Poison's Kiss (Deadly Beauties 2)

"Dreamers are a rarity, and I thought they were all on our side - light I mean. I'm just worried about the other four stones out there. Plus, I want to see if I can figure out which spirit this blond imposter is trying to summon."

"That's impossible," Gage sighs out. "All lives can turn into spirits unless sentenced to purgatory. They become trapped in the plane of the undead until called upon by someone. What we need to focus on are the powerful immortal spirits that can be summoned via three sacrificial slayings. That still doesn't narrow it down, but we can at least get a feel for what kind of immortal spirit we'll be facing. Each spirit has to be killed a different way. The body they possess is mortal, but the spirit keeps it immortal, offering it an undead life."

Undead life? That's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one.

"How do we know it's a three- killing-ritual?" I ask while sitting down on the chair.

Kane answers. "Because of the way Thad was killed. Each ritual requires the deaths to be done in a certain way."

Massaging my temples, I use my magic to open the book in my lap.

"Give it to me," Kane says while taking the book away. "I'll go through the book. You go get some sleep."

"No. I want to go through it. I don't want to sleep."

Kane huffs out, groaning as he grips his head; but he nods. "Fine. If anything else happens tonight, make sure you wake my ass up before a dreamer gets to me."

I half smile, the forced feeling not giving him much comfort. He kisses my forehead before walking away, reluctantly leaving me with Gage.

"Can I stay up with you?" he asks, giving me his best seductive smile.

"No. Don't make me have the same argument with you that I just had with Kane."

He frowns, but doesn't say anything else. He starts to leave when Dice emerges from above, walking back down the stairs.

"So much for sleeping. The energy buzzing in my veins is apparently like drinking fourteen pots of coffee. Anyone up for a game?"

He switches on the game system Zee bought, and Gage narrows his eyes before pulling my hand in his.

"You're sleeping in my room. I'm not leaving you alone with him."

Dice laughs. "Chill out. She's immune to my charms, and I did just save her life."

He saved more than my life.

"I still don't trust you," Gage grumbles.

Before I can argue, Gage's arms are around me, vaporizing me before materializing us in his new room.

"Gage, Dice isn't going to touch me."

"Damn right he's not. Just get in bed. You need sleep. Dice is staying up, so he'll be ready and on alert."

I sigh out, realizing how sleepy I truly am the more I come down from my adrenaline high.

"Fine, but stay on your side."

He smiles while pulling his shirt off, revealing his perfect upper body. The numerous symbols tattooed on him remind me the dangers of his affiliation with the Somage. The rippled, lean-muscled, toned perfection of his body leaves my mouth watering like a fool with no self-control.

He smirks when he catches my wandering eyes, and then he lies down on the far side of the bed.

"I promise I won't touch you."

He pulls the sheet over him, stopping it at his waist, and then he stares up at the ceiling while placing his hands behind his head. I get in beside him, careful to leave a substantial amount of space between us.

"Gage?"

He looks at me, possibly fearful of what I might say, and murmurs, "Yeah?"