Beauty's Beasts: An Urban Fantasy Fairy Tale (Poison Courts Book 1)

by L. C. Hibbett

  Every face in the room turned towards me; eyes somber, mouths set. I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath. “I understand. I’ll protect myself, whatever it takes.” I prayed for the strength to do the right thing. My head jerked up. “And Nicole?”

  My father pursed his lips. “I’ll deal with your sister, Isabelle. Don’t worry.”

  I nodded and pulled my cloak around my body. There was nothing left to do but wait. Faye spoke from the glass. “You should take up your positions, the sun will soon set.”

  My father and Chesca embraced me and made their way to the front of the house. Jonathan bowed his head to me and gave the rest of his pack a long look before he shifted into wolf form and left the den, heading for the east side of the forest with the mirror dangling from his shaggy neck. I wrapped my arms inside the soft wool of the cloak and glanced at the remaining pack members through my lashes, suddenly awkward. I wondered could they hear how fast my heart was beating.

  All four of us opened our mouths to speak at once and then snapped them shut when our voices clashed. I grinned. “Looks like we’re going to need some pack rules if we pull this off. If you still want me to stick around, that is. No pressure.”

  The three men stared at me, three entirely different faces that made my pulse race and my stomach flutter. Blackwood looked at the other two and then back to me and his face split into a smile so perfect that I was sure I heard panties all over the world dropping to the floor. “Yes, Miss O’ Neill. Yes, we do want you to stick around.”

  I pressed my hand against my grin, overwhelmed by the fullness in my chest, and Teddy swept me off the ground with a growl and spun full circle. Mac rested a hand on Teddy’s arm and the huge man came to stop and placed me back on my feet.

  I stared at the three men and ran my gaze over Blackwood’s deep green stare and Teddy’s hot-flush inducing lips until I landed on Mac’s face. Joy and pain wove a tapestry behind his soft brown eyes and my stomach lurched as he ran a finger over the curve of my cheek. “Izzy, we want nothing more than to be with you. Nothing.” He took a deep breath and released it. “But you have to follow the plan today. You don’t move from the hollow with Jon’s bike, you only lift a weapon in self-defense, no matter what danger you see coming from us—you stay hidden. And if things go bad . . .”

  “I get on the bike and head for the county border,” I whispered.

  Mac’s face was pained. “And you don’t look back. That’s what we want, Izzy. If you care about us, the way we care for you, then you’ll do this.”

  The other two men nodded in agreement and I squeezed my lips tight. “Okay,” I said. My voice was tinny. I lifted my chin and pushed my shoulders back. “But I want you to know something.” The three men stared at me. “If I was fighting—for this, for a chance at us—I’d rip out Gastone’s throat with my bare hands. So, you’d better fight like we mean something. And if you win, I promise you’ll remember tonight for the rest of your lives.”

  The sound of sirens blasted against my eardrums and Teddy pressed his hand against my back. “Go, Izzy. Run.”

  I bolted from the room, through the entrance hall, and down the steps with the wolves at my heels. Chesca smiled at me as I passed her and it took all my strength not to wrap my arms around her and my father and drag them into the hollowed out space between the hedgerow with me. Mac’s growls kept my feet moving. I would do the right thing this time, no matter how wrong it felt.

  The air was alive with the smell of burning and the whispers of the night. A howl split the silence in the east, followed by screaming. I clung to my weapons belt with one hand and Jonathan’s motorbike with the other as I stared across the grounds at the manor. I couldn’t make out the expressions on their faces from my hiding place, but Chesca and my father stood straight and steady as they watched Gastone’s people advance on the house.

  I stifled a cry as a red-haired woman, waving a torch of unnatural flames, made a dash for the steps, but a huge black wolf sprang from the forest and ripped her head from her body before she could throw it at my father. I clamped my fingers over my mouth to stop myself from calling out Teddy’s name as he hurled himself at the other vampires. Heads flew through the air and the ground glistened with blood, but Gastone’s minions kept coming, pouring out of the forest in numbers that made my heart contract painfully.

