Red Moon Secrets (Deadly Beauties 3)

He flops down to the couch and scrubs his hands over his face over and over. If I had been there, I could have stopped her from doing this. I brought her back the last time. Albeit, she wasn't quite so destructive last time.

I glance out the window as headlights pull up. Dice. Now is not the time. How did that asshole even find this place?

"Zee, get rid of him," I grumble, motioning to the incubus in his car.

"Sure. Then you can tell me what the hell the two of you freaks are talking about."

He rolls his eyes, acting pissed for being out of the loop, but this is Alyssa's secret to tell, not mine.

"She wasn't careful. I hope she hasn't fucking exposed herself. I've got to find a way to help her subdue that part of her," Gage says, acting as though he's going to be the one taking care of her.

"First of all, she doesn't need to subdue anything. It's part of her. Pushing it down, denying it—it'll hurt her in the end. I know that personally. She has to learn control it."

He scoffs something too low for me to hear fully—something about night stalkers coaching witches on how to be monsters. Fucking dick.

"No matter what you say," he grumbles, "this isn't Alyssa. Being this...creature will surely destroy her. I won't let you decide what's best. If she contains it the way Freya did, she'll be powerful without being a monster. She'll never forgive herself if she hurts someone."

I glare at him, ready to rip his head from his shoulders. How dare he! He doesn't love her. If you love someone, you love all of them, not just the parts that are easy to love. You love the good, the bad, the extremely fucked-up. You don't tell them to pretend to be something they're not. You don't try to change them. You accept all of them, encourage them to be comfortable in their own skin—especially in our world.

"Alyssa is stronger than you're giving her credit for being, damn it. Freya might have been strong, but she was a ticking time bomb because she isolated the sections of her like they were categories, never allowing herself to be at peace with what she was for fear of becoming one of the underlings in her species. Had those creatures learned control, they too could have been just as amazing as Alyssa will be."

He has no faith in her, yet he claims to love her. He's no good for her. He'll drag her to the pits of hell with his good intentions. I pray she never goes back. Please, God let her marry me and stay the fuck away from this judgmental ass.

He turns his cold gaze back to meet my unrelenting glower. "If she kills, it will draw the darkness out and leave it in control. Maybe you want her to be some demented killer, but I don't want to see her lose herself to the darkness within."

I lunge after him, but Deke is suddenly restraining me. I forgot all about him even being here. Shit. He heard all that.

"Fighting isn't helping," Deke barks, holding my arms behind me.

I could easily rip free, but he's right. If I fight with Gage, it's just going to put more burden on Alyssa. I hate dilemmas. I'd really love to thoroughly kick the dark user's ass.

"Where the hell were you?" Gage growls, sneering at Deke who has now overheard everything.

"With the girls. I try to stay close in case Sierra breaks free. Stop looking at me like that. It's not like I haven't already figured out Alyssa is more than a meager witch. Her eyes flip the hell out pretty regularly. I admit, this is—confusing, possibly a little overwhelming, but Kane is right—she needs control."

Deke's eyes lack the conviction of his tone. He's only siding with me because he would never go against me. He too believes Alyssa should contain her darker gifts. Unbelievable. Do they not know how amazing she is? She can do this. She can be the goddess instead of the monster.

"You're both fucking idiots," I hiss, ripping free and walking away, ignoring the frown Deke offers me.

Gage looks confused by my words, since Deke took my side, but I know my friend better than he does. If Deke knows, it's only right I talk to Alyssa about telling Zee. Zee will be on our side. He'd better be.

It's starting to feel like it's just me and my girl against the rest of the world—they want to wrap her up in a straightjacket. They're condemning her for being different because of the mistakes others have made in the past. I can only imagine what will happen when others find out –people who don't give a damn about her. They'll kill her. Or try to. I sure as fuck won't let it happen.

I rarely use my secret powers no night stalker should possess. But I'll break free hell's wrath if they fuck with her.

Deke walks up behind me, patting me on the shoulder. "Sorry," he murmurs under his breath.

"Just shut the hell up," I mumble, staring out the window as Zee argues with Dice.

I can't hear the words, but I can see the incubus throwing his hands around angrily as the argument becomes heated. Alyssa has been driving him crazy since he first learned she was immune to his charm.

A smug grin comes to play on my lips just thinking about that. It's washed away when I think of that first day. So many times she kissed me after our divide, and it was al

l I could do to pull away each and every time. That day—I barely let her go.

I thought it was just her kissing me. I wanted to kill that slimy dick for forcing her against me and crushing another piece of my soul with false hope.

Nothing has ever hurt so much as learning she was a witch. Not because she was a witch, but because I thought I had just been a pawn in yet another scheme to draw out Castine. So many people have tried using me in the past. Being Castine's favorite was horrible enough. Having my life stalked by numerous fey just so they could get close to her made it all the more like hell.