Beauty is the Beast: Beasts Among Us - Book 1

by Jennifer Zamboni

  It took me a while to find the right house when I finally located Augusta Road in Sydney. Having forgotten my cell phone, I had to turn around a couple of times. I jumped out at mailbox 1493, which stood in front of a cookie cutter white farmhouse. I raced around, trying to find how Lacey would have gotten in, if she were there. I couldn’t see anything, though there was a light on the second floor as well as the kitchen and living room.

  I could see a middle aged man and woman flitting around the kitchen. Alice’s parents, maybe? I didn’t have time for the niceties of knocking, so I burst through the front door, much the shock of the man and woman who were indeed Alice’s parents.

  “Hey, lady!” the man shouted as I beat my way up the carpeted stairs with no time to explain.

  The door that had the light on behind it was locked. I backed away from it, leaning back for balance as I kicked it once, twice, to knock it off its hinges and reveal my best friend cradling an unconscious girl, an unfamiliar smell in the air.

  Lacey-Marie pulled her face away from the girl’s neck and giggled. “There’s my little accomplice! She’s good, want some?” she held the unconscious girl out to me as blood spurted out of her slashed jugular.

  Great, the vampire had gotten high off the drug-filled blonde girl she was drinking. That made the situation about 10 times more dangerous.

  Wait, accomplice? My mind raced back to the full moon after which I had woken with the taste of meat in my mouth. I’d helped her kill someone.

  “Lacey, stop. You’re going to kill her.” I held my hands out, remaining as still as possible.

  The girl’s parents came puffing up behind me. The woman shrieked and crumpled. Her husband was too shocked by the scene before him to catch her.

  “So?” She bent her head and drained what remained. No wonder she had been gaining weight, drinking that much fresh blood in such a short period of time. It only took moments to drain a full-grown person, though a vampire typically didn’t, unless they were starving.

  She dropped the girl’s corpse and sashayed over to me, patting my cheek with a blood-drenched hand. “Loosen up, Gretch, I’m just killing off the competition.”

  “You bitch.” I slapped her, not thinking.

  “Hah! I wouldn’t do that if I were you, mutt.” She caught my hand on the backswing and licked it.

  “You’re disgusting,” I said, my teeth gritting as soon as I got the words out.

  “You love me.”

  “Mosquito,” I insulted her, like everything was normal. It was a desperate attempt, and it didn’t work.

  She laughed as she yanked my head to the side and giggled into the gurgle of blood that spurted when she sank in her fangs and tore away a mouthful of flesh. She chewed the piece of my neck for a moment, then spit it out and bent to drink the hot gush of my blood. Pain shot from the wound throughout my body as I thrashed and screamed. Within moments, I lost control of my limbs, and my screamed turned to a gurgle.

  She was killing me. My best friend was killing me. My eyes rolled in the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Glowa.

  “Run, get out of here. She won’t come after you until I’m gone,” I wheezed out as the drag of Lacey’s mouth on my neck threatened to knock out my air supply.

  Lacey wanted my blood too badly to let go.

  Mr. Glowa, hearing me, grabbed his wife around the waist and dragged her away. He moved quicker when the adrenaline kicked in, overriding the shock of seeing his dead daughter lying on the floor. They’d probably gone for the police, and I hoped that Lacey-Marie would be gone by the time they got there.

  I became lightheaded. Blood loss will do that to you.

  We weren’t alone for long. The smell of death permeated the room so strongly that even with my human nose I could smell it.

  “Come, child.” Kern, the patriarch of the New York family of vampires, used one finger to lift Lacey’s chin from my neck. “You’ve had your fun. Now it’s time to come home.”

  Lacey kept her grip on my hair and arm. “She’s still got blood.”

  “She’ll empty on her own. Come.” Kern disentangled his protégé’s fingers from my hair.

  I didn’t have any strength left in me, so I crashed to the floor. My shoulder bounced against the hardwood, sending my blood splattering around the room. I could feel it draining away with every quickening heartbeat. Vampires have venom in their fangs, which causes one’s heart to beat until there is nothing left to circulate, unless they licked the wound to cover it with their thick saliva. Such a thing wouldn’t do a thing for the gouge in my neck.

  The heat left my limbs as I watched Lacey-Marie’s blurry back with Kern’s arm around her shoulders leave through the broken doorway.

  My eyes closed, and I lacked the energy to open them again. This wasn’t so bad. Lacey was leaving. My death wouldn’t be useless. I sank into the darkness, content.

  I woke with a groan, lifting a shaky hand to feel the side of my aching neck. My fingers connected with smooth skin. I felt sunshine somewhere around my feet, so it must have been late afternoon.

  Doug grabbed my hand to keep me from moving around any more. “Percy!”

  “Thanks,” I said, as I became more aware of my surroundings.

