Unchained Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 5)

“But now the terms need to be renegotiated, and they’ve refused to even consider it for a full decade,” Slade growls, eyes back on my mother.

“As long as the breachers continue to be so few, it’s a nonissue. They can take them in, vet them, and we can figure out what to do with them when they’re brought to us. They can also handle the threats that come through in such small numbers,” Dad says, waving him off.

“We’ll wait until shit hits the fan before we step in and force the issue, won’t we?”

“We’ll wait until it starts looking like shit could hit the fan before making it an issue,” Mom corrects, lips twitching. “Our main priority is finding a solution to sealing the breach. Hopefully one of the ones who comes through will have more answers than we’ve been able to find.”

“Or one of them could be the next Hannah,” Slade is fast to point out.

“Ten years ago,” Dice says. “Let. It. Go.”

“That’s a terrible impression of me,” Dad says, not anymore amused with Dice than Slade.

Mom likes it too.

We’re cruel like that.

“We can’t risk a war when there’s no reason because we look like the bad guys,” Zee says, gesturing around. “Not all of us can get away with that.”

Slade doesn’t even glance his way before flipping him off. Zee’s less murderous. A decade of watching each other’s backs in raids where men are pumped full of survival instincts and desperate to stay alive leaves you in a few close scrapes.

It helps mend the wounds that aren’t so fresh.

“I’m older!” I hear Kicera shouting, distracting me.

“I was conceived first!” I hear Cole yell at her.

“Smack talk has certainly gotten tamer over the generations,” Thad states dryly.

“It’s not my fault you’re such a momma’s boy you wouldn’t evacuate the womb without a cosmic burst of energy to force you out,” Kicera snaps.

“Ooohhh,” a few of the guys all groan at once.

“I don’t know why I come to these things,” Slade says on a huff, leaning over to kiss the top of my head before dragging me onto his lap.

“I saved my dad’s life,” Cole points out.

“I raised mine from the dead,” Kicera says before dropping a metaphorical microphone in front of Cole’s face.

“Hashtag, that’s my baby,” Dice says, pointing at Kicera then at himself. Then stage whispers to us, “My only baby since now I’ve got zombie dick and shouldn’t make any more babies.”

Karma groans with the rest of us.

“It’s been ten years,” Slade tells Dice sourly. “Let it go.”

“My pre-zombie dick helped save the world. You just hate that I’m more important in the grand scheme of things than you,” Dice tells Slade. “And I’m so much fucking prettier.”

“If I cut his head off, would it grow back?” Slade asks me seriously.

“At this point, I’d believe almost anything,” I say just as seriously.

He curses while looking away.

“Kicked your ass again,” Kicera says as she takes Cole to the ground, her wooden sword pointed at his throat.

“Kicera, don’t say ass. You’re too young,” Karma shouts, then looks at us. “That goes for pre immortal children the same as mortal kids, right?”

“Our parents were fake parents meant to mule us out to the slave rings, and set as an experimental device for uncovering all our powers.”