A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales – B&tB Book 1)
A Ruin of Roses: Chapter 4

After closing the door behind me, I took off at a sprint. I’d be damned if the beast would kill me in front of my family.

I didn’t take the path through the neighbor’s yard, either. It might barrel after me and take them and their house out in the crossfire. Instead, I took the lane down the center of the houses and around.

The beast’s roar sliced through me, making me stumble, commanding me to stop. The force nearly locked up my legs and turned my body to wood. The effect tickled a memory, but my bleating panic wiped it from my mind.

Wood splintered, and heavy footsteps sounded on the path behind me. It must’ve crashed through our garden fence. Hannon could repair that, no problem. At least it was following me. That was the plan.

Putting on a burst of speed, I headed for the Forbidden Wood. I didn’t dare look back. I didn’t want to see the size of the thing. Besides, if it somehow snuck up on me, swooped down, and bit me in two, at least the end would be quick. It would be better than trying to fight a losing battle with a somewhat dull dagger.

Around the last house in the lane, I ran by the sycamore and randomly cursed myself for not telling Hannon to take those books back to the library. As though that were the most important thing in all of this.

Reaching the tree line of the Forbidden Wood, I wondered why I hadn’t been caught. It should’ve reached me by now.

Maybe it hadn’t followed…

I slowed to a stop and spun, expecting to see empty space. Instead, I very nearly wet myself.

Its progress had been utterly silent. Not one puff of breath or massive footstep had alerted me to its presence. But it had followed me all the same.

A massive creature stood just beyond the sycamore, looking down on me. Those eyes glowed in the semidarkness, seemingly soaking up the moonlight showering its dull, murky black scales. A great head reached half as high as the peak of a tall tree, two horns curling away from the top. Its scaled face had a protruding jaw, and long teeth jutted from its lipless mouth. I’d seen its massive shoulders before, taller than me, with a deep, muscular chest. Two stout legs supported it in front, and the upper body sloped down to the hindquarters and slightly shorter back legs.

If I had my leather sheath, I would slip my dagger into it. It wouldn’t help me against what I faced.

If I had more courage, I would stand my ground.

I spun and ran like hell.

I didn’t even know where I was going. Nor did I look back to see if it was following me. I had zero control over myself right then. Panic was driving this wagon, and it was doing it with drunk horses.

I zigzagged around trees and stumbled over rocks. My shoulder rammed a tree trunk I hadn’t noticed, and I careened into a tangle of briars. I gasped as a thorn ripped into my arm and tore my nightshirt. My breath came in fast pants, and the scene before me wiggled in my tear-soaked vision. Some hero. I’d slipped into full damsel, and honestly, I would not mind being saved. I would not mind it at all.

Beyond a set of reaching bushes, I suddenly realized where I was. The tall birch, seemingly out of place, stood before me a ways, marking the everlass field. Even in my blind panic, I’d had enough directional sense to get there. Given that I’d been caught thieving from this very field, it was probably the worst place for me to have led the beast. Then again, where the hell else was I going to go? I could hide in here all night and return home tomorrow…only to find the beast at my house again. I couldn’t escape the village, and now I couldn’t escape the beast.

Time to face the future. How will our hero turned coward escape this time?

Breathing heavily, I stopped in front of the birch and looked up. It took that as a cue to shake like a dancing girl, waving its branches and rattling it leaves.

“Would you shut up?” I yelled at it. “It can find me just fine on its own.”

The low growl behind me was proof of that. I sucked in a deep breath and turned once again.

It stood nestled in the trees, mostly obscured by the branches surrounding it but for those eyes, like two embers surrounded by blackness. Its head lowered, and I clutched my dagger tightly, raising it just a bit. Might as well give the illusion of bravery.

The enormous beast reduced down in a blink, turning into a nude man.

My mouth dropped open. No. It couldn’t be. This was impossible! The ability to shift had been suppressed by the curse. I hadn’t heard of anyone in this kingdom who could still manage it. And while it was possible our village was the only one that had been so afflicted, I certainly hadn’t heard that the beast turned into a man. That was something people would talk about. Warn others about.

He walked toward me, out of the trees. The moonlight fell over his messy brown hair and onto his wide shoulders and robust frame. Thick, well-defined muscle covered every inch of his tall body, not an ounce of fat to spare. He’d earned that muscle through hard-fought battles, I could tell. He looked like a man who knew exactly what he was capable of.