  “Somebody help him,” I begged, staring at my father and willing him to unleash the power the men had described my father using to save them at Gastone’s club, but he didn’t stir, remaining true to the agreed plan and conserving his energy until the time was right. Teddy howled in pain as one of the vampires managed to connect their torch with his side and I clung onto the bike to stop me from abandoning my position and running to his side.

  I doubled over in relief when three other wolves burst from the cover of the trees and savaged the circle of vampires surrounding Teddy’s prone form. The white wolf dragged Teddy along the ground with his teeth and nudged him into a shallow pool, nuzzling him with his head until the larger wolf rolled his injured side into the water. I covered my ears as the sound of Teddy’s agony cut through the night, but within moments he was on his paws again and throwing himself into battle full force. I wrapped my arms around my waist and sent silent thoughts of gratitude to Faye.

  My eyes scanned the front of the manor. The mob was thinner now, the ground littered with dismembered bodies and burned-out torches, but still, there was no sign of Nicole or Julian Gastone. A niggling feeling of anxiety began to burrow its way into the base of my skull. Something wasn’t right. Nicole was a novice witch, but she was an expert at manipulating people. Gastone wasn’t going to the manor, it was only a diversion. I whirled to grab hold of the bike and smacked straight into Gastone’s chest. Nicole smirked at me from his side and ripped the hood from my head, tearing clumps of my hair with it. “Hello, Chesca, don’t you look different today.”

  The blow to my face came unexpectedly and I blinked as stars danced behind my eyes. Gastone stuck me again, but this time I was ready. I swept one of the throwing stars from my belt as I flung my fist upward, grasping the blade between my clenched fingers. It tore through my skin on one side but it was worth the pain to see the crimson gash it drew across Gastone’s chiseled jaw. Quick as a flash, I tucked the star back inside my belt, just in time for Gastone’s first to connect with my cheekbone. My head flew back with such force that I thought my neck might snap.

  “Julian!” Nicole’s cry ignited a spark of hope inside my heart, but she extinguished it a wave of her hand. “Save it until we get back to the club. We need to get out of the forest before we burn too. Tell your men to stop holding back and don’t forget to have them bring my father and sister to the truck before they light the dogs.”

  My mind raced as I swiped my bloody nose with the end of my cloak. I smirked at Nicole. “Is he your mate, Nicky? Sleazy Gastone? You might have won this battle but I think you lost the kindred spirit war. I’ll take your STD riddled bloodsucker and raise you three hot shifters.”

  Nicole narrowed her eyes on me like the blow to my head had loosened the connections in my brain. “What the fuck are you babbling about, Izzy?”

  “True love, soul mates, different pieces of the one heart—didn’t Gastone fill you in on that little supernatural tidbit? Supernatural beings have a fated love. Some people have one, others have a pack. Did Julian say you were his soulmate? Or is he holding out hope that my real sister will be his soul mate? Does the black witch beat you to the top of his wish list?” The fury in Gastone’s eyes told me I’d hit the bull's eye. And Nicole knew it too.

  Gastone turned the weight of his anger on me. “Get up, bitch. I don’t need you. All I need is your blood.” He grabbed hold of my hair by the roots and yanked me across the ground behind him.

  Nicole ran to catch up with us. “What are you doing with her, Julian? You said we were taking her with us. You promised all my family would be safe.”

  I bit down on a scream as Gastone groun
d to a halt and spun around to face Nicole, his fingers still buried in my hair. “Shut your mouth. I promised your family would be pardoned from the death sentence in return for your magical assistance, nothing else. And this bitch,” Gastone hissed, jerking my head by the scalp. “Isn’t your sister. She’s an imposter with one single virtue—her blood. And once I’ve drained what I need and stored it safely, she’ll be of no further use to me. She can burn with her precious true loves.”

  Gastone dragged me to the edge of the mob and his men parted to let us through the fighting. Mac was the first of the wolves to spot me and the grief in his howl ripped at my eardrums and tore at my heart. Gastone hauled me over the stones and forced me to my knees at the bottom of the steps to the manor. My father pressed his hand against his chest as he stared from me to Nicole. He lifted his chin. “I’m going to give you one chance to release my daughters, Julian.”

