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

leaned down and brushed his fingers along her lips gently, the sensation sent a course of shivers down her spine as he did. She blinked and when she opened her eyes again he was gone. But the eerie cool feeling didn’t cease.
    Shaking free of the sensation Quill pulled herself through the hole and began to crawl dazedly toward the end of the pipeline. By the time she reached the end she felt more like herself and found Orion and Rose waiting for her.
    Rose threw her arms around her neck, crying out in relief: “Oh, I thought they had caught you!”
    “Nearly did,” Quill muttered, rubbing her throat where her knife had sat only moments ago. Rose sighed again and clung to her sister.
    “Are we free?” Rose whispered and Quill pulled back with a nod.
    “Yes. We are.” She smiled, “Welcome to the compound. C’mon, let us show you around.” She glanced over at Orion whose eyebrows were raised in a silent question. She shook her head to tell him not to worry about it, yet, before leading Rose away and back toward the compound entrance. She doubted Rose could remember a time when nature like this was so open. She had spent most of her life behind city walls and before that gracing only parks that were found within the city. Her father would’ve never taken them someplace impractical like this, there was nothing to learn here. At least, that was what he believed.
    “So, what do we do here?”
    “Survive, mostly.” Quill looked down at Rose as she slipped her hand into hers and shed the mask of the brave woman she had worn back at the auction house. Maybe she was feeling the side effect of freedom. It was an intoxicating mistress, freedom could wrap you up so you forgot yourself and the careful boundaries you built for a reason.
    “And how do we do that?”
    “Well, everyone has a job here.” Orion was the one to speak this time. “We all do something to help the family because that’s what we are here. And every job is as important as the last even if you’re just a cook or a cleaner or a fighter or a breeder.”
    “Breeder?” Quill winced, knowing there was no way out of this without explaining in full. So she stopped walking so she could turn to face her sister.
    “Breeders are the jobs most women hold.”
    “Are you a breeder?”
    “No. I’m not.”
    “Oh. Why?”
    “Breeders are girls who get pregnant to help us grow the population. When the blood baths happened… well, you know what happened. The Desecrated believe that it’s our job to repopulate, it’s the only way we might be able to take back what is rightfully ours.”
    Rose’s eyes widened and she shook her head, “no… Breeding won’t save us.”
    Quill frowned, “what do you mean? What do you know about the city?”
    “Too much.” Two words was all it took to convey a decade of secrets. It was the whisper of a burden too great for one pair of shoulders to bear and yet here was her little sister - shouldering it with a grimace and a blush.
    “You need to tell us.” Orion was insistent moving closer to Rose, who only shrunk closer to Quill. She shot Orion a warning glance before looking back down at Rose.
    “You don’t have to tell them until you’re ready. No one here will force you to do anything you don’t want.” She brushed a stray bit of hair out of her eyes before nodding her head. “Alright, let’s get you inside. It’s been a long night and you look like you need sleep and food.”
    Orion made a noise, no doubt longing to suggest she was the one who needed help. She could only imagine what she looked like right now to everyone. Her body was aching and her chest was sore from where the glass cut it, her leather jacket torn open on the back by the window… She probably looked like a heathen.
    She didn’t care though, it was all worth it to know Rose was safe now. She led her to the door leading down into the underground compound, the door slamming shut behind them and tucking them into the darkness