Once Upon a Twist (9 page)

The lantern would give her away, she reasoned.

Attack was the best form of defense.
Please let it be so,
she mutely pleaded as she trod through the windowless drawing room, her eyes making frantic adjustments to counter the lack of light. She knew the house as if she’d drawn the architectural plans herself; knew where every piece of furniture and object was placed…

Her thigh bumped into the sideboard.

Shit.

She reached out with her free hand to stop a rattling vase, but was too slow. Her fingers made contact just as it toppled onto its side, rolled onto the floor and smashed. Loudly.

Shit, shit, shit.

For a moment she stood paralyzed, her brain and body completely unable to marry and form a united course of action.

She heard footsteps, heavy footsteps that drew nearer with every one of her shallow breaths.

And still she stood rooted.

Her adjusting eyes could only see the vague outline of the creature running towards her, coming through the kitchen and into the dining room. Her ears heard every thud of foot, every grunt and every clatter of flying furniture. 

“Ella!”

James’s shout from behind slammed through her and she raised the sword just as the creature pounced.

The sword cut through the creature’s belly, stopping it in its tracks. It was close enough for her to smell its fetid breath and the stench from its putrid armpits as it waved its arms about, clawing at her and missing by inches.

Wildly she tried to pull the sword out but this weapon had none of the purity of the heel of her glass slipper. It stayed put, deep inside the creature’s torso.

Holding the shaft with both clammy hands, she fought to keep her grip and fought to keep her gurgling panic at bay. Her heart was pumping hard, her head filled with rushing blood that swooshed and drowned all other noises.

Her grip was loosening, her arms screaming with pain. This creature was too strong. She couldn’t hold on for much longer…

“Ella, get down!” No sooner were the words shouted when a hard, warm body knocked her onto the floor, forcing her to relinquish her hold on the sword.

She landed in a heap and was immediately covered by James’s powerful body. At least she assumed it was James. She had no proof other than every single one of her functioning senses told her it was him enveloping her so securely.

The drawing room filled with shouts and thuds, the sounds muffled until silence rang out.

She felt the weight of James’s body lift off her. “It’s dead,” he said.

Blinking, Ella allowed him to help her sit up. One of the soldiers had brought the lantern into the room. Lying only a couple of feet from her lay the prostrate torso of the decapitated creature. Its head had rolled under the rocking chair.

Although she had known it could not be Ana – it was far too large to be her stepsister – the visual confirmation did nothing to quell her fears.

Where was she? She must have made it home for the creature to have followed her.

James must have read her mind. He stroked her damp hair. “Darling, we need to get you into the cellar now so my soldiers and I can look for Ana.”

“You must be joking.”

“No darling, we need to find her and either bring her to safety or…”

“Kill her,” she finished flatly. “And I wasn’t on about that – when I said you must be joking, I meant about hiding me away in the cellar. I didn’t come all this way just so you could tuck me out of sight like a good little girl.”

Ignoring the disconcerted expression on his handsome face, she got to her feet and stood over the felled creature. The sword was still sticking out of its belly. Ella took a sharp intake of breath before placing a foot on its chest for balance. She pulled the sword out in one big yank.

“How did you know I’d gone?” she asked, taking the first opportunity she’d had to question him.

“I remembered something you said about not staying in the cellar. I went back to check on you and my mother told me where you had gone.”

“Then she must have told you she gave me her blessing. If your mother can understand why I had to leave then surely you can too?”

He placed a hand on her arm. “Ella, be reasonable. We have already sacrificed a great deal to make you safe.”

She closed her eyes knowing he was referring to Matthew. Poor, brave Matthew who had died trying to protect her and his Prince.

“James, I appreciate what you have done for me.” And she did. Knowing his love for her was more than mere words induced the most wonderful feeling imaginable. But at that moment it meant nothing. It couldn’t. She wouldn’t allow it to. Not until all the danger had passed.

Reaching out a hand to palm his cheek, she said, “I really do appreciate it but I didn’t come all this way to be side-lined. And if you don’t understand that part of me by now, when will you ever learn it?”

