Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (35 page)

“You
believe that crap about Scarlett being his True Love?”  Cinderella snorted.  “I
don’t.  I figure she’s using a spell on him.”

“Oh,
I believe it.  For five goddamn years, I’ve waited for an opportunity to get
back at the bastard.  Then today, he goes on the web and posts a video starring
the one thing he can’t live without.”  Trevelyan gave a cold smile.  “He’d
always talk about finding his True Love.  He was
sure
that she was out
there.  I knew all I had to do was wait and he’d reveal her to me.”

Yeah…
It was never wise to make an enemy of a dragon.  They had magical powers,
delicate egos and long memories.

Cinderella
rolled her eyes.  “…So you’re going to kill Letty, then?”  She summarized. 
That was all that really mattered and Trevelyan looked ready to list a thousand
more grievances he’d store up against Marrok.

“Eventually.”

“Yeah. 
Fine.  Have fun with her first.  I don’t give a shit.  Just so tomorrow dawns
with Scarlett dead and me wearing my crown, I’ll be happy.”

He
smirked.  “And shouldn’t every bride should be happy on her wedding day?”

Today in
group, we tried a team building exercise.

There were
three fatalities.

Psychiatric
case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae

Marrok
shifted the duffle bag full of weapons he’d gathered from Jana’s vast arsenal and
glowered up at Charming’s ridiculous blue castle.  “I hate this plan.”

“So
do I.”  Esmeralda agreed.  “We just broke out of an impossible-to-break-out-of
fortress and now we’re breaking
into
an impossible-to-break-
into
-fortress.” 
She shook her head.  “What’s wrong with this picture?”

“At
least you two have nowhere better to go.”  Avenant scoffed.  “I should be
halfway to reclaiming my throne from that fucking usurper, by now.”

“Or
just halfway to
fucking
the usurper, by now.”  Esmeralda taunted. 
“Admit it.  You’re
totally
crushing on the librarian.”  She snickered
when he sent her a look of frozen death.  “Oh don’t be mad.  I think it’s
sweet.  You can bring Belle some roses… right before she has you locked up,
again.”

“I
told
you, I’m going to kill the woman.”

“Before
or after you beg her for a date?”

“Both
of you be quiet.”  Scarlett hissed.  “Tomorrow, we can work on convincing
Avenant’s True Love not to arrest him on sight.  Right now we need to
concentrate on Charming.”

“That
usurper is
not
my…!”

“Shhh!” 
Scarlett ordered right over Avenant’s protest.  “Now, does everyone understand
the plan?”

“That
plan I hate, you mean?”  Marrok arched a brow at her.  “Yeah, I got all stupid,
risky details of it screaming in my head like a funeral dirge, as a matter of
fact.”

He’d
been trying to talk her out of this disastrous idea all night.  Once Gustav had
showed up, Scarlett’s creative energies had been unleashed, though.  Nothing
was going to talk her out of this, short of chaining her up.

Which
Marrok had actually considered.

Christ,
if Trevelyan was involved in this, it was going to turn into a bloodbath.  What
was the dragon up to?  Marrok couldn’t get their last meeting out of his head. 
The dwarf guards pulling the dragon away, while he shouted threats.  Swearing
that he’d have revenge for Marrok’s “betrayal.”  Promising to take away
everything that Marrok loved.

“You
two work on creating the distractions out here.”  Scarlett told Avenant and
Esmeralda, just in case they’d forgotten their assigned roles.  Which,
honestly, was a good guess, knowing them.  “Start in exactly ten minutes.  Make
sure whatever you do is big enough to draw the guards’ attention.”

Although
they were bickering, annoying, idiots, even Marrok was a tiny bit moved at how
readily Avenant and Ez agreed to come to the Westlands and lend a hand.  Being
part of the Tuesday share circle was like being a part of a screwed-up,
criminally-inclined family.  Even when they didn’t like you, they were still
there to help you blow shit up.

It
was touching.

