Beast Lord: (Beauty and the Beast) (Tangled Tales Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

I should hire a carpenter too while I’m out,” mumbled MacKay. “Or we’ll all have to eat on the floor before long.”
    Stefan needed to rest. The battle and his injuries had drained him, not to mention the fact he’d lost a lot of blood. He made his way to the corridor, not wanting to attempt the stairs when his head was already spinning. He wanted nothing more than to peruse his newly acquired castle, but right now he needed to find the solar and lie down on the bed.
    Thankfully, the first door he tried led into what looked to be the master solar. The room was large and scarcely furnished. It had a bed in the center of the room, a hearth on one wall, and a few trunks scattered around the room. He made his way to the bed that had the red velvet curtains drawn, wanting nothing more than to get off his feet. He reached out and pulled back the curtains, and jumped back, startled, when he saw what was on the bed.

 
     
    Chapter 3
     
    Stefan looked through his one good eye at the hand mirror lying on the bed. It wasn’t just any old hand mirror – this one was gold with ornate swirls and a cherub face with wings on the handle. This was Hecuba’s mirror!
    He reached out for it with one shaky hand, knowing the mirror only too well since he’d seen it when Hecuba caused trouble for his twin brothers. Did this mean she was about to cause trouble for him too? Oh hell, he hoped she wasn’t going to curse him next. He was already cursed enough with all that he’d been through in the last day.
    With his injured eye swollen closed, he curiously picked up the mirror and took a look at his reflection through his good eye. He removed the eyepatch and threw it down, and then focused on his face in the mirror. There, staring back at him, was a hideous beast. His brothers were right. He truly looked frightening and couldn’t stand the sight of his own face. He was about to throw the mirror down when something caught his attention in the reflection of the mirror behind him. A woman in a long hooded cloak stood directly behind him. Hecuba. A mirror always showed the true appearance of Hecuba.
    He threw the mirror down and twirled around, at the same time unsheathing his sword. He held it up to the old hag’s heart.
    “What do you want, witch?” he spat. “Have you come back to make more trouble?”
    “That’s my heart you’ve got your blade aimed at,” she told him. “I thought you said you were going to strangle me with your bare hands.”
    His father was right. Hecuba had obviously been listening.
    “The next time you choose to eavesdrop, make your presence known! Who . . . or what were you and why are you here?”
    “First off, put down the blade, since it’ll do you no good where I’m concerned.” She reached out and pushed the blade away, and he let her do it. If she wanted to do more damage, her powers were strong enough that a physical sword wasn’t going to stop her.
    “Where is Rap? And why have you taken her?”
    “One question at a time. I took the form of a chair in the great hall and was glad when you stopped smashing the chairs because I have to admit I was getting nervous I’d be next.”
    “Why did you kill all those men? What kind of a monster are you?”
    “Me a monster?” She walked over and picked up her mirror and shoved it into his hands. “Perhaps you’d better have another look. And I didn’t kill those men. I came here with Rapunzel because I planned on collecting something of mine from Lord Breckenridge that I finally tracked here.”
    “What?”
    “That doesn’t concern you. All I can say is I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lord Breckenridge doesn’t seem to have been very popular, does he?” She laughed, and her eerie cackle filled the air.
    “I don’t understand why his attackers didn’t take the castle.”
    “I think it was something else they planned on taking – until you interrupted.”
    “Like what?”
    “Why should I tell