Dark Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 1)

“I need to know when people are coming,” she scolds. “I don’t like to be surprised.”

“Duly noted,” I mumble dispassionately, deciding now is the perfect time for a much needed drink.

As I walk around and grab a bottle of bourbon, I work hard to not look over at Thad and the blonde I shouldn’t be enticed by.

“We need to go. I have someone waiting on us. It’s far, so we’ll have to drive,” the doll says, apparently not feeling the need to find her body just yet.

“You trust this person?” Thad asks her.

“As much as you trust these people. The one we’re going to see is a survivor like me and the girl you seem to be rather attached to.”

I look up just as Thad brushes his lips over the top of Kimber’s head, and he grins over at the doll. Before he can speak, the bottle of bourbon crushes and breaks in my iron grip, and I curse as alcohol splashes to the ground and all over me.

Dice props up as he comes around the corner, his smirk telling me he knows too much. He’s probably feeding off what I’m putting out right now.

“Then let’s go,” I grumble, waving my hand over the mess and my damp clothes, and watching as the glass reassembles and the liquid goes to the sink. My clothes are dry before I even take the first step.

The doll runs with stiff knees toward my room, where her body is apparently discarded, and I walk out of the house, desperate to catch a breath that might bring rational thoughts.

Thad joins me at my side, and I debate punching him. I really fucking want to.

“Care to tell me why I get the feeling you’re plotting my murder?” he asks flippantly.

Because I am.

“You fucking Kimber?” I ask, trying not to sound pissed, but it still sounds harsh enough to be telling.

His laughter booms out like thunder, and I glance over my shoulder while we move farther away from my house. When I don’t see anyone close enough to hear us, I continue with a quieter voice.

“What the hell is so funny?”

“That question is what’s so funny, dumbass,” he says, his laughter still lingering in the air. “You think I’m that stupid? No way in hell am I pissing off Drackus and Kane for that piece of ass. I don’t think anyone is dumb enough to attempt that.”

Swallowing hard, I glance back again, and my eyes meet her crystal clear blue ones—the eyes of a visionary.

He’s right. I’m one stupid son of a bitch.

Chapter 6

KIMBER

I hate the woods. Always have. I draw my power from the air, and it’s not as free inside the thick of the trees. It makes me vulnerable, and I despise feeling that way. Witches and warlocks derive their power from the earth, so nature is their friend here, putting me at a greater disadvantage. And it’s dark, which makes it hella creepy, and it cripples me even more because of the amount of beings that garner more power under the moonlight.

“The dark user keeps looking at you,” Karma says, leaning against a tree beside me and snapping me out of my reverie.

Reflexively, my eyes dart to meet Gage’s gaze, and he looks away quickly, seeming to mutter a curse to himself.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. Today was the first day since I was a kid,” I mumble, trying to downplay it.

“And yet you trust him?” she asks incredulously. “People change in that—”

“Not Gage,” I sigh. “He risked his life for me before. For everyone. Just as Thad did. Just as my family did. Hell, even Dice.”

“The incubus?” she asks, clearly shocked by that. “They’re naturally selfish.”

And arrogant. And annoying. And very mischievous. That list could go on and on.

“Dice is loyal to my family. Which is why I trust all of them. There are more, but for now, this is what we have. Rebellions are forming, so the others are needed with the queen.”