His movements were sleek and graceful, and his eyes—still that same animalistic gold hue—tracked me as he stalked forward. He was the hunter in this situation, and he knew it. The predator. He was sighting in on his prey. Me.

What caught me, though, wasn’t his muscle or obvious power. It wasn’t even the aura of danger that twisted my gut and made my legs tremble. It was his scarred appearance.

A mess of vicious scars cut across his physique. A ragged silver line on his pec ran beside his nipple, four parallel scars sliced through his side, and other lines crisscrossed his abdomen. He’d tried to cover them up with swirls of ink. It hadn’t worked, though. If anything, it brought more attention to his past trauma, some causing puckered skin and others creating valleys from what must’ve been deep wounds.

He stopped a handful of feet from me, his brawn and power making my breath come out unevenly. Even as man, he was enormous. I was a tall woman, but his height topped mine by a foot. The point of my dagger wobbled back and forth, and there was nothing I could do to hide my shaking arm.

“You are trespassing,” he said with a deep, scratchy voice. It sounded like he’d earned that, too. As though he’d screamed so hard and long that he’d damaged his vocal cords.

“You chased me in here. I hardly think that counts,” I said, adept at biting back against all odds. I’d had a lot of practice.

“The price of trespassing is detention. The price of stealing is death.”

“Good thing I didn’t steal, then.” I held out my arms to indicate my lack of stolen goods.

Clearly on impulse, he dipped his gaze down to follow the thread of the conversation. His eyes had started moving back upward, toward my face, when he did a double take and settled his attention on my chest. I belatedly realized that sweat had made my threadbare nightshirt cling to my freely hanging breasts, no time for binding before I ran from the house. The cold and fear had made my nipples stand at attention. He was getting an eyeful.

The pressure in the air increased. The weight inside of my middle flipped over, and more fire leaked out. My core tightened as his gaze slowly lifted to mine. Hunger flashed in those golden eyes. Lust. Dominance.

Something within me—something foreign but rooted way down deep—purred in delight. Desire warmed my body.

What the fuck is happening, folks? This shit is no good.

I recognized this feeling, though. It was the lust magic from last night. This still didn’t feel the same as an incubus’s power. Their power was lean and slinky and slick. Oily. This was…raw and intense and powerful. Dangerous. Delicious.

I pushed it away with everything I had, ignoring the sudden wetness between my legs and the unyielding desperation to be taken roughly. To have him pound that big cock into me over and over again.

“Finley, isn’t it?”

Why did that rough voice suddenly feel like a sensuous lick across my heated flesh? I hated that I loved it. Hated that I suddenly craved his kisses between my thighs. His fingers banging into my slick sex.

“Fuck the goddess sideways, I am losing my fucking mind,” I mumbled, trying to get a grip. I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead. It felt like his magic was unwinding me, one thread at a time. Why did it feel so fucking good?

“Do you want to be dominated, Finley? Your animal certainly does.”

“Wh-what?” I pushed my palm to my chest, feeling that weight within rail against my ribcage, as though it were indeed a creature trying to break free. The fire kept seeping into my bloodstream, pulsing power into my limbs. I was drunk with it. Drunk on this feeling. Desperate to let this big-ass alpha push me down into the dirt right now and drive that big cock deep into my needy cunt.

“Enough!”

His bark of command was like a splash of cold water.

I blinked and realized I’d dropped my dagger and now stood right in front of him. His chest heaved like mine, his large cock fully erect between us. I hadn’t touched him yet, but it was clear I’d been about to act on the things I’d been thinking. To demand he give me what I was craving.

The scary thing was that I had no idea when I’d moved or how I’d gotten there. Neither of those things had registered. It was like someone else had assumed control of my movements. Control of me. But at the same time, I remembered thinking those dirty words. Remembered wanting to act on them. Remembered feeling the ache in my core at the filthy, delicious thoughts.

Oh no, was it happening again?

Without thinking, I slapped him across the face. Then thought, Oh shit, what did I just do?

Before I could back-pedal or run or laugh manically, he snatched my wrist out of the air.

“I will give you that one,” he said in a voice out of a nightmare. “I am partially responsible. I didn’t control my beast as I ought to have. But you will get just the one. Try it again, and I’ll break you.”

