Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (19 page)

“Why
don’t we avoid the pointless bloodshed and you just tell me how this escape
plan is gonna work?”  Dow continued.  “So far, I’m mighty impressed with your
True Love’s strategic plotting.  Maybe she’s not so Good, after all.”

Scarlett
wished she could take that as a compliment.  “You can’t come with us.  Even if
we wanted you to, there just isn’t room for so many people.”

“Well,
we’ll just have to thin the herd, then.”  He smirked at Marrok.  “I’m pretty
sure I know where to start.”

Marrok
slowly set Letty back on her feet and nudged her behind him.  “Wait here for a
minute, Red.”

She
caught hold of his wrist.  “Don’t do anything crazy.”  She whispered.  “There
are five of them and only two of us.”

“Yeah,
but I’m really fucking pissed.”  He launched himself –not at Dow-- but at the
henchman who’d hit her in the cafeteria.

Apparently,
he still wasn’t over that.

Scarlett
cringed as Marrok tackled his enemy and slammed him into the ground.  It was
like watching a lion take down a gazelle.  No wasted moves or feigned mercy,
just flashes of teeth and snarls of fury.  Marrok ripped into the blond guy,
his body a fluid and deadly weapon.

The
other man didn’t even try to fight back.  Instead, he gave a shriek of terror
and tried to claw his way back to his cronies for help.  No one was eager to
lend a hand.  The wolves seemed far more interested in watching Marrok tear him
apart.  For a heartbeat of time, everyone just stared the graceful ballet of
death

“Do
those two have a history I don’t know about?”  Dow asked conversationally.

Richardson
nodded.  “Tober punched Marrok’s woman.”

“Ooohhhh,
that explains it.”  Dower snorted.  “Jesus, what kind of wolf hits a girl?”

“Marrok!” 
Scarlett shook off her surprised daze and started for him.  “Don’t kill him! 
I’m alright.  Really.  Let’s just
go
.”

He
didn’t give any indication that he’d heard that.  He was intent on destroying
the man who’d struck her.  Scarlett appreciated the thought, but they didn’t
have time for any of this.  Especially since the other wolves weren’t going to
let Marrok and Tober have all the fun.  They began to wade into the fray and
Marrok turned to attack them, too.

His
next target was Richardson, the guy who’d held her in front of his body until
Avenant bashed his head with the cafeteria tray.  Marrok clearly hadn’t
forgotten about that, either.

“Stop!” 
Richardson’s eyes reflected genuine terror as he hit the ground with Marrok’s
hands around his throat.  “I didn’t hurt her!  I didn’t hurt her!”

Dower
tried to pull Marrok away, only to wind-up flat on his back with a bleeding
nose.  Marrok didn’t even have to stop his attack on Richardson to strike him
down.

Marrok
was outnumbered and Scarlett still knew he was going to win.

Or
he
would’ve
if the bombs hadn’t started detonating.

With
the power off, the guards couldn’t automatically release the sleeping gas from
the ceiling vents, but they could use the handheld smoke grenades stockpiled
for emergencies.  Loud blasts and flashes of light came from the hall, followed
by frightened screams.  The horrible purple vapors started pouring through the
door of the rec room.

Breathing
in the poison meant a mystical sleep that could last for decades.

“Marrok!” 
Scarlett started for him.  “We gotta go!  We gotta go!”

“Fuck!” 
He threw one of the wolves aside, sending the smaller man’s body into a stack
of orange chairs.  “Move!”  He reached out to grab her arm, yanking her
forward.  He was moving so fast, her feet barely touched the floor.  They ran
for the opposite side of the room.  Marrok all but tossed her through the door,
keeping her ahead of him and both of them ahead of the smoke.

Dower
was right behind them.

Scarlett
and Marrok kept going towards the library.  Dow stopped long enough to slam the
door shut behind him, ignoring the pounding and frantic cries of the other
wolves.

“What
are you doing?”  She shouted as he locked his friends in the rec room.

“You
want the smoke to get in here?!”  He roared back.  “Better them than me.”

