A Ruin of Roses (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #1)(40)

“Mind your business, Florence!” my animal roared as we passed by.

The woman, who probably wasn’t called Florence because I’d never seen her before, jerked as though she had been slapped. She stumbled and fell onto her butt as we ran by.

Florence? I thought.

Hadriel said these people were simple.

I tried to widen my eyes, but they weren’t solely mine just now, and she had more control than I did.

You can speak to me? I thought. He didn’t say they were simple; he said they did a mediocre job.

Whether or not she is simple, now she’s confused. She’ll hopefully forget all about this. I get the sense that we are a rarity in this place, and we need to keep a low profile. You’re doing a piss-poor job of that so far. Great work.

She sounded like me, only surlier. I doubted my personality needed more salt, but here we were.

We entered a small hall off the side of a little den, the ceiling low and the walls tight. Servants’ hall, probably. At the other end, she kicked through a wooden door to the outside.

How did you know—

Smell, she interrupted me. You need to allow me more room so you can access my power. That delicious alpha is letting me out of my cage. Use it until we can abuse it.

Yeah, except you clearly want to get in his pants. That’s a nope. He’s not a nice guy.

Fuck nice. I have a dark and damning need for that alpha. I want to take a running leap, wrap my legs around his head, and force-feed him my pussy. This bitch needs some cock. Wham, bam, call me ma’am.

Great goddess. What the hell kind of creature did I have inside of me?

We ran out into the deadened grass and around the castle. Hadriel kicked and writhed over our shoulder, trying to get air. She inhaled and then changed direction, running faster than I’d ever moved in my life. In a flash, she darted into the Forbidden Wood, choosing our footsteps carefully. Twigs crackled and branches whipped out behind us. The side of one foot caught a rock, and I surged up and adjusted our weight so we could drop into a roll. Otherwise it would’ve resulted in a sprain. I was an old pro at accounting for missteps.

You’ve kept us in great shape, she thought. Our body has great tone and dexterity. Nice job.

Kinda had to. Wild boar would have been the death of me otherwise. Bastards.

She hit an animal trail and turned right, putting on another burst of speed. I caught Nyfain’s delicious smell, the effect vibrating through my person.

Yummm, she purred.

He took me prisoner. He’s the enemy.

That just makes it hotter.

I was really annoyed that I couldn’t roll my eyes.

We burst through a wall of thorny bushes, scraping our skin. She growled in challenge.

It’s a fucking bush. Don’t challenge a bush.

You can hold a machete, can’t you? It won’t be a bush for long.

Again, it would really be helpful to my overall wellbeing if I could roll my eyes.

Nyfain bent within yet another small field of everlass, nude from having shifted, brushing one plant gently before moving on to the next. He plucked a couple of dead leaves and checked the soil before brushing this plant as well. I’d always been labeled weird for how much I babied the plants. Compared to him, I was nothing. I wanted to stop and watch, to soak the sight in, but Hadriel wilted on our shoulder, giving in to the darkness.

Hurry, I thought, covering the distance between the bush and the everlass field in a few quick strides. Nyfain hadn’t looked our way. Why doesn’t he hear us? Or smell us?

He is clearly lost to his thoughts and has nothing to fear out here. He is the predator.

I wondered what those thoughts might be, causing him to act with such gentleness and ease when he was usually rough and surly. I quickly shifted my attention, though, as we laid Hadriel carefully onto the ground, his lips turning blue.

In a moment I was totally myself again, my animal slinking back so I could take control.

“Nyfain!” I yelled.

His head snapped up. He stood in a rush, withered leaves sprinkling from his hands. In a moment, he quickly picked his way to us.

“I think it’s the magical gag,” I said as he crouched beside us. “My animal took over. She brought us to you.”

He studied me for a second, and it was hard to breathe within that intelligent golden gaze.

He nodded. “Ease her out. Just enough that you can maintain control.”

I took a deep breath and did as he said, ready for the onslaught of lust when she emerged. It didn’t come. The fire I’d grown to realize was her power coursed through my blood, but her focus was solely on Hadriel.

We glanced at Nyfain, needing direction, and for the first time I could feel his beast. Raw need, desperate desire, and something so strong I couldn’t quite define…

The world tilted. Everything inside of me tightened up. I felt my presence shoved down, but it only took a moment for me to push my way back into myself.

“Work with me,” Nyfain said urgently, holding out his hand.

I watched as we took it, mine so dainty in comparison. He put his other hand on Hadriel, who’d gone still.

Fear and sorrow ricocheted through me.

“Please,” I said to no one in particular. “This is my fault. Please, he needs to live.”

I spun, looking at the everlass.

Nyfain used our joined hands to yank me back around. He leaned closer, his eyes claiming my focus.