Banging the Beasts Book 1: Banging the Beasts
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C. Swallow
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Colette is a gifted Healer sent somewhere most people would run from—the lair of five cursed Beasts. Once human, these powerful warriors now serve the Fey, bound to brutal rituals that keep their strength alive but threaten their sanity. Her task sounds simple: help them stay balanced, stay human… and stay under control. Easy, right? Not exactly. Each Beast carries his own storm. One is a childhood friend she thought she lost forever. Another burns with a temper sharp enough to start wars. One craves affection almost as much as trouble, while another watches from the shadows like a silent guardian. And then there is the most dangerous of them all—the one who wants nothing to do with her… or so he claims. Surrounded by claws, secrets, and tension, Colette quickly learns that healing five Beasts may be the most thrilling challenge of her life.
Chapter 1
COLETTE
Mother is the best healer in the realm, but what happens when she desperately needs healing? Well, she has me. And I’m trying my best, but her recovery is slow.
She’s being called to heal someone of extreme importance to the Vulture Fae Court. There’s no way she can go, so she looks at me as I stand at the side of her bed.
Mother hands the letter to me, her skin dull with the flu that took hold of her this month.
“What can I do? The Fae need Beasts to be healed. Unlike you, I haven’t helped anyone but humans,” I whisper, folding the paper that I’d already read and putting it into the pocket of my red dress.
“Remember that little boy…who turned into a Beast quite young,” she whispers. “You had a friend in Blud… You’ll find him when you go. Colette Vitalia. Remember your name.”
My throat tightens as she says our healer name with such pride. I nod and hold her hand as she reaches for mine.
“You must go now. The Fae King’s Beasts must perform their rituals to gather power for their Fae King Bozna Pix. But they are too injured, Colette. Help them.”
“But…they eat humans like me?” I whisper.
“Do the job. Don’t think of anything else,” my mother says reassuringly. “Your escort is waiting. Go with them now. Don’t worry about me.”
“I can’t leave you. You’re too sick, and I’m also scared.” I say this quietly. “Mama…if I go, what if I freeze with fear when I see them?”
“The Beasts have rules… They must slaughter to feed magic to the circle.” My mother starts to cough violently, and I quickly give her more of the violet bark tea I made for her.
She sips it and closes her eyes. It eases the cough, but the cup almost falls from her hand. I quickly take it and put it on the bedside table.
“Mama?” I whisper, holding my hand below her nose. I feel no breath. “No!”
The door to her room is wrenched open, and I can almost taste the sickly sweet odor of Fae waft into the room as a Fae escort with a crooked nose called Impz comes to fetch what he’s come for. “We need a Vitalia now. It’s you or her.”
“But my mother is…,” I blurt, then trail off.
His bright eyes are nothing but cold toward me. Impz also says nothing in the face of my pleading.
Fae don’t give a shit about human suffering. They only care that we do what we’re told.
“You are of Vitalia healer’s blood?” the Fae asks after a moment.
I nod, and I look up to see the tall, lithe Fae reaching for my arm.
“Come, or we’ll both be killed,” he warns me, holding my eye. “You do not keep Queen Fae Reyna Pix waiting. Her time is precious. Yours is not.”
I jump when I hear a harsh cough, and I turn to see my mother awake again and breathing heavily, her eyes watering but her hand waving as she reaches for more of the tea.
“Go,” she wheezes and manages a smile. “I’m fine.”
Thank any and every god but the Fae gods. She’s okay.
I don’t have time to say goodbye because of Impz. He dangles a necklace of green reeds around my neck, taking my wrists in his cold hands. His translucent wings peek out of his back, becoming more visible and blinding me with their light.
Though some Fae have finer features than others, most of the Fae are not that pretty. They are like tall gargoyles to me, with pointy ears and thin, long lips. They are always normal to their own kind and mischievous pricks to everyone else.
Humans are the ultimate joke. Fae love to steal us, hurt us, kill us, and eat us. The humans that Fae curse to turn into Beasts are their biggest mistake.
They create a few Beasts so strong they cannot be killed. Those Beasts are immortal from their shared circle magic. Well, I’m actually wrong saying that, because lots of—and most of—the cursed Beasts die trying to be the cream of the crop.
