Desecrated Beauty (Twisted Fairy Tales #1) Read online

  DESECRATED

  BEAUTY

  KYLEIGH CASTRONARO

  Copyright © 2015

  Kyleigh Castronaro

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1514316323

  ISBN-13: 978-1514316320

  ~

  Their funeral piles with fuel, and look’d up

  With mad disquietude on the dull sky,

  The pall of a past world; and then again

  With curses cast them down upon the dust,

  And gnash’d their teeth and howl’d

  - Darkness by Lord Byron

  CHAPTER 1

  “C’mon, you can do better than that.” He was goading her, that bastard. His charming smile, the dimples - hell there was even a twinkle in his eye. She hated it and loved it at the same time. She pulled her upper body down horizontally and swung her leg around in a sweep, the heel of her foot colliding with his solar plexus. He landed on his ass, breathless, and she grinned in triumph.

  “I was warming up, actually. But if you wanted to go right to the tough stuff…” She looked down at him with a grin before holding her hand out to him.

  He chuckled with amusement, there were no hard feelings between them when she kicked his ass. Which was more often than not these days.

  “The tough stuff used to be you actually managing to hit a target.” She made a face and rolled her eyes.

  “You’re exaggerating.”

  “There’s no denying you have unbeatable skills with knives and guns, but you can’t always rely on technology to win the fight. At least not anymore. Now, hit me again. I’m going to show you where your weak point was.”

  “Goodie.” She stepped away from him, taking a deep breath before drawing her fist back and aiming for his jaw. He ducked like a dancer, twisting around to hit her in the side. It wouldn’t bruise but it was enough to make her flinch and she stepped back shaking her head and holding her hands up.

  “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t hit me again.”

  “Or what? Going to try your crouching tiger, hidden dragon trick on me again?” He was kidding, but she was deadly serious.

  “I agreed to the combat lessons with you because Striker insisted on it but if you’re going to beat me up I’m going to stick with weapons starting with sticking you.”

  “Whoa.” Tate held up his hands and backed away slightly. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just trying to help you get better.”

  “Well, I’ll be much better if you keep your hands to yourself.”

  He grinned at her again, that unnerving infuriating grin that made her all sorts of hot. “Guess they don’t call you Quill for nothing.”

  “No. They don’t.” She bent down low again and swept her foot through the air, kicking him again, but this time he grabbed her ankle and twisted the wrong way. She lost her balance trying to correct his damage and landed on her ass instead.

  “There’s your weakness.” She grunted, pulling her foot out of his grasp and lashed out with her other one, knocking his own feet out from under him. She pressed her palms into the ground, arching herself upwards before launching herself onto her feet, moving to push her foot into his chest.

  “Jesus Tate, what did I just say?”

  “How are you supposed to learn if you won’t let me teach you? What’s your problem?”

  “I don’t have a problem,” she huffed, pushing her foot harder into his chest.

  “Okay… okay, you don’t have a problem.” He moved like he was going to touch her again but thought better of it, holding his hands up in surrender. She stepped off of him and rolled her eyes, straightening her shirt out from where it had risen in all her movements.

  “I do the touching, got it?”

  “Got it. I’ll do the speaking.”

  “You’re good at that.”

  “In general, I’m good with my mouth.” He grinned suggestively at her and she rolled her eyes.

  “You know my rules.”

  “Rules… Lots of rules with you.”

  “Rules keep everyone happy.”

  “Rules keep everyone bored to tears. Alright, hit me again.”

  “Gladly.” She swung at his face, but he ducked and came around her back. She threw her elbow out and tried to hit him with it, but he ducked. He tackled her legs, knocking them out from under her. She scrambled to get the upper hand again, twisting and grabbing his shirt as leverage. The material coiled tightly around his neck and she watched it bite into his skin, turning it raw and red. She didn’t choke him for long as he leaned himself backward, forcing her body on top of his. He grinned up at her, moving his hands to her waist before trailing them down to her hips, and as they curved over her ass she jerked and hopped off him.

  “Focus,” she said with a snap.

  Tate huffed and jumped up onto his feet, waving at her to come toward him. She thrust her fingers out toward his eyes and as he swerved to avoid her she came at him from the other side, punching him right in the ribs.

  “Oof, damn. Good…” He coughed slightly before straightening himself out with a slight wince. She couldn’t help but grin in triumph.

  “Letting a girl kick your ass Tate?”

  “Huh?” Tate stopped moving and she tripped mid-way through an uppercut, landing her fist right where he would’ve never wanted her to hit.

  “Ugh.” He grunted loudly and instinctively Quill covered her mouth.

  “Shit. Sorry!” He groaned more and covered himself, doubling over as he squeezed his eyes shut. A series of soft groans still escaping his lips as he laid there. She couldn’t help herself, she laughed. She knew it was an asshole kind of thing to do, but she couldn’t stop herself and Orion laughed too. Much to Tate’s displeasure.

