Snippet #2179034

Bettina heard rather than saw Mortimus regain consciousness, and she turned with a look of relief that halted when she saw the utterly un-Mortimus like smile plastered across his face. She watched in horror as the thing wearing Mortimus’s face called itself Vrael, and proceeded to rip off the arm of one of the fae guards who’d shown up in response to the commotion. Even as some of the blood splattered across her face, and he proceeded to eat the unfortunate fae, Bettina could do little more than stare.

“How do you-?!” Bettina barely managed to ask before Vrael explained how he could read Mortimus’s mind, and then reached out to her with his magic, ripping the impure taint from her body. The experience left her feeling so violated she thought she might hurl. It wasn’t until he began talking about Rumplestiltskin was she able to stop the shaking, and fear was replaced with anger. Anger she could work with.

“I highly doubt that.” Bettina hissed in a voice that dripped with venom. “Rumplestiltskin didn’t work for anyone but himself, and he sure as magic beans wasn’t catching flak from a bunch or psychopathic wannabe dragons! If you believe that, you’re an even bigger raging lunatic than you look!” Rumplestiltskin was a lot of things, but Bettina would never believe him a lackey, he had too big an ego to ever suffer that. These things obviously lied to try and hurt people she decided, especially after she heard what the monster said to Day.

When Vrael finally retreated from Mortimus, Bettina was practically a vibrating ball of rage. At Mortimus’s demand, she shot her eyes over to the fae captain. “You’re up sparkles.”