Desecrated Beauty (Twisted Fairy Tales #1) (15 page)

One brother, in particular, remained shifted and came to sit in front of her in his wolf form. The smell up close was even more awful than before. He whined, leaning in and sniffing her before letting out a small howl. Beside her, the alpha looked interested as she arched an eyebrow at the wolf who nudged her with his huge head. The action was enough to make her slip off the stump she had perched upon. He whined again and the others were now looking at her with interest.

“
Why doesn’t he shift back?
”

“
Colt is cursed, his ex was a witch who cursed him to remain in wolf form.
”

“
Curse... Witch...?
”
she repeated back incredulously. On top of everything else: vampires and werewolves and militia governments, she now had to worry about witches as well.
“
What does that have to do with me?
”
The Alpha didn’t bother answering her as he shifted beside her suddenly and as a wolf brought his mouth down on Colt’s neck, forcing him into submission. Nothing happened after that, they laid on the ground with the Alpha’s mouth caught around Colt’s neck and Colt just laid there. She looked up at the other wolves who were watching the exchange in interest.

“
Is he hurting him?
”
She finally broke the silence to ask her burning question.

“
No, he’s speaking to him.
”

“
He’s not saying anything.
”

“
We communicate through our bond when we’re wolves.
”
Someone else answered her and she crossed her arms watching them for a moment until finally the Alpha shifted back.

“
Colt knows your sister.
”
Her eyes flashed dangerously and then again with horror as she considered the implication of being a sex slave to a werewolf who couldn’t exactly leave the wolf part of him at home.
“
He hasn’t claimed her if that’s what you’re thinking.
”
Her head snapped up to look at the Alpha again.
“
He says you have the same smell like her, except yours, is tainted. Vampire blood no doubt.
”
He cast a judgmental look upon her and Quill felt herself huff in indignation. Someone with a tail had no right to judge her life choices.

“
Will he take me to Rose?
”
She looked down at Colt for her answer, she wasn’t fluent in wolf, but he made his answer clear as he stood up and started walking away. She rose from her stump and looked over the pack,
“
well, thanks for helping this vamp bitch,” she said with a casual shrug. She smirked, unable to stop herself, as her eyes drifted southward once more before turning and following Colt through the wood.

There had been some incredible circumstances in her life but werewolves and vampires, she decided, took the cake. She would’ve never guessed these things were real but despite that she was quite proud of herself for taking it all in stride. Rose probably had a better grip on this new reality than she did. She had no doubt that patronage training had to have included the fact that she would’ve eventually become a blood bank for some wealthy vampire. So a werewolf as a pet couldn’t be that far off the mark.

Colt stopped once they were far enough away from his pack to crouch low on the ground like Damien had. He didn’t need to bark as he did to tell her what he wanted. She was aware now she had many handicaps as a human alongside these supernatural creatures. Gripping his fur at the back of the neck, disgustingly still wet from the alpha’s mouth, she hauled herself onto him and he took off before she was even fully on. Without thinking she grabbed him tighter, hugging herself to his back as they ran with a freedom that Damien’s motions hadn’t possessed.

Clearing the trees Colt carried her along a field that rose into hills. The lush greenery was damp with morning dew, adding to the earthy smell that hung around them. There was something else that perfumed the air, but Quill couldn’t quite place it. Colt slowed his trot as he came over a hill, looking down into a village in the valley of the hills.

She wasn’t entirely sure how smart an idea it was to come into a village she knew nothing about on the back of a monster, but she didn’t get the chance to stop him. He seemed confident enough it was too early for anyone to see them as he moved with such concentration along a path more than just familiar to him. Stopping outside of a house on the far outskirts of the main village he nudged his head against the door and scratched at it letting out a soft pitiful moan.

Soft footfalls on the other side made Quill slide off the wolf and straighten up in time to watch Rose pull the door open.

“
You’re late,” she said to Colt before her eyes caught sight of Quill and she pulled back in surprise.

“
Izzy.
”
She didn’t look happy to see her, Quill should’ve known better. She took a deep breath to steel herself and smiled as much as she could force through the sudden tightness of her features.

Colt nudged past both girls and into the house, moving toward the fireplace before circling about like he was an ordinary house pet and flopping into a ball on the ground.

“
Sorry, come in.
”
She stepped back and pulled the door open more for her sister to enter. Quill nodded in thanks before entering the cozy hovel. Her eyes flicked around taking everything in. It might’ve only have been a week - at best - since Rose had found this place but she had already made it into a home. Rose had always possessed a knack of turning bad situations into good things.

