Unchained Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 5)

“Why did your mother create that forest, and how did she do it during her short life without killing herself?” he asks, almost as though it pisses him off to have to.

“You really hate it when you don’t know something, don’t you?” I muse.

Our bodies are at least a foot apart, but it feels like he’s touching me. I’ve never been around him for this long, and now I’m starting to see why he’s made it a point to avoid me.

Because this is miserable.

It’s like everything on me wants to be touching him.

“Answer the question so I can leave,” he states flatly, eyes ahead as his jaw grinds.

My smile finally wavers as I study his profile.

“You always look so pissed. Back there when you said they’d want death if they’d been imprisoned for centuries to Jeremiah, were you talking about yourself?”

Those silver eyes cut to me, and for a brief second, I wonder if he’s about to finally rip my head off or just throttle me.

“We’re not having this conversation. You’re telling me about this forest, then I’m going.”

It really does drive him crazy when he doesn’t understand something…

I could use this to my advantage. One day. Not today.

And by advantage, I mean like in a battle with him. Nothing else. Nothing sexual. At all.

I need a drink.

I should just answer him so he’ll leave, and I have no idea why I’m trying to get him to stay.

“Let’s start small, Slade,” I say mockingly. “Tell me what it was like to be thrust into a century full of planes, trains, and automobiles.”

He gives me a wry look. “I was in a cage, but I still got worldly updates. Slaves of all ages were in those rings.”

Well, I didn’t think about that. Makes sense.

“Now ask me a small question.”

“How did your mother create that bloody forest?” he asks with a sardonic smirk.

“Technically, the forest was already there. She just made it haunted. And it only affects beings with power. It’s not interested in terrorizing humans.”

“That is an impossible spell on that massive of a level,” he argues. “What would be the point in making it ruthless?”

“That’s not a small question,” I say on a sigh, tsking him playfully.

He’s not really a playful kind of guy.

“Where did you learn how to close that portal?” he asks.

“Not at all a small thing.”

“How’d you sense me in that room before I let myself be seen?” he asks, surprising me.

Bristling, I shrug. I don’t want to tell him how much stronger this unnatural connection between us seems to be getting.

“I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not, and it wasn’t like an actual sensation or awareness or anything. I just questioned if maybe you were there. I think more than anything I’ve become reliant on your ability to find me anytime I need you.”

He just stares at me for a palpable moment.