The
four of them were huddled in the royal garden of the Westlands, hidden by some
oh-so-special singing fountain, waiting for Gustav to return.  The rat had
gotten them this far, but while he went to clear the next leg of their journey,
he’d left them hiding in the most aggravating spot in the Four Kingdoms.  That
did nothing to improve Marrok’s opinion of the guy.

The
singing fountain wouldn’t shut-up.

Show
tunes, pop hits, opera… It just. kept. singing.  If Marrok owned this ugly
castle, he could’ve torn the damn thing out and put up a basketball court.  Was
there no place else Gustav could’ve stashed them?

“Meanwhile,
Marrok and I will find Charming.”  Scarlett continued.  “I know the layout of
the castle and Gustav’s making sure the guards don’t bother us as we sneak in. 
We’ll go through the servants’ entrance, so we should be able to…”

“What
about the dragon?”  Marrok interrupted.  Letty wasn’t getting how dangerous it
was to have Trevelyan around.  “What are we going to do if a fire-breathing monster
with unmatched magical powers attacks?”

Scarlett
grinned.  “You’re going to stop him.”  She said with total confidence.

Marrok
rolled his eyes.  “I hate this plan.”

“It’s
going to work.”  She insisted.

Not
unless he did something insane.  One-on-one, there was no fucking chance Marrok
was going to be able to stop a dragon.  It was sweet that Scarlett thought he
could do it, but it was literally impossible.  If it came down to a fight,
there was just one option: Letty had to run.  It was the only way either one of
them would survive.  He could just imagine how well she’d take that news,
though, so he wasn’t sharing it until he absolutely had to.

Marrok
sighed.  “I’m just saying, if I die before I get to live out my ‘you and
vanilla pudding’ fantasies, I’m going to be pissed.”

“Honestly,
Wolf.”  She sent him a look of mock disapproval.  “Do I seem like a
vanilla
girl to you?  Think big.  Think
strawberry
.”

Just
like that, the game was over.

Marrok’s
mouth curved in total, desperate love and he knew that Letty had won.  There
was no way he was going to be able to hold out for her to propose.  He’d waited
as long as he could.  Marrok was opening his mouth to ask her to
please-for-the-love-of-God marry him, when Gustav came scampering back over.

“Okay.” 
The rat was out of breath as he crouched down beside them.  He had to raise his
voice to be heard over the serenading water.  “I sent the guards at the door away. 
They still think I’m in charge, so they listened to me just like the others.”  He’d
been ordering guards out of their path all morning.  “You have to hurry and get
in there, though.  Charming’s not in the dungeon, anymore.  Cinderella had him
dragged upstairs for the wedding.”

“If
this is a trap, I will kill you.”  Marrok promised him, refocusing on this terrible
plan.  “And if I’m dead and I can’t kill you,
they’ll
kill you.”  He
jerked a thumb at Avenant and Esmeralda.

“I
can kill him, now.”  Avenant volunteered.

“Nobody’s
killing Gustav.”  Scarlett must have said that fifty times so far.  She smiled
at the rat.  “Good job.  Go back to the Enchanted Forest and stay safe,
alright?  And thank you.”

“Thank
you
.”  He gazed at her in adoration.  “You’ve saved my life.”

Marrok
would’ve mocked the rat’s gushing, but he tended to agree with it.

“Nonsense. 
You saved yourself.”  Letty patted Gustav’s hand and headed for the side of the
castle.  The girl wouldn’t rest until she’d saved everyone.

Marrok
followed her, grateful just to get away from the caterwauling fountain. 
“Cinderella really sings all the time?”

“Yep.”

“No
wonder you hate her.”

“It’s
aggravating, right?”  Scarlett glanced back at the loud water feature with a
frown.  “I have no idea where that thing even came from, but, if it were my
castle, I’d get rid of it.”

“We
really do think alike.”  Marrok caught hold of her hand.  “Listen, when we get
in there, you stay right beside me, alright?”

“Where
else would I be?”