“What disgusting type of creature are you?” I asked. “Are you the king of the incubi or something? You magically force girls to give themselves to you?”

“I am no demon, princess, I can assure you.”

The pet name was condescending, as was his expression.

“You don’t know what you have bottled up inside of you, do you?” he asked.

I squinted at him and, for the first time, didn’t have a witty comeback. The bastard had completely knocked me off my game.

He flung my hand away and then shoved me backward, lightly enough to force some space but not enough to send me sprawling.

“That beast inside of you is going to get you into trouble,” he said. “You need to learn to control it.”

“What…what are you talking about?”

He huffed out a laugh, shook his head, and then looked up at the sky. “Fucking typical.” It sounded like he was talking to himself. Or maybe he’d borrowed my invisible audience for the moment. He rolled his shoulders before squaring them. “You have stolen the everlass plant from these lands on multiple occasions. Why?”

“No, I didn’t.” Only an idiot would fess up without proof.

“Why?” he growled.

Fear wound through me, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing it. That plant was clearly very important to him. This wasn’t just about stealing—it was about stealing from him. His grudge was personal, and I did not want to incriminate my village. My secrets would die with me.

“Most people come to this wood in the hopes of escaping this rotting kingdom,” he said. “They either hope to kill me or, lately, make a deal with the demon king. But you and some of your brethren steal the everlass plant. Your village is the only one to have shown an interest in it. Why?”

“I assume others do it because their gardens are too small and they don’t have enough room to grow the plants they need.”

He took a step forward, bristling with anger. “Do you need to make this so difficult?”

“Do I need to make my execution difficult? Yeah, kinda. It’s not something I am looking forward to.”

His stare beat into me, turning my belly to gravy. “You are trying to fight a battle that you cannot win.”

“Life is a battle we cannot win. The question becomes, do we want to go down peacefully, or fight until our last breath? I choose to fight.”

That weight in my chest—almost an actual presence—thunked within me. I felt its approval.

Could it really be my animal? Was that even possible?

The air between us crackled. “You leave me no choice.”

A shock of power slammed into me. It throbbed, not sexual this time but commanding. Consuming. The compulsion to answer him washed over me. Pulled me down and battered me around. I opened my mouth to obey. I shut it.

I was not a puppet to play with. I was not a servant to boss around. I had no master, and I wouldn’t take one now. If he wanted to kill me, fine, but I would not be compelled to give up my secrets.

I clenched my jaw to hold back the words. I dug the nails of my free hand into the heel of my palm, focusing on that bite of pain.

Anger and frustration sizzled from him. More power came, punching me. It set fire to my skin and scraped down my bones. Agony flash-boiled my blood. It hurt so badly that I thought I might black out. But still I resisted.

“Damn you, Finley,” he growled. He reached forward and grabbed me by the throat, yanking me toward him. His golden eyes locked with mine. “Why?”

That presence within me poured out fire. Anger. Rage.

I had the pocketknife in my hand without thinking. Opened it without knowing how.

I stabbed him in the chest.

He hissed and tossed me away. A hand came up quickly to the knife now sticking out of his pec. I hadn’t stabbed in nearly far enough. It was nothing but a flesh wound. Given the state of his body, he’d had plenty. Given his thick slab of muscle, it wouldn’t slow him down much.

This was going to work out very badly for me.

I was up and running in a flash. I couldn’t go home, though. That would just bring him back to my family. Instead, I turned right and dodged around the birch tree, which surged to life. It shook and waved and did its jig. On the other side, I felt his pounding command to halt, but I ignored it. I ran out into the everlass, watching my footfalls until I got to the middle. There I stopped, breathing hard, and faced him again.

If the everlass was personal to him, he’d understand its fragility. He wouldn’t want to tramp through the field and destroy it. Hopefully.

He appeared at the edge of the field with blood streaming down the new hole in his pec, dipping into the groove between his stomach muscles and lats.

He spread his arms. “Where are you going to go? If you run back to your village, I’ll kill them all. Do you want that? Your life is forfeit, Finley. You stole from this land, and now you belong to me.”

“And who are you? The demon king’s puppet? His minion?”

Confusion crossed his face. He tilted his head and then started laughing without humor. He lowered his arms.

