Dark Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 1)

And Ella needs to stay as far away from all of it as possible. I don’t know Karma well enough to let her around Ella.

“What are you? I know you’re a visionary—not that I can feel it since you’re the first I’ve met—but your other power is so strong and—”

Before she can finish asking the question I have no intentions of answering, the sound of a

twig snapping puts us all on alert. Karma’s body becomes surrounded in her red glow, and it starts to burn to be close to her. Forced to distance myself from her, I warily inspect the heavily shrouded woods.

“Avery?” Karma prompts, her voice steady but quiet.

A shadowy figure suddenly appears beside her, and I jump a little from the unexpectedness of it. A voice fills the air before the body fully forms at her side.

“This had better be good,” the unknown guy says, finally forming fully.

Gage is suddenly right beside me, his body crowding my space as he looms protectively. It’s comforting instead of annoying right now, because these woods are stifling huge quantities of the air I need to feel strong.

“We’re going after the slave rings,” Karma tells him, which means this dark user must be Avery. But why was he captured? Dark users aren’t rare, so what why would the rings be interested.

His runs a hand through his jet-black hair, glancing around as though he’s wary of this meeting place—that he chose. In his long leather duster, he reminds me a lot of Drackus.

“That’s some dangerous shit. Why do you want me here?”

He looks around again, his eyes trained on the dark woods we’re surrounded by. Only the moonlight illuminates us now, and each rustle of the wind carries another ominous sound with it.

“Because we need your help. You escaped like me, so you’ll know which planes to travel. I only know the one prison, and I want to find Kya. If we do this, we have to hit hard and quick. It’s the only way we can do this, because the other rings will start moving once word spreads.”

He’s making me paranoid every time he looks around, as though he’s expecting something to attack at any moment. I understand that fear, but I don’t appreciate him awakening my own paranoia.

“You’ve stayed in hiding since you escaped. Why now?” he asks, his eyes still searching the darkness.

Hating the fact that my own fear is rising, especially since the stale air trapped in this pocket of the forest doesn’t offer me much strength, I step into Gage, pushing my back flush with his front. I’m forced to ignore the breath he takes, especially since it echoes the same unwanted feelings in my held breath.

His hand slides down to my side, burning me with the touch, and he grips me almost too tightly. But I feel safe, so I don’t bother moving away from his hold.

“Because I didn’t have help. Kya is still in there, and I have to get her out.”

He groans, but he still avoids her gaze and ours.

“Kya is warped by now, Karma. There’s no telling what you’ll find even if you do rescue her. This is a suicide mission. What are you thinking?”

She takes a step closer to him, her red power burning hotter as her temper flares.

“I’m thinking that my sister is still in the rings, and who knows what they’re doing to her now that her powers have surfaced. You have a brother in there. Don’t you want to save Marcus?”

For the first time, he meets her eyes, but I don’t like the vibes that seem to taint the air.

“I’d do anything to save him, Karma. Anything.” He turns his back, moving away as we watch him. Something is wrong.

After a minute, he turns back around. “You should have stayed hidden. I’m sorry.”

The sickening feeling of betrayal stabs us too late, and Karma’s eyes go wide seconds before she attempts to vanish. But the force field appears as quickly as the stones circled around us on the ground, dark magic radiating through the core, grounding everyone to this spot, including the half demon girl.

“Motherfucker,” Gage growls.

“You bastard!” Karma yells, rushing the visible blue lines of the force field that is trapping us.

I yell for her to stop too late, and she collides with the powerful field before getting launched backwards. Thad leaps over, catching her limp, unconscious body before she hits the other side, and Dice curses while stepping away from the side he’s too close to.

Gage forces me behind him before whispering, “Whatever happens, do not try to use your power from inside here. The less they know about you, the better.”