Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Complete Collection (41 page)

Lionel turned and hit her grandmother. The
old woman made a noise but didn’t actually awaken. A bruise bloomed
immediately on her cheek and Mae screamed in protest, struggling
against the ropes binding her to the chair.

“Stop!” she cried, tears filling her eyes
and then falling, tracking blood down her cheeks. “I’ll do whatever
you want!”

Lionel’s smile spread slowly. “I know you
will.”

“Please…” Mae begged. “Is she all
right?”

He snorted, rolling his eyes. “She’s a tough
old broad.”

“Please, just untie us. Let me help her.
That’s all I’m asking.” Mae knew they were beyond trouble. She
knew, if she was actually forced to marry him, that it wouldn’t be
over. What would prevent him from killing them both then? There had
to be another way out of this. She found herself sweating with fear
and she continued to work on the rope behind her back, using
it.

Lionel leaned in close enough she could
smell what he’d had for lunch—something with onions. “Not before we
have a little fun first.”

“But I said I’d marry you!” she protested,
twisting in the chair as his hand moved over the front of her
dress, cupping her breast through the material.

“I’m afraid we won’t have time for much of a
honeymoon afterward,” he said sadly, thumbing her nipple and then
pinching it, hard.

“No…” she whispered, closing her eyes,
expecting him to hit her again, but the knock on the door surprised
them both.

“Shhh!” He clamped his hand over her mouth,
staring at the door. The knock came again, more insistent this
time. “They’ll go away,” he whispered, shaking his head. That’s
when she bit him and he let her go in surprise, just long enough
for her to let out a short, sharp scream.

“Goddamnit,” he hissed, clamping his hand
down over her mouth again, using his thumb and finger to squeeze
her nose shut, cutting off her air entirely. Mae’s eyes widened,
and she tried to turn her head, but he had tossed the tool in his
hand aside and used that hand to grab the back of her neck, keeping
her immobile.

She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs burned.

“Mrs. Verges? Are you all right in there?” a
voice called from the other side of the door. It was a strange
voice with a thick Italian accent, but it was somehow familiar to
Mae, even in her panic.

“Fuck.” Lionel swore softly, looking into
her eyes and whispering urgent instructions. “I’m going to let go.
If you scream, I will kill your grandmother. Do you understand
me?”

She nodded as best she could, gasping for
air as he dropped his hand, her lungs pulling in the cool relief of
oxygen. Her vision had begun to blacken at the edges and was just
starting to come back.

“Who is it?” Lionel called, grabbing a
length of rope and fitting it between Mae’s protesting lips. He
tied it tight behind her head, shaking a finger at her, whispering,
“Not a fucking word.”

She nodded, but she continued to work her
hands in the rope. If she could just get free…

“It’s the milkman,” came the response.

“I’m sorry, but Mrs. Verges isn’t feeling
well,” Lionel said. “Just leave it outside the door.”

“Sir, I’m afraid I can’t do that—there’s ice
cream in here!” The man with the thick Italian accent protested.
“I’ll get fired for sure if I just leave it.”

“Oh for chrissake,” Lionel muttered,
grabbing the gun off the table and heading over to the door.

Mae cried out around her rope gag as the
door burst open, hitting Lionel in the chest, and she understood
then why the voice had sounded so familiar as Griff threw a quick
left hook, catching Lionel in the jaw and knocking him backward.
The door swung shut behind them as Lionel lifted his gun, aiming at
Griff’s head, and Mae screamed, the sound just a muffled squeak
under the rope.

Griff deflected the shot, kicking Lionel’s
hand aside, and a bullet buried itself in the sofa, a thick puff of
stuffing rising from the hole. Mae twisted in her bindings, trying
to call out to Griff, working the rope in her mouth, loosening it.
The men were both on the floor now, fighting over the gun, and Mae
realized she hadn’t heard a loud report when it went off—Lionel
must have put a silencer on it.

“Jesus, Griff!” Lionel wheezed. “Let go! We
can share the damned girl if that’s what you want!”

“We’re not sharing anything.” Griff slammed
Lionel’s arm against the floor. The gun went off again. It still
made a noise, a loud sort of popping sound, like a cork exiting a
bottleneck. “The girl is mine.”