  “With friends like you…”

  “Aw, come on Tate. You’re always going on about how you want Quill to fondle your balls. Your dreams are coming true right now.”

  “She just forced my balls back up inside of me.” He grunted and she laughed before turning to Orion.

  “Nothing good comes from you showing up.” She started to unroll the bandages around her palms, focusing on that task instead of whatever Orion was here to tell her.

  “Another truck was seized at the border, everyone on it went missing. We need a small group to go into the city and see if you can find it.”

  “Find the truck or the people?” She looked up from her efforts with an arched eyebrow. Orion shrugged, his face betraying him slightly. “Either; people preferably. Or both. We’re running out of functioning vehicles if we keep losing them like this.”

  “So people first, truck second - that’s a direct order from the boss?” She grinned slightly at him, teasing his indecision.

  “Yeah, people then truck.” He nodded his head as if to cement the decision. “You going to be rearranged in time to go with her Tate or should we send Slippery?”

  “Ew, that isn’t his new nickname is it? That sounds absolutely filthy!”

  “It’s meant to.” Tate smirked at her, “because it’s not celebrating his ability to slip by guards.” He rose from the ground, brushing himself off, “don’t send Dash, I’ll be fine.” He rolled his shoulders back accentuating the bulge in his pants to show just how fine his lower half was.

  “I don’t even want to know.” She waved her hand at him before walking toward the door. Orion wasn’t far behind her, his hand falling to the small of her back as they walked out and left Tate to clean up the training room.

  “Be careful.” Orion’s voice was hushed as she turned to look up at him in surprise.

  “Don’t get sentimental.” Her t
one was condescending and she regretted it when he jerked his hand away and the look of genuine concern faded back into his typical devil-may-care expression.

  “I’m not. We just don’t send a lot of girls out into the city. You’re one of the few… Okay, the only one.”

  “Yeah, because that is what that was about,” she said pointedly. “I thought I made it clear that the thing between us was no thing at all.”

  “Yeah, got it.” He nodded and stuffed his hands back into his pockets, his way of telling her he was keeping his hands to himself. She didn’t mind that so much though, Orion had his moments of usefulness tempered by a consistent threat that he craved something more. Something she wasn’t willing to give him. He was too much of a good boy, thus too soft for her tastes. She hated to crush his hopes but the only thing she needed him for was scratching an itch he never seemed to thoroughly scratch.

  She broke off from their route down the hallway and veered into the weaponry. Orion let her go and she paused in the doorway, listening to his footsteps fade away. She didn’t realize she had been holding a breath until she released it and the tension relaxed from her shoulders.

  Orion wouldn’t ask her why she didn’t want something more even though he was one of the rare few boys nowadays who was genuinely interested in a substantial relationship. He respected the fact that she chose to be a warrior and not a breeder like the other girls who happily took up the cause of repopulating. He didn’t push and she liked that, even if her shitty attitude earned her the branded nickname of “stuck-up bitch.”

  He might respect her decision, but none of her fellow females did. Other guys flocked to her like she was an easy piece of ass because they could hit it and quit it without worrying about actually fathering a kid.

  She liked to believe she had standards, the same standards she had for her weapons such as the Freedom Arms Model 83. But deep down she knew sometimes after a job, when she was wound too tight, her standards lowered considerably. Like Tate. Who now lived for his second chance - one she would never give him again. Not that he was terrible in bed, because he wasn’t, she just didn’t like to get attached. For one - she didn’t know how long she was going to be around. Two - she didn’t know how long they were going to be around. Three - maybe everyone was on to something, maybe she was a heartless bitch incapable of human emotion.

  It was fully possible she was a robot, she certainly didn’t extend herself to feel much beyond rage and lust. Never happiness and never ever love. Those things could break your heart faster than a blink of the eye. They were dangerous.

  She tucked her gun down the back of her jeans before finding her knife on the wall. With gentle fingers she caressed its steel before pulling it down and holstering it in the leather sheath she hung on her hip.

  The boys preferred more modern weapons, things that they managed to steal out of the city, but she liked her old fashion toys. It felt like a big “Fuck You” to her dad when she used them.

  Before leaving the weaponry, she grabbed a piece of armor. It wasn’t bullet proof like what the city agents had, but it was tough enough that nine times out of ten the bullet would get stuck instead of penetrating. You just spent most of the time being fired at and praying to a God you’d never spoken to before that this were one of those nine times and not the tenth.

  She folded the piece of thick leather around her abdomen, lacing it like a corset in the front before tightening the straps that held the piece down her clavicle that protected her heart. There wasn’t much she could do about her breasts, not that they were all that invasive in the protective gear. But it had been made for a man, not a woman which was why the first time she used it, she had toyed with it enough to make it comfortable.

  Pulling her jacket over top she did it up with a quick zip, glanced in the dirty mirror by the door to let her eyes sweep over herself in assessment. She had everything she’d want to go into the city. The lighter you were the easier it was to get away. She just had to do something with her hair.

