The Beast's Bride (19 page)

And she gave Pippa a beaming smile.

"No," Pippa protested. "No, everything didn't work out! You were supposed to stay there and marry him! That's how things go!"

11Belle's nose wrinkled a bit. "Well, I can't very well marry him if he refuses, now can I?

Beside, I'm glad to be back in town. That stuffy old castle was getting rather boring, especially if we weren't going to have any more parties."

This was a nightmare.

Pippa pressed her hand to her forehead, thinking. What happened in the fairy tale when Belle left? All she could think about was the movie. The stupid, stupid movie in which the beast came close to dying…

Oh shit!

She bolted to her feet, panic surging through her. Duncan! Could he be dying? How did it go in the story? Something about Belle visiting family and then she had to return to the beast.

"When are you supposed to go back, Belle?"

"Go back?" She tilted her head and gave Pippa a puzzled look. "He didn't say anything about going back. In fact, he gave me this as a parting gift." Her hand went to the ornate necklace at her throat and she preened, just a little.

A parting gift? He was paying off Belle with gifts? Then he truly didn't want her to come back. Pippa clutched at her head. "You’re messing with me, right? Please tell me you’re messing with me."

"I'm disappointed that I didn't get to be a great lady either, Pippy, but it's for the best, really.

The village is so much more fun, don't you think?"

"No," Pippa cried, trying to hold in her temper. "The village sucks! You need to be there at his side! How can you be so selfish, Belle?"

Belle looked hurt. Then, her expression gentled. "Pippy, what was I supposed to do? He didn't want anyone but you." She reached out and touched Pippa's hand. "If you're so worried about him, why don't you go back? I don't understand why you won't marry him, but he won't marry anyone but you. No one."

"I can't," Pippa said, heart aching. "I just can't. I…I can't say why."

Belle studied her for a minute, then stroked a hand over her necklace. "Well, it doesn't look like he will marry either sister, then. He won't have me, and you abandoned him."

"I didn't," Pippa protested, but even as she said it, an ache began to spread in her chest. It did look like she'd abandoned him. In his eyes, she'd traded out her sister and ran without saying goodbye, and he didn't even know her reasons behind it.

12This fairy tale was shot to hell either way. The least she could do was explain herself.

Most of all, though, she had to make sure Duncan was all right. Pippa ran to her room, grabbed her shawl, and rushed out the front door of the cottage, heading for the woods.

12

For hours, she prayed Muffin would show up with another stinky pumpkin carriage. Or a squash one. Or any kind of gourd. Something that would make her journey back to the beast's castle, deep in the woods, a quicker one. But she was out of luck. The fairy godmother was nowhere to be found, and Pippa had to run along the dirt road by herself. She got a stitch in her side, and the sun went down, and she still continued onward, staggering when she could run no longer.

She had to make it to Duncan before Muffin came and scooped her up out of this failed fairy tale. He deserved an explanation of some kind from her. She'd broken his heart and abandoned him on the day of their wedding. It had been so cruel of her, but she'd felt like she'd had no choice in the matter. Now, looking back, she realized she should have tried to talk to him or should have explained things to him more.

What did it matter if it ruined her second chance at life as long as he'd gotten his? But she'd been selfish and thought only of herself and her own part in this story.

And because she hadn't shared with him the truth, he'd been hurt and lashed out…and ruined his fairy tale. If she'd just explained things, talked to him, he wouldn't be in this mess.

No Belle, no Pippa, no chance. He'd be a beast forever.

She ran on through the night, stumbling over rocks and tree roots, staggering at the wagon wheel ruts in the road. It had been a lot easier when they'd had the horse, but she hadn't thought to get another when she'd left. She'd been hours down the path before it occurred to her, and she didn't want to turn back.

Every moment wasted was another one in which things could abruptly end. The beast could die. Muffin could show up and call the whole thing off. Pippa wouldn't take that chance.

When the sun began to turn the skies purple, Pippa caught sight of the gray spires of the castle in the distance, the stones covered with ivy. She sobbed her relief and staggered onward, every muscle in her body aching.

Almost there.

She could do this. She was almost to Duncan.

