Entangled (Beauty Never Dies Chronicles Book 2)
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Entangled
Beauty Never Dies Chronicles, Book 2
J. L. Weil
Dark Magick Publishing, LLC
Kindle Edition Copyright 2017
by J. L. Weil
http://jlweil.blogspot.com/
All rights reserved.
First Edition 2017
Edited by Allisyn Ma
Proofread by Stephany Wallace
Cover Design by J. L. Weil
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then return it to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Created with Vellum
Contents
Also by J. L. Weil
Glossary
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Also by J. L. Weil
THE DIVISA SERIES
(Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)
Losing Emma: A Divisa novella
Saving Angel
Hunting Angel
Breaking Emma: A Divisa novella
Chasing Angel
Loving Angel
Redeeming Angel
LUMINESCENCE TRILOGY
(Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)
Luminescence
Amethyst Tears
Moondust
Darkmist – A Luminescence novella
RAVEN SERIES
(Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)
White Raven
Black Crow
Soul Symmetry
BEAUTY NEVER DIES
(Teen Dystopian Romance)
Slumber
Entangled
NINE TAILS SERIES
(Teen Paranormal Romance Short Novels)
First Shift
SINGLE NOVELS
Starbound (Teen Paranormal Romance)
Casting Dreams (New Adult Paranormal Romance)
Dark Souls (Runes Series KindleWorld Novella)
Glossary
Blinken – a large black bird with golden eyes. Much like a parrot, Blinkens can talk, but on a very intelligent level. They are extremely rare. Hardly anyone in Starling Heights has ever seen one, let alone talked with one.
Bloodbugs – a habitat in mountainous regions.
Ceraspan – a drug designed to keep someone asleep for a hundred years.
Crickitoes – a cross between a cricket and a mosquito that lives in desert areas.
Glassflies – transparent butterflies found in the Wisps and natural hot springs.
Grasp – a wasp the size of a bird.
Horsea – a wild horse. They can be tamed, but only if they sense a person’s goodness and no harm. They are very cautious creatures.
Humblue – a woodland bird that is a blend of a hummingbird and a bluejay.
Kelstag – a ravenous stag that thrives in the Dying Labyrinth.
Laider – a large insect that dwells in caves and is a cross between a hairy spider and a ladybug.
Rabous holes – burrows made by Rattlog.
Rattlog – a highly poisonous rattlesnake.
Ratice – giant rats that live in the dungeons of Diamond City.
Scorptran – a scorpion and tarantula crossbreed.
Stingwings – a hybrid of a bat and bumblebee.
Synker – a water creature that resembles a snake and alligator.
Wild boarus – an oversized wild boar with tough skin like a python and eyes that burn red.
For everyone who fights to protect those you love—you are the heroes.
“It shall not be death, but a sleep of a hundred years, into which the princess shall fall.”
Sleeping Beauty
Prologue
DASH
It had been a mistake bringing Charlotte here. I saw that now, and I vowed to release her from the Institute’s clutches. The idea of her being locked away in a prison sent me into an uncontrollable rage.
Did they really think they could keep me caged? Escape hadn’t been easy, and I hadn’t expected it to be, but the thing with me was I always got my target.
When were they going to learn?
The Institute couldn’t control me. Guard number one I took out so easily that I almost thought it was a trap. Heck, it could have been, but I would take that risk over and over again until I found Charlotte.
The dungeons were utter darkness, but I had a map in my head from the last time I’d been here. When you’d gone through what I’d been through, every curve was burned into your mind. It had been no easy feat, and I’d made damn sure never to return. Until now.
I ran my hand along the cold walls, counting the doors as I went. The passageway twisted and turned like a maze, to prevent anyone from leaving. Only three more doors and there should be a stairway leading up, taking me farther from this craphole. My heart trembled thinking about Charlotte locked away in one of these damp cells. I shook my head. Her own father. She deserved better. I knew what it was like to be let down by family, to be hurt by someone you loved and who was supposed to love you. It sucked.
If she was down here, rotting away in one of these detestable cells, I would kill the person who put her there without a second of hesitation. God help the guards stationed at that chamber.
I reached a fork in the corridor.