“Listen old buddy.” Lionel wasn’t quite
strong enough to throw Griff’s weight off of him as they tussled
and even in her panic, Mae realized the men somehow knew each
other. “I’m sorry I took the money and ran. Well, not sorry
exactly. And the girl? Well she was a hot little ticket, at least
the first few times. Then I got bored…”

Griff shoved his elbow into Lionel’s throat
and Mae heard him squawk with pain. She saw Lionel’s knee come up
then, and heard Griff groan. His grip loosened on Lionel’s gun hand
and she watched as they rolled again and again. The gun went off a
third time and Mae screamed, seeing both of them lying still on the
hardwood floor. She cried out Griff’s name behind her gag, turning
her head from side to side, lifting her chin and finally working
the rope out of her mouth.

“Griff!” she gasped, straining to see any
movement.

And then Lionel rolled to the side with a
disgusted groan, wiping at the blood on his shirt. Griff’s body was
inert, sprawled on the hardwood floor, and she could see blood
pooling beneath him.

“No,” she whispered, watching as Lionel
stood and made his way toward her. “Oh no. No, no, no.”

“Well, that ties up that loose end.” He
sighed, making a face at the red stains on his white shirt. “Ugh!
What a mess!”

“You killed him.” Mae still couldn’t believe
it was true, staring at Griff, face down on the floor. She looked
at Lionel, her body twisted in pain, and screamed, “You killed him!
You killed him!”

“I told you to shut the fuck up!” Lionel
took a step toward her, clamping his hand over her mouth once
again, smearing her face with the salty, copper taste of the blood
on his palm—
Griff’s blood
—making Mae gag and try to scream.
She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, she just reacted, sinking
her teeth deep into the side of Lionel’s palm, biting him so hard
her own vision went black and she saw stars. From a distance, she
heard him screaming in pain, struggling to free himself from her
rabid grip, but she didn’t let go even after the first blow against
the side of her head. It took two more before he knocked her head
backward and he snatched his hand free.

“Fucking bitch!” he howled, cradling his
hand. He was bleeding badly, she noticed with great satisfaction,
his own blood mixing with Griff’s. She waited for him to hit her
again, to kill her this time—it didn’t matter anymore—and he looked
for a moment like that’s just what he was going to do, but instead
he turned and went into the kitchen, turning on the water and
sticking his hand under the tap.

“I am so going to enjoy taking your
virginity,” he growled through clenched teeth. She could see him
from this angle, through the doorway.

“Too late,” she called hoarsely, the pain of
her lover lying dead on the floor so overwhelming she thought she
might faint.

“You fucking slut!” He continued washing his
hand in the sink, swearing to himself, and Mae closed her eyes,
waiting for her fate. She knew it was over, that there was no way
out of this mess. Griff was dead, and she and her grandmother might
as well be. She could hear her grandmother breathing beside her,
deep and even, and she hoped it would end quickly for them, that
she wouldn’t wake up after all.

“I’m gonna need stitches!” Lionel groaned
and she opened her eyes to see him wrapping his hand in a dish
towel. She saw blood blooming on the white fabric and smiled.
That’s when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye.

Griff!
She saw him crawling across
the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He met her eyes,
shaking his head, and she saw the gun in his hand.

“Mae?” Of course her grandmother chose that
exact moment to lift her groggy head and look around with bleary
eyes. “What happened? Are you all right? Where—?”

“Shhh!” Mae cringed, seeing Lionel stiffen
at the sound of their voices. He knew. But her heart soared at the
sight of Griff kneeling up, his shirt red with blood, leveling the
weapon and aiming as Lionel turned, coming through the doorway into
the dining room.

“Oh fuck.” That was all Lionel had a chance
to say before Griff shot him in the head. He crumpled to the floor
in a heap and Mae sobbed with relief.

“Oh Griff,” she gasped, watching him go back
down to his hands and knees, his head hanging low. “Are you all
right? You’ve been shot!”

“I noticed.” His voice was slightly slurred,
as if he’d been drinking, while he crawled toward her, far too
slowly. “It’s a belly wound. Nothing vital. Maybe my spleen. I’ll
be fine if I don’t lose too much blood…”

“Hurry!” she begged, twisting her hands over
and over. The rope was getting looser, wet with her sweat.

