Unchained Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 5)

The legend of the Gemini Twins was born in this prison. You’ll grow it. Make it real. Let the whispers of the cells ignite a truth you’ve concocted to keep yourself relevant to all who takeover before they kill you and Alton for becoming pointless.

There are equations all along the next page and the one after, all of which make zero sense to me, but Kimber sucks in a breath.

“What is all this?” she asks, distracting me from my own thoughts.

“Science disguised as math, or so I’m told,” I grumble, gesturing to the gibberish equations on the page.

“What does that mean? The Gemini Twin legend was born in that prison?” I prompt, even as her eyes stay glued to the nonsensical equations.

“It means he made it all up. He orchestrated this massive legend, and it was believable because he made Alton believe it too,” she goes on, eyes enamored. “He even made himself believe it by implanting false memories and removing others. He only remembers the truth when he’s reading this. He even has one equation notated ‘the first time I betrayed my brother,’ and right behind it is a series of very sophisticated formulas for implanting memories.”

“What?” I ask incredulously. “That makes no sense. Their bond is real. It’s—”

&nb

sp; “Their bond is real, but it’s a twin bond. It’s similar, but at the same time, completely different from Kya’s and Karma’s bond. Their lives aren’t even really tied together like the Gemini tale explains, and he weakened the bond when he siphoned a huge portion of it to grow his own strength. That’s why they really stopped feeling what the other feels,” she states, then reads something else as I digest that new information.

“Kya is inherently stronger than Karma, but according to this—” She points at a series of notations that make about as much sense as the science gibberish. “Alton was once stronger than Slade. Now Slade has five times the strength. We thought they were equal, and so does Hannah. Hannah had a visionary who regularly tapped into Alton’s mind, according to what Dad said he heard from Chaz, who heard…you know what, we’re really overdue for a family meeting, because this ‘he said, she said’ bullshit is getting—”

My deep rumble of an unexpected growl cuts her off, and we both stare at each other blankly for a second before she clears her throat. It’s a little awkward now.

“Slade wrote a fictional Gemini Twin bond that has been whispered to ears throughout the centuries. It’s not real,” she adds.

“How is it not real? There’s a book on it somewhere. Or it’s mentioned in a book. I remember Dice quoting it because he’s so fixated on finding out if they both orgasm when one does.”

“Yeah, and this journal might outdate everything. People write what they think they know about history, and Slade is old enough to have started a myth about himself.”

“Why?” I ask softly, feeling so confused.

The pity in her eyes makes me growl again, and she clears her throat once more. “I don’t have an answer, yet, Ella. But I don’t think we should be reading this. There’s a reason he did all this, and it’s clear he’s doing something to protect you.”

Ignoring her, I flip to another page that actually has words on it, and even though she gives me an annoyed sigh, she starts reading too.

The darkness will grow, and you’ll harness it, cultivate it, and be empowered by it. It’s the only way. It’ll make her stronger but also weaker, and you’ll use both to your advantage.

Instead of simply borrowing her army, as you’ve done in failed past attempts, you’ll build your own without her assistance. Instead of letting her dominate you, you’ll dominate her.

My fingers skim across the bolder gold writing of that last line. He’s made it a point to ensure me he’s more dominant. Why?

You will make her hate you. You will make her tougher. You will ensure she’ll survive without you above all else.

“He’s still planning to die,” I say on a rasp whisper. “He reads this, and he remembers he wants to die.”

“He reads this to remember why he needs to die, Ella. I told you we should stop reading this.”

I keep reading, because no way in hell am I letting him die, especially when none of this makes any damn sense.

You will make her truly learn the darkness inside you so that she can master it for herself.

You’ll be cold.

You’ll be cruel.

No one can know she’s your gravest weakness.

As far as anyone is aware, this is a quest for revenge. No longer will others know your true objective, in hopes of swaying the results of the overall end result.

You only get one real opportunity to redirect fate’s path. Fate is just science, like magic, though a more illogical formula of variables that topple to the same places in different ways when small things change.