Beauty and the Beast (Not Quite the Fairy Tale #3) (8 page)

Shit. She was right. They were all right.

Why wasn’t his father doing anything, dammit!

“Has anything happened to you?”

The blazing amber eyes evaded his as she shrugged and he knew. Someone had harmed
her
, and had lived to tell the tale.

Because he, her Prince, had let it happen. Oh, she hadn’t formulated the accusation out right, but he heard it nonetheless.

It was unjust to assume that every ill act which had occurred over the last decade could have been prevented by him, however, the fact that he hadn’t done anything about it was enough to make him feel like something out of Adler’s rear end.

“Tell me,” he growled.

He needed facts, and above all, he needed a name. Whoever harmed her would deal with him now.

“Let go of my wrist. It hurts.”

Aiden immediately released the arm he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Never mind what happened to me; I’m one person. His inaction affects everyone. The taxes have been raised, the welfare has all but disappeared; stealing bread has sent starving children to jail, while murder and rape doesn’t get checked, as long as the criminals can pay their way out of it. Let me tell you one thing, Beast: if your Prince ever returns, watch his back. There are thousands who would gladly throw daggers at it.”

Her included, by the sound of it; and for the first time in ten years, he saw that he deserved it.

But what choice did he have? How was he supposed to explain what he’d become?

Finally, making up his mind, he opened his mouth and asked.

“Show me.”

Chapter Eight

the Decision

A
iden recalled why he didn’t venture out further than his territory within the first five minutes.

It hadn’t been too bad in Uppertown, but as soon as they left the clean, clear streets, for the dark, stuffy, soiled neighborhood Sibelle had
not
exaggerated about, it started.

What was it with people? Didn’t they see how fucking
rude
it was to stare and point at someone like that?

“Look, Mummy!” he heard, from a little boy. “Belle and the Beast!”

That’s when he noticed that they weren’t actually pointing to him.

No, their attention was directed towards Sibelle; or Belle, as they called her.

He read concern in their features, saw it in their eyes.

“How come everyone knows you?”

She chuckled, before pulling her hood on her head; yeah – as if
that
was going to help.

“Seriously. Are you famous or something?”

“Or something.”

A whistle interrupted her non-answer; she turned to her left. There were three men, who were scarcely more than boys, staring straight at them.

Belle gave them a wave, a thumbs up, and they were on their way.

What the fuck?

“What was that about?”

“I suspect they wanted to know if I needed help handling you.”

He laughed.

“And they would have fought
me
if you’d asked?”

“No. They would have shot you on spot. This gang is serious; the anti-royalist I just mentioned.”

That made him stop in his tracks.

“You’re friends with
them!”

Disliking the idea of him was one thing, but the anti-royalist movement staged terrorist attacks; they’d mercilessly slaughtered hundreds of innocents along with the few nobles they’d targeted.

She completely ignored his question.

“We’re here,” Belle said, pushing open the door of a crappy bar.

There were dozens of men and a few women already on the booze, despite the fact that it wasn’t anywhere near five o’clock.

Everyone stopped talking when she walked in; some removed their hats, other raised their beers in salute.

He was missing something; something big. The background check done on her thief of a brother a few months back wasn’t enough – he needed to run one on her now.

Or you could just ask, moron.

“Ok, wanna tell me why they treat you better than royalty?”

Ok, not difficult, considering that a royal would have gotten beheaded in this place, but she got the gist.

“Because I, unlike royalty, have been helping as much as I could for the last ten years. Take a seat. We’re waiting for my sister.”

♦

The Beast was in for a harsh awakening.

Belle had been nice, she’d started with Lucia; Big Paul brought them a beer before she could attempt to order a coffee, and while Beast frowned at first, he wised up and started sipping it.

Belle waited, a huge smile on her lips as she saw him cough the strong brown ale straight back up. Yep, that definitely wasn’t the refined foreign crap he drank at the Nest.

“Shit. What the hell is
that
and where do I order it in bulk?”

Good man.

“Paul makes it; his family has a brewery just outside of the city.”

“That’s seriously good.”

He’d almost finished the drink when Lucia made it.

She was gorgeous today, hair plated on her left shoulder, wearing a long dress; but obviously, the Beast was horrified.

Ok, to be entirely fair, she could have given him some warning, but she hadn’t been feeling kind.

Lucia’s right leg had been severed right under the knee; after six years, Belle was used to the wooden leg, but she knew it wasn’t easy on the eyes, the first time.