  Gastone’s top lip curled to reveal pointed fangs as he sneered at my father. “Don’t attempt to threaten me, old man. You’re nothing to me, but I matter to you. You need my blood to break the curse, and if you dare come close enough to lay a finger on me, I’ll drain them both before you can—”

  A huge red wolf burst through the mob and snarled at Gastone, snapping its teeth inches from his throat. Gastone tightened his hold on my scalp and dragged me in front of his chest, using me as a shield. Blackwood was still growling deep in his chest when he shifted into human form and stood to face the vampire.

  Nicole gave a little gasp and averted her eyes as Blackwood’s full glory came into view but all I could do was stare at him with an open mouth and pray that we lived long enough to consummate my pack mate status. I mean, I didn’t want to die, but dying without getting my hands on that would be an entirely new level of torture. A decapitated corpse sailing past us pulled me from my phallus induced daze.

  Blackwood addressed Gastone through gritted teeth. “Get your filthy fucking hands off her, Julian.”

  “Who? Her?” Gastone pulled my head back so that I had to strain my neck to look at Blackwood. The shifter kept his face totally still but his eyes gave away the rage in his core when Gastone trailed his greasy finger down the side of my neck. Teddy and Mac’s wolves howled and attacked Gastone’s mob with increased ferocity. There were hardly any of his people left standing, but Gastone seemed unperturbed. He twisted my head to one side and inhaled the scent of my skin. Blackwood snarled viciously and I felt Gastone’s grin against my neck. “Easy, now, Blackwood. You wouldn’t anything to happen to your little bitch. Is that what you call a pack’s mate if they’re not a wolf? Or should I just call her a slut?”

  I reached my hand under my cloak as Blackwood struggled to control himself and Jonathan disposed of the last of Gastone’s mob. The throwing star was still slick with blood, Gastone’s and mine. Teddy and Mac shifted back into their human forms but Jonathan continued to prowl the perimeter, his white ears pointed and his gaze sharp. The color of Nicole’s cheeks and her rapid breathing told me that looking at Teddy and Mac would seriously reduce my brain functioning so I used every bit of my willpower to keep my stare fixed above their waists.

  Blackwood took a step closer to Gastone, Teddy, and Mac flanking him on either side. “Final chance, Gastone. Hand her over or we’re going to rip your body into fifty pieces before you can leech a drop of her blood.”

  Gastone sneered at the shifters over my shoulder, releasing his grip ever so slightly on my hair. I twisted my body and tried to find an angle that would let me throw the shooting star covered in Gastone’s blood to my father, but I was standing too close to the base of the steps. I needed to be standing a foot to the left, where Nicole was. As if suddenly remembering I existed, Gastone jerked me back against his chest.

  Blackwood took another step forward and Jonathan’s wolf began to whine as he prowled around us in a circle. Nicole stared as if seeing him for the first time and I watched as she looked from the wolf to the night sky, narrowing her eyes as she moved. Blackwood’s voice was deadly quiet. “You have no men left, Gastone. Your magical fire is extinguished. You’ve lost. You can either hand over Isabelle without a fight, or we’ll take her from you.” He held up his hands. “You’re right. We don’t want to see her harmed, but I would rather rip her lifeless body from her arms than let you take her. So, you’ve got two choices—hand her over and we’ll giving you a fighting chance to escape. One minute to run before we make chase. Or we take her from you. Either way, you’re not keeping Isabelle.”

  “Or my sisters—any of them.” Gastone’s grip was too vise-like for me to face Nicole fully but I strained my eyes to met her glare. “I haven’t changed my mind, Nicole. You can do better than Gastone and his scum. He’s not your soul mate. You know that. You deserve to find your true love—after I’ve kicked your ass for being such an idiot.”

  “How adorable!” Gastone made a show of pressing his hand against his chest. “Truly touching. A sister’s love is thicker blood, yadda, yadda and so on and so forth. Honestly, I’d love to stay and see how it all works out, but as it happens, I’ve decided I like this one a little too much to let her go.” Gastone pulled his forearm under my chin so that it pushed against my windpipe. “You can keep the twins and their father instead, Blackwood, have a little fun with them while you can. Your mate and I have to fly, no time to chat.”