If
Letty could’ve reached Dow, she would’ve punched him herself.  “You
asshole!
”

“Hey,
at least I didn’t knock ‘em over the head with a chair and tie them up,
princess!”  Dower raced after them.  “Can we get out this way?  Is that why you
were in the library before?  Is that our escape route?”

“You’re
not coming.”  Marrok bit off.

“The
hell you say!  I got as much of a right to get out of here as anyone!”  He
followed them right into the library.

Scarlett
decided to just ignore him.  She had bigger things on her mind.

Up
ahead of her, she could see Esmeralda sitting on a short dust-covered
bookcase.  The witch was back to looking like herself and painting her nails
with her magic.  She tapped each finger with another, shifting the color from
green to black.

“There’s
nothing else you could be doing?”  Scarlett snapped.

“You
said to wait here, so I’m waiting.”  Ez retorted.  “Geez, I was beginning to
think I was the only one who remembered the plan.”

Scarlett
looked around, her heart rate spiking even higher.  “You’re the only one here? 
Where are Dru and the others?”

Esmeralda
shrugged.

Scarlett
turned stricken eyes towards Marrok.

“I
knew they’d screw this up.” He muttered.  “I told ya so.”

“I
can’t leave without my sister.”  Letty whispered.

“I
know.”  One palm touched her cheek, reassuring her.  “It’ll be okay, baby.”

Scarlett
stared up at him.  She didn’t believe that Marrok was her True Love.  Not
really.  He couldn’t be.  Why would an ugly stepsister get the handsomest man
in the Four Kingdoms?  But, he was always so gentle with her.  Always trying to
protect her or help with her plans.  It was impossible not to want this man.

Underneath
the snarkiness and villainy, Marrok was actually… Good.

He
really was.

She
looked into his eyes and realized something very, very important.  Good folk
were also Bad and Bad folk were also Good.  Nobody was all one thing or the
other.  Maybe that’s why everyone always had such a hard time figuring out what
she was.  Society liked to brand people, trying to quantify them, but hearts
and minds were so much more complicated than arbitrary designations.

Everybody
was both Good
and
Bad.

This
plan wasn’t just about bringing down Cindy.  This was about ripping down all the
boxes and letting Good folk and Bad folk just be…
folks
.  No more
labels.  There needed to be a place where everyone was welcomed and had a
voice.  It was the only way they’d ever have peace in the Four Kingdoms.  The
only way the prejudice and hatred would stop.

Scarlett
stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips against Marrok’s.  Sure enough the misty
black edges of his wolf form felt magical against her mouth.  The kiss only
lasted a second, but it sent desire shooting through her whole system.

Golden
eyes gleamed with hunger as she pulled back and smiled at him.  “You keep
going, alright?”  She reached up to touch his hand, which was still on her
cheek.  No matter what else happened, she wanted him to escape from this
place.  “I have to go back for Drusilla.”

“No. 
I’ll
find Dru.”  Marrok gestured to the window.  “You get down to the
lake and I’ll meet you there.”

Was
he joking?  “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes,
you fucking
are!
  If I have to, I will drop you out that window myself.”

Letty
scowled at him.  She took it all back.  The man was a nightmare.

“Whoever’s
not here gets left behind!”  Dower proclaimed.  Picking up on the key parts of
the plan, he headed for the closest window.  “We gotta get out of here!”  He
smashed in the large pane with his elbow.

Esmeralda
squinted.  “Since when is Dow coming?  Did I miss a meeting?”

Dower
disregarded that and used an ancient copy of everyone’s favorite manifesto of
intolerance
No Good Bad Folk
to knock the remaining glass from the
window.

“There’s
no way I’m leaving!”  Scarlett poked a finger into Marrok’s chest.  “Forget
it!  This was
my
plan and I’ll see it through!”

“See
it through from the goddamn boat!”

“There’s
a boat?”  Dower heaved himself through the opening he’d created.  “Thank
Christ.  That was going to be my next question.  No way could we swim the Lake
of Forgetting.”

