Desecrated Beauty (Twisted Fairy Tales #1) by Kyleigh Castronaro Read Free Book Online

her. She cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. Her sister shook her head slightly, but she wasn’t going to be dissuaded that easily without actually speaking to her sister.
    One-word exchanges were not going to suffice after nearly 5 years apart.
    Rose turned to her patron and whispered something. He frowned but nodded his head, saying something to her that made her pale face fill with a redness that was acutely visible under the lighting on the stage. She disappeared behind the curtain and Quill took this as her cue to go behind the wall again in case someone else looked her way.
    She felt antsy, wanting desperately to get out of this strange place, so as she waited she found herself hugging her arms around her stomach and pacing like a caged animal. She tried to ignore the throbs of pain resonating through her body, but they left her feeling queasy.
    She wasn’t waiting for long before Rose reappeared in the room, grabbing her arm so tightly the tips of her perfectly manicured nails bit right into her flesh.
    “What are you doing here still?” She hissed angrily, “you’re going to get us both killed!”
    “I couldn’t leave you here! Something isn’t right, you need to come with me.”
    Rose shook her head vehemently, “my place is here now. I can’t leave, he’ll come for me.”
    “That guy?” I cast an uncertain glance at the man on stage, “I could take him.”
    “No, not him and no you couldn’t.”
    “Then who? Whoever it is I could take him.”
    “No.” She spoke with a sharp tone, “you can’t. Now you have to leave. I’m sorry you even saw me, I wish you hadn’t.”
    Quill felt herself go cold at the way her sister dismissed her as if they hadn’t been best friends growing up. She grabbed her sister’s hands and held them tight, refusing to let go.
    “What has you so scared you’re willing to stay and live in your terror?”
    Rose opened her mouth to say something and then shook her head because she couldn’t bring herself to say whatever was sitting on the tip of her tongue.
    “I can’t.”
    “Please. Please, let me take you with me this time. I need to take you with me this time.” She hated to hear herself beg, to hear how vulnerable she felt in her own voice.
    Rose stared at her, her eyes glassy and broken before she glanced over her shoulder, “they’ll kill you if we’re caught… They’ll kill me.”
    “They can try.” Quill sounded a lot more confident than she felt given how much pain she was in. But if need be, she would fight to the death to get her sister out of whatever trouble her father had inevitably put her in for his own benefit.
    “We have to go now while they’re distracted while he’s distracted…” She dropped her voice so low Quill had to strain to hear her compliance. With a quick nod, she grabbed her sister’s hand once more and tugged her back toward the basement.
    She didn’t have any other time to come up with another escape plan so she would have to chance going out the way they came.
    Maybe they would be lucky.

CHAPTER 4
    “RUN!” Quill turned to glance over her shoulder at her sister, still holding on tightly to her hand as they ran for their lives. From behind Rose, she could see two figures chasing them: guards, no doubt. She squeezed her sister’s hand, smiling tightly in what she hoped was an encouraging fashion. It was a foreign expression for her after all.
    “We’re almost there.” She turned back to see where they were going, weaving them around the buildings heading for the pipe that would bring them back to the compound. Falling to her knees in front of the grate she reached out and started unscrewing the grate carefully.
    “Okay, go first. There will be someone to help you out, shout “Orion”… He’ll come.”
    “You’re right behind me right?”
    Quill nodded sharply, “right behind you.” She promised as she watched Rose drop to her knees and start to crawl through the hole. She waited until