This day and age, she should have had a proper medical replacement, but they were in Jereena; that kinda stuff was worth about ten times the amount of money it should have cost. There was no way they could afford one, and keep her in school, too.

That was the reason why Belle had always failed at convincing Ben to stop stealing; they all knew he was desperate to get money in order to get her help.

Sibelle was as determined; she just had other methods.

She’d saved as much money as she could for a while and she had every intention to high tailing out of the whole country once Lucia had her degree; they couldn’t leave beforehand, as her sister’s academic history wasn’t transferable – which meant that she’d had little chance of studying medicine elsewhere – but once she was done with it, they were aiming towards Northend; or maybe Denker.

There, she could easily pay for therapy and leg replacements; from her researches, it was worth about thirty thousand there, rather than the half a million it would have cost here.

“Hi trouble. Wanna explain why you’re with the Beast?” Lucia asked cheerfully before dropping on the bench next to her.

“Because our brother is a dipshit.”

By the time she was done explaining the ins and outs of the deal, the Beast had recovered from his shock; he jumped into the conversation, obviously intending to get the answers Belle hadn’t given from Lucia. 

“Sibelle has it in mind to convince me that the Prince is also a dipshit.”

“Oh no,” Lucia responded sweetly, batting her eyelashes like the damn flirt she was. “Ben is a dipshit. Our Prince is a motherfucking asshole; and so are you, if you need convincing.”

•

Lucia had come as a shock; the kids were a punch in the guts.

Why didn’t she have a proper prosthesis? Why had the kids been so thin? So dirty? So…

The kids didn’t even blink when they saw him; Aiden guessed that he was quite ordinary, to people who were used to Sibelle. Belle, he corrected himself.

“Well, as we have a guest, what do you say to a little tournament?” she offered, and that was obviously the equivalent of announcing that Christmas came early this year.

“What’s the reward, Belle? Pizza?”

Their eyes bulged in their thin faces; here comes the punches again. Aiden had never been assaulted with such powerful jolts of guilt. How often did they go to bed with empty stomachs?

“We did pizza last time. How about the book of your choice?”

More excitement.

The kids started sparing and Aiden’s eyes narrowed as he assessed their strengths and weaknesses.

Actually, that little group was pretty damn well trained. That made him look up to their tutor and yet again wonder who she was.

“They don’t have a style. There’s some Mua-Thai, some Judo, and some moves I don’t even know how to classify.”

Belle shrugged.

“I call it a
I always win
kinda thing.”

“Always, hm?” there was a challenge in his tone, but she might have ignored it, if the oldest one of the kids hadn’t caught it.

“He thinks he can take
you?”

The boy just laughed at the prospect and Aiden winced, wishing he didn’t feel insulted.

He was certain she could hold her own, but come on. She was a commoner. He didn’t want to sound like an ass, but she just hadn’t been given the resources he’d had; he’d started fighting the day he’d learnt to walk, and he’d never stopped.

“Everyone thinks they can take us,” Belle told the boy. “And that’s why we win.”

Ok, enough of that. He loved her and all, but he was not letting her stomp on his balls.

Aiden froze at his own thought. Shit. Double shit.

He
loved
her.

He really, really did. How the
hell
had that happened? When?

Twenty-nine years on earth and never had he felt something close to that all-consuming “I don’t mind dying to save you” kinda bullshit.

But there it was.

“What’s that smile for?”

He removed his jacket, relishing in her gasp when she saw his naked torso.

Aiden’s smirk only grew; yeah baby, I’m ripped, get used to it.

He’d forgotten women liked that shit – blue or not, apparently.

“Come on then. Show me how you’d kick my ass.”

Chapter Nine

Weapon

S
he should have refused.

Somewhere at the back of her mind, she should have recalled the Beast was an enemy; someone who’d threatened her family, who was forcing her to be where she didn’t care to be.

Ok, total bullshit. He’d frightened Ben because Ben was a gullible fool. Three days into their acquaintance, she knew she could have walked out of his Nest; he would have let her.

She was in his home because she liked it. She liked Lightwood, Cook and Clocks, the bartender whose name she didn’t know, and the flock of servants who’d all stopped to see if she was alright when Marcus had been leery.

The Nest might be about vice and power, when the door opened to the public, but the people who lived and worked there were good, and fun, and she felt safe, at home. 

But all the same. Belle knew the effect of surprise was half her strength; prepared, her adversaries had twice as many chances to win against her.

Whatever. Sometimes, a girl just had to show off a little.

The kids had stopped in the middle of a tournament – a first. They’d wisely, one might say, decided to vacate the skater ramp.

