Lost Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 4)

How are they escaping?

How did they use wiccan magic?

Demonic magic has a lot of restrictions.

What does this have to do with the blood of the firsts?

What does this have to do with the disbanded slave rings?

All are necessary and perfectly important questions, but there are no answers that link all of them together at once.

So it’s annoying the fuck out of me to hear them on repeat.

My head hurts.

It feels like ages before we finally make it back home. The sun is almost setting again—yeah, that long.

More than ever before, I need a fight. A good, solid fight.

That violent urge has always been there, carefully subdued by getting out the rage. It helped when I was an enforcer before the council was disbanded. And for a while now, the urge has been sated by the fight rings.

It’s worse than ever.

“We should talk,” Gage says quietly as everyone starts getting out of the car.

Kimber eyes us curiously, but she heads inside, casting just one more glance at us. Thad frowns, studying us, but I don’t have time for this discussion. I need to fight, or I’m going to end up stalking Kya down and retrieving her like she’s mine to claim.

What the actual fuck is wrong with me?

“Where are you going?” Gage asks me as I start walking toward the woods, not waiting for his true inquiry.

“Nowhere you should follow,” I say over my shoulder.

***

As the blood sprays and the dark user collapses to the mat, spent and unconscious, I raise an obligatory hand to announce my victory.

Cheers erupt through the air, and I take a soft breath, feeling that calm I’ve been fighting to achieve over the past three hours. I was worried I was going to be here all night.

When I hop out, Higgins, the dark user that runs the place, walks over to me, narrowing his eyes. No one here has ever seen my face, and tonight is no exception. I keep my eyes their natural color instead of showing what I am... Even though most of them wouldn’t have a clue.

The heat of my breath fans back from my mask to my face as I breathe through my mouth, tired.

“You in a mood tonight? I’ve never seen you quite so aggressive.”

I just nod, not speaking aloud. It’s another thing I don’t do here.

“You want another fight, or are you done for the night?”

I wave him off, letting him know I’m finished. He groans like it’s a bad thing. Then again, people show up more and pay more on the nights I’m here to fight. This is how he makes his living.

More guys want to be here to challenge me, since I’m the reigning champ. Which means more guys spending money at his training facility as well, just to get strong enough to beat me. Powers are useless against me though. As long as I’m close enough and can focus on just one person, I can snuff out their ability to use their power against me.

Usually.

I haven’t tried that theory on Slade yet. I’m not sure he’d let me close enough to give it a whirl either.

As soon as I step out into the dark alley around back, my skin prickles and the faint scent of blood assaults me. The wind slices, and I duck, slamming my elbow back into someone’s torso.