“
It’s nice here,” she said before finally allowing her eyes to settle on her sister. There was a weariness in Rose’s features now, a guarded expression on her face like she was now a woman who had seen things that would never be unseen. She didn’t doubt that, but she did wonder if she knew it had been Nero’s doing.

“
Thanks. Would you like some tea?
”
Colt perked up from his spot by the fire, rose and moved like a well-trained pet to grab the kettle from the small kitchen, bringing it over to the fire and hanging it up for them.

She smiled lovingly at the wolf before looking back at Quill,
“
C’mon, sit down, from the looks of things you’ve come a long way to find me.
”

“
I wanted to know you were okay.
”

“
Before or after you left me at the compound.
”
Quill flinched involuntarily but refused to apologise. She had done what she needed to.
“
I shouldn’t be surprised though, you have a knack for always leaving me in bad situations.
”
The bitterness on Rose’s tongue was uncommon and unexpected. It hurt a lot more than Quill had expected it to.

“
That’s a fair assessment but if I can explain...
”
Rose, at least, gave her that as she walked silently into the kitchen and fetched two teacups and teabags for them. Stumbling over her words Quill quickly launched into an explanation about the night she helped Rose escape the city, telling her everything right down to her bargain with Nero. Rose was frowning when she returned to Quill’s side and held the teacup out.

“
How are you here then? Did you kill him?
”

“
No,
”
Quill said, feeling the betraying blush rising high on her cheeks.
“
He took me as his mate.
”

A strange, tense silence followed her admission while Rose stared at her in intrigue. Apparently this mating thing was a far bigger deal than Nero had let on.

“
He... mated with you,” she said finally, as Quill nodded again.
“
Do you understand what that means Iz, what that means to him - to the supernatural community?
”

“
Uh, no?
”
There was a community? She vaguely remembered him mentioning something about wars and treaties or something. Frankly, she hadn’t cared then and hadn’t known she was supposed to now.

“
Mating is a big deal. For vampires, for werewolves-
”
Colt howled at this,
“
for witches, faeries, for everyone.
”

“
Faeries?
”
Quill’s head spun as she added another monster to her growing repertoire.
“
Everyone?
”

“
Hundreds of different creatures, straight from storybooks that weren’t stories so much as accounts.
”

“
Right,” she said, shaking her head,
“
back to the mating thing. Why is that a big deal?
”

“
Mating is like - finding your soul mate and claiming it. Mating doesn’t just happen because someone likes someone else, mating occurs because your soul is already attached and a part of that person. Mating is literally two pieces coming together that were always meant to be together. Mating doesn’t happen as much anymore for two reasons: first, there were too many humans for supernaturals to be able to find their mate and now, there’s too few humans for supes to have mates. Chances are most mates have been killed off or their fates were altered so that they were never born. Finding a mate is incredibly rare, most people just settle for someone they love or deal with the loneliness of eternity.
”

“
And how do you know this much?
”

“
I was very close to Nero when he kept me, I was the perfect arm candy to make him look good in the city. But that also meant I spent a lot of time around the vampires and I overheard a lot of things.
”
Quill frowned, thinking about all this before she looked over at her sister with interest.

“
What was Nero’s stance on mating when you knew him?
”

“
He has never, and insisted he would never, take a woman partner. He firmly believes women are meant as accessories and nothing else.
”
Quill reached up and rubbed her neck absently, thinking about what he said in the shower all over again. He would turn her because he couldn’t be without her.

“
If you are his mate you’re in a lot of danger. Nero has a lot of powerful enemies and that makes you his one and only weakness.
”
Rose’s eyes flicked to Colt on the ground who watched them with interest. She frowned slightly and shook her head at him as if they were having a mental conversation now.
“
This is a supernatural community. They’ve only taken me in with them because I’ve crossed enough paths with supes to be able to accept the things I see here but if they knew Nero’s mate had walked into the village...
”

She frowned and pulled away from Quill, pacing suddenly as she worried on her thumbnail in thought. It was hard to follow Rose’s train of thought and for once in her life she felt utterly helpless. Not to mention angry with Nero for not telling her any of this. He had made it seem like mating was a choice, not a fated thing.

