Bitten Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 3)

“Doubtful. Slade was in the kill-zone. He tends to tune out everything, but he has a sixth sense if there’s a threat nearby. Which lets me know you don’t mean us any harm. He’d have sensed you and killed you immediately.”

Again, she sucks at putting someone at ease.

“Just don’t tell him Zee wants to sire you. He’ll send you back to them because he won’t deal with the drama of a night stalker chasing his prey.”

That makes swallowing difficult. “Prey?”

“Not food. Well, he’ll hunt you like food, then change you and fuck you like you’re his to keep.”

I’m fairly sure I just turned five shades of red, and it suddenly feels like it’s a blazing inferno in here.

“You blush. That’s a good color on you,” she taunts, grinning. “Does belonging to the night stalker sound like fun? Probably. It’s only fun until you’re immortal though. We like to own things, but we hate being owned. Most sired night stalkers slowly break their bonds so they can kill their sires. It’s a very painful process in the beginning. You can’t kill them until you’ve broken every bond. It’s how the sire keeps their control over you—the bonds. Trust me when I tell you that this is a much better option. Joining us is a better option, I mean.”

I just nod, even though I don’t know what she expects me to do. It’s not like I can actually kill anyone. And I’m not a freaking immortal! Her mojo is wrong on this one.

Before I can come up with some lame comment, the door swings open, and I swallow my tongue as several people filter in. Among them is one I never wanted to see again.

Slade.

His eyes immediately fall on me, and I take in the fact he’s a lot taller than I remembered. And scarier.

His inky black hair is messy, and it covers part of his forehead. Scars are in perfect, downward lines on his left cheek. A few more are on his face too, but he’s still not hideous. He’s not sexy like Zee, but he’s not ugly at all.

He is, however, terrifying the shit out of me with just his cold gaze. Fortunately, he shifts that gaze to Kya. “Any idea what she is?”

Kya shakes her head. “I was hoping you’d help me figure it out. You’re better at examining souls than I am.”

He can do what she does?

He returns his gaze to me, studying me so intensely that I’m worried I’ll burst into flames, but he shrugs. “Nothing like I’ve seen. Could be useful. Could be useless. Keep an eye on her. She’s more than old enough to be turning.”

Twenty-four. Twenty-four and normal.

Kya just nods, and I watch as a blonde purrs—actually purrs like a freaking cat—and runs her hand up Slade’s arm.

“Want company?” she drawls seductively.

He slowly wraps his fingers around her wrist, but his face remains stoic. “All I want is sleep. Touch me again, and I’ll remove anything on your body that has touched mine. Understood?”

The fear that was absent in the room is suddenly on everyone’s faces. The girl whose wrist he’s holding looks white as his eyes flash to silver.

“Sorry,” she whispers hoarsely, and Slade knocks her hand away before casually striding into a room and shutting the door behind him.

The queasy-looking girl comes to drop onto a stool next to Kya, and Kya battles a grin.

“He’s hideous and still he rebuffs me,” the girl growls.

That’s mean to say. He’s not perfect and he’s not devastatingly handsome like all the others seem to be, but he’s not hideous.

Kya snickers softly for a brief second.

“It’s not funny,” the girl hisses. She seriously sounds like a cat.

Everyone else goes back to their business, pretending as though shit didn’t get scary or awkward.

“It wasn’t funny,” Kya agrees. “It was stupid. Slade doesn’t allow anyone to touch him. You know this. Why would you do that?”

The girl looks down. “Eventually he has to let someone touch him again. I’d like to be that someone.”