of satisfaction floods my chest.
She’s here. She came.
I’ll teach her she’s so much more than what they made her.
But first I have to break the mold of who she is so she can be reborn.
Seven
Daphne
The wind picks up as the taxi pulls away, leaving me in front of the castle. The stone face rises up stark and beautiful. My new home. For however long it takes.
I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I’m doing this. My comfortable work shoes scuff the fancy patterned stonework as I work up the nerve to grab the heavy brass door knocker. Shaped like a demonic beast head, of course.
I can’t believe I’m about to throw myself on the mercy of a madman to save my company. But Belladonna and my research are my life. Without them, what do I have left? Who am I?
A crisp ringing cuts the air. I leap about ten feet, fumbling for my cell phone. Adam’s calling. My thumb hovers over the screen. Should I answer? Shit, I disappeared from the ball. I owe him an explanation.
Tucking myself into the archway to get out of the wind, I raise the phone to my ear. “Hello, Adam.”
“Daphne! There you are. I’ve been so worried.” My phone beeps, belatedly telling me I have several missed calls. I kept it off for most of the day, only turn it on at the end of the drive to text Rachel again, telling her not to worry. I meant to turn it off by now, but when my finger hovered over the power button, I couldn’t bring myself to press it. Maybe I needed to feel connected to something familiar. Or maybe needing a way out—my last chance to call the cops.
“Sorry. I’ve been…distracted.”
Adam says something but his words are all broken up.
“Adam? Can you hear me? The reception is going in and out.” I step away from the building’s stone face.
“Where are you?” Adam asks. “We need to talk. Are you at your apartment? Or the lab? I’ll come get you.”
“Um, no, I’m not home or at Belladonna. Listen, I’m taking a few days off. I working on…something. Something important.” Were those footsteps beyond the door? I’ve got to explain things to Adam before the Beast shows up. “I’ve got to go—”
“Daphne, please listen. I need to apologize.”
Apologize to me? “What?” The door creaks and I turn away.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. All those things I said—I’ve been wanting to say them for a long time.”
My mouth falls open. I can’t believe this is happening now. The door yawns open behind me, filled with shadow.
“I know you’re not experienced in these things,” Adam says. “We can take it slow—”
“Adam, I really, really can’t talk about this right now. If you’d just—”
A large hand closes over mine, snatching my cell phone out of my grasp. The hand grips it so hard the screen cracks, then lets it fall to the stone floor. A polished shoe kicks it onto the lawn.
I gape as the Beast looms over me. “Oh my gods! You’re crazy.”
The Beast lunges forward.
Eight
Beast
“Please,” Daphne begs. “I came like you said. What are you going to do to me?”
I tug her along, ignoring her pleas. I’d prepared a room for her, full of warmth and comfort. I thought she might not be tainted, too far gone. She might deserve better than her cheating father and lying lover.
I was wrong. She’s just like them. She deserves nothing. She dares to come to me with his name on her lips? She deserves every punishment I’ve planned.
Her cries echo down the hall as I drag her to the stairs. Her purse falls to the floor, its contents scattering.
“Stop this!” she screams.
Her glasses go flying. She fights harder until I catch her wrists and draw her close.
“Stop. I can’t see,” she pants. She’s always been a little nearsighted. Has her eyesight gotten worse? She stares up at my face, her gaze vague, confused.
Once she looked at me with affection. Awe. No more. Never again.
Because of him.
Growling, I bend at the waist and toss her over my shoulder. She pounds on my back, which has as much effect as a sparrow fighting a storm. I take the stairs two at a time. My heart pumps like bellows, the heat of my rage spreading through me.
I don’t stop until I’m at the top of the tower. There’s a prison here, a cage I designed especially for her. I hadn’t thought to use it so soon, but…
“Welcome to your