Twisted Death (A Twisted Fairy Tale Book 2) Read online

  Copyright © 2017 Ace Gray

  Except the original material written by the author, all songs, song lyrics, and song titles contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders. The author concedes to the trademarked status and trademark owners of the products mentioned in this fiction novel and recognizes that they have been used without permission. The use and publication of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead or events is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Bex Harper Designs

  Editing by Love N Books

  eBook Formatting by Elaine York of Allusion Graphics, LLC/Publishing & Book Formatting

  Paperback Formatting by Dee Ellis of Indie’s Ink

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Playlist

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  13.

  14.

  15.

  16.

  17.

  18.

  19.

  20.

  21.

  22.

  23.

  24.

  25.

  26.

  27.

  28.

  29.

  30.

  31.

  32.

  33.

  34.

  35.

  36.

  37.

  38.

  39.

  40.

  41.

  42.

  Epilogue

  About Ace Gray

  Other Works by Ace Gray

  This book is dedicated to those that love with their whole heart.

  To those who remember love is honest and kind as well as brutal and savage.

  Acknowledgements

  Each time I publish, these get harder to write. I don’t know what to say without sounding trite or repetitive because I am definitely a repetitive bowl of love. The fact of the matter is that every book I publish is hard. I make it through with the help of so many family members, friends, readers and fellow authors. For some strange reason, they keep showing up and for that I’m eternally grateful.

  Thank you to my husband, who always believes in me and reminds me of what real love is. You are all the magic and adventure I’ll ever need.

  Thank you to my family for supporting me even if it’s not the prettiest thing to be proud of. My sister-in-law told me that my brother has bought her each and every one of my books which was a surprise to me. I am constantly humbled by the love they show me, even when I’m not looking.

  Thank you to my friends, even though I know you guys don’t read my books. You respect me, you love me, you tolerate drunk me… You guys own a lot of real estate in my heart. I swear I’ll try to buy the island for us all.

  Special shout out to Lauren Kellogg aka Boner Breath 69 for being everything a girl could ask for in a best friend.

  Thank you to Emma for always listening and never wavering when it comes to building me up.

  Thank you to Mix for being top of the cheerleading pyramid.

  Thank you to Denae for your unending kindness.

  Thank you to Megan for never talking books with me.

  Thank you to Dyllan for being a drinking buddy.

  Thank you to Hetty for being my first and last text of most days.

  Thank you to Bex for knowing the art in my head before I do. And for being family.

  Thank you to Dee for giving me a place to belong and for breathing life into my pages.

  Thank you to Ellie and Elaine for your hard work on this book. Every person who touched it is so valuable to me.

  Thank you to Indie’s Ink for being a beautiful and supportive group of women. You guys kick ass and it’s an honor to work with you.

  Thank you to my author friends for always being resources, cheerleaders and above all inspiration. Someday I’ll be as cool as all you sexy beasts, until then I’m grateful for your friendships, and guidance.

  And to my readers, you guys keep me going. Your reviews, teasers and messages keep me going in what is a very tough world. There are so many times I want to quit publishing but you guys keep me from making that decision. Knowing that you bought this book, that you wanted to spend your money on my work, that you’re excited for it, is truly an awesome miracle in my book. I can’t even begin to tell you what you mean to me. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

  xoxo Ace

  A Twisted Playlist

  “Cruel World” by Phantogram

  “Blood In The Cut” by K. Flay

  “Hurt” by Johnny Cash

  “Biting Down” by Lorde

  “Make Me Cry” by Noah Cyrus ft. Labrinth

  “Somebody Else” by The 1975

  “Inside Out” by The Chainsmokers ft. Charlee

  “Needed Me” by Rihanna

  “Castle” by Halsey

  “Gold Guns Girls” by Metric

  “Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)” by AWOLNATION

  “My Gun” by Tove Lo

  “Guys My Age” by Hey Violet

  “Say It” by Flume ft. Tove Lo

  “Intention” by Kiiara

  “Wild Horses” by Bishop Briggs

  “In Cold Blood” by alt-J

  “Hollywood Forever” by K. Flay

  “BTSK” by MS MR

  “Second Heartbeat” by Shy Girls

  “Born To Die” by Lana Del Rey

  “Same Old Blues” by Phantogram

  “Human” by Rag’n’Bone Man

  “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man

  “Blame” by Bastille

  “Run Run Blood” by Phantogram

  “You’re Mine” by Phantogram

  “Dead In The Water” by Ellie Goulding

  What happens after the whole world goes dark?

  1.

  Elle

  One month, three weeks, four days and seven hours. If I had to ballpark it, twenty-seven minutes and thirty-two seconds too. All were empty ticks of a clock now that I was living without Cole. But who was counting?

  I grabbed a Sharpie from the coffee table and traced the letters that were bold scrolling script on my skin like I had every single day since I pulled the trigger of that damned gun.

