Dark Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 1)

“I promise to explore your body a little more thoroughly when we get out of here, and we will stay locked up for as long as we possibly can before we start the strikes,” he says, grinning against my lips. “But for now, we should go see what had Dice using his frantic voice.”

That has me laughing again, but my laughter turns to a gasp when the room around us rocks and vibrates.

“The hell?” Gage says before waving his hand and dropping the soundproof/entry-blocking spell.

That’s when we hear the explosions, the rattles of fists colliding, and all the telltale signs there’s a major fight going on outside our door. Gage and I exchange a wide-eyed glance before he takes off and kicks the door off, splintering it with the force.

I was right. It’s sure as hell a fight. Everyone is releasing magic, and the once glamourous beauty of a home is now in shambles like a battlefield.

I throw my hands up just as a blue orb nears, but Gage’s hand sticks out in front of my face, and the orb extinguishes as though he has the power to control all else. I look over at him to see his jaw tense.

“Don’t suppose I could convince you to get out of here, could I?” he asks, catching a man midair and tossing him across the room as though he weighs nothing.

I snort derisively while grabbing a girl by the head and tossing her backwards when she gets too close.

“Didn’t think so,” Gage mutters, sighing as he starts unleashing his orbs on two guys tangling with a very irritated incubus.

Red streaks light up the room, and I look to see the old and strong succubus forcing out her energy.

Thad is still in his human form, but he’s fighting through the madness. The problem is, I don’t know who to fight. I didn’t know any partiers to begin with, and I don’t want to accidentally kill the wrong person.

“This is my home!” Liza roars, jumping down from the balcony and rattling the floor on impact as she releases her power a little more. “What the hell do you want?”

Gage spirals through the air, catching several orbs like they aren’t deadly before they can strike Liza. She winks at him, but he doesn’t acknowledge the flirty succubus. I look over to see the battle separating as Gage’s hands light up with his own orbs.

“This is a warning,” one of the dark users hisses. “Anyone who comes after the rings has a death wish. Anyone who aides the fools going after them will die just as quickly.”

In less than a blink, the entire room becomes smoke, and Gage is suddenly up against me, holding me to his hard body as he searches the air we can’t see through. Little by little, the smoke clears, and all that is left are wounded people standing, and dead people on the floor. Son of a bitch.

Gage takes my hand as we walk over to a trembling Liza. Her hands are shaking violently and she’s pale. Very, very pale.

“Take mine,” Gage says, sticking his hand out.

She quickly takes it, feeding off any lust he might still have in his system, and slowly her color starts to return. Thad comes up, offering his hand as well, and Karma kisses Dice to replenish him.

“Damn bullies,” Liza grumbles, looking better, but still nowhere nearly as strong as she did when we arrived.

“Need you to take a small vacation, Mom,” Dice says as he nears, running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

“Absolutely not. This is my home, and I’m not the least bit afraid of cowards that come in.”

“Can you cast a protection spell for her?” I ask Gage.

“I can’t until everyone is out, but I will.”

Dice argues with his mother about her safety, and I lace my fingers with Gage’s. “If they know we’re going after the rings—”

“Then they’ve probably already moved them,” Gage groans in interruption.

“Not the biggest one,” Karma says, coming up beside us. “We can still hit the biggest one, and we can get new leads from there.

“We need to get back to the house and regroup,” Gage says.

I’m in disbelief. We were so damn close.

Chapter 14

GAGE