12It seemed like hours before she was at the gates of the castle. The last time she'd arrived, they had opened on their own. This time, they remained shut. Furious, Pippa pushed at the rusted gates, shoving at them. When they wouldn't open, she stepped backward, panting, and looked around. A rock caught her eye and she raced for it. She threw herself at the gate, hammering at the lock with the rock in her hand. After several minutes of attacking it, the lock fell into pieces, and the gate swung open a crack.

Pippa squeezed through, not caring that she ripped her clothing as she dragged her body through the too-small gap in the gate itself. She raced down the cobbled bridge, toward the keep itself. "Duncan! Duncan! I'm here!"

There was no answer. She clambered up the slippery, dew-slick steps of the front doors, and pushed her way inside.

The interior of the castle felt somehow…dead. It was utterly silent, and not a single servant crept along the shadows. She slowed her steps, staring around her. "Duncan?"

No one. Nothing.

She went to his rooms first. They were empty, destroyed once more. The chessboard had been flung against the mantel and shattered into a thousand pieces. The bedding had been torn into shreds, and furniture upended once more. It looked worse than when she'd first arrived.

And still no Duncan.

She searched the entire castle, going from room to room. He was nowhere to be found, nor did she spot any of the servants. With each moment that passed, she began to panic a little more.

Was she too late? Had she missed her chance to tell him the truth?

She paused by one of the windows of the upper gallery, frowning down at the gardens.

Where could he be?

A flash of blue caught her eye, deep in the center of the maze. It was the same blue of Duncan's cloak. With heavy dread in her heart, she raced for the stairs that led to the gardens.

When she passed by a heavy candlestick, she grabbed it, remembering the rat creature that lived there.

He was not going to get her Duncan. Not while she had breath in her body.

Pippa raced to the gardens. "Duncan!" she screamed, hoping for an answer. But there was none. The strange fog that seemed to always cover the grounds was thicker than usual, so soupy that she could barely see her hand stretched in front of her. It had gotten thicker the closer she 12got to the maze until she could barely see straight. It was part of the enchantment, but she wouldn't let it stop her. She pushed onward, heading to the beginning of the maze. And like she'd thought about in the past, she put her hand along the left side of the hedge wall, ignoring the thorns and roses that grew like wild over everything.

She'd head to the center of the maze, and she'd find him there. The knot in her stomach grew huge. Would she find him dead or alive?
Please
, she begged silently.
Please be alive. Please be
well.

After turn after endless turn, Pippa followed the maze deeper, the candlestick clutched in a hand that was sweating with fear. She listened for sounds, anything that would give her a clue that she was heading in the right direction. There was nothing but the sound of her own ragged breathing.

Then, suddenly, she turned a corner and she was in the center of the maze. Before her, a massive, overgrown rosebush bloomed, a massive thorny tangle of red blooms and green leaves and long, spiky thorns.

And there, on the ground, beneath the leaves, lay a still figure shrouded in a ragged cloak.

"No!" She cried. "Duncan!"

There was a loud hiss, and then an odd growl to her left. She turned, clutching the candlestick, and saw the rat creature nearby. It crouched low, ready to pounce, its beady red eyes focused on her.

Fuck
that
. She was not about to let that thing come between her and Duncan. Not now. Not ever.

"Come at me, then, you son of a bitch," Pippa said in a low, furious voice. She flipped the candlestick and held it like she would a baseball bat, the heavy base ready to blast a rat skull into outer space.

She didn't have to wait long—the rat-creature charged at her, all teeth and claws and long, scaly tail. Without stopping to think, Pippa swung.

There was a loud crack, and the rat creature screamed. Blood sprayed, and she felt the heavy base of the candlestick crunch into the thing's face. It rolled away from Pippa, writhing on the ground in pain.

She breathed heavily, clutching the slippery candlestick in her hands, waiting for it to come at her again. She'd kill the damn thing if she had to.

12But it got to its feet, hissed again, and then limped away, back into the maze. She continued to stare after it for a long moment, as if unable to believe it was gone. Then, her shoulders slumped and she let the candlestick drop. It was gone. With a small sob, she turned to the rosebush and headed for Duncan.

