 23