Only the five who are the most vicious and most intelligent can live out immortal lives. As long as they kill the most humans and eat enough blood and flesh, then even the Fae cannot order them to obey.
No matter who you were, if you achieved an immortal life, you have the same rank as immortal Fae royalty.
So from what I understand, the five Beasts who are immortal and on their level are treated like royalty—fake-loved but also feared by King Bozna Pix and Queen Reyna Pix. That’s why if the Beasts need help, the Fae toss expendable humans their way to help.
Gods, I need help, that’s for sure. If I place one step wrong, I won’t just be told to go home—I won’t make it home. They wouldn’t waste flesh and blood like that.
Which brings me to a strange opinion I have, a secret I never dare share with anybody. Even though the Fae have an assortment of human whores if they want them, I actually think the Beasts are far more attractive, to be honest. Besides, they were humans to begin with, even if they’ll never be human again.
I hear a loud clap in front of my eyes, and I realize I’ve fallen into a portal-trance, forgetting my surroundings as I’m briefly intoxicated by Impz and his disgustingly overpowered cologne. He’s clapped two more times in front of my dilated eyes, closing and hiding his wings under his navy cloak while he takes the reeds from my neck.
They get stuck in my long brown hair, and he has to jerk the reeds harshly, making me wince as he rips out some hairs by accident.
“Focus. What’s your name? Introduce yourself,” Impz asks me quickly.
I take in the royal chamber I’m standing in. I sense a queen at her breakfast table, picking flesh from a bird of prey she probably caught in the air herself. When I glance at Reyna Pix with her infamous translucent glassy hair, she’s ripped the head off a vulture, and she shreds it with her claws, all while her perky eyes flash from green to blue.
Out one sleek window, I see the fantastic Fae palace on the edge of Myst Falls as a pretty waterfall crashes over next to their royal Fae chambers. I also see more dead birds piled on the balcony outside as other Fae royals reach for whichever birds they wish to eat.
I remember Impz’s suggestion, and I stop taking in the overwhelmingly bright colors of this Fae palace as I turn to the queen.
“Colette Vitalia, at your service, Your Highness.” I bow to the queen, lowering my eyes respectfully.
“Do you know where I’m sending you, little girl?” the queen asks in her normal voice, which is a whisper that tickles my ears so much I try not to scratch them.
I also want to sneeze, her magic already tormenting my senses. I lift my head, willing myself to ignore the urge to scratch.
“To help Beasts who are injured?” I ask while my ears prick.
I hear the sound of a door slamming from somewhere nearby. It’s a very heavy thump.
“The Beasts who perform the circle fell off a cliff and are healing too slowly. Please help them,” the queen whispers, then flicks her wrist. “Take her, Impz.”
My nape prickles as I hear a door quietly swing open behind me, the movement in the air making my dress flutter around my ankles. I resist looking.
“No, Impz. I will take her to Diablo Inn. I’m going there now.” A smooth snarl fills the room, the absolute opposite of a whisper. “I know her anyway.”
Impz curls his fists. The queen even looks startled, pausing her chewing to take in the Beast that’s apparently behind me.
I prepare to see a fully grown Apex Beast up close. An Apex chews on human bones and flesh for a living.
I carefully shuffle around to take in… Oh my gods, it is Blud.
Now a seven-foot giant Beast, his body is pure muscle and broad shoulders, black tattoos cover his tan arms, and his torso is beefy too. A whole twelve-pack of rippling powerful abs stares me in the face.
His thick claws and head, the most Beastly parts, are a combination of bear, lion, and wolf—pure Beast with bull-like horns and two protruding fangs.
Beasts like him are meant to be the Fae’s dogs, but this one is permanently off the leash.
I’m secretly proud of my old friend. He’s thriving even with their curse.
Blud’s eyes are still human, and the gray of the kind boy I remember is still in there. He looks over me briefly, and I feel like I can see the neighbor I grew up with is still within the Beast, still alive. But he lifts his stony eyes past me to focus on the Fae queen for now.
“Why are you up here so early in the morning, Blud? I said I’d send a Vitalia your way,” the queen hisses, even her teeth chattering together with her rage.
“I fucked your daughter,” Blud answers seriously and without remorse.
The queen screeches and stands, but she does nothing.