The rosebush was so prickly and overgrown that she had to get on her hands and knees and crawl in to see him. She did, and she touched his shoulder. He was lying face down in the muddy earth, and she could see nothing of his face, just that thick lion's mane. She flipped him to his back and touched his beloved cheek, sorrow etching through every line of her body. Was he breathing? Was she too late?

"Duncan," she whispered. "It's me, Pippa."

His eyes struggled to open, as if weighed down. After a moment, those brilliant golden eyes focused on her. "Am I…dreaming?"

"I think in your dreams, I'd probably be a lot hotter. And naked," she said with a small, teary laugh, pushing a sweaty strand of hair back off of her forehead. "I'm afraid this is reality." She skimmed a hand over him. "Why are you out here? What's wrong?"

"Dying," he said in a wheezing breath. "Curse. I sent you away. Last chance…"

Tears began to fall from her cheeks. "You big dumbass," she sobbed. "You were supposed to marry Belle and have your happy ever after. That's the way things work."

"Can't…be happy with her. Only you."

"I'm not supposed to be here," she wailed. "I'm the wicked stepsister. You can't fall for me.

That's not in the story."

"Don't care what anyone says," he murmured in a soft, tired voice. His paw-hand reached up to stroke her cheek, then fell back, limp, to the ground. "Nothing wicked about you."

"Duncan," she wept, and grasped his hand in hers, pressing kisses to the back of it. "Please.

Please marry Belle. Please. I'll bring her back here. We'll get things fixed. Just hang on."

"Won't have anyone but you, sweet Pippa," he said in a soft, aching voice. "If there's not…love…it doesn't matter."

She knew that. She knew that he couldn’t talk about his curse, just like she couldn’t talk about why Muffin had sent her here. But still, she shook her head. "We can fix this. I know we can."

"Why…did you leave me?" His yellow eyes were not accusing, just sad.

12"Because I couldn't stay and watch you marry Belle. Not when I loved you," she said, and her heart broke all over again. "I love you so much, Duncan. Please know that. I never wanted to hurt you."

"Nor I…you." His hand reached up and brushed at her tears. "Don't cry."

"Then get better!"

"Can't…must…marry for love."

Pippa looked around desperately, but they were still alone in the gardens. That damn priest had probably gone back to town, too. She clasped his hand in hers again, and looked down at him. "I'm not supposed to marry you," she whispered. "Not really. I'll get into so much trouble if I do, but I don't care. We'll marry each other in our hearts," she told him, and pressed another kiss to his paw. "So we'll know the truth even if no one else does."

He gave a slow nod.

Her eyes flooded with tears and she held his paw-hand to her cheek. "I, Pippa, take you, Duncan, to be my lawful wedded husband. To have and to hold, through sickness and death, for richer or poorer, now until the day we part." She didn't remember exactly how the vows went, but it didn't matter. None of this would last—this was simply for Duncan. She pressed another kiss to his hand. "I love you with all my heart and soul. Everything I am and everything I have is yours, for now and forever."

"My Pippa," he said in an aching, soft voice. "I take you to be my bride. For now and forever, until death parts us. Nay, not even death shall part us," he said in a suddenly fevered voice. "For I will look for you until the ends of time, and I will not rest until we are together again. This I vow to you."

Tears blurred her vision, and she nodded to him. "Then I now pronounce us husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

But he didn't move. The hand in hers went limp.

Her heart seized with fear. "No. Duncan! Stay with me! Please!" She leaned over him, lightly stroking the backs of her fingers along his jaw. "Please don't leave me!"

There was no response. She'd been too late, too late for everything. Pippa threw herself onto Duncan's still chest and wept as if the world was ending.

"Oh, honey," said a small voice at her back. A hand patted her shoulder. "You made a real mess of this one, didn't you?" Pippa turned and raised her tear-streaked face to see Muffin 12standing behind her, the woman's wrinkled face wreathed in a kindly smile. She was dressed in a sparkly white gown that looked like a figure-skating costume, complete with fake bling across the bodice.

"I've killed him, Muffin. And all I wanted to was for him to be happy. I ruined it. I ruined everything!" Pippa threw her head down on the beast's chest and began to weep once more. "I loved him so much, and I've killed him, all because I was scared of what would happen to me. I was so selfish!"