James shook his head in a mixture of exasperation and amusement. “Is this what married life is going to be like?” he asked, only half joking. “You questioning every one of my judgments?”

“Only if I think your judgment is pants.” Her lips curved slightly before a frown creased her forehead. “But if you think you can browbeat me into submission, I don’t think there is much point in us marrying at all.”

“As I am learning, I don’t think anyone could browbeat you into anything,” he said dryly. No wonder all the women he had met before her had bored him to tears. Marriage to Ella might be a headache but at least it would never be boring. “But we can argue the finer points of our marriage later – let’s go find Ana before she finds us first. I propose we split up…”

“If we stick together we have a much better chance of fighting her off and any other creature that might be here.”

He tried to think of a flaw in that logic. “Right. That makes sense.” He opened his mouth to suggest searching upstairs but instead he said, “Where do you think we should look first?”

“Outside,” she said immediately. “If she was in the house and had become one of the undead I am certain we would have heard her – they’re hardly the most light-footed of creatures. There is one way to find out.” Cupping a hand around her mouth, she shouted, “Ana, are you in here?”

“What are you doing?”

She shrugged. “Seeing if Ana’s in the house. If there are any undead in here they’ll come flying out to eat us whether it’s Ana or not.”

They paused for a moment.

Silence.

“Shall we go outside now?”

“Yes,” he said, wondering if instead of marrying her he should utilize her in his army. She would make a fantastic commanding officer. “Gustave and Phillipe can take the lead. I want you to stay behind me.”

Gustave and Phillipe took their positions at the front; Jonas and Sebastien protecting the rear.

It came as no surprise when Ella disregarded his instruction. What did surprise him was the pinch on his bottom as she sidled past. “You never learn do you?” she snorted, hurrying to reach the front soldiers.

“I’m starting to see why Christell locked you under an enchantment,” James muttered with a shake of his head.

“I heard that.”

“You were supposed to.”

Outside in the moonlit garden, the silence was all consuming. Not a single rustle could be heard.

For long moments they stood there, six pairs of eyes darting around in all directions.

“Hellooo!”

Ella’s shout made them all jump.

“Hellooo! Any undead out here?”

James grabbed hold of her shoulder. “What are you doing?”

She spun round and faced him. “Flushing them out. Once all the undead within the barriers are killed we will know we’re safe. Now brace yourself.”

Chapter Ten

Ella’s words were sound. From deep within the wood came a crackle of trodden-on leaves followed by heavy footsteps.

“Here they come,” James said, positioning himself in front of her. He didn’t care how badly she wanted to fight, his first – his only – priority was keeping her safe.

Unfortunately his fiancée didn’t want to be kept safe. Indeed, she jostled next to him in such a manner he had the distinct feeling she was trying to keep
him
safe.

There were two of them. One, a teenage boy with an ear missing, his body covered in scratches and cuts, had a slightly dazed expression on his face. The other creature was Ana. If the situation hadn’t been so horrendous he would have laughed at the sight of her. Somewhere along the line Ana had lost her ball-gown. Her plump frame was revealed in all its glory, her mountainous bosoms covered in a bra that resembled a hammock while a bunch of hairy black spiders’ legs splayed out the sides of the matching knickers. Her neck had been chewed through to the bone, and where her left eye should be was nothing but blackness. Her remaining eye displayed the same vagueness that was in the teenage creature’s.

He would bet his palace the pair of them had undergone numerous attempts to breach the barricade.

His loyal soldiers, their arms aloft, their swords primed, were ready.

His fiancée was ready for them too. There was something majestic about the gleam in her eyes and the defiance of her stance. She shone under the moonlight and for a split-second he forgot the danger, so full of admiration was he for her matchless beauty and her breath-taking nerve.

He almost forgot himself.

The creatures charged upon them, Ana’s red eyes fixing upon Ella.

With a primitive howl, Ella charged right back.

