“Alright.” Marrok sounded amused. “Well, my plan is simple.” He arched a brow. “I’m going to seduce you.”
Chapter Eleven
Drusilla had a lot to say in our private session today. As usual, none of it made any sense.
Psychiatric case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae
The dwarf guard opened the cell door and stood silhouetted on the threshold. “Which one of you says you wanna see Dr. White?”
“That would be me.” Marrok stood up and dusted his hands together. “Is she ready to meet with me?”
“Yep.”
“Excellent. I think she’ll be pleased with the progress of my mission.” He looked over at Letty who was standing against the opposite side of the cell. “So long, Red. It was fun.”
It was hard to know if her look of extreme aggravation was part of the act or genuine.
Scarlett was busily panicking over their PG-rated tryst, no doubt trying to figure out where she’d gone wrong in her Good little life that she’d landed in the arms of a wolf. The woman had started freaking out seconds after her mouthwatering orgasm against his hand.
Thank God he hadn’t gone with his first instinct to take her against the wall or she probably would’ve fainted. If he pushed her too fast, Letty might go back to her plan to break the True Love bond.
And Marrok had been totally serious earlier. He’d never, ever agree to that.
He needed to tread very carefully and coax her into this, because he was more determined than ever to keep this woman. Luckily, Scarlett’s own instincts were working in his favor. Her body knew she belonged to him. She responded to his touch even better than he’d imagined. Soft and sweet and perfect. She’d looked up at him with dazed blue eyes and Marrok had seen exactly how it was supposed to be. He just had to convince Letty to see it, too.
…And escape from the insane asylum.
His plan on that front was fairly straightforward. Dr. White was expecting him to seduce Scarlett and bring her information about the glass slipper. So why not send word that he’d been successful? It was a guaranteed door opener. Snow White was eager for any scrap of information, no matter what the hour.
Although, the doctor had no clue how hard it was to seduce Scarlett or she’d know it was a trap. Marrok had never worked harder in his life… Or been so sexually frustrated.
“What time is it?” Scarlett asked the dwarf.
He flashed her a distracted look. “Eleven forty.”
Marrok saw Scarlett stifle a wince. Timing had been a problem in a place with no clocks or windows, so they were cutting it close to the ten to midnight deadline.
The dwarf stepped into the room to motion Marrok forward with a “hurry up” gesture. “Dr. White isn’t happy to be dragged out of bed at this hour, so this had better be important, Wolf.”
“Oh, it is.” Marrok assured him, sauntering forward. “I’m going to tell her how this woman right here is really a unicorn.”
“What?” The dwarf’s tone was a mixture of amazement and doubt. He automatically looked over at Scarlett, scanning for hooves and a horn.
The second his attention left Marrok, Marrok moved. He seized the guy by the front of his uniform, dragging him forward. He slapped a palm over the dwarf’s mouth, so he couldn’t cry out, and slammed the guy’s head into the stone wall. The guard’s unconscious body slumped to the floor. That was simple. Marrok dragged him further into the cell, dumping him on the hay mattress.
“You sure do knock out a lot of people.” Scarlett observed.
“Only under your peace-loving orders, Red.”
She made a face at him. “Let’s just find the boiler room.” She hurried over to peer out into the hall. At this time of night, the WUB Club worked on a skeleton crew, so it was empty. “Alright, this way.” She started off with a determined stride.
Marrok grabbed the guard’s keys and weapons, then followed her. He locked the cell door behind them, trapping the guy inside, and jogged a few steps to catch up with his indomitable True Love. The girl was always plowing ahead with her new and interesting ideas. Marrok was immune to being inspired and even he was almost inspired. “Do you know where the boiler room is?”
“Basically.”
“Basically?”
“Well, I know it’s down here somewhere.” She looked around the endless rows of doors and gray stone. “Maybe we should split up to find it.”
Leave Letty alone with bastards so rotten they were locked in the basement of a prison? Yeah… that wasn’t going to happen. “No. We do this together.”
