Beauty Loves the Beast

by Robyn Peterman

  He nodded curtly, and then glanced over with a lopsided grin that made my tummy flip. God, he really was Beauty—inside and out. He might not believe it, but I could see it clearly.

  “I kinda like being a fugitive. Keeps the boredom at bay,” he said.

  “I guess that’s one fucked-up way to look at it,” I muttered with a small giggle. “You’re nuts.”

  “Pot, kettle, black,” he shot back with a laugh.

  Being alone with him for forty-eight hours was going to be a challenge. I wanted this man more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. He thought my scarred body was beautiful. Of course, he wasn’t quite right in the head, but then again… neither was I. We were two severely broken beings. Maybe…

  “Just follow my lead when we get there.”

  “Get where?” I asked, pushing aside the pathetic romantic notions I had about Carter Wylde. He was just being kind when he’d kissed my ruined arm and I was a fool to hope for more. Hell, we might not even live to see tomorrow.

  “To where we’re going,” he answered cryptically.

  I was aware he still didn’t completely trust me, and I wasn’t sure if he believed I turned into a version of an animal, but I couldn’t fault him. I was a disastrous tornado of trouble that had shown up out of nowhere, bitten him and put him on the government’s hit list. Not exactly trustworthy material.

  “I can do that,” I told him.

  “That’s my girl.”

  God, if he only knew how much I wanted that to be true—his girl. I knew it could never be, but a girl can dream, right?

  “Oh my God,” I said with a surprised laugh. “There are three of you?”

  “There is only one of me,” Carter said in mock insult. “The other two are just cheap imitations.”

  “Interesting,” the male who looked identical to Carter yelled from about three hundred feet away. “The prodigal son comes back from the dead.”

  We’d arrived at what I could only describe as a fortress built into the side of a mountain. It was rustic and beautiful—all stone with sweeping teakwood porches. It was surrounded by enormous trees and expertly manicured grasses and shrubs. We’d driven for what felt like five miles along a rutted dirt road and then it opened to this. Magical, majestic and definitely in the middle of nowhere.

  Carter got out of the car, came over to my side and opened the door. I stepped out and stayed slightly behind him.

  Due to my enhancements, my vision was incredible. The side effects of turning into an animal made my human vision almost bionic. The man stood with a woman who was also the spitting image of himself and Carter, but feminine and gorgeous. There was no missing that they were all related and most likely triplets. Even down to the dimple in the left cheek that the three of them had when they smiled.

  “Turn off the land mines,” Carter yelled. “I only have nine lives and I’m down to two, you ugly son of a bitch.”

  The woman hadn’t spoken yet. She stared at Carter as if she were seeing a ghost and her eyes kept skipping over to me in shock. Pulling a remote from her pocket, she typed in a command and then glanced back up.

  With my eyesight, I was able to make out the combination. I was a freak of nature—a killing machine with skills to survive almost anything. If the remote was made up of numbers, the combo was 66633. If it was something else, I’d seen the pattern and could figure it out.

  “Drive in,” she instructed. “If I know you, and I suspect I still might, we need to hide or destroy that car.”

  With a nod and a salute to his sister, Carter led me back to the car and restarted the ignition.

  “They have land mines?” I asked, wondering what kind of normal people planted explosives all over their property.

  “Yep. This is what you could call a real safe house—as in a very safe house.”

  “Are they fugitives too?” I asked, wondering what I was walking into. Not that I had a problem with fugitives since I was one myself.

  “Umm… no,” Carter said with a laugh. “Although I’d pay money to hear you ask them that. My brother and sister are what you might call insane with conspiracy theory issues.”

  “You’re triplets?”

  “We are. However, I’m the oldest and therefore the smartest, best looking and the wisest.”

  “And the most humble?” I added with a laugh.

  “Most definitely,” he replied with a grin.

  “Are your parents here, too?” I asked.

