Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (34 page)

“He
needs our help.  The whole point of this is to protect people.”  She slowly
shook her head.  “And Cinderella
does
force the rats to sleep with her. 
I told you there was something weird going on.  She hits them and treats them
like dirt and…”

“And
all that’s probably brainwashed them into following her every order.”  He
interrupted.  “Your grandma’s right.  Cindy sent him here to spy on us.”

“I
don’t think so.”  Gustav looked too grateful and relieved to be faking this. 
He was presently trying to hug Jana.  Hopefully, he’d live through it.

Marrok
wasn’t giving up.  “You’re thinking about
my
past?  Well, I’m thinking
about
yours
.  This guy helped drag you off to the WUB Club, Letty.  He
sure didn’t try to help
you
when
you
needed it.”

“I
know.”  She bit her bottom lip.  “I can forgive him, though.”

“Why
would you
ever
…?”

“But,
you
were in the WUB Club.  How else would we have found each other?”

Marrok’s
eyes narrowed at that argument and she knew she’d won.  “That was a really underhanded
card to play, Red.”

“What
can I say?  I’m Bad.”  She shrugged.  “Beside, you were just telling me that we
needed more information before we invaded the Westlands.  Gustav can help us.”

“Are
you kidding?  I don’t trust a damn word he says.”

“He
hasn’t
gotten
to say anything, yet.”  She arched a brow.  “Seriously, you’re
always claiming I can talk people into things.  Just let me
talk
to
him.  You’re standing right here with me.  What’s the worst that could happen? 
We can always kill him later, but we can’t
un
kill him once he’s dead.”

Marrok
made a sound of frustration that Scarlett took as another victory.

She
gave him a quick kiss.  “Thank you.”  She marched towards the rat and got
straight to the point.  Who knew how long she had before Marrok and/or Jana
snapped.  “Who’s helping Cinderella with the spell on Charming?  She doesn’t
have any powers, so she must have hired someone to do the heavy lifting.  Who
is it?”

“Trevelyan.” 
Gustav said instantly.  “Cinderella’s working with the dragon.”

Even for a
crazy person, Trevelyan was crazy.

It was
impossible to predict or understand him.  Personally, I was glad when he
escaped and we were rid of him, once and for all.  The man’s feelings journal
was the stuff of nightmares,

Psychiatric
case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae

Even
on her wedding day, Cinderella was harassed.

She
shoved aside the useless Baddie stylist who was doing a half-assed job on her
hair and glowered at the dragon in her heart shaped mirror.  “I paid you a
fortune and the spell didn’t work! 
That’s
the bottom line here.  I
don’t care about your idiotic excuses, I just want results. 
FIX HIM!
”

Trevelyan
wasn’t impressed with her
completely logical
orders.  The man was a
disgrace to magic.  “Once a spell is broken it can’t be recast.”  Even in his
human form, his voice sounded like a dragon’s, seeping out like a low rumble of
thunder.  “Everyone knows that.”

As
usual, Trevelyan wore an ankle-length trench coat with decorative flames
embroidered along the bottom hem.  It molded around his muscular body like a
second skin.  With his exotic features and long ebony hair studded with silver
beads, he really was stunning.

An
asshole, but stunning.

Cinderella
had considered taking Trevelyan to bed, just to add some variety to her life,
but he was impossible enough to deal with when he had his clothes
on
. 
God only knew what he’d be like naked.  Besides, what if dragons mated in their
animal form the way wolves did?  Cinderella enjoyed some erotic pain as much as
the next princess, but fucking an actual dragon might prove difficult even for
her.

“A
second spell
can
be done.”  She insisted.  “You’re just too chicken shit
to try it.”

“Your
majesty, please.”  The troll hairdresser tried to stick some more pins into
Cinderella’s golden coif.  “Let me just finish…”

“Get
out!”  Cinderella surged to her feet and all but threw the hideous woman from
the room.  She was so sick of Bad folk disrespecting her.  She slamming the
door shut and angrily shook out her golden curls in a fit of spite.

