How Beauty Loved the Beast

chapter Three



“Good gods, woman, when you rolled down from the ceiling I about had a f*cking heart attack.” Hauk managed a teasing laugh, but his blood pressure still raced every time he thought of Jolie performing her first drop.

She’d danced with silks this time, stretches of fabric that hung from the ceiling while she climbed, swung, tangled herself and unrolled dramatically. The show had started with her unraveling from the ceiling, hurtling twenty feet down before one silk caught her foot and the other she caught in her hand in an elegant but reckless feat of physical prowess.

Hauk’s heart had plummeted right along with her. The impulse to launch onto the stage arms out to catch her had been near impossible to quell. Girl had no f*cking fear, and her antics were going to be the death of him.

“Did you like it?” she asked, oblivious to his concern as she dropped flip-flops onto the floor and slid into them. The crowds were gone, and she’d just exited the backstage into the bowels of the old electric company. Bright makeup and stuck-on jewels emphasized her green eyes and perfectly lush mouth. It also hid her freckles, which was a bummer, but the effect was enticingly exotic. Plus, Jolie loved dancing. She was damn good at it, and the joy it gave her made him happy. Even when it terrified him.

She straightened and tipped her head expectantly, and he realized he hadn’t answered her question. He smiled. “You know I love to watch you dance. The show was great, despite my near heart attack.” Every straight man in the audience wanted to take Jolie home, that was for sure. And he might be the one doing it if their earlier conversation was any indication. But she hadn’t exactly said she’d go home with him, just that she could be convinced to do something with him. He found himself suddenly tongue-tied as to how to do that convincing.

Five years ago, he’d have grinned, lifted an eyebrow (he didn’t have eyebrows anymore, just metal piercings where they should be) and said something complimentary. Then he’d have crossed his arms to show off the muscles and asked if she wanted to go for a ride on his motorcycle.

He did still have muscles and a motorcycle.

F*ck, what was he doing? He wasn’t sexy. There was nothing he could do to fix that. He had a metal leg, for Freyja’s sake. It was easy to forget he was missing a limb when his clothes were on and the replacement Tally and LaRoche, the Underlight’s scientists, had made for him worked so seamlessly. But if he took his pants off to do any of the amazing things he wanted to do with Jolie that required the removal of pants, suddenly it was damn obvious that the patchworked mess of skin on his left side ended in titanium.

He was crippled. He hated that word so f*cking much, but his leg was the definition of it—and he didn’t want anybody looking at it.

Jolie stretched up then flopped over to hug her knees, folding her own flawless body in half. A wink as she stood and turned her prowling walk toward the back of the electric plant. A double-edged ache of need and doubt carved into him. If she meant to go home or out to meet someone, she’d head for her car. Back this way, though, was a hidden push-plate that opened a door to the maze of tunnels under Austin, where the Underlight was hidden. Where he lived.

He stopped their progress and cleared his throat. “Paul Gellar was in the audience.” Oh, shit. He did not just say that.

Jolie wrinkled her nose, confused. “Paul?”

She and Paul were dating, and before Hauk went into the hospital, the pretty-boy front man for Spork, a popular local band, had been stepping up his game to win Jolie’s affections in a more permanent way. So Paul had been in the audience, Jolie had had original plans for after the show...it didn’t take a genius to do that math.

“You don’t need to change plans for me just ’cause I got out of the hospital.” Hauk didn’t want to think about Jolie with Paul and what they’d intended to do together tonight. But he also couldn’t stand the idea that she’d be thinking about some other face if he kissed her. He couldn’t blame her, but it ripped him up inside.

Jolie caught his scarred hand in her own smooth one and dropped all teasing pretense. “I was going for drinks with Mercy to talk about costuming the next show. We’ve already rescheduled. Paul was probably here because Spork’s bass player is dating one of the other girls in our dance troupe. He wasn’t here for me.”

Hauk blinked. He’d been so sure... But Jolie had nothing but honesty in her eyes. He took a breath, trying to stay calm. “He was going to ask you out, then. They were talking about you.” He couldn’t hear them very well, but Paul’s infatuation had been abundantly clear.