  “No. They’re dead.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “I’m not,” he replied without emotion. “There’s a reason I spent too many years as a SEAL who took the sure-death assignments repeatedly and these two are living in a prison of their own making. Normal upbringings don’t produce the kind of fucked up we are.”

  I nodded, unsure how to respond. My childhood had sucked. I was the freak no one wanted, but I wasn’t abused—at least not physically. However, I was pretty sure I could give all of them a run for their money in the fucked-up department.

  “My brother’s name is Caleb and my sister is Nancy,” he said as he slowly maneuvered the vehicle to the garage on the side of the house. “Caleb is a computer genius and likes to detonate things.”

  “Things?” I questioned with a laugh.

  Carter looked at me with a grin. “Buildings, cities… bad guys. He started when we were young—messing with refrigerators and microwaves before he graduated to larger-scale material.”

  “Cars?” I asked, trying not to laugh. It wasn’t really funny, but at the same time it was.

  “Definitely cars,” Carter confirmed with a shake of his head. “He makes me feel almost normal.”

  “And your sister?”

  “Nancy is a doctor—or she trained as one. She didn’t do too well with the authority figures in the medical system and left to do research on her own. She’s paid the big bucks. Her mind is as brilliant as Caleb’s is destructive.”

  “What does she research?” I asked.

  “Whatever strikes her fancy,” he replied.

  “Okay,” I said, taking the information in. “If Caleb is destructive and Nancy is brilliant, where does that leave you?”

  Carter turned off the car and moved his body to face mine. “I don’t exactly know, Georgia from Georgia. Why don’t you tell me? Where does that leave me?”

  He leaned in. His lips were inches from mine and his delicious scent made me dizzy. Was this certifiable man coming on to me? God, I hoped so. I was definitely out of practice at this game since I’d been living in a cage for the better part of a year. The timing was a little off as his brother and sister were sure to be here any second, but…

  “Are you flirting with me?” I whispered, longing to close the distance between us and taste his lips.

  “And if I am, Georgia from Georgia?” he questioned in a voice that sent happy chills all through me.

  “If you are,” I said with an unsteady giggle, “you’re really good at it.”

  “So it’s working?”

  “Yep. It’s working,” I replied with my eyes glued to his full lips. “But I’m not a real good bet.”

  “I’m a worse bet. We get one life and one heart,” he said. “Even if it’s just some stolen moments with you, I’ll take them.”

  “Why aren’t you taken already?” I asked.

  “Hold that thought,” he said, with a quick peck to my lips as his siblings entered the garage. “I’d like to revisit it later.”

  I nodded without saying a word, everything inside me tingling. Maybe it was because we could die tomorrow and I was the only girl available, but I didn’t care. Even if I’d had the choice of a million men, I knew without a doubt I would want only him. I wasn’t a great deal at all, but again I didn’t care. If he didn’t care, then I was going to pretend he truly wanted me.

  “You staying?” Nancy asked her brother, still looking at me strangely.

  “For forty-eight hours,” Carter said. “Is that a problem
?”

  “No. We haven’t seen your sorry ass for five years, but you’re always welcome. Does your friend have a name?” she asked.

  “I’m Georgia,” I said, extending my hand to her. “Thank you for letting me stay.”

  Nancy’s smile was slow but grew wide. “Any friend of Carter’s is a friend of mine. Although I’ve gotta say that I’m shocked he has any friends. Carter’s a dick.”

  “No, he’s not. He’s a good man,” I said, miffed she was insulting her brother. And he was a good man. He could have dropped me off a hundred times, but he hadn’t.

  Nancy’s laugh matched Caleb’s as they stared at me with wonder and delight.

  “You either have her fooled, or she’s as crazy as you are,” Caleb said, whacking his brother on the back and handing him a shirt to put on.

  “I’m crazier—completely insane,” I told them with a small smile. I was sad that Carter would be covered up, but it would be far less distracting. “Pretty sure I would beat all of you, hands down.”

  “Is that a challenge?” Nancy asked with a twinkle in her eye.

  “It’s the truth,” I replied.