  “No problem. I’m glad you're awake.” Doug smoothed the hair away from my forehead and planted a loud kiss there.

  “Gross,” I said.

  “I don’t think you mean that. Your neck is all healed up, by the way.” He straightened back up.

  “How?” I touched my neck again, feeling around for a scar.

  “Hades, god of the dead, remember? Apparently he stuffed enough of your blood back into you for you to survive. All Percy had to do was keep you alive until the moon came back.”

  “Cool.” I tried to sit up.

  “Don’t you dare, young lady.” Percy appeared in my field of vision with her hands on her hips.

  I sank back to my pillow.

  “How long have I been out?” I asked, reaching my hand out for the water again.

  Doug held the bottle to me, and I snatched it from him, taking a good long drink. It hurt, but I was so thirsty.

  “Easy, pup. You’ve been out for about four days. You’re nowhere near one hundred percent, so you’re not getting out of that bed.” Percy took the bottle from me and set it back on the nightstand.

  “What if I have to pee?” I asked, trying to be practical.

  “Either I, or one of the girls, will accompany you.” Percy was taking her role as mother hen seriously.

  “The girls are here?” I tried once more to sit up.

  Doug slid an arm around my shoulders, and Percy rearranged my pillow so I could at least pretend to sit up. I sighed a little as Doug eased me back onto them. Maybe this whole being waited on hand and foot thing wouldn’t be too bad. Except for the peeing bit. I really preferred to do that alone.

  “Yes. I called them as soon as we found out about Lacey, and I sent Hades after you. Lacey must have just left when he got there. We haven’t found her yet.”

  “She’s probably in New York City by now. I’m pretty positive that Kern showed up.”

  “She better be gone. I’d kill her otherwise,” Doug growled.

  “None of that. Lacey’s mine,” I growled back. As the alpha, I had first dibs on Lacey-Marie’s life. I wasn’t quite sure what I’d do if I did get my paws on her, but I’d have plenty of time to think about it while I lay in bed.

  “I’ll go tell the girls she’s awake,” said Hades from his position in the doorway. “Welcome back, Gretchen.”

  “Thanks to you, I hear.” I smiled at his retreating back.

  He raised one hand as he went, brushing off my gratitude.

  It was only minutes before I was mobbed by Toni, Fern, and Meredith. They were all talking at once, and I couldn’t follow any of it. I was happy I could count on them. We’d asked a lot of them over the past couple weeks, and they’d stood their ground.

  They confined me to my bed for several day
s, and though I managed to go to the bathroom by myself, I was rarely alone.

  I fantasized about how I would take revenge on my best friend, but when all was said and done, she was no longer in my territory, and there was nothing I could do. Instead, I turned my attention to the new relationships I’d developed with the girls and with Doug. This was what was worth living the rest of my life for. Revenge would be a momentary pleasure which could only hurt me. I was done with letting anyone control me. I was ready to live a new life.

  The shift during full moon had returned me to complete health. In fact, I felt amazing. I don’t know what Hades did to me, but I felt powerful. The wounds on my neck had completely disappeared, without even an ache left behind.

  I stood in front of the mirror rearranging my mess of curls out of my face and off my neck. The heat of the day that radiated throughout my room didn’t dampen my giddiness in the least. Doug was taking me out on a date, bowling. We had spent the full moon together in wolf form, but as we couldn’t remember it, we wanted some quality time.

  I’d overheard Doug talking to Robert and referring to me as his girlfriend. We hadn’t had any sort of discussion on the matter yet, but there was no denying the growing bond between us. I was attempting to be careful, to take things slowly, but animal instincts pushed to be set free, to claim what was ours.

  “Down, girl,” I muttered to myself as I dabbed lavender oil on my pulse points. I wanted to enjoy getting to know the amazing man who had strolled his way into my life. It was harder with the moon in the sky, but so far I’d been successful in muzzling my wolf’s desires.

  I dashed out into the hallway and nearly collided with the man in question.

  “Slow down, ma columbe.” He chuckled and folded me in his arms, burying his nose in my neck.

  A rumble reverberated out of him, and I pulled away, straightened my clothes, and bit my lower lip. I tried to subtly clear my nose of his scent and bring my heart rate down to normal. “Uh, are you ready to go?”

  “Yes. Is this okay to wear?” He motioned at his jeans and t-shirt. Even a few days after the full moon, he was still pretty hairy, though not quite to his former level. He’d trimmed his beard close to his jaw and neatened the edges. I thought he looked handsome. Before I could stop myself, I reached up and ran my fingers through his neatly brushed hair until my fingers met at the nape of his neck. We stepped into each other, and our lips pulled together like a pair of magnets.

