For a minute, she almost considered listening to him.
The door clamored open, hitting the wall behind it with a loud clatter, and Thais stormed in, along with Eriq and a few other Fae on her tail, striding towards Kataros. Though he looked annoyed to be interrupted, their anxiety was clear to see, especially with the way they were all muttering amongst themselves and arguing.
"The Northern wolves plan on invading," Thais said hurriedly, holding herself with confidence, though the fear shined right through the brave face. Her short hair was spiked every which way, seeming crazier than ever, and her slender fingers twitched as she stared at Kataros, expression firm.
"That was quick," Bella muttered. They had just had conversation about it, after all.
Thais tapped a foot anxiously as she looked at the demon, hardly giving Bella a glance. "They want to do so tonight when the dawn draws near. They plan on taking us from the back."
"Prepare for attack," Kataros said quickly, tapping his fingers on the table as he thought. "Put some guards on the wall, and a few in the towers. I want every entrance sealed and covered. Make sure we have plenty of archers-"
"No," Bella said, making everyone jump and look in her direction. They gave her the same look she always gave them, one that said she had just popped out of nowhere and they hadn't expected her. She glanced over at the glass that was sitting on the table, still filled with the mysterious substance, and shook her head. "Malum said to ignore any rumors about them." She looked up at Kataros. "Remember?"
"You can't trust Malum," Thais hissed, lips curled in distaste. She had a hand on her hip, as if there was a weapon placed there, merely an instinctual sort of thing.
"Something tells me that we can with this," she told her, shifting uncomfortably under the faerie's harsh gaze. "I think he wants us to fight the wolves—and I think he wants us to win."
"And why would he want that?" she demanded, earning nods from the other Fae.
"She has a point," Kataros muttered.
"Just hear me out," Bella started, but she was cut off by Kataros's arm, which raised for silence.
"I was talking about you," he told her, and she gave him a baffled look.
Thais looked at him in disbelief. "You're not serious!"
"Oh, but I am," he told her. "Malum seemed to like the idea, especially the part where we start a war with the Fenrir-"
"You caught that too," Bella said, grinning.
He smiled back, something that caught her off guard, and he looked back at Thais and the others. "Be weary, but for now we don't fuss over this. Yes, we will battle the wolves, but there's no telling when. Until then, keep a look out. If Bella wanders outside, look after her. She is not to be killed, much less harmed."
Bella looked up at him, almost unable to believe her luck. "You're going to help me."
He frowned, then peered down at her. "You say it like it comes as a shock to you. I'm not always a monster, you know."
"Even if it means going to war?" she pressed. "It's like Malum said. What is a human life compared to the Fae?"
"Not just any human," he told her, and she rolled her eyes. He scowled and crossed his arms. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be arguing that we should help you, instead of complaining?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then stop your bickering." He looked back at Thais before she could complain. "The Northern wolves want a battle? Let's give them one. I want weapons made, and I want posts set in every corner. When they hit, we'll be prepared, and we'll give them just what they came here for."
She bowed her head. "Very well." Gesturing to a few other faeries, she turned and left the room, shouting orders in her stead.
Eriq, however, cringed in his spot, fussing with his hair the slightest bit, his nervousness showing in the way his hands shook as he pulled at the strands. "Sir, I've heard gossip."
"There's always gossip," the demon said warily, leaning against the table. He grabbed the bottle that was on it and dumped some up its contents in an empty glass, swishing it around before bringing it to his lips. "But what is it you worry about, Eriq?"
He shifted, giving Bella an uncomfortable look. "Others are unsure about this battle. Some prefer that we give the girl up to the wolves—that we not start any sort of war."
"And is that what you prefer?" he asked curiously.
"Of course not," he told him, letting go of his hair and straightening, giving Bella an apologetic smile. "But, because of this, I'm beginning to think that we may end up with some traitors amongst us. Fear is a great motivator, after all, especially when spread among the Fae, as we are not all scared so easily. But these are not such simple matters. Especially when it has to do with the Fenrir, and that of the whole of Fae."
Kataros sighed, looking at Bella, who worriedly looked about the both of them. "Do not fret." When Bella finally set her eyes on him, he smiled gently, though it was only halfhearted. "You are well protected here. No one will harm you without my knowing." When Bella returned her own uncertain smile, he turned back to Eriq. "Ignore these gossips. They are just talk, after all. But if you overhear any plans regarding disobeying me, let me know straightaway. This girl is far more important to me alive than she is dead."
He lowered his head, giving the demon the same bow Thais had only moments ago, and he backed away. "Aye, Sir." Then he turned and left, throwing a curious look at the group of Fae that remained.
"Leave us," Kataros said, so quietly Bella was almost sure that no one heard him. But they were the Fae, so they did, all nodding and disappearing from sight.
Bella cleared her throat, looking up at the demon. "How do you know they are really gone, and not just hidden in sight?" She had to bite her lip to keep from saying “invisible.”