Treading carefully now, I knew the security would be heavier the closer I got to where I assumed they would be keeping her. For three days and three nights, I had listened to the guards whisper about the girl with the rainbow eyes. There was no mistaking who they were gossiping about. Charlotte was one of a kind. She had been in the hands of the Institute for over seventy-two hours. A cold chill tiptoed down my spine as I thought about what they could do to a person in that amount of time.
How they could break them.
Her spirit was too bright and bold to be trapped down in the dungeons, and if they had touched a single hair on her head, I would cut out their hearts. All of them. I had no qualms about death or delivering the final blow—one of my life lessons I learned from the Institute.
How ironic that I would use what I’d learned on my teachers. That’s what they got for creating a killer.
I slunk up the stairwell, careful on each step.
The door at the top was damp and slippery with moss. Voices traveled
down the corridor, where a soft orange glow flickered over the dark shadows, and my gaze was drawn to a certain cell at the end of the passageway. That had to be it.
I crept toward the light and the drunken laughter. Some things never changed. There wasn’t a whole lot to do while on post, and many of the guards passed the time by sneaking in ale, like the one just outside the door, pulling a swing from a bottle.
“How did you—?”
I didn’t hesitate, shooting forward in a blur as I ducked under his arms to then spring up behind him. Good thing I didn’t need a weapon to kill a man. My hands were just as deadly. Grabbing onto both of his arms, I slammed my foot into the bow of his back. He went down like a sack of rocks.
The guard behind him watched me with alert eyes, his hands coming up in front of him as if to ward me off. “We’ve been advised not to hurt you.”
I cracked my neck. “That’s a damn shame, because I am going to enjoy hurting you.”
“You can’t escape. Dr. Winston won’t allow it. Not after he knows you’ve found his daughter,” the sap tried to reason.
I’d heard enough.
I launched to the side and dodged his Taser, hitting the guard in the arm. Wrestling the weapon from his hand, I kicked my leg out, catching the guard behind me in the gut. With the Taser in my grasp, I used it on the one in front of me, shoving him into the wall. He went down—all kinds of twitchy.
Welcoming the physical release of fighting, I poured every ounce of frustration and rage into each punch. It was a much needed outlet. By the time I finished, a pile of bodies covered the ground. I had mad skills. The mist had given me the ability to hit a target and kill if I wanted to. All I had to do was wish it and the universe made it happen, no matter what circumstances. It was how I’d earned the name Slayer.
Running a hand through my grimy hair, I bent down and snatched the key off the guard and quickly shoved it into the cell’s lock, whipping open the door.
Disappointment rippled through me.
It was empty.
I let out a string of colorful f-bombs that would have made a pirate blush.
Where the hell was she? If they weren’t keeping her locked here, where then? In the training facility? In the plush walls of Diamond Towers headquarters? Hidden in some secret room?
My fists clenched at my sides, the key digging into my skin. I wasn’t going to leave until I found her. If I had to overturn every stone in this dreaded place, I would. Burn it to the ground? No sweat. I’d light the match in a heartbeat. I refused to let her be used as a killing machine, or to be turned into one of their puppets, or an experiment.
Each step I took toward freedom from the dungeons, I thought about what Charlotte could do and how the Institute would consider her a coveted, vital weapon. Power like hers was rare and extremely deadly—all things the Institute desired.
She was special.
Maybe the Institute was keeping their special weapon close. She was definitely within the walls of the tower. Finding her would be a challenge, but not impossible. Nothing is impossible when you desire it enough. And for reasons I didn’t understand, I desired to save Charlotte above everything else—including my own safety.
I knew firsthand what it was like to be put through the Institute’s training program.
If they put a single mark on her body, I would show them how merciless Dash Darhk could really be. I needed her. And I only just realized how much.
My brain churned. I didn’t have much of a plan, and truthfully I rarely did, but I knew the layout of Diamond Towers and how the Institute operated.
I slipped into an unconscious guard’s uniform to walk inconspicuously through the halls. Avoiding eye contact with anyone, I kept the Taser I’d stolen close in hand.
I stole through the night, making my way into the main living area of the Towers. The building that had once been my home for months lay quiet, and I remembered that all the sleeping chambers were located on the top three floors. It was there the trainees stayed.
