Lost Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 4)

They never learn.

A pained yelp escapes my attacker, and I spin before grabbing someone’s short hair and slamming them into the wall across from me. They drop, and I stare at a night stalker as he spits out blood.

He laughs, for no fucking reason, but then I hear a sharp cry close behind me.

My body spins in time to see another guy, his eyes rolling back in his head. A dagger has been shoved through his chest... An anointed dagger.

As his lifeless body drops to the ground, my eyes connect with a familiar set of dark ones, and the subdued beast inside me tries to stir to life.

Kya smirks before jerking the dagger back out, and she tosses it to me through the air.

I catch it, hearing the sound of an approach seconds before I slam the dagger back, crunching through bone and skin as a bloodcurdling scream fills the air.

I never even turn around to see the night stalker I’ve killed. Instead, I jerk the dagger free, hearing the body thud to the ground. It’s not the first time I’ve been attacked after a fight. Immortals are sore losers.

I hold the dagger at my side as I study the eyes of the woman who is quickly becoming the bane of my existence.

“You look scary with that mask on. Can we go someplace where you can take it off?” she asks, propping up against the wall. “And can I have that back?” she adds, pointing to the dagger I’m still gripping.

Her eyes are stronger, her body looks to be full of color instead of slightly pale. She’s fed recently. We’ve barely been back long at all, yet she’s managed to steal souls? Impressive.

I glance around, wondering if we have an audience, then I suddenly appear in front of her, ignoring her quick intake of air as I wrap my free arm around her waist. Her nails dig into the skin on my chest as she clutches me, holding on as we land in the woods past Thad’s house.

He and Roslyn will be tracking tonight, which means these woods won’t have two animals sniffing out intruders.

Casting a cautious look around, I turn to face Kya as she smooths down her hair and blows out a breath. She takes her dagger and puts it back in its sheath

.

“I guess you were looking for me,” I state, wondering if she knows just how dangerous it is to tempt a beast.

“I guess I was,” she quips, poised and confident.

Feeding does more for her than just restore her strength. Pieces of her humanity seem to be missing. There’s less doubt in her eyes. There’s a layer of coldness there now that wasn’t there before.

“What do you want?”

She eyes my face, then frowns. “I want that mask gone. I really don’t like it.”

That has me smirking, though she can’t see it. “It’s just a mask, Kya. I’m the same man with or without it.”

She glares at me before closing some of the distance between us. I make no attempt to move as she grabs it and tugs it off. When I feel the cool breeze against my skin, I give her a full smile that has her shifting awkwardly.

She’s standing close enough for me to touch her if I lean forward just an inch, and she’s staring straight up at me like she’s daring me to touch her.

“Why’d you come after me?” I ask her.

“We need to talk.”

“About?”

“About us,” she says as though it’s obvious.

I groan, really fighting to keep things under control now. I literally just got myself calmed.

“What about us?” I ask, not willing to let her skate around the subject with vagueness.

“We have a problem,” she tells me.