Dark Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 1)

Dice starts rolling on the ground, and Karma laughs wildly as he curses and flops from side to side, his whole body turning the dusty gray color as they attack without mercy.

“You going to send them back?” Thad asks, amused.

I wave it off as I climb into the back seat of the shiny Phantom. “Nope. They’ll go back on their own within an hour or two.”

Gage salutes Dice playfully, but the incubus is too busy writhing on the ground to notice.

As Gage climbs into the front seat, my eyes immediately glue themselves to him. Dice may have propelled me into throwing myself at the sexy dark user, but these feelings are all my own. And I’m not so sure I want to fight them anymore.

Our world is full of sex and fun, but I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever wanted anything the way I seem to want Gage. It’s terrifying and exciting at the same time, and that’s a thrill I’ve only gotten when brushing against death’s fingertips.

“You’re smiling very big,” Thad says, looking over his shoulder at me. That snaps me out of my stupid trance, and I look out the window.

“Just thinking about Dice battling pixies,” I lie.

Gage’s eyes meet mine briefly in the rearview mirror, but he looks away almost as quickly.

“How far until our next stop?” I ask, shifting uncomfortably.

“Ten hours,” Thad says, his damn cheeky grin still intact.

It’s going to be a really long drive.

***

KIMBER

Between Thad drumming on the dash, Gage silently brooding, and me picking at my cuticles, this has officially become the worst road trip ever.

“Where exactly are we

going?” I ask on the eleventh hour of the trip. It was supposed to be a ten hour drive.

“Well,” Gage drawls, “we were going to go to another safe house. But Alyssa sent a text. Reese has a werewolf/witch hybrid that just showed up.”

“That’s an impossible combination,” I say, confused. “Were can’t have children—no bitten fey can. And a witch can’t be turned into a werewolf, even if she is immortal. Only creature gods can be affected by bitten fey.”

Thad sighs while stretching in his seat. “It’s a brave new world, Kimber—one that has been evolving without our knowledge since you and I were forced to open purgatory and unleash a lot of nasty little consequences. She was born werewolf and witch. There’s no evidence of a bite ever having transpired. Bitten fey are apparently having children now. At least werewolves are.”

Head trip. Major head trip.

While I’m trying to wrap my mind around everything, Gage continues with more information that only sends my mind reeling farther.

“She’s fresh out of the slave ring. She’s a little out of it and definitely going a little crazy, but she escaped because she’s almost immortal. Her strength doubled under the red moon we had a few weeks ago, and she busted out.”

My eyes widen. “Did she shift? Before immortality?”

Thad answers, “Yeah. That’s how they knew something was up when they found her. She was in severe pain, and she almost died because her bones broke during the shift back to human. It took a lot of healing to get her back to good.”

Leaning back, I take that in. “Reese is an alpha dick. I’m surprised he hasn’t killed her for being a blasphemous creature. He’ll see her as a lesser being or a threat.”

The guys exchange a look that tells me they’ve thought this very same thing. But then Gage’s eyes go back to the road.

“Reese is the one who saved her from the wrath of the pack. They wanted to shred her because her witch powers escaped her grasp. She’s not supposed to exist, and were are old school creatures,” Gage says, squashing my concern. “But Reese is definitely an alpha dick, so I’m curious about his motives for doing this.”

So Gage agrees with me. I’m not sure why I feel good having that ounce of vindication. As a matter of fact, I frigging hate it. It’s a small wedge of insecurity I’m not used to, and it’s certainly not welcome.

Sitting back, I decide to be quiet. My emotions are all over the place. I went from a fortress of composure to a human teenage girl in no time. And I’m sure as hell not a teenager.