Lost Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 4)

“We have a shit-ton of problems.”

Her lips twitch. “I meant us—our groups. We’re spending our time fighting divided instead of fighting together.”

That’s the us she was referring to? Not growling becomes my primary focus.

“Slade is a sociopath.”

“So you’ve said.”

“So you’ve not argued.”

“I’m not sure what Slade is, but he is sane. I’m sure you’d be a little desensitized too if you’d spent centuries as a torture puppet.”

I grimace, my mind slipping back to the past when I was a child begging my birthmother to spare me. She was killing me slowly, draining all the power she could. It was agonizing and never-ending.

“Fair enough,” I say, clearing my throat. “But he’s tried killing two of our people already. I’m sure now that he knows what I am, he’ll try killing me too.”

“He knows you’re dragonite—he saw that and only that. I didn’t correct him, and he doesn’t perceive you as a threat. He thinks you’re in control.”

I snort derisively, and she rolls her eyes.

“You have control,” she goes on.

If she only knew... That control slips every second she’s near me.

“So he just likes to try to kill women?”

“Slade is only logical. There’s not much emotion left in him. But the only reason Leah and Roslyn are alive is because they’re women. If he wanted you dead, you’d already be dead. He wouldn’t need to lure you into a trap.”

I take a step closer, and she doesn’t retreat. Her breath speeds up when I cage her in against a tree.

“You really think that?” I ask her, studying her eyes as I slant my body in front of hers, crowding her space.

The predator in me wants her to run... It wants to chase.

Her tough façade fades a little as her eyes shift, an array of emotions passing through their depths.

“I don’t know who would win. But I do know neither would walk away unscathed, and it’s a pointless battle. Slade has agreed to join forces. You have hundreds. We have only about twenty, give or take. We know what the Master is planning. We can help each other.”

My eyebrows go up.

“You know?”

“Ninety-nine percent positive. So?”

How the hell am I going to withstand being around her when she’s the only thing that seems to make my control slip? Even now I’m fighting to keep my head clear.

“Kane will never allow Ella anywhere near him.”

“Good. Slade’s one condition was that Ella wasn’t brought along. He said someone else can fill her in. Originally I wanted to meet with her to convince him of this. Apparently that wouldn’t have worked, so I’m glad I never got that meeting.”

That has me confused.

“What’s his issue with Ella?”

I was almost positive he had something for her, considering how he always makes it his job to save her.

“You’ll have to ask him.”