  Blackwood stared at Gastone like he’d lost his mind. Jonathan’s wolf whined louder and started yelping at the sky. Mac and Teddy reacted at the same time, shifting into wolves and snarling at Gastone with their hackles raised. I caught Nicole’s eye just as I finally heard what the wolves’ more sensitive ears had already picked up on. Blackwood growled at Gastone, barely controlling the beast inside. “Choppers.”

  “Come on, Blackwood. This isn’t a folk story from the middle ages. You hardly thought I’d come here with a mob of villagers wielding pitchforks and torches and leave the rest to luck, did you?” Blackwood’s eyes were emerald fires as he stared at Gastone. I eased my hand out of my cloak, blood-slick throwing star in hand. “Dear, dear—you did think I’d come with just my villagers. This is awkward, isn’t it? Oh, look, here’s my ride. Isabelle and I have to dash. Watch out for the fire, although, I’m afraid none of you will survive. Shame to see the old man and his daughters burn as well, but what can I say—you win some, you lose some, Blackwood.”

  The helicopter began to rain magical fire and several things happened at once. I met Nicole’s eye and she followed my gaze to the throwing star. As I opened my hand to pass it to her, Gastone finally caught sight of it and made a grab for the small metal disk. The moment he loosened his grip on my throat, Blackwood shifted into wolf form and lunged over my head, knocking Gastone to the ground. Nicole spun the star through the air, screaming for my father’s attention over the whirring of the helicopter’s blades. Both of us followed the star as it sliced through the night air. For one sickening moment, I thought my father wouldn’t hear us in time and that the metal was destined to bury itself in my father’s chest.

  With breathtaking speed, my father raised his hands and I saw what witchcraft could do.

  Time stood still, and it seemed as if each tiny element of the night existed independently of each other. The vicious brawl between Blackwood and Gastone had become a dance and the star twirled so gently that I could see each drop of blood as it tumbled through the air and whirled to the movement of my father’s hands. He plucked a single droplet of blood and sent it soaring into the air with one hand, using his other arm to spin the helicopter away from the manor and forest.

  I kept my focus fixed on the tiny scarlet fleck as it split and multiplied before my eyes, writhing and turning to form a haze and then a cloud, growing into a crescendo of wind and rain and blood that swept over the forest and the manor. The wolves howled into the wind and Gastone cradled his head, begging for release. I squeezed my eyes shut and Nicole flung her arms around me as the scream grew in intensity until finally, in one last ear-splitting shriek, th
e spell exploded, taking every piece of glass in Blackwood Manor with it.

  When I opened my eyes, the night was still and Gastone lay on the bottom step. His unseeing eyes were wide open and a large shard of glass was embedded in his heart.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The sun was blazing in the sky by the time I hauled my tired, blood-stained ass inside the manor. Maeve and her Guild forces had made an unofficial clean-up visit to Blackwood Forest, helping the pack and my family pick through the remains of Gastone’s people and shroud their dismembered bodies so they could be afforded some dignity in death.

  Blackwood and Teddy had made their way into town to broker a truce with the scattered remains of Gastone’s crew while Jonathan and Faye scoured the forest and made sure there were no unwelcome visitors left on the grounds. They’d abandoned their search before we’d finished clean-up duty though—an unfortunate trip to the unlocked guest bedroom had told me that.

  I tugged my filthy shirt over my head and tried to purge the image of Jonathan’s head buried between Faye’s thighs from my mind. I slipped out of my muddy jeans and grinned to myself—at least somebody was having fun.

  “Exhaustion delirium?” Mac slid into the den and closed the door softly behind him. Instinctively, I reached for my dirty clothes to cover my near-nakedness, but the look on Mac’s face as his eyes trailed over my body stilled my hands. I dropped the clothes onto the bed and stood up straight. Mac leaned against the wall of the den and let the small suitcase he was carrying slide to the floor.

  I glanced at the familiar piece of luggage. Mac had brought my father and the twins home so they could pack before Maeve collected them. They were going with her to Guild headquarters so the twins could receive help unlocking their powers. I was traveling to headquarters with the pack when they’d settled matters in Oak Crescent, so Chesca offered to pack a bag for me and sent it back with Mac. My focus traveled from the case to the man standing beside it and my body started to hum. I bit the corner of my lip. “You think I might have exhaustion? Maybe I need a checkup, Doctor.”