“The princess requested a Beast,” he explains. “I did no wrong by her. I obeyed her. Are you mad? But why, Reyna? She enjoyed my cock ramming into her tight Fae pussy. She only bled a little. I spat on it first.”
Oh, Blud, he has a dry humor. He’s also vulgar. By the gods, he sure talks like a cursed Beast.
The Fae queen just curls her fingers back and forth in creepy waves, like she wants to cast magic, but she can’t beat or match a Beast like Blud. I’m trying not to smirk. That might get me quartered.
“Take your human and get out of my bedchamber. Remember, you can’t come to the court without invitation.” The queen ignores what he said, using that weak reprimand instead.
“I have many invitations here, almost as many as Atlaz,” Blud torments her, smiling. “Enjoy your bird, you ugly old bitch.”
The queen, who isn’t that old but is certainly vain, throws out her hands and slams him with her magic. His whole giant body of pure muscle and sinew shuffles back against the polished stone floor a couple of inches. Reyna breathes heavily and screams, pushing more of her power through the air, until he slides out into the hall in slow motion.
I mean…she tries.
Blud doesn’t react to the weak attack, his own magic grounding him. His gray eyes finally drop to mine.
“Come with me.” He huffs and sounds like a bull.
He doesn’t wear clothes, and I’m doing my best not to look between his legs. Especially after what he implied about bleeding. He must be huge.
Impz shoves me toward the Beast, slamming the doors shut on both of us. I’m actually relieved when we’re alone out in this giant stone hall together.
“Do you remember me?” Blud looks down at all five feet of me, his tone kind.
“I-I…do,” I stutter. “You um…you got a little rough…when we were playing once.”
I remember him being my best friend, only to start turning into the Beast he is now.
He had bit my arm so badly it bled quite heavily, and mother had to stitch me up. I never saw him again. I knew back then, when he turned feral, it wasn’t him but the curse within. A boy couldn’t fight it. I already forgave him.
I show him my arm and the scars. “Remember this?” I ask.
Blud holds out a sharp thick claw, lifting my arm a little higher as he holds his breath.
I wait for the apology, a nostalgic smile tugging at my lips.
“You’re lucky I didn’t bite the whole thing off. You tasted so delicious.” Blud says this instead with an appreciative growl. “Lucky for you, when it comes to women, I prefer to feast on other body parts now.”
He grins and I go red in the face.
Um. What do I say to that?
And when he smiles so widely, I see the rows of thick, sharp teeth, fangs on top and at the bottom…I look away, feeling almost lightheaded. I don’t know if I’m turned on or just mortified.
Blud turns and leads the way, whispering, “Kidding.” His hand pats the back of my dress, suggesting I keep up with his quick pace. “So, you can heal now, Colette?”
“I can. I learned the ways from my mother,” I answer. “How can I help?”
“It is true. We will need your help.”
Strange response… We already established that. Blud won’t look me in the eye.
“Yes, but how can I help?”
“We need a female to center our Beast circle.”
Blud keeps dodging the question.
“The last human who volunteered had such big tits that it caused Atlaz, Falon, Dime, Ethron, and I to fight and we fell off a cliff chasing her. We kept watching her beautiful tits bounce and got distracted.” He sighs and growls. “Fucking idiots. I grabbed the rock, but they all fell and broke their legs.”
Um, what the fuck?
And why am I staring at my own small tits, frowning, feeling insecure? That should be the last thing on my mind.
“What do you mean, I have to be the center of your c-circle?” I stutter as I think of the rituals.
Blud won’t answer me, frowning as he walks us around the empty Fae court because it’s so early. We move onto a large bridge that overlooks floating rocks and their falling waterfalls.
The sun sparkles on the horizon, making everything glitter with the dew that covers every surface. It is a calm morning in the Vulture Lands. I have a feeling it’s not so serene at night.
As I look around, I see Fae flying back and forth from their homes in the Myst to the Vulture Fae Court on the Earth. They live on the floating masses of land scattered above, out of reach of all creatures without wings. Except for birds, hence why they probably eat them—out of jealousy or something.
“I’m here to heal the other Apex Beasts, right?” I ask a different question.
Blud turns to me and grins. “Yes.”
His answer makes me a bit happier. Good. Let’s start there.