Creeping up the main staircase, I walked down the fifth floor corridor. Doors lined either side, but she wasn’t inside any of them. My frustration grew. When I checked the sixth floor, she wasn’t there either. I dreaded even thinking about stepping foot onto the seventh floor where the executive suites resided. I had only been there a handful of times, but it was enough to cause my stomach to pitch. The shit that went on behind closed doors in this place was something I long wanted to forget.
With little other choice, I pushed the door open.
If she was here, on the seventh floor, she wasn’t being treated like a trainee. Could I be wrong about her being a prisoner, being forced to be at the Institute? I pushed on, needing to at least see her, because if she wasn’t under the roof of Diamond Towers, I was afraid I might have lost her, and that was a horrifying thought.
Like the other halls, this one also was lined with doors on either side. Now what?
If I just started throwing them all open, I was bound to draw unwanted attention. Instead, I carefully checked each doorknob, going on a hunch.
I tugged the door latch on the sixth door.
Locked.
My heart sped up. This had to be it. A locked door wasn’t going to keep me out. In under a minute, I jimmied the mechanism and turned the handle, slipping inside the dark room.
My eyes went straight to the bed and I exhaled. Charlotte.
There she lay.
She seemed unharmed and fast asleep, much like she had been when I first laid eyes on her, but she had traded in her glass slab for a plush bed. Again, I was struck breathless by her beauty. Bold red locks of hair spilled strikingly against the milky white pillow. Reaching out, I wound a curl around my finger, inhaling the sweet scent of honeysuckle and vanilla.
This was a far cry from the repugnant dungeon, and I couldn’t help but think maybe I was wrong. What if she was safe here? What if her parents adored her? Could I take that all away from her? A chance to have a family when it was so rare?
Cursing under my breath, I had to make a decision. Now.
The cell guards reported to the dungeon guard who reported to the Tower guard. The Tower guard reported to the Night’s guard, who reported to the commander and so forth. As soon as one guard noticed my absence, the alarm would be raised, and I needed to be far from the white city when that happened or all would be lost.
I brushed my lips over hers. “Be safe, Freckles,” I whispered. “Until we meet again, whenever that will be.”
With a heavy heart, I stepped away from the bed and crawled out the window. The silvery moonlight cast a shimmery glow onto her skin as I took one last glimpse at the girl who had changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. Going on without her would be harder than it had been to escape this place, but she deserved a chance to have something I never did.
Family.
Love.
A home.
Chapter One
CHARLOTTE
So much had happened in such a short time, it was hard to keep it straight in my head. My life was becoming an endless pattern of constant danger, unexpected twists and turns—not to mention disappointment—and I waited poised for the next attack. I never thought it would come from someone I loved …
In a moment of déjà vu, my eyes fluttered open. A distinct woodsy scent lingered in the air, and it made my heart cramp. Just like that, I missed him.
Dash Darhk.
His name made my heart patter. I shouldn’t miss him, but my heart didn’t care that he was hung up on another girl, on finding her.
The guy had saved me time and time again, and how did I repay him? By getting him captured. Again. He must hate me. I hated me. If it weren’t for me, Dash wouldn’t be in the clutches of the Institute, suffering God only knew what kind of torture. I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure he was at the Institute, but the constant dread in my stomach told me he couldn’t have possibly gotten away.
My eyes roamed over the darkness, looki
ng for him, regardless of the fact that I knew he wasn’t in my room. Correction: prison.
For three days I’d been locked up in this box, like a princess in a tower. At least I thought it had been three days. Time was difficult to keep track of, when there were no clocks.
Wood planks covered the floor and felt rough under my bare feet. A bathroom was across from the twin bed. The room was plush and pink, but there was nothing homey or relaxing about it; it was eerie. I hated everything from the floral bedspread to the whimsical white curtains that hung from the window. Its similarity to the room I’d had before the mist freaked me out, as if they’d been expecting me—a disturbing thought on so many levels.
Had my parents known I was alive?
Had they known which holding house I was in?
Was that why I was stuck on a slab of glass in a secluded room like some kind of trophy?
And while I slept, they had gotten a room ready for me to come home to, a place that trained, tortured, exiled, and used humans with extra abilities.
What were they going to do to me?
My wild imagination got the best of me. I wanted to hurl.
Taking a deep breath, I sat up, my brain reeling with so many unanswered questions, and at the forefront was Dash. How could the scent of him be so intense in my head that I would have sworn he’d been in the room?