  Ladylove.

  One of the last words Cole, my world, my love, my everything, had spoken to me.

  I hadn’t been able to get it tattooed on my skin like I thought I would the day that shit went sideways. Cole was the only artist that could have done that but now…

  Tracing the letters drowned out the boom of the gun that still echoed in my brain. It stilled the tremble in my fingers that the backfire had left residual in my bones. I tried to ignore that the loops reminded me of the way blood pooled beneath bullet holes.

  I was a murderer.

  I was trudging through hell.

  Alone.

  My teeth dug into my bottom lip as I put the finishing touches on the E and I did what I could to push the morbid thoughts from my mind. I barel
y managed and I chucked the Sharpie in frustration across the room with a screech.

  Horse walked into the sitting room just in time to watch the marker clatter to the floor.

  “Hey, Fucktart.” I flinched when he used that nickname. “Shit, sorry, Elle. I keep trying not to call you that but it’s just so…” He trailed off, the sadness that he’d worn as a necklace since losing his best friend crept up and choked him from time to time.

  “I know.” I sighed a little too loudly and leaned back on the couch studying the ceiling of Horse’s three-story townhouse. “I just can’t. That was us. The three of us.”

  “And now it’s just us two,” he said softly as he flopped onto the couch beside me.

  “No. It’s you two, you and Conrad, with me crashing in the spare room.”

  We sat in silence side by side. Horse’s warmth barely filtered deeper than my skin. Nothing could anymore. I wrapped my arms tight around my body and started rubbing. Horse blew out a giant breath. After all, what was there to say?

  I’m not sure how long we sat there, but it was a lot of heavy sighing to match the heavy weight of the room. It was kind of our thing of late.

  “Wanna have sex?” he asked as casually as if he was asking me to pass the remote.

  “I thought we weren’t supposed to do that anymore? I thought Conrad gave you an ultimatum.” I let my head roll to the side and arched my eyebrows at him.

  We both remembered the last time my best friend, Horse’s boyfriend, caught us. He’d run back to Seattle after damning us both to a Lady Gaga free existence. It had taken both of us flying halfway across the country to beg him to come back to Chicago, both promising to keep our hands off each other to get him back.

  The fact that Mickey Maloney had burnt the Seattle home we used to share to the ground didn’t hurt either. All in the name of that damned ledger.

  “What Conrad doesn’t know won’t kill him. I want you. And I want you to smile.” He reached over and wound his hands around me, easily pulling me into his lap. He was semi-hard beneath me.

  “I don’t want to kill him and I don’t want you to lie.” I leaned back and sighed.

  “I’ve got news for you, Elle, we’re liars and killers you and I. If Conrad can’t get on board then maybe we’re not so good together after all.” He slid his hand up underneath my sweatshirt. “Hummm, no bra? No stopping me now.” He hummed again and bent to kiss the curve of my neck. “Come on.” He swiftly grabbed me, twisted me up and over his shoulder and carried me to my bedroom.

  Horse roughly threw me onto the bed and I bounced the slightest bit as he stripped off his shirt and pressed his heavy body to mine. He made quick work of stripping off my yoga pants and diving down on me to push his tongue inside. I moaned as I flexed around him and curled my hands into his dark locks.

  But I wasn’t really there.

  I was taking inventory of my fucking awful little corner of the world. A mattress I hadn’t put on a frame. A full-length mirror that was missing one edge of its frame, a dead plant and almost nothing else. Besides the drafting table covered in millions of sketches. Sketches of haunted but beautiful green eyes.

  Not even full laps of Horse’s big, talented tongue could get my mind off Cole. Nothing could. His eyes haunted my dreams, they were the ghost behind my eyelids. In the hopes of exorcising my own personal demons, I wildly sketched them morning, noon and night. I’d even taken to erasing them when I’d drawn a particularly perfect pair.

  I wanted to erase them and lose myself in Horse.

  He’d wrapped his arms up and around my thighs and held them open. I bucked my hips up into his mouth more as a natural reaction than anything else. He shoved me back down and I bounced on the bed again. The jostling made me groan.

  “You like that?” Horse whispered against my thigh.

  I kept my answer to myself for a moment. Honestly it was a yes and a no. Sure, it felt good, Horse was talented, to say the least, but it wasn’t Cole. Cole had always known whether it felt good, whether he could push me or if I needed to be caressed. Our bodies spoke on a level that was better suited for fairy tales. Too bad fucking fairy tales didn’t exist.

  “Yeah, baby,” I answered eventually as I rolled my hips.

  “Right?” he purred as he crawled up my body and helped me slide my shirt off.

  Horse kissed along my collarbone and I threw my head back, arching up off the mattress, knowing it was a familiar move. He growled in response and started kissing down my breastbone. I shut my eyes. But this wasn’t a flutter shut in ecstasy, it was to better picture the thick roped muscles covered in beautiful art that used to flex and thrust over top of me.