Jolie stepped closer to him. “Look, I’ve dated guys in the past. Paul is one of them. Now that Ben and Kelly are dating, I’m going to continue to run into him sometimes. You have to be okay with that, because I can’t change it. But I haven’t been on a date with Paul in nearly three months. We are busy people who want different things.”

Three months? That meant she hadn’t gone out with Paul since...since Hauk had met her. He’d thought the only thing keeping Jolie and Paul from being a serious couple was Paul’s unwillingness to keep his dick in his pants when the band went on tour. Hauk had seen men in uniform stay faithful to their wives for a year in a war zone. He had no patience for Paul’s lack of restraint. That was likely the “different things” the two of them wanted.

If Paul wised up and offered to behave himself, what would Jolie do?

“So am I coming home with you or not?” Her voice had the teasing lilt that always brought a smile to his face. She was a shameless flirt—even with him—but she’d never been like this, holding his hands and sidling up next to him like this time she meant it.

Hauk studied her eyes, all decorated with jewels and purple powder, and knew that behind the makeup was a good person, an honest person. His confusion and fears stemmed from one thing: he’d fallen head over heels for the woman.

A deep breath helped calm the riot of emotions threatening to wreck his good fortune. Squeezing her hands, he asked the only question that mattered. “Do you want to come home with me?”

She surprised him with a burst of soft laughter that she quickly got under control. “Yes, you silly boy. What makes you think I’d do this—” she stood on tiptoe and pressed her mouth against his in a simple kiss, “—if I didn’t want to?”

He licked the taste of her off his lips, savoring the quick softness of her unexpected move. It was the kiss of a woman who knew there would be more kisses. A familiar kiss. The calm that settled over him wasn’t forced this time.

He was an idiot if he talked himself out of taking her home.

“I want you,” she said softly. “Get it through that thick skull.”

Oh, yeah. He was a complete moron if he didn’t scoop her up and get her back to his bedroom as fast as his feet could carry her. He tugged her hands, pulling her against him, and tipped her chin up for one more kiss. He meant for it to be fast, a quick reassurance before they continued down to the Underlight.

It didn’t turn out that way.

Her lips touched his and that vanilla spice of her perfume filled his head. He pulled her tighter until her soft curves molded against his body. He parted his lips and she followed his lead, giving his tongue access to stroke hers. She tasted of cinnamon and sugar, sweetness and spice, and he wanted to devour every piece of her. Her first sigh shuddered against him. Her hands stroked down his back to clutch his ass, and she dug fingernails into the muscle.

They needed to get home. Right. Now.

He pulled away before the notion of slamming her into a wall to take her here in the hallway got too tempting. She groaned a protest as her eyes fluttered open. She’d completely relaxed into his embrace, and he carried her slight weight in his arms. “Let’s get home,” he said.

She glanced at a wall longingly, as if thinking along the same lines he was.

He chuckled. “Come on. I want to see you in my bed.”

Her smile was half pouty. “You’ve seen me in your bed. If I recall correctly, you carried me there when we first met.” But despite the protest, she rolled her weight back onto her feet.

“Yeah, but I don’t remember that, and when I woke up you were already gone.”

“True. All right then, let’s go.” With a wink, she dashed down the hallway, daring him to chase her.

And chase her he did, around a corner into the hallway with the secret panel. Jolie turned into the alcove, leaving his sight for a moment.

She screamed.

Panic gave him speed. He dashed to reach her, careened around the corner and every ounce of desire evaporated.

Jolie kneeled in a pool of blood—not her own, thank the gods, but of a woman propped up to sit against the wall. Eyes, deep brown and devoid of life, stared at him over a mouth rounded in the woman’s last scream.

“Cassie! Cassie!” Jolie repeated over and over. Her fingers stabbed at the girl’s neck, searching for a pulse that wasn’t there.

Cassie was long past help, but Jolie was heading for shock. He’d seen it too many times on the war front. Hauk skirted a pool of congealing blood, trying not to interfere with the crime scene. “Jolie, sweetheart, step away.”