The
two of them quickly reached the base of one of the castle’s soaring turrets.  Charming’s
ancestors had apparently all been six year old girls.  They’d designed the
entire Westlands to be full of flowers and rainbows.  Everywhere, in every
direction, there was nothing but neatly manicured gardens and identical
cottages.  All the manufactured perfection was topped off by the stupid palace. 
The whole fanciful structure was a nightmare of pastel colors and carved
cherubs.

“So
you grew up here?”  Marrok whispered as they made their way through the arched
door of the servants’ entrance and into a long corridor.  Since most of the
staff was Baddies, no one had put much effort into making this part of the
castle as pretty as the outside.  Marrok found the lack of frolicking dolphin
statues a welcomed change.

“I
grew up in the village.  But, my stepfather was an ambassador to the royal
court, so I spent a lot of time running around this place with Charming and
Dru.”

“And
Cinderella?”

“No,
she liked to spend her time shoplifting, scrubbing floors, and strong-arming
everyone to vote for her for homecoming queen.”  Scarlett made a face.  “I
still say she looked fat in that dress.”

“Have
I ever told you it
completely
turns me on when you’re bitchy?”

She
slanted him a grin.  “And I’ve noticed you get turned on
a lot
.  What
does that say about us?”

“It
says we were made for each other.”  When they reached the end of the hall,
Marrok put an arm up so she’d stop.  He peered around the corner and saw the
whole place was teeming with servants heading up and down a staircase.

“We
have to go that way.”  Scarlett whispered.  “If Gustav is right and
Cinderella’s preparing Charming for the slaughter, she’ll take him to the
throne room.  It’s the gaudiest spot in the palace.  Perfect for her gaudy
wedding.  Those stairs are the only way up there.”

“Wonderful.” 
He considered their options.  “Are you sure we can’t just rescue Charming
tomorrow?”

“He
won’t live to see tomorrow.”  Letty said flatly.  “That’s why the servants are
rushing around.  Cindy’s prepping for the reception and the execution to
follow.  Trust me.  She’ll chop his head off the second that ring is on her
finger.”

Shit.

Marrok
sighed.  “Serious question:  Will the Westlands care if she decapitates their
prince?”

“Of
course they’ll care, but how can they stop her?  Cinderella’s rats have
overthrown the guards and everyone else is cowering in their houses for fear of
being branded traitors.”

“Not
everyone
else.  Just the Good folk.  The servants are still here.”  He
gestured towards the stairs.  “Baddies are all over the castle, because no way
is a princess painting her own fingernails.”  He arched a brow.  “So, the
question is, do the Bad folk of the Westlands think Charming is worth saving or
will they let him die?”

Scarlett
chewed her bottom lip.  “Charming works with me to improve villains’ rights and
he’s been employing some of these people for years…  But, I don’t know if
they’ll risk themselves to help him.”

“Well,
I
know we’re not going to be able to avoid every Bad folk in this
palace.  Even with Gustav calling off most of the rats, we’ll be spotted by
someone.  So, the ‘sneaking’ part of the plan is over.”

“So
what do we do?”

“So
we don’t sneak.”  He met her eyes.  “If we can’t be sure the Baddies will side
with Charming, I’m pretty damn sure they’ll side with
yo
u.”

***

“I
hate this plan.”  Scarlett did her best to appear outwardly calm, but her heart
was racing.  “Everyone’s staring at me.”

“That’s
the point.”  Marrok’s fingers stayed locked around hers as they walked
side-by-side down the middle of the hall.  “Just keep moving and everything
will be fine.”

She
tried to focus on the stairs, but all she saw were the wide eyes of the
servants they passed.  People froze in their tracks at the sight of them.

This
was never going to work.

“Marrok,
we have to get out of here.  Someone’s going to raise the alarm and we’re going
to get caught and shipped back to the WUB Club.  I know it.”

“Baby,
Good folk would be too afraid to let you back in there.  The next riot would be
seen from space.”  He gave her palm a reassuring squeeze.  “Look around.”

“I
am, but…”