Unchained Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 5)

He’ll die before succeeding, but it might weaken this other one enough for Ella to be able to escape.

With an inward groan, I try to remind myself of his more annoying qualities. I cannot start approving of this dancing, singing, hashtagging—whatever in the bloody hell that is—imbecile.

My attention lands back on the blonde beauty with silver eyes. I can feel her getting stronger as well, and my heart seems to beat a little faster as I see all those insecurities melt back with the recess of the Type A incubus’s power. His power that she’s fighting effortlessly now.

My skin prickles with awareness, feeling the crackle of power exchanging between us, and I sit up straighter, narrowing my eyes on her as she stares down this new incubus.

I’m content to watch for now. I want to see her handle this mess without help. Without losing herself.

It takes a lot of restraint not to simply tear him apart as I wait.

I watch the transformation before my eyes, seeing the shell of a girl on the floor a few minutes ago morph back into the fierce creature who always looks this way in my presence…

A thought occurs to me that doesn’t settle too well on my stomach.

She’s drawing strength—mentally and physically—from my presence. And she’s not even aware of it.

I feel this other incubus straining, like he’s trying to break back through to her through that one-sided power-trapping cage. Dice studies them, his eyes brightening with excitement when he sees the dark little smile curve Ella’s lips.

“You’ve weakened me!” the soon-to-be-dead male snaps. “Where are my females?!”

“Hashtag—barbarian,” Dice drawls, a secretive smile on his lips as he takes a seat like he’s getting ready for a show, no longer poised for a fight.

There’s no longer an ounce of fear for his own life, nor those lives of the other women here. His only prerogative is to see Ella escape with her life.

Again, that’s a priority I can annoyingly approve of. An admission I’ll never confess aloud.

Standing, I clasp my hands behind my back, surveying Ella’s cage as I near. I can feel her drawing off my energy now, but not in a way that drains me. Does she even know she’s doing it?

What’s this new hellish development?

It’s like I can feel her magic crawling over me, and it’s a little too intoxicating, dragging me closer, even if it looks like I’m nearing her on my own accord.

Deciding I don’t want her to go dark, because she will if she has to break out of that cage on her own, I focus my power on the door.

Ella’s eyes seem to drift toward me, a confused expression on her face. She feels me. Feels my energy flowing. The two incubuses are unaware, but she senses me.

“You had something to do with this! Who took them?!” the belligerent dead man says as he stalks nearer.

Just as he’s within three feet, both relevant cage doors crack open simultaneously, courtesy of a flick of my unseen wrist.

Before the soon-to-be-dead incubus’s eyes can even widen, Ella throws out a blast of power that slams him into the wall and knocks him out cold.

Dice scrambles out of his own cell, blowing out a breath of relief for some reason. “Good. He’s still alive. We can lock him up in his own cells, and you can reinforce the cage doors. I’ll stay here and redirect his harem who will start looking for him. And you can—”

“You can kill him,” I say, causing the incubus to release a shrill scream and jump into the air.

His eyes find mine, wide and horrified, when I let my camouflage slip free to reveal myself. Ella doesn’t even bother acting surprised.

She really did sense my presence.

Giving me a dry look, she says, “Killing is always your solution to a problem, even when you don’t have all the facts. So I’m not surprised what your vote is.”

Dice looks between us, still clutching his heart, and growls, “Did you tell your flunkies to leave us down here so you could watch us squirm?”

My jaw tics before I can stop it, and Ella smirks. “No, he didn’t,” she says so arrogantly.

Dirt is smeared across her face. Her clothes are ripped and torn. And her ha