“Who is this man?” her grandmother asked,
glancing between the two of them, confused. “And what is he doing
in my house?”

“I’m an apple peddler,” Griff slurred.

“An apple peddler who just saved your life!”
Mae reminded all of them.

“Mae.” He put his head in her lap and she
saw him smile. “I love you.”

“Oh no, you don’t.” She nudged him with her
knee, watching his eyes flutter closed. “This isn’t over. Untie me!
Right now! You’ve got a lot of explaining to do. How did you know
Lionel?”

“It’s a long story.” Griff sighed, not
opening his eyes. She didn’t like that at all. “He needed a
magician. I didn’t know it was a scam…”

“I get the picture.” Mae nudged him again.
“Griff! Wake up!”

“Is he all right?” her grandmother asked,
blinking at the young man resting his head in her granddaughter’s
lap.

“He’s been shot,” Mae said, swallowing hard.
“Are you all right, grandmother?”

“Woozy. And my heart’s racing. I need my
nitro.” The old woman sighed. “But I’m all right. Better now that
he’s
dead.” She shuddered at the sight of Lionel collapsed
on the kitchen tile.

“We’re all better off now.” Mae set her
mouth in a firm line. “Except Griff. Griff!”

He lifted his head, his eyes glazed.
“Remember the last time we were like this? You thought I was going
to propose.”

“Griff!” she pleaded. “Focus!”

“I am.” He met her eyes. “Will you marry
me?”

“Oh for pete’s sake.” She gave a short,
hysterical laugh.

“Marry the man, Mae.”

They both turned to look at her grandmother,
open-mouthed.

“What?” The old woman blinked, looking
between them. “He’s just saved our lives. He’s obviously in love
with you, and you clearly have feelings for him. And if you say
yes, I just might have a better chance of getting out of this
position at some point before morning. It’s quite
uncomfortable.”

“Grandmother…” Mae looked at her with tears
in her eyes, trying to speak.

“I lost my son,” the old woman said, giving
her granddaughter a tired smile. “I’m not going to lose you too.
You do what your heart tells you.”

Mae smiled down at the man in her lap. “If
we all live through this, I’ll marry you twice.”

He smiled. “Just once. Forever.”

“Whatever you want,” she agreed. “Just untie
me!”

“So demanding,” Griff grumbled, reaching
around to loosen the knots, but he was too late—Mae had just freed
her own hands.

“Like grandmother, like granddaughter,” the
old woman laughed.

“Ha! “Mae held her palms up in triumph. “I
just saved myself!”

She was just in time to catch Griff as he
passed out.

Epilogue

“Hey Red.” He greeted her like he always
had, with a sly smile and a wink, as if he hadn’t been gone for
weeks.

“You’re feeling better then?” she asked
coldly. She had been to see him in the hospital several times, but
then he had just disappeared.

“Much.” He patted the wooden chair beside
him. “Come on, sit down. I’m sorry. I had to wrap up some loose
ends.”

“You could have told me.” She had to admit,
her heart lifted the moment she saw him.

“I had to see a man about a horse,” he
joked. “Forgive me?”

She slipped into the chair beside him. “As
long as you promise, no more disappearing acts.”

“I got all the magic I need right here.” He
held up a little velvet box and she gasped, her eyes widening as
she took it from him. He couldn’t have… how?

“It’s empty.”

He grinned. “Look on your finger.”

“How did you do that?” There was a diamond
on her ring finger sparkling in the sunlight that was going to make
her grandmother very proud.

“Magic.” Griff laughed as she threw her arms
around him in the middle of the street.

And it was.

ALICE

“You’re not listening!” Mattie’s voice
jolted Alice out of her daze.

Her head snapped up and she clutched her
iPhone, pressing it closer to her ear and mumbling, “I am, I’m
listening. Something about neuropeptides being responsible for
pair-bonding in humans…”

“That was two paragraphs ago.” Mattie’s
mouth sounded like it was barely moving. Alice knew that meant her
sister was really mad.

Alice snuggled deeper under her mountainous
down comforter and decided to try to lighten the subject a little.
“So you’re telling me Wade and I are together just based on brain
chemistry?”

Maddie sighed. “I’m trying to finish my
dissertation and you want to talk about your boyfriend? Where are
your priorities?”