Where
the hell was Gustav?  He’d been missing since the other mice had punished him
with that well deserved beating.  That had been last night, though!  That pussy
should’ve been back on his feet and ready to serve her, again.  Why did she
have to do
everything
herself?

Trevelyan’s
vivid green gaze stayed fixed on her.  “If I do anything else to Charming, it
will probably turn his brain to scrambled eggs.”

“Like
he’s such a fucking rocket scientist, now?”  Cinderella retorted.  “I’ll take
my chances.”

“I
won’t.”

Cinderella
hurled a hairbrush at the dragon’s stupid head.  “You’re so goddamn
useless!
” 
He didn’t even bother to duck as the brush sailed passed his skull.  That only
made her angrier.  “What am I supposed to do, huh?  Marry that asshole from his
cell in the dungeon?  My dress will get
filthy! 
Did you even think
about that?”

“A
bigger problem will be getting him to say ‘I do’ when the only word he seems to
be screaming is, ‘Drusilla.’”

“Bastard.” 
She wasn’t sure if that was directed at Charming or Trevelyan, because it
certainly applied to them both.  “You told me it was
Scarlett
in that
garden.  If I’d known it was Dru, I could’ve broken her weeks ago.”

“I
didn’t tell you it was Scarlett.  I didn’t even know their names.  You smuggled
me into the castle, because you knew that shoe wouldn’t fit you, and I tailed
Charming until I saw him put it on his destined bride.”  He arched a brow.  “I
described it all to you and
you’re
the one who said it must have been
Scarlett.”

“I
thought it was!”  Why did everyone want to blame Cinderella for their own
failings?  “You said it was homely redhead and naturally I thought of
Scarlett.  Dru’s such a little
nothing
.  How could I even guess Charming
would want her?”

“Well,
either way, I can’t respell him.”

“If
you’re so concerned about Charming, maybe you should consider that there are
worst things for him than spending the rest of his life as a drooling idiot.”

“Like
marrying you?”

“Like
making
him marry me.”  She snarled.  “Because, he’s
going
to be
my beloved groom if I have to break every bone in his body to get him down the
aisle.”  She shook her head in disgust.  “This is all your fault.  Charming’s
been fighting me this whole time, because he still subconsciously remembers
Dru.  You should have cast the spell
before
he slept with her.  The True
Love bond wouldn’t have been so indelible.”

“And
miss the little porn show they put on?  Where’s the fun in that?”

“You
did it just to screw me over!”  Cinderella raged.  “You
knew
he’d sense
I wasn’t his True Love.  You
deliberately
made it even harder for me to
convince him, but letting Dru touch him.  Admit it!”

“Yeah,
well, I don’t like you.”

“
Then
why the hell are you here!
”

He
lifted a shoulder in a shrug.  “Your check cleared.”

There
had
to be more to it than that.  He wanted something.  Otherwise he
would’ve just ignored her summons, like he had the dozens of other times she
called.  From the second he’d unexpectedly shown up this morning, she’d felt
Trevelyan’s restless energy.

Like
he was… waiting.

He
kept talking, ignoring her suspicious frown.  “Look, my point is, I know which
girl had that glass slipper on, even if I wasn’t sure on her name.  Trust me.  I
saw a lot of her in that garden.  Charming isn’t after Scarlett.  He wants Dru.”

“Drusilla
is
nothing
.”  Cinderella reiterated.  “Less than nothing.  The flies on
the crap of nothing.  So is Charming.  They’d
never
get together if it
wasn’t for Letty
.  She’s
the one who’s trying to bring me down. 
She’s
the one I have to worry about.”

“Scarlett
interests me.”  He said softly.  “I’ll confess, I was satisfied being the only
inmate to have broken out of the WUB Club.  The distinction had a certain
cachet.  But, now that my record is tied, I find I have a lot of questions on
how she pulled it off.  No one understands the difficulties of that place
better than I do.  How the hell did she even get across the Lake of Forgetting?”