“
You’re going to have to leave, but it’s not safe now. There are creatures that are awake during the day...
”
Her eyes flicked to Colt again,
“
but again at night there are others too... You’ll have to leave at dusk, during the in-between. It’ll be dangerous, but you need to go. You can’t stay here.
”

“
Wait, wait! What about you? Are you just going to stay here?
”

“Yes. This is my home now.
”

“
Rosie.
”
She moved to her sister and grabbed her shoulders tightly,
“
you can come back with me.
”

“
No. No, I can’t.
”
That haunted look in her eyes returned and this time when she looked at Colt it was with sadness. Quill was tempted to look away from Rose, but she couldn’t.
“
You could stay, we could find a way to break the mate bond?
”
Colt whined again from the floor making the crease in Rose’s forehead deepen more.
“
There has to be a way.
”
Another whine. It wasn’t the answer Rose wanted as she looked back at Quill sadly.
“
Does he take care of you?”

“
Yes,” she said firmly. “The reason we mated was - he told me - he wanted to give me blood to heal my heart. He didn’t want me... to die on him.
”
She choked on the words that when said the first time she had found them possessive and meaningless but knowing now the extent of what this mating bond meant she realized the truth of his words. How many times had he told her in his way that he loved her and she had brushed him off, ignored him and called him hateful names?

“
And is it better - your heart?
”
Quill looked up at Rose in surprise and nodded her head.

“
It’s not broken anymore,” she said, accepting the double entendre of what her words meant.

Before anyone else had the chance to speak, there was a crippling pain that went through Quill, tearing first at her stomach and making its way up to her chest. She screamed in pain, unable to stop herself as she doubled over and caught the edge of Rose’s kitchen table before slumping off it completely in a pile.

Colt rose quickly, moving over to her and nudging her with his nose, forcing her body over so Rose could see her face. Her sister hovered close, her mouth moving, but Quill couldn’t hear anything over the sounds of her own terrorized screams.

When Quill woke next she was huddled in front of the fire in a makeshift bed Rose and Colt had concocted for her. Two broad, blood red eyes were the first thing Quill saw when she opened her eyes. Colt had taken it upon himself to hover over her like a sentry, watching her go through the various stages of pain throughout the day. She pressed her wrist to her forehead and groaned. The pain, for now, was gone, but the lingering ache in her muscles and bones spoke of the various positions she had twisted herself into while out cold.

“Where is Rose?” She whispered hoarsely, her throat aching from misuse. Colt growled slightly before moving to the kitchen, catching the handle of a bucket in his mouth and brought it back over to her, sloshing the water everywhere. He set it down next to her and she peered down at it, not sure what she was supposed to do.

As if to demonstrate Colt nudged her out of the way to lean down, lapping up huge swallows with his great black tongue.

“Yeah, okay, except now you’ve contaminated it with your wolf breath.” She grunted, pushing it away from her. He growled again, this time in a way that made the hair hanging around her shoulders ripple and gooseflesh crop up all along her arms.

“Fine, fine.” She grabbed the bucket and pulled it toward her again as she sat up straighter and leaned down. Sliding her fingers into the cool water and collected it in a makeshift cup before bringing her hands to her mouth and sipping. The water burned at her raw throat, but it made her feel so much better.

“You win,” she said before wiping her hands off on the blanket around her. The pain in her chest and stomach had subsided while she slept, but now something different circled inside of her. She didn’t know how else to describe it besides a steely reserve to fight and survive. She felt on edge and anxious, like she shouldn’t just be sitting around and waiting because there was somewhere that she needed to be. Every inch of muscle inside of her wanted her to get out of the bed and get going. She just didn’t know where yet.

“Where is Rose?” Colt barked, turning his head to the door just as the latch clicked and Rose walked in with a bulging bag of supplies.

“Oh thank goodness you’re awake.”

“What happened to me?”

“I wasn’t sure at first, but I spoke to Melony and she confirmed my fears. Not only are you mated with Nero but you did a blood exchange, didn’t you?”

“Isn’t that how you mate?”

Rose laughed and shook her head as a deep blush appeared high on her cheeks.

“You’re the older sister, I assumed you would know about mating without me having to tell you about the birds and the bees.”

“Sex… is mating,” she said, her voice a mixture of surprise and anger.

“Of course, mating… to mate. I mean, it’s in the name. How didn’t you know?”

“Because that asshole told me it was a blood exchange and sometimes sex came with the blood exchange!”