He raised his brows. "I am also of the Fae. They cannot hide from me." He sighed and looked away from her, taking a sip from his glass. Around the rim, he muttered. "Of course, no one is supposed to see through my lies either..."
She scowled. "You're not very good at keeping things to yourself."
Raising his brows again, he stared down at her for a moment, then he took a deep breath and stared at his glass. "Bella, I lie perfectly. In fact, most Fae are unable to lie at all, but I am plenty different from most of them. Not even Fae can tell if I'm lying—none that aren't strong enough, that is, let alone human." He peeked down at her. "Humans cannot see through the Fae's lies." He frowned. "Especially mine."
She pondered over that for a bit, then shook her head. "Must we really go through this again? I've already decided to help you. Isn't that enough? And now you expect me to believe that I'm not human?"
"No, it's not that," he said, tilting his head. "I believe you are perfectly human." When she gave him a swift, satisfied nod, he raised the glass to his lips again. "But I also believe you are something else."
She threw her hands in the air. "Kataros-"
"What?" he asked innocently, shrugging his shoulders. "Bella, you woke up an orb—Videns, of them all. Not to mention, you saw straight through my lies. You're not infected by the Northern wolves, and everyone knows the slightest break of your skin can do that-"
"What do you mean, I'm not infected?" she asked. She looked down at her unflawed skin. "They didn't even draw blood." Then she frowned, a strange feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know quite what it was saying, but it kept leading her to the tower, the one she had first come across Kataros in.
He shrugged. "Even so, I'm sure they wouldn't have been able to infect you if they tried. I'll bet you're immune to them." He stared over her shoulder thoughtfully, seeming to nod off for a moment as he thought.
Bella shook her head, trying to remember something that kept trying to surface, but the memory stayed put, and so she ignored it, frowning at the demon and gesturing to all his wounds. "What about you?" They were clean, sure, but she was sure this kind of infection wouldn't have been able to be removed by such simple remedies.
He waved a dismissive hand, eyeing the la
rge cut on his arm as he did. "I'm already half Fenrir, so their poisons are nothing to me. If I were just an incubus-"
"I've been meaning to ask about that," Bella said nervously, resisting taking a step back. "You haven't—erm-" She clutched her hands together, suddenly feeling exposed in her little blue dress.
The demon grinned, watching her blush. "Well, I'll admit, it's not every day you see a naked woman around here. Even so, it wasn't enough to force me into considering such things. So no, Bella, I have not done anything to you in your sleep." He stared at his feet. "Besides, I'm not as...heartless as other...incubi."
She pursed her lips, staring down at her own feet as she nodded. "Thank you." Though, really, she wanted to smack the back of his head for bringing up her being naked.
He regarded her carefully. "You're welcome. But, back to the topic, I'm sure that—since you're so different—you may have been able to overcome their poison. Maybe even the whole of Fenrir is harmless to you. Well, aside from their strength, of course."
Johnathon flooded her mind, and she vaguely remembered the wound on his torso, so plain for her to see, and she frowned, looking up at Kataros. "Did you—or anyone else—happen to harm Papa during his stay?" She didn't know why, but that image was burning in her mind, as if it was trying to tell her something. She hoped he looked after it as soon as he went home, as such wounds are prone to getting infected.
Kataros frowned down at her. "Of course not. I saw to it myself that he was well-treated." Then the frown slowly transformed into a startled expression, and he set his glass down on the table gently, though he kept a hold of it. "Bella, what makes you ask that?"
"He had a cut on him," she told him. She frowned. "It was plain to see. Did he get it in the cell, perhaps?"
He shook his head, letting go of the glass and pacing towards the fireplace, turning his back to her. "Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry. I smelled the blood, but I didn't think much of it. I was too...upset with the matter. I didn't stick around long enough to really examine him." His head lowered, and he shook his head and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Confused, Bella's frown deepened. Then she strode over to him, looking up at his eyes, which were staring into the fire. "Kataros, what happened to him?" When he only glanced at her, she raised her voice. "What happened?"
"Before your father came here," he said, cringing, "he was attacked by wolves."
Her face went pale, though she felt hot with a sort of anger she wasn't used to. "What do you mean?" When he didn't answer, only looking at her with that apologetic concern, she shook her head. "At least he's safe now."
"Bella," he started.
"At least he's safe now," she repeated, earning a worried look from the demon, who was watching her closely. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and sighing. "At least he's not-" She cut off, her eyes flying open, and she frowned at the demon. "How do you know they were wolves?"
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"My father was attacked," she said, stepping towards him, fingers curling into claws. "My father was attacked, and you just stood by and watched." She shoved at him, ignoring the startled look she received from him in doing so, and glowered up at him. "You let them hurt him!"
"Bella," he said, closing his eyes and rubbing them before sighing and meeting her furious gaze, "I'm so sorry. If I would have gotten there sooner-"
"Well, it doesn't matter now, does it," she snapped, turning from him and striding towards the door. "My father was attacked, and you just stood on the side lines."
"He's infected," Kataros told her, stopping her in her tracks.