She didn’t budge. “It’s Cassie. She works backstage. She’s applying for the Underlight.”

There was no present tense here anymore; Jolie needed to see that. He put a heavy hand on her shoulder and said as firmly and steadily as he could, “Jolie, look at me.”

“No, Cassie—”

“Come on, baby, look at me.” Slowly she turned to face him, and her eyes were wild. “We’re going to stand up, Jolie, and we’re going to walk over there.” He kept eye contact as he pointed back the direction they came in.

“She’s bleeding.”

He took her hand away from the body and held it. “She’s already bled out. There’s nothing we can do. Come with me.”

“Oh, God.” The usually courageous voice was barely a whisper as tears filled Jolie’s eyes. It hurt to watch her crumble, but it meant she was feeling again, registering reality.

“Come on. This way.” She let him pull her up and lead her back around the corner.

Nobody should have to find a corpse like that.

And nobody should have to die like that.

“Jolie.” He used to do this with his men when they saw something no man should have to see. He’d repeat their name to keep them grounded. He’d explain each action as he did it so there were no additional surprises. “I’m going to go back and see if I can figure out what happened.” He’d also give the men something to do, a task to focus on so they weren’t replaying the memory. “I need you to call Catrina and tell her what happened. Have her call the police. Can you do that for me?”

Jolie gulped. “The police can’t see you. They’ll arrest you.”

“I know. That’s why you’re calling Catrina first. It’ll give me a chance to take a look around and then get scarce.” He sighed. “You’re going to have to talk to them without me. Are you all right with that?” Damn his fugitive status. He’d have to leave Jolie when she needed him, instead of standing with her like he should.

She rolled her eyes and pushed tears from her cheek. “Of course I am. I’ll come up with some reason why I was back here alone.”

“Keep it simple—”

“I know how to lie, okay?” She sounded angry, but he knew it wasn’t with him.

“Okay. Tell Catrina to get here fast. I won’t leave you ’til she’s here.”

Jolie had her phone out and was punching numbers. “You’ll leave when you need to leave, not based on Catrina’s appearance. Watching you get hauled off will not help my day.”

That was his girl. Strong as a warrior goddess. He squeezed her shoulder as she started the call. Then he touched his image of Mjolnir, the Thor’s hammer he wore on a chain around his neck, as he gathered courage for what he had to do next.

Hauk approached Cassie’s body carefully. He’d seen the girl once or twice, but they hadn’t been introduced. Still, the scene unnerved him. He’d seen a lot of violence in his life, done some of it, but fighting was different than slashing a girl up and leaving her to bleed out in an abandoned corridor. He’d seen terrible things, but nothing like this.

He didn’t want to disturb the scene in a way that would hinder the police’s investigation or leave any evidence he’d been here. They’d run his profile and add another body to his felony record, this time one he didn’t have anything to do with. But he had to see what he could learn. There might be something he caught that the police, with their ignorance of Atropos, Ananke and the Underlight, had no shot at noticing. The woman deserved to have her killer brought to justice. He pulled on the leather gloves he kept in his coat pocket.

Numerous cuts across her torso and the one at her throat that had killed her weren’t done with finesse or grace, as if her attacker hadn’t known how to wield a knife. Hauk checked her fingernails and found traces of skin and blood.

Or maybe her attacker hadn’t meant to kill her. He’d used the knife to threaten her, and when she’d fought him he’d pressed too hard, cut too deep. But threaten her to do what? On a hunch, Hauk checked the side of her leg. A snapped-off needle was still embedded in her hamstring.

Shit.

He hated what he was about to do, but Cassie wasn’t the first citizen of the Underlight to be injected with something. His best friend, Brayden, had been attacked two weeks ago. Brayden was doing fine, thank the gods, but they still hadn’t figured out what had been administered to him. Hauk carefully pulled the needle out, hoping some of whatever she’d been injected with lingered on the end. He’d give it to Tally and LaRoche to compare to Brayden’s sample.

“Hauk? Oh, God. Hauk!” Jolie called.