  I felt his heart speed up and his scent change. I quickly pulled away as my body echoed his. “Yeah, you look great. We should probably go.” I turned and pulled him by the hand through the house and out the door.

  Damn wolf trying to make decisions without me. Not that I was against them, I just wanted to be cautious, while she wanted to throw herself into things.

  Once we got out into the soft evening air, I was able to relax. We climbed into my truck and headed out, my mind swirling over the past couple of weeks.

  Lacey-Marie had called my phone, but I’d handed it off to Percy. I was still beyond enraged about what she had done. Percy had tried to refuse it, but I walked away. I listened from outside the kitchen as Lacey tearfully apologized for everything.

  She had moved into an apartment of her own. Well, sort of her own. It was situated in a building that belonged to Kern, which meant that she was back under his watchful eye and protection. She said she wanted to talk to me, that she’d call back again. I walked back in the room and took the phone from Percy’s hand and hit the end call button, then blocked her number.

  The news stations were broadcasting stories about Bigfoot sightings, and there were new photos circulating of tiny winged people that the internet was attempting to tear apart for proof of photoshop. Problem was, if it was photoshopped, it was a professional job. Percy took one look at the picture the evening news had flashed across the screen and drew a sharp breath. They weren’t faked.

  There were websites created for meet-ups to hunt for proof. Some people were excited to look for something magical. Others were growing suspicious of everyone around them.

  We arrived at the bowling alley just as the sun sank into darkness. Doug grabbed my hand, and we strolled in together to claim some shoes and a lane. A poster was hung up at the front counter: “How well do you know your neighbors? Are they reclusive? Do they look or behave strangely? Beware: they might not be human. Always be aware of your surroundings, and report any odd instances to this hotline.” A 1-800 number was blazed across the bottom in red and on tabs that were a little over half torn away.

  I narrowed my eyes at the poster, then tore it from the wall, balled it up, and tossed it on the counter with my shoes. “On second thought, we should go see a movie.” I tugged Doug back out, not caring that we had already paid for our game.

  “Gretchen?” Doug questioned, his eyes glimmering with concern.

  “It’s starting. Hades warned me a war is coming. I think it might be right around the corner.”

  I’ve got a pretty good list of people I want to thank for making Beauty is the Beast possible. First, to my editor, Stacey, for all the hard work you’ve done. There is no way I could be publishing this without you. Seriously, you are amazing, woman!

  To my cover artist, Mirella Santana, who did such an incredible job with this cover (It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?!) I hope to do lots of work with you in the future.

  Next to my beta readers: Casey, Roxi, Melissa, and Cheryl. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy lives to read through and give me thoughts, opinions, and corrections. You guys are great!

  A big thanks to my sister-in-law Kate, your werewolf drawing is beautiful, which is why I keep sticking it everywhere.

  To my family: my parents, my husband Devin, my girls Autumn and Hadassah, and my brother Josiah (for marrying Kate, ha!)

  To my reader group, Zamboni’s Pack Lair, I can’t wait to hear what you think!

  A big hug to my writing group, The Nomadic Guild of Scripturients. You’ve been with me for this entire journey and I can’t thank you enough for that. (Note to Heather: I do NOT breathe too much, I just like commas!) An extra thanks to Asher for having read the rough draft that I scribbled all over and still giving me some great notes!

  To my former co-workers: Sabrina, Lacey, Dawn, Renee, Amanda, Angela, Jen (both of you), Julie, and Michelle. I drew a lot from my work experience for this book, so in a way, you helped shape this story (just saying the things on the page that we all wanted to say out loud from time to time).

  And to my readers. I hope you loved the beginning of Gretchen’s journey, and I hope you’ll be back for more!

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for exploring what if with me. Gretchen has been on my mind since way back in ’09 where this very book started as a NaNoWriMo project. That first draft was a mess. I tore it to shreds and meticulously Frankensteined it into the novel you just read.

  I’m so excited to be sharing Beauty is the Beast with you in its final form.

  Loved it? Hated it? Please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. It can be as simple one-liner or as lengthy as you wish, it's all appreciated!

  If you’d like to keep in touch, there are a few places you can find me:

  Social Media:

  - facebook.com/jenniferzamboniauthor

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  On the Web:

  - jenniferzamboni.blogspot.com

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  Please don't be a stranger, and keep an eye out for more adventures with Gretchen!

  Lots of love,

  Jen

  Jen loves books. Reading them, writing them, reviewing them, and collecting them. (She claims it’s not hoarding)

  Urban fantasy is the name of her gam
e, and being a mom is her day job. She also is a licensed cosmetologist, though she no longer works in a salon.

  She lives in the boondocks of Maine with her husband, 2 tiny tornadoes (girls), 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 1 vocally insistent cockatiel.

  To learn more, check out: jenniferzamboni.blogspot.com