Changing Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 2)

“You left with Alex. What about him?”

She gives me a what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about look that has me suddenly questioning when exactly I fell asleep.

“I never even met an Alex. You okay, Ros?”

Before I can answer, a car rolls up to the curb, and out hops Zee and Ella. They both pause their steps when they see me and Jenny, and it’s as though I’m assaulted with more dream weirdness masquerading as memories.

“Fine. But if she’s bonded to me and gets all doe-eyed on me, you can’t come after me. And someone is going to have to help me break the bonds, because the second I sire her, I’ll feel possessive of her. It’s instinct—not choice. Got it?” Zee is asking.

“Just do it,” Thad barks.

“Damn it, Thad,” Ella chimes in. “Don’t. She’s fine now. There’s no need to change her. It should be her choice. This is wrong. You need to be better than this. She deserves better from you. She thinks you’re a prince and you’re acting like a beast right now. You’ll regret this.”

Fucking crazy. I’m beyond crazy.

“Hey, I was just asking about you.” Jenny’s squeak of delight is enough to slap me back to the here and now.

Zee narrows his eyes on me, ignoring Jenny. After that weird dream flashback, he seems a little darker… scarier for some reason. I shrink back, trying to avoid the scrutiny in his gaze.

“How are you feeling?” Ella asks me, her brow furrowing as she studies me as intensely as Zee is.

Apparently my crazy is showing, so I force a smile. “Fine,” is the one word I manage to get out.

Neither of them seem to want to quit studying me, and I assume they’re here to talk to Thad instead of gawk at me. So, without a word, I slip by them and start walking toward my house.

My entire body is humming with energy, and I almost want to run. It’s been a few days since I woke up so energized. But this time is so messed up, considering the fucked-up dream I had. I should be exhausted, not feel so rested.

No sooner do I walk into my door, I feel an arm clamp around my waist. Panic consumes me as I scream, but another hand clamps over my mouth, drowning down the sound.

“Shh,” the foreign male voice coaxes.

My eyes dart around the brightly lit room, searching for one of Wendy’s numerous weapons. Maybe she’s here, since she’s not really dead. Since Thad didn’t really snap her neck.

“This is going to hurt,” the voice warns, and a chill spreads up my spine just as my adrenaline burns through me, forcing me to struggle harder.

“Please don’t,” I choke out, but it’s muffled too severely by his hand to be understood.

“Believe me, I’m being kind. They’ll do much worse when they find out what you are.”

What I am? The hell?

Tears start streaming down my cheeks as his breath whispers across my skin, the words sounding sure and intent. I have no idea what he’s planning to do. Kill me? Rape me? Who the hell knows?

But I’ll be damned if I just stand here and do nothing.

I slam my elbow into the man’s side, but I cry out in pain when I feel like I only connect with a brick wall instead of forgiving flesh. Working through the pain, I claw at his hands, but all that happens is my nails seem to break, never even leaving so much as a scratch on him.

I struggle in vain as he seems to hesitate to do whatever it is he wants to do. I smell the woods on him—pinesap, fresh air, and something else. Normally those scents are calming, but now they’re the worst smells imaginable.

A wicked snarl tears through the house seconds before the hands on me are gone, filling me with dread and relief in the same breath.

As soon as I feel the freedom, two arms wrap around me again, and I scream as loud as I can before whoever he is can silence me again.

“It’s me, Roslyn.”

Thad’s voice washes over me, and the fight I’m putting up halts as I turn and throw my arms around him, clinging to him as I violently shake in his arms.

“Shh,” he soothes. His voice is gentle, but his entire body is tense, contradicting the gentleness in his tone.