Her movement galvanized James and his soldiers into action, and they followed suit, slashing and stabbing at the bloodthirsty creatures.

Ana, not caring in the least for the slashes of Ella’s sword penetrating her skin, opened her mouth. Spittle dripped down her chin.

“Don’t you touch my fiancée, you bitch,” James roared, slashing his sword through the air and bringing it down on Ana’s neck, hacking it off in one slice.

“Nice aim.” Ella nodded, her voice choked. Admiration shone from her eyes, but there was sadness reflecting there too, a sadness that twisted his heart. Ana did not deserve her compassion.

“I aim to please,” he quipped back, quickly stroking her cheek to let her know he understood her feelings, whilst discretely kicking Ana’s face into the undergrowth.

How could he feel compassion towards a woman who had made his fiancée’s life such a living hell?

The soldiers made quick work of dispatching the other creature. Only once it stopped twitching did any of them dare relax their holds on their swords.

“Is that all of them?” Gustav asked.

Automatically James looked at Ella for her opinion.

“I would think so but I would not assume so,” she said, flopping onto the grass.

He considered this before saying, “Sebastien, Gustav and Phillipe, I want you three to do a thorough check of the house. We shall stay here and see if anymore come out from the woods.”

He waited for Ella to disagree. Instead, she lay on her back and gazed up at the moonlit sky. Laying down next to her he traced a finger down her filthy cheek. “Are you all right?”

“Me? Oh I’m marvelous.”

“You don’t think there’s any left here do you.” It wasn’t a question. She would certainly have insisted on them all checking the house out together if she had.

She shook her head. “Not within the enchantment’s boundaries, no.”

With Jonas keeping watch on the forest, James pulled Ella into his arms and held her tightly.

Now the danger had passed it seemed all the fight had been knocked out of her.

She shuddered into his chest.

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I might be getting a little hysterical. I’m trying to think of how many people I killed today.”

“Ella, they weren’t people. Not in the human sense.”

“I know that. It was kill or be killed. That doesn’t mean I can’t feel some compassion towards them.”

“Even Ana?”

“Especially Ana.”

Together they lay in peaceable silence, marveling that they were still alive, still together.

Gustav came back into the garden followed by his comrades. “All clear, sir.”

“Except for this sir,” said Phillipe, carefully holding aloft the fattest, furriest creature James had ever seen.

He sat up and examined it. “What is that?”

“It’s a cat sir. We found it hiding under a bed. Be careful. It bites.”

James looked at Ella. “Is it yours?”

“No. It’s Christell’s.”

“What do you want to do with it?”

Ella considered before glaring at the obese feline, who in turn hissed with what could only be described as haughtiness. “Domino, if I tell Phillipe to put you down, will you behave yourself?”

Domino’s eyes gleamed with malice but he gave a condescending nod.

Phillipe placed him down and the cat waddled off into the forest, his tail upright in some form of feline protest.

Ella rubbed at her eyes. “Mangy cat. I bet he’s gone off to hunt some poor rodent or bird. Well more fool him – all the forest creatures have gone.”

James pulled her back into his arms. “You look tired.”

“I
am
tired. And hungry.”

“How’s this for a plan? We find something to eat and then get our heads down for the night. At sun-up my men and I will head back to the palace and see if Merlin has arrived. If he has, he should be able to put an enchantment similar to the one holding you here around the palace – or what’s left of it. Once everything’s in place, I’ll send Merlin to you and then I’ll have a chat with your stepmother, persuade her to break the enchantment holding you inside the barrier.” If Christell refused to follow his persuasion he would simply have her killed. This would double his chances of freeing Ella should Merlin fail to get her out – the enchantment would die with Christell. Of course, he had no intention of sharing that little tit-bit with Ella.

Her lips curved into a tired smile. “That, my lover, sounds like a plan.”

***

Ella stood at the bottom step and watched James and three of his soldiers stride off towards the town. Phillipe had been instructed to remain with her, despite her protests that she didn’t need looking after. James’s foot had come firmly down.