  “Hmm,” she said, still staring and grinning. “We’ll have to see about that.”

  7

  Carter

  This wasn’t a fucking movie with a happy ending, but watching Georgia with my brother and sister felt so right it made me uncomfortable. Flirting with her in the car came as easy as breathing. I wanted her with everything I was.

  However, that was wrong. I knew it was wrong. Yet I was pretty sure I was going to ignore that fact.

  “So it’s Carter, Caleb and Nancy?” Georgia asked as my sister plied us with food and drink. “Why don’t you have a C name too?”

  “I do,” my sister said with an eye roll to Caleb and me. “It’s Catherine, but those bastards call me by my middle name, Nancy, because they know I hate it.”

  “You hate it?” Caleb asked in mock horror as Nancy tossed a spoon at his head.

  “I’m used to it now,” she said with a chuckle. “After thirty-five years, I’m numb. But I’ll bet Georgia would love to hear your middle names.”

  “Absolutely not,” I snapped, giving my sister the raised brow that she knew meant I was serious. I fucking hated my middle name. Honestly, Nancy was a fine name. She’d gotten lucky. Caleb and I hadn’t fared quite as well.

  “Mine’s Norman,” Caleb said, with his hands on his heart and his face contorted into an exaggerated expression of deep sorrow. “I freely admit it. The truth will set you free or appall your friends, neighbors and girlfriends.”

  “You don’t have a girlfriend,” Nancy pointed out.

  “This week,” he said. “Last week I had three.”

  “Whatever,” Nancy said, and then turned her attention to me. “I’ll hold the information close to my chest for the moment, but if you piss me off, I will sing your middle name from the rooftops.”

  “You’re a hard woman,” I said with a laugh. Looking at my sister made me realize how much I’d missed her. Maybe it had been a mistake staying away.

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” she shot back, and then took a seat across the table from Georgia and myself. Popping a grape into her mouth, she chewed slowly then rested her elbows on the table and placed her chin in her hands.

  “I’m assuming there’s a story here. You going to tell it?”

  “Never assume. It makes an ass out of you and me,” I replied with a tight smile. “However, yes. There’s a story and we need your help.”

  “Can I blow up the car?” Caleb asked with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

  “Eventually,” I told him. “Right now, I need you to listen.”

  “Roger that,” he replied as he took a seat next to Nancy and waited.

  “Georgia, do you want to tell it or would you prefer I talk?”

  My beautiful, damaged girl placed her hand over mine and gently squeezed. “I’ll tell it.”

  And she did.

  My brother and sister listened with rapt attention to every detail for over an hour. They asked questions and Georgia answered them. It was horrifying to hear, but Georgia told the story as if she was speaking about someone other than herself.

  I understood her detachment completely. It was a survival mechanism that I’d used as well. My sister began to take notes about five minutes in and my brother grabbed a laptop and did the same. Georgia’s voice was clear and emotionless for the most part, but she came to life when she spoke of me.

  Feeling a sense of pride and ownership that I had absolutely no right to feel, I sat next to her and pressed my thigh to hers. I wasn’t sure if I was giving or taking comfort, but I wasn’t going to think too hard about it. It felt right and that would have to suffice for now.

  “Jesus H. Christ,” Caleb said when she was done. “You might actually have been correct about winning the fucked-up contest.”

  “I know, right?” she said with a weak giggle that hit me somewhere deep inside.

  After everything she’d been through, she still had joy left—her humanity was still intact. It amazed and humbled me. I’d left my own behind years ago, but for a moment I wished I hadn’t. I wished I had something to actually offer this tragically beautiful woman.

  I didn’t. It was a fact. And I was a fool to long for something that would ruin what was left of her sanity. I wasn’t good for anyone.

  “What does the H stand for?” I asked, wanting to deal with nonsense. It was more appealing than having to deal with my shortcomings.

  “What H?” Caleb asked, confused.

  “Jesus H. Christ,” I said. “The H. What does it stand for?”