She slowly turned around, hands fisted at her sides, nostrils flaring. "What do you mean he's infected?"
"I mean that the wolves that attacked him weren't just any wolves, Bella," he told her. "They were the Northern wolves." He sighed and turned around, avoiding her gaze as he did before sighing again and meeting it. "Your father is infected."
11
Everyone turned as Bella stormed out of the room, watching silently as their master followed her. She was a fuming mess of anger and terror, everything about her letting them know just how human she was. But something was off-wrong. Something about her was hidden, all of it hiding beneath her female figure and young aura. It let them know that, though she was plenty human, she was just as different as the rest of them were.
She was something inhuman.
* * *
"Bella, wait," Kataros said as Bella strode out of the room, chasing after her. But she ignored him, heading straight through the empty hall, towards the large doors waiting her leave. "Bella!"
She swirled around, making him stop in his steps and nearly crash into her, and she raised a finger, tapping it on his chest as she sneered. "You're very pathetic, you know that? You're an incubus—one of the most terrifying creatures known to women—yet you don't even have the nerve to be just as disgusting as they are. But, you know what? You're just as horrible. What kind of creature takes innocent people and holds them against their will? Hmm?" She jabbed her finger at his chest harder.
"Stop it," he said, brushing her hand away. He frowned down at her. "You're acting like a child. We both know that there was nothing I could-"
"But there was," she snapped. "You could have stopped them. You're immune, after all. You could have helped him, but instead you let them have a little fun—didn't you. You let them play around with my father as if he were some—some—toy!” Her eyes slowly strayed from him. “Cat and mouse..." She stared at the floor thoughtfully.
"What?" the demon asked tiredly, confusion spread about his face.
Annoyed, she waved a dismissive hand. "Forget it. I need to go help my father." She turned around and headed for the doors again.
"Bella—wait," Kataros said. When she ignored him and reached for the door, he raised his voice to a near shout. "Stop!"
She was going to ignore him. Or, rather, she did ignore him; but something stopped her. Not figuratively, whereas she heard something in his voice that made her do so, but some force literally stepped in her path, causing her to fall onto her back from the impact. If she wasn't so blind with anger and hate, she would have sworn that she had run into someone's muscular chest. But, instead, she focused the blame on Kataros since he was the one who wanted her to stay for some reason she couldn't fathom, and she looked up at him, showing him all the hatred she could.
"What was that for?" she demanded, standing up. She brushed herself off, though there wasn't a speck of dirt on her, and looked herself over before glaring at the demon. "What the bloody hell was that for!?"
"You're not going anywhere," he snapped at her, lips curling. Then he narrowed his eyes, brows furrowing. "And stop acting so childish."
She laughed harshly. "I'm being childish?" She threw her arms in the air. "I've had enough of this. You saved my life in the woods, and I saved yours. Let's call it even, shall we? I'll even ignore the fact that you held my father hostage, and then myself. Sound like a deal? 'Cause it bloody well does to me." She turned around again, grabbing a handle. "I'm gonna go now and pretend that none of this ever happened."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," the demon whispered, almost too quiet for Bella to hear. But she did, and it stopped her right in her tracks.
She bit her lip and turned around, knuckles white as she gripped the handle. "And who's going to stop me?" She raised her brows. "Hmm? Are you going to have one of your little invisible slaves do it?" She gazed around and raised her voice. "I know you're there!" Then she sneered at Kataros, and though logic and reason told her to obey his every word, her pride got the best of her, and she said, "Are you?"
"Personally," he said with a sigh, crossing his arms, "I don't want to argue about this. The smart thing to do is to just listen to me, which I'm sure we both know you should do. I could force you to obey me, but I would rather you just listen to me and go to your room-"
"What are you, my father?" She snorted. "I'm not one of your personal servants, Kataros. I have m
y free will, and right now it's telling me to go home and help my father."
"There won't be any home for you to go to!" he roared, startling her into letting go of the handle and stumbling a step or two away from the door. He glared at her. "Don't you see, Bella?" He took a step towards her, thrusting a finger at the door. "Those wolves will follow you everywhere. Leaving the Light risks the lives of humans. You think they won't follow you home? You're wrong." He straightened, towering over her. "If you leave, more people will die."
"And what does that matter to you?" she asked hesitantly. She raised her chin, trying to appear confident, though even that was starting to be replaced with thoughts of doubt. "What do the lives of humans mean to you? You're a beast, after all." She immediately regretted it, remembering that he had once been just the same as she, and regretted it even more so when his white eyes flashed briefly and his skin seemed to strain.
"If a beast is what I am to you," he said quietly, walking up to her and grasping her arm, ignoring her pained gasp as he tightened his grip, "then a beast I will be."
He turned and pulled her after him, heading up the steps and ignoring her clawing fingers, yanking her down the hall and into the West Wing. No matter how much she struggled, he never once broke his stride, jaw clenched and eyes focused on their goal. When they made it to her room, he flung the door open and threw her into it, causing her to stumble and fall onto the floor.
Beauty's Beast- The Light Page 17