Beauty and the Beast (Demon Tales 1) by Kerrianne Coombes

try to fight back, he just gripped his bleeding
arm and glared at him. Brigg turned his head and scanned the
surrounding trees before he looked back at the clearly pissed-off
Ram.
    “Who are you?”
    The Ram Demon stared up at Brigg and snorted
his irritation. He pulled a white cloth from his pocket and tried
to wrap it around his bleeding arm, shaking his head. “Fucking Torc
owes me big,” he grumbled as he stood up and looked down at Brigg.
“Your brother, the fuck-wit, asked me to guard this place for
him.”
    Brigg watched the Demon and frowned. “Torc
sent you?” he asked. The gash that he had ripped into the demon’s
flesh was deep, and it would bloody hurt. But Brigg didn’t know
what to do with the emotion of guilt, so he just snorted. “How was
I supposed to fucking know?” he snapped. “You rounded on me with
that fucking sword—and what am I supposed to do?” Brigg tucked his
blade in his belt clip and crossed his arms. Stupid bloody ram.
    “You bloody jumped me!” The demon stood up
and huffed a breath through his nostrils. Irritation bled from his
nasty stare. But Brigg felt nothing but anger.
    “What kind of warrior are you anyway? Who
are you?” For all he knew, this could be a trap.
    The Ram looked up from trying to tie the
bandage tighter and flashed another glare at Brigg. “I am not a
warrior—I’m a prince. And I was just doing Torc a favour. I owed
him one.” The Ram Demon stood tall, and Brigg did notice the
dignity in the Demon’s stance. “I am Prince Sam of Tassin.”
    Brigg stared back. “Am I supposed to be
impressed?” The Ram bristled a little and Brigg almost smiled. God,
he hated Royalty—even the ones he was related to. Not one of them
owned a back bone, and this Ram and his lack of fighting skills
proved that point nicely.
    “I don’t suppose you would. Not since you
abandoned your responsibilities.” the Ram looked Brigg up and down,
clearly goading a response.
    Brigg took a threatening step closer to the
Demon. Those words cut, and red fog filled his vision. Prince or
not, Brigg wanted to break his nose.
    “Would you like me to tie that tighter?” The
soft sound of Cally’s voice flowed from behind, and Brigg jerked
his head around to see her climbing out of the tunnel. A cold surge
of fear trickled into his bloodstream, and before Cally could get
any closer to the Ram Demon, Brigg blocked her path.
    “He doesn’t need help.” Brigg glared at the
Demon who raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anymore.
    “Brigg, don’t be so rude. He came here as a
favour for your brother, the least you can do is help him tie up
the wound you caused.” She ducked under his arm and strode
over to the Ram—who was now smiling.
    “Want me to break that smile, Ram?” Brigg
moved closer to Cally and glared over her head at the Ram. Jealousy
shoved its forceful weight into Briggs chest when she gently
removed the poorly tied bandage from Sam’s arm. She let out a hiss
of sympathy and dug into the bag for a bottle of water.
    “So, you must be Princess Calindra?” Sam
asked while watching her every move. Brigg saw the Demon pass an
approving eye over Cally, and he took a step closer. Sam noticed
the clearly possessive move and grinned up at Brigg. “So Brigg’s
taking you home, then?” Sam asked. Cally’s shoulders stiffened and
she gave a weak nod. She kept her head low, and Brigg found himself
wondering what expression was on her face. Earlier, she had said
that she didn’t want to go back, and right now Brigg wondered
why.
    “So how’d you end up out here?” Sam asked
Cally, while she busily cleaned the blood from the Demon’s arm and
tied a fresh piece of cotton around the clean cut.
    She didn’t answer right away, so Brigg felt
the impulse to fill the silence.
    “He ready to go yet?” He asked the question
to Cally, but glared at the demon. After a second more, Cally stood
up and dusted off her trousers.
    “That better?” she asked Sam as she scooped
up