  I hadn’t been able to tell Horse he couldn’t make me come any more. The long list of things that threatened to decimate either of us was getting too long these days. Fooling him into thinking that we still belonged together—even without Cole in the middle—was really more a public service than anything.

  Chicks against the decimation of a man named Horse. Membership, one.

  Just another thing I was dealing with alone.

  He pressed into me and unlike before, all I felt was discomfort. He was named Horse for a reason but I couldn’t remember the last time I was turned on enough to fully take his giant cock. I made sure my screech was in pleasure anyway.

  “Come on, Elle,” Horse grunted as he thrust against me. “I know damn well that’s not a real scream.”

  I moaned again, this time trying harder to sound genuine as I wrapped my hand up and around his ass. I grabbed hard and clawed in. He groaned in my ear but I knew his sounds every bit as well as he knew mine.

  “Horse, we don’t have to.” I twisted and kissed the scruffy curve of his jaw.

  “We do,” he said roughly as he slammed into me.

  I cried out and felt my nails break his skin. His answering growl was agonized. He pushed in a few more times.

  “Love, it’s okay.” I brushed my lips up against his skin.

  “No, Fucktart. Shit. Elle.” He nuzzled down into me. “It can’t be like this. We can’t be like this.” He was getting choked up.

  “Horse,” I said softly as I pushed on his shoulder. He rolled off me with a dramatic flop and his big dick fell from me to his stomach. I followed him over and straddled his hips. “What’s wrong? Why are you forcing this?”

  “I want you.” His hands traveled up my body and he palmed my tits.

  I curled my hands over his, barely able to cover half the back of his palm. “No, you don’t.” I bent down and kissed his perfectly toned chest.

  “I do,” he roared as he fisted my hair and yanked my head back. He flexed up to kiss along my throat. “I want you, Elle. I need you!” His rough, loud voice broke as he flopped back to the bed, letting my head drop.

  I had a feeling that he wanted to switch my name to someone else’s. Someone who had glowing green eyes and a cat named Felix tattooed on his finger. I sometimes wanted to scream the exact same things toward the heavens.

  A tortured sound escaped his lips. My heart broke. What was left of it anyway. I burrowed down into his roped body like a kitten. I even purred against his warmed tanned skin.

  “You have me, Horse. You’ll always have me.” I twisted to kiss him chastely beneath his lips before notching back into the space beneath his chin.

  “When does it stop hurting?” he asked quietly, so quietly it was hard to hear.

  “Never.”

  He wrapped his arms up and around me, crunching down on my bones in a way that made me feel like I might not split apart after all. His grip got tighter the longer we lay there and his breathing never really seemed to slow.

  “Horse, my love.” I wiggled a little to free my arms and wove them around his big body the best I could. “Where did this come from?”

  Only his shallow breathing cut the silence in the room.

  “Horse?” I tried to push up from his chest, he held me tight. “Come on. Spill.” I got sharper.

 
“Can I have one of your sketches?” he asked without answering me. “One of the happy ones? Where his eyes are crinkled at the sides? It’s been so long since I saw those eyes that I’m afraid I’m forgetting them.”

  “Of course.” I kissed his chest again. He shook a little bit beneath my lips. “But you still haven’t answered me. Why are we a mess of limbs sobbing on my shit mattress?”

  He sucked in a deep breath and I felt him hold it beneath my body until he was likely to burst.

  “He’s back. Mickey’s back. We’ve been summoned.” He rushed the words as he blew out a massive breath. “We’ve gotta be there in less than an hour.”

  My stomach jumped up into my throat as I shoved away from Horse as hard as I could muster. Honestly, there was no way for me to make him budge but he dropped his grip and let me sit up.

  “What?” The tears were already pooling in the corners of my eyes. “Why? Why do I have to go? What does he want?”

  He shrugged beneath me.

  “We have to be in that room? I can’t. I won’t.” My chest was getting tight, my throat even more so.

  “I know.” He sat up and crushed me back to his chest as full on sobs shook my shoulders. “Shhhhh, Elle. It’ll be okay.”

  “No. No. No.”

  It was all I could manage when I thought about being back in that room. The deep, dark vortex, the bright red blood. The salty sickening smell. The throne and the spotlight. God, the bolts were probably still in the floor and depending on the day, someone could be chained to them.

  “I’m gonna be sick.” I shoved off him and bolted toward the bathroom.

  He was right on my heels, pulling the straggly blonde straw of my hair out of my way. I couldn’t really throw anything up, that required eating and I wasn’t real fond of that these days, but it didn’t stop me from trying. Horse just rubbed my back as I heaved and gagged.

  When I gave up, I slumped back to the wall with his arm awkwardly wrapped around me. He settled in next to me, us finishing this debacle of an hour the same way we’d started it—silent except for heavy sighs and wallowing in unspoken sadness right smack next to each other.