Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (33 page)

“I’ll
bet.”

“Hey,
do you have any idea how challenging it is to rhyme ‘Letty’ with a new word in each
poem?  There’s only so many times we can make love on a jetty or you shout ‘I’m
ready!’”

She
snickered as his mouth trailed down her neck.  “Just because I love you, doesn’t
mean I don’t also hate you.”

He
moved to nuzzle her temple.  “There was also one with you in a teddy.  That was
my masterpiece.”

“This
dress I’m wearing is the current extent of my wardrobe.  Cinderella just turned
everything else to ash, including the rest of my underwear.  So, I don’t think
you’ll be seeing me in a teddy anytime soon.”

“God,
Cindy really does need to die.”  He decided.  “You’re the brains of the outfit,
Red.  Go ahead and think of a plan.”

“Why
do you sell yourself short, even when you’re just joking around?”  She frowned
at him.  “I’m not the brains of this.  You’ve had just as much to do with us
getting this far as I have.”

“What
did I do?”  He scoffed.

“You
showed me how to disable the security cameras.  How to handle Dr. White.  How
to get into the dungeon.  How to get
ou
t of the dungeon.  How to cut the
power.  How to deal with the wolves.  How to do the PSA…”  She shook her head. 
“You’ve saved me about fifty times, so far.”

He
looked bemused.  “You saved
me
, Scarlett.  In so many more ways than
that.”

“We
saved each other.  I told you, we’re partners.”

Marrok
watched her for a beat, his expression going grave.  “I really do love you.” 
He finally whispered.

“Keep
saying it.  I like hearing the words, too.”  She paused meaningfully.  “In
fact, now would be a good time for you to propose.”

He
grinned.  “And steal your big moment?”

“I’m
not going to be the one who proposes!  Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because,
I’m pretty sure that
my
part of the partnership is the seducing you
part.”  His mouth found the curve her throat, again.  “
Your
part is the
everything else part.”

“Your
part is going to be a colossal failure then, since I’m not about to sleep with
you out in the open and Avenant is never going to waste one of his precious
tents on us.”  Still, she couldn’t resist tilting her head to give Marrok
better access.  “His royal pain-in-the-ass-ness is mad because I told him we
won’t help him kill Belle.”

“Well,
let’s just kill her, so we can have some privacy and I can do Bad things to
your Good little body.”

“We’re
not killing Belle!  That poor girl was completely justified in kicking Avenant
out of the Northlands and you know it.  He’s a tyrant.  Besides, he doesn’t
even
wan
t her dead.  All his whining to the contrary, Avenant just wants
her
.”

“Yeah,
I noticed that, too.  But, I really want to rip that dress off you, so I’m
willing to play along with his mania and…”  Marrok’s teasing trailed off, his
gazed fixed on something over her shoulder.  “Shit.”  He quickly set her away
from him and straightened his clothes.

Scarlett
turned and spotted her grandmother headed towards them.  She had no idea why
Marrok bothered to stop their make-out session for Jana.  Knowing her
grandmother, she would’ve just cheered him on.  “Something wrong?”

“I
told her I was going to help you with the Cinderella plot.  I don’t want her to
think I’m trying to get you into bed, instead.”

“You
are
trying to get me into bed.  And it’s working.”

“I
know, but I want your grandmother to see me as husband material.  I’m supposed
to be helping you plan, right now.  If she doesn’t think I can be a real part
of this business, she’ll take you away.”

“Marrok,”
Letty moved her head, forcing him to look at her, “
no one
could take me away
from you.  I swear to you, I’m yours for forever after.”

He
let out a long breath.  “I know you are.”  He touched her hair.  “I just want
to be worthy.”

“You
are!”  She rolled her eyes when he remained visibly unconvinced.  The whole
conversation struck her as ridiculous.  “Come
on!
  You can’t possibly
think
I’m
too good for
you
.”

“I
know you’re too Good for me.”  He intoned.

“That’s…” 
She almost said insane.  “That’s
untrue
.  You are so smart and funny and
charming and protective and loyal…”

“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.”