“There
is no
we
.”  Esmeralda snapped.  “
You’re
not part of the Tuesday
share circle.”

Scarlett
kept her eyes on Marrok.  “I won’t leave.”  She repeated in quieter voice. 
“Not without you and my sister.”

He
made a frustrated sound.  “You are a crazy, stubborn, impossible…”

The
door to the library swung open, interrupting his string of helpless
complaints.  Avenant came strolling in, dragging an unconscious Drusilla with
him.  “I’m having a terrible night.”  He announced to no one in particular. 
“You wouldn’t believe the…”

Scarlett
cut him off, dashing for Dru.  “What happened to my sister?!”

“The
gas, of course.  It’s everywhere.”

“Oh
God.”  Scarlett looked down at her sleeping sister and tried to stay calm.  Dru
was still alive.  It was just a sleeping curse.  It could be cured.  She would
be okay.

…But
it was hard not to panic.

Marrok
snatched Dru away from Avenant, carrying her towards the window.  “Dower!”  He
bellowed.  “Help me get her out or you’re not setting foot on our boat!

“Who
is that new man?”  Avenant frowned at Dower and then over at Esmeralda.  “He’s
not part of our share circle.”

“I
know!  I told them that.  They’re not listening.”

“I’m
helping.  That means I go, too.”  Dower dropped to the ground outside and
turned back to assist Marrok in lifting Dru through the window.  Catching her
shoulders, he pulled her out of the library and into moonlit night.  “See? 
Helping
.” 
He carted her towards the lakeshore.

Scarlett
did a quick head count.  “We’re still missing Rumpelstiltskin.”

“He’s
probably dead.”  Avenant shrugged without a drop of caring and headed for the
window.  “He’d want us to save ourselves.”

“I
sincerely doubt that.”

“You’re
probably right.  Trolls are selfish beings.”  Avenant shoved passed Marrok and
climbed out into yard.  “God, I missed the cold air.”  He drew in a deep
breath.  A frigid breeze was blowing across the desolate hospital ground, no
doubt reminding the ex-prince of the Northlands.

Esmeralda
looked less pleased about the whole situation.  “I can’t believe I’m about to
get on a boat.”  She’d apparently looted the nurses’ snack supply in
preparation for the trip.  A stolen backpack full of candy bars and chips was looped
around her shoulders.  “Witches and water don’t mix.”

“No
one mixes with this water.”  Avenant called back.  “It causes permanent
amnesia.”

“Yeah,
but it’ll also causes me to melt.”  Esmeralda followed Avenant out.

Scarlett
and Marrok were the last two in the library.

“Baby,
it’s gotta be close to midnight.  We’re out of time.”

She
shook her head as he backtracked to grab her arm.  “I told Rumpelstiltskin that
we’d
all
make it out.”

“We
can’t help him.”  Marrok insisted, tugging her towards the window.  “You heard
Avenant.  The gas is everywhere.  We leave now or we’re not leaving.”

“But,
I promised him that… Hey!”  Scarlett ended her protest in a yelp as Marrok
lifted her off the ground again and unceremoniously passed her through the
window.  “Wait a second!”  She shouted as she was dropped outside.  “You can’t
do that! 
I’m
in charge of this plan!”

“Consider
it a mutiny.”  Marrok easily pulled himself through the opening and landed
beside her.  “Leaving the troll behind isn’t on you.  It’s all
me
. 
Okay?  There’s nothing you can do to stop me from dragging your ass to that
boat.”

He
was trying to make her feel better about abandoning Rumpelstiltskin.  Trying to
alleviate her guilt and take all the blame.

Scarlett
gave up being annoyed at him.  There was nothing either of them could do about
this.  Not with the clock ticking and the gas filling the halls.  She allowed
Marrok to hustle her towards the lakeshore.  “I know that we don’t have a
choice.  I just feel like I’m letting him down.”

“Well,
I wouldn’t feel
too
badly about it.”  Avenant called sourly from the
darkness up ahead.