“Are you worried about me?” She sounded almost confused by the idea.
“I’m worried about me. There are scary people down here.”
She shot him a glare, not believing his careless lie. “If we don’t cut the backup power in the next ten minutes, we’ll be stuck here forever. You get that, right?”
“You’re assuming that Avenant and the others can cut the main power on time.” Something Marrok was at all convinced about. “And that Benji shows up with the boat. And that the rest of this crazy plan actually works. Chances are we’re going to be stuck, anyway.”
“I don’t think so.” She said with a sad and adorable faith in their fellow criminals. “I think that they’ll…”
“Scarlett!” Dr. Ramona suddenly shrieked. “You bitch! I’ll get you for this!”
Letty and Marrok whirled around and saw Esmeralda’s fake face scowling at them through the small barred window of a cell door.
“I know you’re the one who put the group up to this!” Ramona tried to squeeze her hand through the bars and grab at Scarlett. “None of the others have the brains to pull off something so twisted and cruel.”
“I think she just insulted me.” Marrok looked down at Scarlett. “That doesn’t that show empathy for my ego-construct.”
“If it makes you feel any betters, I think you’re capable of unimaginably cruel and twisted things.” Letty assured him.
“You’ll never get away with this!” Ramona screeched with clichéd mania. “Whatever you have planned, it will all be over when I get my real face back. I’ll tell them everything about that infamous ball!”
Scarlett paled. “You don’t know…”
Ramona cut her off. “Drusilla told me plenty in our private sessions. Things I doubt you want anyone to find out about that night. Things I bet you’ve kept secret from him.” She looked towards Marrok, her eyes wild. “Did she tell you about Charming and sex in the garden?”
He cringed and glanced at Letty. “Please don’t tell me about that.” It was the last thing Marrok ever wanted to hear. Scarlett touching Charming was the stuff of his nightmares. Her soft body opening to another man, panting Charming’s name with those sweet little sounds…
Fuck.
Scarlett’s jaw firmed as she stepped closer to Ramona’s cell. “Tell whoever you want.” She hissed. “Everyone will find out soon enough.” Turning on her heel, Letty started off again, but Marrok could see she was shaken.
“It’s all over, Scarlett!” Ramona gripped the bars of the small window and rattled the cell door. “You know it is! There’s no way you can win!”
“She’s a terrible doctor.” Letty muttered, pretending to ignore Ramona’s rant.
Marrok sighed. “Baby, whatever happened between you and that asshole, I don’t care.” Actually he cared a lot, but there was nothing he could do about it. Besides, he fully planned to keep her away from Charming for the rest of forever after, so he could cope as long as he didn’t dwell on the visuals. And if that didn’t work, he could always just kill the guy. Either way, he didn’t like seeing her upset. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”
“That’s a relief, because I don’t plan to.” She retorted, still out of sorts. “What happened at that ball is…” She stopped short, her eyes falling on a door down the hall.
The words “Boiler Room: Stay Out!!!” were painted on the wooden surface.
“Thank God.” Scarlett rac
ed forward. She tried to open the door, but found it locked.
“Here.” Marrok handed her the guard’s keys and she wrenched open the door.
The boiler room looked like a boiler room. There was equipment and pipes and a stack of brooms, mops and gardening equipment leaning in the corner.
Scarlett immediately headed for a utility panel on the wall. “I think that’s it.” Thick cables came out of the top of the gray box. “If we sever the connection here, the backup system won’t be able to switch on.” She hesitated. “Well, according to my internet search on ‘how to cut power to a building.’”
“Sounds reliable to me.” Marrok arched a brow. “Did it say how to sever it?”
“I was sort of skimming.” She stepped forward to squint at the switches and wires. “Any thoughts?”
“None that won’t get us fried.”
“Damn it! We have to…”
The lights blinked out.
All over the WUB Club, the electricity went off. Machines shut down. Computers went dark. Magic inhibiting anklets stopped working.
Avenant and the others must have cut the main power supply.
“Oh no!” Scarlett stared up at the ceiling. “They’re early!”