Cinderella
made a face.  “She stole a boat.”

“A
boat?”  His eyebrows climbed.  “That’s it?  That actually
worked?
”

“Disgusting,
isn’t it?  I’ll see everyone in that hospital dead, I swear to Jesus. 
Incompetent morons.”

“A
boat.”  He still seemed amazed.  “I never thought of that.  Why didn’t I think
of that?  It’s so…”

“Stupid? 
Childish? 
Evil?!
”

His
mouth curved.  “Clever.”

Cinderella
didn’t appreciate the new gleam in his eyes.  “She’s not
clever
, she’s a
duplicitous bitch.  You saw her traitorous internet video, inciting my citizens
to turn against me.”

“I
saw it.  For a clever girl, it doesn’t make much sense.  No one with a brain
would buy any of that sentimental bullshit about justice and sharing.” 
Trevelyan snorted.  “I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt, though.  Maybe she’s
planning to lure other Baddies to the Enchanted Forest so she can rob ‘em.”

Cinderella’s
lips pressed together.  “She’s planning to ruin my wedding. 
That’s
what
she’s doing.”

“Well,
you have mice all over the Westlands, poised to execute her if she shows her
face.”  He paused.  “A face that isn’t
so
ugly for an ugly stepsister,
now that I think about it.”

“She’s
a hideous monster!”

“The
wolf doesn’t think so.”  Trevelyan’s tone changed.  “Pretty clear from that
video that he’ll be with her if she shows up and Marrok isn’t a man you want to
cross.  My guess is you’re gonna have one hell of a reception on your hands.”

Cinderella
glanced over at him thoughtfully.  Did he and the wolf have some kind of
history?  Maybe that was the dragon’s game.  Maybe he was trying to get hired
on as an assassin.

She
tested the waters, not wanting to appear too eager, even though she was
desperate.  “If you refuse to cast another spell on Charming, the least you can
do is stay and help me carry out the wedding, then.  I might just need the
extra protection from party-crashers.”

“I
want a bonus, if I’m the bouncer.”

“Sure.” 
After all, Charming’s royal bank accounts were about to become joint, thanks to
the Westlands’ community property laws.  “Kill Letty and anyone else who gets
in my way, and you’ll have more gold than you can carry.”

“I
have something else in mind.”  He said softly.  “The woman.  She really…
interests me.”

“Scarlett?” 
What the hell was going on that every hot guy in the Four Kingdoms wanted an
ugly stepsister?  First Marrok and now Trevelyan?!  The whole world was in
chaos!  “Fine.  Help me and you can do whatever you want with her.”  Cinderella
promised.  “Rape her, torture her, question her… I don’t care.  She’s all
yours.”

“Good. 
I’ve been waiting for her to show up for a long time.”

God,
it went against all the laws of nature that someone as beautiful as Trevelyan
would desire
Letty
.  Wasn’t it enough that she already tricked Marrok into
panting after her?  Now Scarlett had
two
gorgeous men, while
Cinderella’s loser fiancé plotted to leave her at the altar!  Hopefully,
Trevelyan really did mate in dragon form.  It would serve her stepsister right.

“Well,
you can’t keep her for long.”  Cinderella warned.  “She has to die or she’ll
just keep causing problems.”

“I
just need her long enough to destroy Marrok.”

Ah-hah! 
It
was
about the wolf.  “What did he do to piss you off?”

“Marrok
chose to stay in that fucking prison rather than help me.  He
forced
me
to touch that bitch Snow White in order to get out of there.”  The dragon’s
voice turned venomous.  “And now --after all his bullshit--
now
he
chooses to escape.  That’s a betrayal.”

“Not
to defend him, but Scarlett can talk people into anything.  He probably didn’t
have a choice.”  It would be a shame to see someone as pretty as Marrok die for
Scarlett’s crimes.

“Oh,
he had a choice.  And he chose disloyalty over friendship.  Now,
I
choose to take away the only person he loves.  I promised him he’d regret
screwing me over and he’s about to know
exactly
what I meant.”