“How are we doing this?”

“We fight until one of us begs for mercy?”

Something twinkled in his eyes.

“I can make you beg,” he replied.

She didn’t have a mirror handy, but if the heat around her face was an indication, she’d turned tomato red.

Ok, enough of that in front of the children.

“Just one thing,” the Beast said. “If I win, you’ll owe me dinner.”

She smiled, struck by an idea.

“Fine.
When
I win, you’ll give me your name, Rupert.”

With that motivation, there was no way she was losing this fight.

♦

Aiden couldn’t lose. He
couldn’t.
Because the moment he told her his name, he would lose her – there was no doubt about it.

She hated the Prince, with good reason, and while he was certain he could get her to change her mind, that wasn’t gonna happen overnight.

However, one minute in, he realized winning was not going to be as easy as he’d thought.

He’d believed she’d be fast, stealthy – considering her frame, compared to his, it was the only chance she had.

He was wrong.

He went at her from the sides, planning on trying an arm-lock, but the moment he touched her, she used his momentum against him, throwing herself in the air and kicking him ten feet away with the gravitational force she’d gathered.

She was vicious, strong, technical
and
fast. If he hadn’t already gone down the deep end, he was pretty sure he would have fallen in love with her on the spot.

Then, it started. She didn’t just use his attack, confident enough to launch her own. When everything suggested she might come to him with a right kick, she punch left, when he used speed, she stayed still until the last instant, and tripped him down effortlessly. Her style relied on anticipating his moves, and whatever he tried, she always struck gold.

After a while, he gave up holding back, and gave everything he had, for the first time in years.

And that wasn’t enough.

What the
fuck.

She didn’t even seem to swear.

He thought back to what Clocks had said, eons ago, just before they met.

What was she?

Not a human being, that much was clear. Sure, she had a brother and a sister who seemed normal, but she didn’t exactly look like them, did she?

He was distracted for the space of five seconds, but that was enough. Next thing he knew, he was on the floor, her knee holding him down.

Someday, he’d marry that girl, and their kids would be badass.

♦

Belle had never felt that smug; ok, she might possibly have doubted her ability to win that round. Sure, she managed to avoid his blows, but she didn’t really inflict much damage on the Beast.

Then, he’d lost focus, for long enough for her to dropkick him.

She felt herself smile from ear to ear when she dropped her lips close to his ears and taunted him:

“So, what’s your name handsome?”

It all happened really quickly after that. She didn’t know how or why, but suddenly, his lips were on hers and she forgot all about her name, let alone his.

She was straddling him in no time, and deepening that tantalizing kiss, until she choked on her own breath.

Fuck, that was underhanded.

There was a law somewhere against tickling. It was just too devious.

“Stop! Stop!”

“Is it begging I hear?”

She tried to hold back, but breathing got hard, and she was laughing so much her muscles ached.

“Yes! Please, stop.”

Thank all heavens, he obeyed; and then, his lips were back on hers.

“Looks like I got myself a date,” the Beast said, before turning to the bewildered teenagers they’d forgotten all about. “And that, kids, is the ultimate weapon. Use it wisely.”

After that, he was accepted into the fold. They stayed for a few hours, and then, they were back on their way home. 

Knowing that Beast would soon start asking question, she took upon herself to explain it all.

♦

“A while ago, the Queen had been in charge of the Orphanages. When she died, her husband took over. As you know, the King hasn’t done anything since the Prince’s desertion; no one checks the finances, or the state of the kids. I’m sure there were decent people taking care of them, a while back, but they’ve been overruled.”

“You’re an orphan,” Aiden recalled. “Was it bad for you?”

She shrugged.

“Some had it worse. I had my siblings, we were a team, so it wasn’t too bad. Ben took care of us as soon as he turned eighteen, so we only stayed three years. Anyway, we’re here.”

Incredibly, they’d made it home already.

Home.

He’d called his manor the Nest in the hope of feeling comfortable there, sometime, and while it had been his sanctuary, it had never felt like home.

Now it did.

She walked up the stairs, and turned to him.

“What time is dinner, then?” she asked, smiling.

Aiden was taken afresh by her beauty from time to time; here, now, with the soft evening light and her rosey cheekbones, it was almost painful to behold.

And the worst thing was that it was inerrant. If someone had cursed her like him, forcing her to reveal her inward nature, she’d look exactly like that, if not better.

He shook his head.

“Rain check?”

He wasn’t going to make dinner tonight.

Or any night for a few weeks, at the very least.

He had a lot of work to do.