Beauty and the Beast (Demon Tales 1) by Kerrianne Coombes Page A

made a fool of, by a human—just like his father.
    “I said, we’re nearly there.” He didn’t
leave any of the venom from his tone. He watched her give a simple
nod, her hair dropping further over her face. Torc lunged forward
and got in her face, angered by her non-response. “I don’t want you
to ever go looking for my brother. You hear me, human? Brigg is a
good demon, and I don’t want you fucking with him any more than you
have already.”
    She lifted her head then and pinned him with
red-rimmed, hurt-filled eyes. Torc felt a stab of guilt hit his
chest before he smashed that thought and sat back in his chair.
    “You hear me, human?” he sneered, hating
that he felt sorry for her. It wasn’t just the sorrow in her stare,
it was her whole demeanour. She looked…broken.
    Get a grip, Torc. She is playing you,
just like she played Brigg .
    She swallowed audibly and nodded, her hands
twisting in her lap. A tear fell unchecked down her cheek before
she turned her face towards the window again. “Don’t worry, I won’t
try to find him again.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper, and Torc
flinched at the pain in those words. He frowned as he watched the
princess. She was a fucking good actress. He was starting to see
what Brigg had fallen for, his brother had always been a sucker for
women.
    “When we get to the castle, you will bring
your mother to me.”
    She looked at him startled. She visibly
blanched and her hands curled into fists. “Why—why my mother?” She
croaked.
    Torc raised an eyebrow and watched her for a
moment. The princess looked shaken… afraid?
    “I would ask her to lift our curse, in
exchange for you.” He stated. Cally looked shocked a moment before
she shook her head and leaned forward.
    “My mother won’t offer a reward for me.” She
gave a humourless laugh.
    Torc crossed his arms and glared at Cally.
“Your own mother will not offer a reward for you?” he asked, not
holding back the sound of disbelief from his voice. He narrowed his
gaze. “You lie.”
    Cally just shook her head. She opened her
mouth and Torc was impatient to hear her words when the driver
shouted something down to him. He watched the princess for a second
more, then climbed out the window and up to the driver’s seat. He
felt oddly unsettled by his conversation with the princess. Oddly
stirred by her very clever ‘innocent’ ruse, and it angered him that
he felt guilt. She was one shrewd witch…but why was she still
tricking them, when he had gotten her back to her castle? Wasn’t
this where she wanted to be? Torc frowned and wondered why the
princess was even bothering to lie anymore. Surely she had gotten
what she wanted—a safe journey home.
    He was just about to climb back into the
carriage and question her some more when a castle knight rode up on
his horse and halted their entrance to Tempath.
    “Who are you?” the knight roared from within
his silver helmet. Torc sat taller and tried to school his
expression into one that didn’t resemble disgust. Fucking humans
and their armour. Do some training, get some muscles and you
wouldn’t need it—pricks. Torc allowed his words of hate to
filter through his mind, but he kept his mouth closed against
anything that might get his arse banged into the dungeons. Been
there, done that.
    “I am Torc, of Raintree. I have the missing
princess.”

Chapter Twelve
     
     
    Cally’s stomach lurched violently as the
carriage came to a stop. Fright had her sitting stiff as her mind
screamed in protest at being back behind the castle walls. The sun
seemed to have disappeared the moment the gates had closed. All the
warmth had seeped from her body, leaving Cally rigid with fear. Her
time was up. She chastized herself inwardly for not trying to
escape the carriage before it had arrived—but she knew that Torc
would have dragged her back kicking and screaming. The demon hated
her, he hid none of his disgust from her. Cally was afraid to try
anything like escape where