Rose curled her nose up, trying to shake away the visual that was suddenly conjured. “No, mating is just sex. Intense sex, usually heightened in intensity by the connection of your souls but it’s still just sex. A blood exchange is just a vampire’s way of tying your souls together indefinitely.”

“Indefinitely? It’ll never go away?”

“No. If he were to turn you, it would only get stronger. Every time you have a blood exchange the connection goes deeper and gets stronger. There have been documented - albeit rare - cases where a vampire and his mate have been so connected their lives were connected as well.” Rose spoke with a terse caution like she was holding something back that she deemed crucial but not enough to incur the wrath of her older sister.

“What does that have to do with me?” Quill asked the question she dreaded slightly.

“Well, in those cases the first signs of the connection occur when both parties feel each other.”

“Feel each other?” Not only was Quill frustrated because she was confused she was growing more and more frustrated with Rose, who knew way too much about the supernatural but continued to keep it all to herself.

“I checked you over myself, the wolf watched, and neither of us saw anything - any indication that the pain was yours. I thought maybe it was your heart but it was strong and steady, and I’m not a doctor but look at you now. You’re fine. How do you feel?”

“Anxious, nervous, frustrated, angry, ready for a fight.” She listed off quickly the various struggles she was feeling right now before looking up at Rose, “what does that mean?”

“My best guess…” She bit her lip, looking at Colt, who whined just softly enough to prompt her to carry on, “something has happened to Nero.” Quill’s face must’ve indicated something because Rose rushed to continue, “he’s not dead! You’d know. I asked. You would feel empty, like a void… soulless. So long as you feel healthy, in general, he’s okay. But from the sounds of it something is happening back at his manor and he’s not too pleased about it.”

Quill rose quickly, looking around for her jacket before stumbling toward it, landing hard on her knees. Colt got to her first although Rose moved initially. He swooped his head under her chest and brought her back up to her feet although she remained doubled over.

“What now?”

“Dead legs,” Quill muttered in horrified embarrassment. The prickle of pins and needles ran right up from her toes to her thighs, her muscles spasmed refusing to cooperate while they remained pinned.

Rose laughed despite herself and nodded at Colt, who carried her to the couch, depositing her there unceremoniously. Quill stayed there for a while, waiting out the tingling in her legs before she could finally feel her toes wriggle when she asked them to.

“
We need to come up with a plan so I can get back to Nero and whatever is happening at his manor.
”

“
You don’t even know what is going on at his manor. You could be walking into a death trap. You could die.
”
Rose, ever the voice of reason, echoed what one side of her thoughts were considering.

Of course she could, but she also knew she couldn’t live with herself if she stayed here and waited to see what happened. So she came up with a plan, on the spot, it wasn’t pretty and it was most likely dangerous but when had that stopped her?

“
Colt, I need you to run me back into the forest where I left Damien - the vampire I came with.
”
Rose’s breath hitched and Quill didn’t stop talking to even consider what the reaction meant.
“
I’m going to get Damien to bring me back to the manor. If there is danger there, he’s been sworn to protect me so he will until I find Nero and then he’ll do the rest of the job.
”

“
Izzy...
”
She rose from the couch again, gripping the arm tightly just in case her body decided to give up again before she shook her head.

She ignored Rose, her sister would never understand that the way she felt about Nero was her own choice and not the choice of a blood exchange.

“Colt, are you going to take me or am I going to take myself?
”
She stared down at the wolf who was blatantly ignoring her in favour of watching Rose for her reaction.

“
I guess there’s no stopping you is there?
”
Rose said, turning to look out the window to examine the sinking sun.
“
It’ll be dusk soon. We should get you ready to go... I don’t have any weapons...
”
Rose turned, still mumbling to herself as she walked over to the kitchen and began going through the drawers looking through them for something. She finally pulled out a chef knife and held it out to her.
“
Not at all like yours but it’ll do if a vampire attacks you.
”

Quill smiled slightly and took the knife, she didn’t have a sheath for it though which would make carrying it awkward.
“
I actually thought that maybe if you had anything that was wooden I could quickly make a stake with it.
”

Rose glanced around the room before nodding, moving to her dining room table and flipped it over easily. Colt growled like he knew what she was thinking, but it was too late as she snapped a leg off and examined the break.

“
Will that do?
”
Both girls eyed the extent of the point before Quill nodded her head. It was sufficient and from what she could tell it would easily break the skin and that’s all they needed. She held out her hand, taking it before using the knife to sharpen the point and then gave it back to Rose. She nodded her head and tucked the knife away again before looking down at Colt.