“This just keeps getting better and better,” he said to himself. Then to me: “In the absence of the king, as the only noble left standing, I am the keeper of these lands. I am their protector. I am your jailer and your master.”

“Their protector? Are you joking? People are dying. The sickness from that curse is killing them. If anything, I am the protector. I am the one who keeps them alive when the curse’s sickness tries to rot their bodies as it has rotted this wood. You should be thanking me, not threatening me. All you do is wander around these woods in beast form and kill trespassers. Who the fuck are you protecting it from? Its subjects? You’re either misguided or an idiot. Exact your punishment and be done with it. You’re wasting my time.”

His fists opened and closed. He looked down at the everlass at his feet, then back up at me. It seemed like he was warring with himself over something. He walked forward, picking his way carefully. A sudden insight ripped through me. He’d said only my village was using this field, and none of them were great at pruning. He was the one who had been pruning and taking care of these plants. Showing them love.

I didn’t have time for the confusion I felt.

I lifted a foot and braced it over the nearest plant.

He paused. “That’s just one plant, Finley.”

“By the time you get to me, it’ll be a lot more than one plant. We both know they share a root system. If one of them is crushed, they’ll all share the pain. They’ll all dwindle if I take out enough of them. I know how many that has to be.”

I wasn’t sure that was true. I thought I had read it once.

He immediately froze, though, so perhaps it was accurate. He slowly brought his palms up in a placating gesture.

“Your brother entered these grounds not long ago with two others.”

My heart stopped beating. I lowered my foot in case I accidentally lost balance and crushed a plant anyway.

“His life—their lives—also belong to me. I will forgive their trespassing and theft if you cooperate.”

“We can make a deal,” I said quickly, licking my lips. “I’ll tell you my secrets if you spare the village. They’re having a hard enough time. They aren’t trying to hurt anyone. They certainly don’t have the resources to kill you.”

He contemplated that for a moment.

“I will consent to spare those who treat the everlass well. Everyone else will die,” he snarled.

It had to be good enough.

“Fine, yes, I’ve been here a few times out of necessity. Trust me, I didn’t want to set foot in the wood. We use the everlass in an elixir I devised called the nulling elixir. Over the years, I’ve strengthened it so that it prolongs the lives of those who’ve fallen ill with the sickness from the curse.” I swallowed. “I still haven’t gotten it quite right. It isn’t a cure. But while we used to lose a dozen villagers in a year, now we’re down to a couple. Only one so far this year.”

“You created this elixir?” I couldn’t tell whether he was incredulous, but I could definitely tell he was sneering.

“Just because we weren’t born with money doesn’t mean we weren’t born with intelligence. We all have our own gardens, but during the winter months, as you must know, the everlass hibernates. The leaves we pick don’t grow back. Given we need a lot to keep a person stable, some of us with patients on the brink run out. When desperate, we either let them die, or we turn to this wood and risk confronting the beast that patrols it. Mr. Protector, as you call yourself. There, happy? We’re just trying to save lives.”

“I haven’t heard of this elixir.”

“Why would someone wander in here and tell you? We didn’t even know you turned into a man. Or that anyone could still shift.”

“None of the other villages have it.”

“We are confined to the village, genius. I created the elixir. How would I share it with anyone beyond our borders? Mental telepathy?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“And I suppose you have a better theory. What did you think we came in here for, a dare? To stuff our pillows with extra fluff? Maybe a lovely little fragrance pot for the corner of our—”

He bristled again, and blistering heat crunched down on me. The consuming need to shut up washed over me.

“We struck a bargain,” he said. “The past grievances of your village and your brother are erased. I will show them no wrath. Come now. You must pay for your sins.”

The wind went out of me. I looked down at the everlass plants one last time as tears clouded my vision. I nodded, to myself mostly, and picked my way forward.

He waited beyond the birch, tall and stoic against the dark wood. I faced him with head held high.

“Do you want your weapons?” he asked.

I huffed. “Would they do any good?”

He didn’t answer. Just stared.

I shrugged indifferently and collected them, wiping the blade of the pocketknife and putting it back in my pajama pocket, then hefting the dagger.

“You could’ve been incredible one day, Finley,” he said.

The enormous beast emerged, and he lunged for me.

I swung my dagger on instinct, driven purely by fear. It clanged off his armored face. His glowing golden eyes blinked shut and then his teeth closed against my body.