  Caleb thought for a moment then shrugged. “No clue.”

  “How about Harry?” Nancy suggested as she wrapped a blood pressure sleeve around Georgia’s arm.

  “Nah, too British,” Caleb replied. “Herman?”

  “Too awful,” Georgia said, watching Nancy nervously.

  Clearly, doctors were not a welcome sight for Georgia, but she stayed remarkably calm. Her body language was tense, but she let Nancy examine her.

  “How about Hesus?” Georgia proposed with a laugh. “I saw it on Twitter.”

  “A little rhymey, but I like it,” Nancy said, grinning. “Are you going to be comfortable with me taking some blood?”

  Moving silently and standing next to Georgia, I put my hand on her shoulder. Her body relaxed slightly at my touch, but her muscles were still taut with stress and fear.

  “You don’t have to,” I told her.

  Looking up and giving me a sad smile, she refocused on my sister. “If you take my blood, can you compare it to Carter’s and rule out that I’ve made him a monster like me?”

  “You’re not a monster,” I growled, walking over to the wall and putting my fist through it. The pain felt good. What I really wanted to do was find the fuckers who’d shot up and sliced Georgia and tear them to shreds. Since that was an impossibility, the wall would have to suffice. For good measure, I made a second hole. I considered a third, but I was a guest in my siblings’ home. Two would work for now.

  Everyone was silent for a moment and then went on as if nothing unusual had just occurred. My siblings and I had grown up around horrific violence. Nancy had taken the pain of her childhood and become a healer. Caleb had taken his agony and lost himself in the emotionless mechanics of the hacking world while blowing up things for pleasure on the side. I’d simply steered my own torment into becoming a trained killer. None of it was pretty, but it was what it was.

  “I can test blood, saliva and urine from both of you,” Nancy confirmed. “But Carter is correct. You’re not a monster.”

  “You haven’t seen me,” Georgia whispered.

  “I’d actually love to see your change,” Nancy said with a clinical detachment. “But I don’t want to put you into a simulated extreme circumstance to achieve it. And I really don’t want to see you get amorous with my brother to achieve it, eit
her.”

  Georgia face turned a delicate pink and she scrunched her nose in embarrassment.

  “You wouldn’t be invited,” I said flatly, giving my sister a death stare.

  Of course, Nancy laughed. Not a surprise. She was my sister after all. “I’d like to see the results Sean has, though,” she said. “I’d like something to compare these to.”

  “I have them.” Georgia reached into her duffle and handed Nancy a jump drive. “All Sean’s findings are recorded there.”

  “Speaking of jump drives,” Caleb said, noticing what Georgia had handed over. “You said you had proof of what was done to you and others. Correct?”

  Georgia nodded.

  “On a jump drive?”

  Again she nodded.

  “You want to hand one of those over? I will assure you that if anything happens to you or my brother, I can have that information out to every major news outlet in the world in five minutes flat.”

  Normally I wanted to punch my brother senseless, but right now I wanted to hug him. It would be so outside the norm of our behavior, and I was certain he would give me shit for the rest of our lives. But the smile and look of astonishment on Georgia’s face would be worth the pain of Caleb busting my chops for decades.

  Quickly, she handed him another jump drive. “Thank you.”

  “Not a problem,” he said, winking at her. “Think of it as an insurance policy.”

  And now I wanted to deck his fucking ass. She wasn’t exactly mine, but she definitely wasn’t his. The winking had to stop.

  “All right then,” Nancy said, watching my reaction with amusement. “I’ll take the blood, and then give me an hour or two for results. Deal?”

  I felt Georgia’s body tremble as she lifted her sleeve and held her arm out to Nancy. My sister’s furious intake of breath matched my own and my brother’s as we all looked at the scarring. My girl held her head high and gave us a sad smile.

  “I know,” she said softly. “It’s horrible to see.”

  “Not even a little bit,” my sister said in a clipped and enraged tone. “It just makes me want to kill the fuckers who did this. It’s totally inhumane and wrong.”