“
You’ve got to be going soon anyways. There’s no harm in dropping her off.
”
She moved to Quill and wrapped her arms tightly around her older sister, pressing her face into the crook of her neck. They stood like that for a while, each one clinging to the other.

Growing up was tough, she would’ve never imagined that one day they would be here - like this - after everything they had endured as kids. Rose never spoke of it, but Quill had no doubt Rose’s horrors were just as terrorising as hers were.

“
I probably won’t see you anytime soon, so take care of yourself. Hopefully, I’ll come back and visit again.
”
Quill’s voice stuck in her throat as she spoke, the weight of her words pressing down on her. She’d lived the last 5 years relying only on herself, worrying only about herself. Now here, she was with two people who were tearing her heart in half and making her sentimental enough to endanger all three of them.
“
Okay.
”
She hardened her voice as she pulled free from her sister’s embrace and stepped away, turning to Colt and steeling herself right down to her heart once more.

“
Let’s go.
”
There was no room for argument as she walked to the door, pressing it open with her palms before stepping out into the soft light of the sunset. Maybe after tonight, if Nero were still alive, this would be the last time she saw a sunset. Night prickled her skin, but her attention was once more drawn to the wolf who brushed along her side. She bent down and gripped his scruff before hauling herself onto his back. He didn’t wait until she was settled to start running.

She clenched her thighs, pressing them tightly to his ribs as he raced through the village quicker than their trip to it had been. They sped by the houses, monsters and humans alike watching them in surprise before he bounded into the forest. Branches and brush scraped against her sides and caught in her hair, but even that didn’t slow him. For all she knew he could be hauling ass to get her out of Rose’s life and had nothing to do with the impending possibility of her mate’s death.

Colt was panting when he finally came to a standstill in the clearing she had come to first with Damien. He pressed his nose to the ground and followed, presumably, Damien’s scent around the clearing before coming to stop at the edge of the forest. He let out of bark and she slid off him, looking around for any sign of the vampire.

“
I’m here.
”
He drawled lazily, stepping out from behind a tree with little to no concern.
“
Did you not find your sister?
”

“
I did, but something has happened back at Nero’s. A stabbing pain went through my stomach around 9 o’clock this morning and then I passed out for the rest of the day. My sister said it’s because we’re mated that I can feel his pain. We have to go back.
”

She took a deep gasping breath as she finally stopped talking, Damien’s eyes flashing dangerously as he swept over to her in a blur and hauled her onto his back. She barely had the chance to protest or gasp when he suddenly began to run as Colt had, dodging through the branches of the trees and zipping back toward the manor.

Quill nearly felt like she had blinked and missed the whole journey. They had wasted so much of the evening just on her stubbornness. Very nearly, it had taken all but two breathes and Damien slowed on the fringes of the woods by Nero’s property. He slipped her off his back and looked across the grounds, seeing more no doubt with his vision than she did with her human one.

“Stay here.” It was a command and not a suggestion but sadly for Damien he didn’t know that she didn’t listen to commands from anyone. It was trouble that Orion and Striker had dealt with on more than one occasion back at the compound.

Damien zipped away from her and she retrieved the stake she had hastily stashed down the front of her jeans. She twisted it around in her hands with the comfort she used with knives before venturing out.

If Damien had spotted anything before she was blind to it. So she walked arrogantly toward the house, nothing at all out of place as she would’ve expected given the pain of earlier. Either Rose had been wrong about it being Nero’s pain or they were too late.

“What did I tell you?” Damien hissed from behind her, all but shoving her out of the way as he skirted up the steps to the front door.

“I take orders from no one.” She huffed, flashing her stake at him like it was the most deadly object on the planet.

“You’ll learn to,” he said ominously before pushing the door open. Surprisingly the latch was caught on the door, forcing him to actually use the handle. Surely if there had been a fight or a break in or something there would be signs of forced entry and yet it was as normal as a nest of vampires could be.

By the time she had stepped into the house Damien had already swept the interior and came to stand in front of her.

“They’re not here.” She raised an eyebrow, looking around them as if expecting Nero to jump out and shout “boo”.

“Where are they then?”

“My best guess is the city.” It was a no-brainer for her then, they were going to the city. But she would guess from the look on Damien’s face that wasn’t actually his plan. “You will stay here.”

“The hell I will.” She snapped at him, “if your last order didn’t stick what makes you think this one will?”