With no better way to store the needle, he slipped it in an unused jacket pocket and hoped for the best as he hustled back to Jolie. She was pale, but her eyes were clear.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Those guys who attacked us before the show. Ric Suarez. He smelled like metal. Blood smells like metal, right? And he was wet.” She held up her jacket to show a smear of brown. “I thought I’d gotten makeup on my shirt. But it’s blood, isn’t it. He’d just done this. He killed Cassie, and we let him walk away.”

“Oh, f*ck me,” Hauk murmured. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s probably what happened. He didn’t mean to kill her. He injected her with something, probably the same shit they stuck Brayden with.”

Jolie frowned. “The stuff that doesn’t do anything?”

“We don’t know that. I talked to Brayden before I came here, and he said his blood still tests positive for the same chemical. It isn’t leaving his system like it should. Maybe its effect is triggered by something. Or maybe they’re still testing it out, and Brayden’s doesn’t work but Cassie’s would have. I don’t know.”

“What am I going to tell the cops? We saw the murderer. But if I tell them that, they’ll want to talk to everybody who was outside. You’ll be involved.”

Hauk’s jaw clenched. He hated to ask her to do this, but... “Don’t tell them. We’ll take care of this. Can you be okay with that?”

She nodded.

“Thanks. Gimme your jacket. Do you have any blood anywhere else?”

Jolie unzipped her running jacket, leaving her in a thin tank top. She shivered.

Dammit. “I’d give you my jacket, but—”

“You can’t. I know. Chilly is the least of my problems. Do I have any stains on the back of me?” She pivoted, and Hauk inspected her for blood.

“You’re clean.”

Catrina’s voice came calling down the hallway, “Hauk? Jolie?”

“Here!” Jolie answered. Hauk needed to leave. He didn’t want to.

Jolie’s boss came timidly around the corner, her shoulders tight with tension. “Cassie?”

Jolie pointed. “There. You don’t want to see.”

“Goodness. No. I don’t.” Catrina’s oversized eyelashes batted furiously as she fought tears. After a moment she sniffed and leveled a businesslike expression at Hauk. “The police are on their way. You need to move.”

Hauk sighed. “You two stay here. The murderer is long gone, so you’ll be safe. But I’ll have my phone just in case. I’ll stay nearby.” It was times like this he was glad Jolie had disobeyed the Underlight’s no-tech policy and given him a cell phone before she left the hospital. Like Jolie or anyone else entering the underground with phones, he’d have to power it down whenever he went home. The headquarters’ location was a secret that GPS would pinpoint in an electronic second, so he’d stay topside and be ready, just in case.

He felt so f*cking useless, leaving like this. But when he turned to go, Jolie stopped him with a hand on his arm. Falling against him, she burrowed her face against his chest and clutched his jacket with stiff fingers. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, giving her what strength he could.

“Be careful, babe,” he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. “They’re coming for us. I’ll keep you safe as best I can, but be so careful.”

She nodded, rubbing her nose against his chest and squeezing him. Once her rigid muscles unclenched, she leaned back on her heels. “Can I still come over later?”

He huffed a highly inappropriate laugh before he caught himself. “Yes. Please do.” Every night. It was the only way he wouldn’t worry about her when he should be sleeping.

“You be careful, too. As you said, they’re out to get us. And they’re gunning for you, dead or alive. You’ve escaped them twice now, and they hate you for it.”

“I escaped them once.” He tapped her nose. “The second time, somebody rescued me.”

That brought on a tiny smile, the first glimmer of anything positive he’d seen since they’d found the girl. “I know you gotta go,” she said. But she tugged him down as she stood up on her toes. He leaned the rest of the way to give her a kiss goodbye, not a hungry one like they’d shared earlier, or a tentative one like he’d given her on the dock. A caring kiss. A kiss that forgave him for leaving.

Hauk stroked her cheek, the one that wasn’t bruised from the force of Ric’s attack, and cursed himself for letting the murderer go. Ananke was stepping up their game, bringing the fight to the Underlight with a violence they’d never displayed before. Hauk wanted nothing more than to get Jolie out of the blast zone before whatever bomb they were planting went off.

But he had a terrible feeling it was already too late.