“I told you they’d fuck it up.” Given the mental limitations of the rest of the group, it was pretty much a given. Marrok hated to agree with Ramona, but the doctor had a point. Without Scarlett standing over their shoulders and directing them, they were like headless geese.
And not the semi-intelligent golden-egg laying geese. The regular stupid kind.
“We have fifteen seconds.” Scarlett said desperately. “Otherwise everything will shut down. We have to sever the backup system…” She trailed off with a squeak as Marrok grabbed an axe from the stack of tools in the corner. “What are you doing? Don’t! You’re going to be electrocuted!”
“I know.” Marrok agreed with an irritated sigh and slammed the blade into the thick cables protruding from the box. A shower of sparks flew into the air.
Scarlett shouted his name in panic and Marrok went flying across the room.
With the magic inhibiting ankle bracelet disabled, he could shift into his wolf form. To Marrok and most of his kind, the wolf was their natural state. Being locked away from the other half of himself had been the worst part of the WUB Club. It had been months, but changing was so natural to him that he didn’t even have to think about it.
Marrok hit the wall with a sickening thud, his body already in mid-transition. The wolf form was larger and more resilient than his human side. It was why Wolfball could be so brutal. His instincts took over and, by the time he fell to the ground, he was fully a wolf. He lay there for a second, stunned and in agony, but alive.
…And the backup electrical system was destroyed.
Scarlett gaped down at him.
Marrok knew what she was seeing. The wolf was a huge bipedal creature, covered in a thick layer of constantly moving fog. Neither human nor animal, it existed in between the two. The black smoke took the place of fur. Beneath it lurked a monster of fangs and muscle and glowing yellow eyes.
Wolves were massively strong and closer to their primitive instincts. Yet, their human brains could still function. Marrok and his kind inspired more gruesome stories than any other monsters in the Four Kingdoms. And there was some truly terrifying competition on that score.
Scarlett eyed him nervously. “Marrok? Are you okay?”
“Yes.” His voice was deeper than usual, filled with rumbling darkness. “It’s alright.” He got to his feet, bracing himself against the wall. “I won’t harm you. I’d never harm you.”
The wolf knew this woman straight down to the bone.
She stepped forward. “I’m not frightened, dummy.” Her small fingers reached through the black fog of his wolf form and caught hold of his arm, steadying him. “I meant are you okay. Are you hurt?”
Freed from the constraints of the magic inhibitor, the wolf was wild for her. Marrok had never doubted that she was his True Love. Not from the first moment he saw her. But, now everything in him was screaming that she was the one. The wolf wanted to pin her to the ground and just take.
She was his.
“I’ll be fine.” Marrok got out. His powers were already fixing the damage to his body. He just needed to stop his rioting emotions. All wanted was to drag Letty closer and not let go. “Just give me a minute.”
She stared up at him and smiled. “You did it, you know.” She nodded towards the smoldering utility panel. “You really did it! The power’s off!”
As much as he liked impressing her, they weren’t out of there, yet. “We have to go.”
Doors all over the WUB Club had just opened and Marrok wasn’t the only Baddie whose powers were now unleashed. They had to get to the library. Shaking off the pain in his still healing body, he herded Letty towards the door.
Prisoners were already making their way into the hall, trying to figure out what had happened. Their cell doors had been automatically opened and now they were looking around in confusion. Inmates of the WUB Club were beaten down enough that they didn’t instantly rush for freedom, but, fairly quickly, Marrok could see some of their faces changing from shock to crafty speculation.
The worst offenders in the place suddenly had their powers back and were free to wreak havoc on the Good folk who’d caged them.
This wasn’t going to be pretty.
Swearing under his breath, Marrok hustled Scarlett forward. He wanted to get as far as possible before the surprise wore off and all hell broke loose. “Stay beside me.” He warned. “No matter what happens, you stay right beside me.”