  She pulled it out of the sweeping ponytail reserved for training and quickly twisted it all into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She looked like a school teacher. She grimaced at her reflection. But reason argued that she wouldn’t have anyone surprising her by grabbing her hair and pulling. No city agents were going to use that as her weakness.

  Content with how she looked and the weapons on her Quill she left the store room and headed up toward the main forum. Orion and Striker had already gathered whatever team she was taking into the city in a small huddle when she walked in. They didn’t even take notice of her as she came up next to Tate while Orion laid out the details of the operation to them.

  “You get in and you get out. Preferably with either our people or with a truck but if it’s too dangerous just Intel. We can run a bigger group through the tunnel later and go back if need be. Got it?” Everyone nodded their head in agreement and then all eyes turned to her.

  The boss man didn’t need to tell them who was in charge, it was widely known throughout their group she was the best one at sneaking in and out of the city. It probably had to do with her less bulky shape compared to the guys but still, she liked being an expert at something other than killing people at close range.

  “Alright, we’re going through the sewers.” There was a collective groan which only made her grin more. “It’ll bring us out right by the central station where they would process anyone if they’re going to be putting them on trial. It’s our best shot at finding our people, and if we’re lucky the dumbass who took the truck will have left it there for us to take back.”

  “And how do you propose we steal back a truck oh captain my captain?” She leveled her gaze with Jet, waiting for him to look away first before she spoke.

  “Easy. Blast is going to set up a distraction when we get there. Bombers choice, of course. And you are going to get that truck somewhere out of sight before the guards from the main gate arrive. Once we see them, I’m going to slip in and steal one of their identity chips. Blast will get it to you and the two of you will bring the truck back through while Tate and I lead the captives back through the sewers. In and out, less than an hour I figure.”

  “I’m fairly confident you’re forgetting about a few hitches-“

  “When have I ever let your ass down when it counts?” All three boys stared at her as she crossed her arms over her chest, daring them to say something.

  When no one answered she nodded, “good. So stop being a bunch of pussies and go get your gear.”

  “Aye aye captain,” Jet saluted her going as far as to tap his heels together before he walked out of the room with the other two. Orion was staring down at her with a big dopey grin on his face. Apparently he was over her brushing him off no more than five minutes ago.

  “Yes?”

  “Nothing, I just like a girl in charge.”

  “That’s because all the other girls are a bunch of wilting daisies.”

  “Daisies are pretty.”

  “But daisies have nothing else to offer.”

  “So what does that make you?”

  “A venus fly trap. Obviously.” She grinned and it made him laugh. It coiled her stomach and made her heart pound a little quicker when he leaned in. His lips were soft as they brushed against hers, his breath warming her lips and chin at the closeness. All at once her stomach released itself and she pulled back. She didn’t want chaste stolen kisses, she wanted someone to grab her and kiss her like he meant it. She needed someone to take her breath away. Orion just wasn’t that guy.

  “Ri…” He nodded, glancing around and pretending to check and see if anyone was watching them.

  Things were awkward for the next few minutes as they stood there in silence, waiting for the others to come back. Quill considered telling him he didn’t have to stay, that they’d see themselves off without him. But then someone needed to seal the grate behind them in case the tunnel was discovered by the city agents.

  The guys chatted bull
shit about whatever new girls had been brought in while Quill and Orion led the way outside, their eyes sweeping the sky on the lookout for any helicopters or scouting planes.

  Most places were accessible by the underground tunnels, but for safety’s sake any tunnels leading into the city were well away from where they lived and unattached to any tunnel system they used. The only building that was above ground was headquarters. Striker had decided it was necessary to maintain one front building so the government knew they couldn’t just tell them what to do and expect them to lay down and take it.

  It was Striker’s way of saying “Fuck You” to his dad. They all had their way.

  “Alright everyone in.” Orion undid the last of the bolts on the grate and hauled it up. He’d redo two of them once they were out of sight and in an hour’s time - as agreed - he’d be back to undo it. Unless there was someone there who didn’t belong.

  Quill slipped in first, the spongy smell of dust and lingering waste hitting her nostrils. She pulled her jacket lip up around her nose, zipping it tight in place as she crawled forward feeling the top of the tunnel brush her back every so often. It was about a fifteen-minute crawl. There were worse places to be stuck in for fifteen minutes - this much she knew - but time still passed like cold molasses as she crawled toward their destination.

  Thankfully the boys behind her had fallen silent.

  When she reached the grate on the other side, she slipped her knife from its holster and peered out from between the bars. When she was certain the coast was clear, she slipped her hand out and found the screw head with the tip of her knife. It was loosened from all the other times she’d gone through so it only took a few twists to free it and she caught the grate as it fell forward on her forearm.

  Crawling out awkwardly she managed to lay the grate down before standing up and waiting for the others to follow. They all had their separate tasks now. They arrived as a team, but their personal specialties led them to be separated from this point forward. In an hour’s time if everyone wasn’t there, the last man through did up the grate again and it was every man for himself.