Changing Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 2)

“Tell that to all my beasts. There’s no telling what all was set free from purgatory. I’ve heard old legends about changers having mates. The stories are pretty gory, because the mates became overly aggressive and possessive of each other.”

“Hashtag—that shit’s not good,” Dice says, adding nothing to the conversation. Seriously, why did I want to call him?

“No, it’s not,” Gage groans, cursing as he runs a hand through his hair.

You can tell who has heard the stories and who hasn’t. I’m not sure if I’m right, but if I am, then I pity any fucker who touches Roslyn. Just the thought has me wanting to shift, and I have to fight the urge down once again.

“I think we’re being a bit dramatic,” Dice finally says, leaving out his damn hashtag shit

. “What if animal boy has just finally started liking a girl for more than a night?”

“I’m having murderous fantasies at just the thought of someone even accidentally touching her,” I point out, which causes Zee to shift away from me.

“Remind me to stay away from the pretty brunette,” Chaz says, but I swear the asshole is mocking me. This is not funny. At all. And I know, because funny is my middle fucking name.

“Okay,” Dice drawls. “So change her so we can tell her what’s going on. Or see if it’s the same after she’s changed.”

And that’s what I came up here for.

“That’s insane!” Kimber and Ella both bark in unison.

I should have left them out of this meeting.

“It’s not insane. Will you do it, Sierra?” I ask, turning toward her. Even though it’s phrased as a question, she can see I’m pretty much demanding it. Now.

Her eyes widen, which confuses me. She seemed perfectly fine with this when I mentioned it the first time.

“Mates? This is a whole new level of concern,” she says. “You just admitted to wanting to kill someone for accidentally touching her. Amy went crazy when Kane wouldn’t accept their bond, but that was a fucked up situation in its own right. If I change her, what if she doesn’t accept you? She’d be lycan. And she’d probably eventually bond with a night stalker. It’s just our way.”

Deke punctuates the point by glaring at me over the top of her head and tugging her closer. He’s stupid if he thinks I’m scared of him.

“I won’t hurt you. It seems to be the thoughts of other men touching her that affects me. And I’ll just kill whatever night stalker she bonds with before he even gets to touch her. See? Simple.”

Zee snorts derisively while shaking his head, and Ella slaps me hard on the back of my shoulder as she materializes at my side.

“You’ve lost your mind,” she growls.

“Hate to point out the obvious,” Dice says, enjoying the hell out of this, “but I think that’s the entire reason we’re having this meeting. He’s losing his mind, and he’s asking for help.”

Ella glares at the phone like Dice can see her, then she looks at me. Good thing looks can’t really kill someone.

“You can’t do this. It’s too risky. She might not even survive the change, Thad. Then what?”

A lump forms in my throat, and I force it down. “She’s strong. She’s lived through hell and is still standing straight. She can handle it. And I’ll be there to make sure she does, along with Dray. Where the hell is Dray?”

“Hashtag—Dray’s getting laid. For reals. Just saw him and some dark user not too long ago. He’s supposed to be helping us track down my mother.”

“I’ll call him,” Gage says, but then he gets slapped by Kimber. What is with these mean women and hitting? Totally uncalled for.

“You won’t. We’ll figure this out. You can’t turn a person immortal on a whim. She needs to be talked to, have this thoroughly discussed with her, then given the option of what she wants to do. We can always dust her memories if she doesn’t want to do it.”

As if I’ll fucking let her memory of me be wiped. Hell no. I’m keeping her.

“Give it a few days,” Gage says to me, sighing. “Let’s see if it works itself out of your system. With all the new rules—or lack of rules, rather—we don’t know what’s really going on. You could be wrong about this.”

I might be wrong, but it doesn’t change the fact I’m not giving her up.

“Fine. I’ll wait a few days. Then someone’s changing her. I’d have already done it if I was bitten fey.”