Ahead of him, he saw a Cheshire cat named Kit walk out of her cell. The pink fur of her coat was matted and dirty from living in the prison’s squalid conditions, but she was still sane enough to know a golden opportunity when she saw one. Kit looked right at him and gave a creepy, too-wide smile. “Thanks for the assist, Wolf.”
“Believe me, we didn’t do this for you.”
She smirked. “I’ve been in there for four years, two months and a day, so I don’t really care why you did it. I’m just happy you did. In repayment for my freedom, I’ll give you a word of advice.” The Cheshire cats were the mystics of the Four Kingdom, often speaking in riddles and prophesy liberally mixed with “I know something you don’t know” smugness. Kit’s gaze held his, green eye swirling with secrets. “Beware the Jabberwocky, my son.”
What did that psycho have to do with anything?
The Jabberwocky was the most infamous Baddie in the Four Kingdoms. No one had ever even seen him, but his reputation for viciousness and criminal insanity was the stuff of legends. He controlled a whole gang of thugs called the Lollypop Guild, who’d mete out his harsh vengeance with candy colored hammers. No way did Marrok want to piss that freak off.
“Is the Jabberwocky in here with us?” He demanded.
Kit just gave a feline shrug and vanished. Her toothy grin was the last part of her to disappear. She was the first Baddie to escape the WUB Club, but she wouldn’t be the last.
“Gee, I’m sure glad we just set her free.” Scarlett cleared her throat. “Um… Didn’t Kit behead the Queen of Hearts with a croquet mallet?”
Marrok nodded. “If it makes you feel any better, the forensic evidence under the rosebushes should’ve been ruled inconclusive at trial. A lot of skeletons could’ve been wearing a crown.”
Scarlett was running to keep up with him as they headed for the stairs. “A crown with a heart on it?”
“Now you sound like that whiny judge.” Marrok dragged her through the growing crowd. Still in his wolf form, no one did more than glare at Marrok as he shoved them aside.
Being the Baddest Bad guy in the joint had its privileges.
Unless the Jabberwocky was in here, not much could slow Marrok down.
“We have to find Drusilla.” Scarlett pushed back a handful of spectacularly shiny hair. “I can’t leave without my sister.”
“I know.” Given Letty’s softhearted tendencies, she wouldn’t want to leave without any of her ragtag crew. “Don’t worry. They’ll meet us in the library.” Baddies understood the importance of self-preservation. He fully expected them to be ready and waiting to go.
If they hadn’t left already.
A who’s-who of the criminal elite were also heading for the exit: Hansel and Gretel the serial-killing conjoined twins. The man-eating Ugly Duckling. Miss Muffet, the Arachnid Queen, and dozens of others. They were all rapidly adjusting to their change in circumstances and reclaiming their “normal” lives… Which meant people were about to die.
Fights were already breaking out among the inmates. Powers began charging the air. Angry words mixed with maniacal laughter.
From the corner of his eye, Marrok saw a dwarf guard scramble into an empty cell and slam the door shut behind him. Hopefully, the staff would stay out of the way for the next fifteen minutes or so. For their own good, all the guards and doctors and nurses who’d tormented and imprisoned the Bad folk needed to hide.
The lunatics had taken over the asylum.
Chapter Twelve
Before his escape, Trevelyan opened up in our private sessions, revealing a deep anger towards Marrok.
It seems the two of them had a falling out, and the dragon feels betrayed.
What kind of idiot would betray a dragon?
Psychiatric case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae
If the dungeon had been madness, the main hospital floor was complete anarchy.
Scarlett stayed glued to Marrok’s side as he fought their way through the throng. His massive and intimidating wolf-self shielded her from the blasts of magic and fights and random rampaging. She’d never seen him play Wolfball, but she suddenly understood why he’d dominated the field. Even criminally insane people took one look at him and stayed back.
Scarlett herself wasn’t afraid of him, at all.
Intellectually, she knew Marrok was fearsome looking, but the black tendrils of mist were oddly attractive to her. His perfect face was still partially visible in the wolf, the angles harsher and shadowed. He was beautiful. She felt safe beside him, even in the midst of the chaos.
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