Dark Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 1)

“Not here,” the alpha says, her eyes dulling down. “Follow us.”

She waves her hand, and we all follow at a safe, nonthreatening distance. Werecats are unpredictable. An entire pack of werecats… That’s just asking for trouble.

Chapter 3

KIMBER

“So they drugged you every time they moved you,” I say, summing up all the pack leader, Sheila, has told me.

“As I said, I never saw where I was. The planes make no sense to someone who can’t move throughout them, so even if I hadn’t been drugged, I still couldn’t have helped you.”

Damn. It’d be nice to be a visionary with a vision right about now.

“They took from you,” she says frowning. “Your powers will never return. Is this vengeance or a rescue mission?”

Shit. In order to get her to confide in me, I had to confide in her first. War stories bond people quicker than anything. Fortunately, I managed to get her alone for this conversation, expelling her pack and my people to the outside.

“Both,” I say honestly, knowing an alpha lioness has the ability to sniff out a lie. “Vengeance if I find the ones who murdered my parents and took me. Rescue mission for everyone in between.”

She smiles as though she understands. “Will you continue this crusade if you find the ones responsible for your parents’ deaths?”

It’s a test—not just a question. But I have the true answer she wants to hear.

“I’ll hunt until the last unsanctioned prison is found, until the last innocent soul is saved, or until they kill me for getting too close.”

Her grin is quick, and just as fast, she masks it behind her otherwise stoic expression.

“You haven’t lied to me yet. It’s obvious you’re here for the right reasons. Can you say the same for the rest of the ones who are with you?”

“You know as well as I do this world is full of people you can’t trust. The problem is the fact that I need them, so I have to trust them enough. But if you want me to keep something quiet, I can promise to you that I will do all I can to fulfill such a request.”

She studies me long and hard, discreetly sniffing the air for a lie. Her lips thin after a long moment.

“Is there anyone you trust completely?” she asks, her eyes on me.

Unbidden, Gage pops into my mind, and I have no idea why. I haven’t seen him since I was a child, but I know Alyssa trusts him. I also know Drackus trusts him. That’s enough for me. And then there’s Dice. Annoying as he is, he’s also one of the most trustworthy people out there.

The others I barely know. At the most, I’ve known some of them for the two years I’ve been running the Somage.

“There are two outside, and I have a family. The queen being one of the members of my family. Why do you ask?”

Her eyes go wide, and then a slow smile spreads.

“Then you can keep her safe.”

“Her?” I ask.

She completely ignores that questions and goes on as though it was never asked. “There’s something you must know first. She doesn’t trust anyone very well, and though she seems juvenile and free-spirited, don’t doubt that she’s dangerous. If she feels threatened, she will make you wish you were dead. You’ll need my name to even get her to speak to you. And this,” she says, removing a necklace.

She stares at the silver chain for a moment. It holds a blue stone, though it doesn’t seem to be magical at all.

“She’s a survivor, and she has the power to split the planes.”

My heartbeat kicks up, and the lioness werecat hears it. She grins while handing me the necklace.

“What is she?” I ask while accepting the unremarkable stone that doesn’t seem to harness any power or true meaning at all.

“Something that isn’t supposed to exist.”