Changing Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 2)

She groans while dropping her head back. “I’m worried too.” Her head comes back down, but my eyes are more focused on the hand that’s circling her stomach.

“Turns out, I’m pregnant. Again. Three months along, and I didn’t even know it until the other day. And we know how much it weakened me last time when I hit the second trimester.”

“You could only use your witch powers,” Zee says on a sigh.

“Yeah. And in case you haven’t noticed, shit around here is getting really crazy and serious. I can’t risk my baby or me, and in a few weeks, I’ll be no more help than a beginner level witch. The baby takes most of my energy. I can already feel that this one is going to be stronger than Ella, so I need to preserve my strength as much as possible.”

She takes a seat on a rickety chair next to the stairs we came down, and I lean against the wall.

“Kane needs to stay with you. If nothing else, he can get the two of you out of dodge.”

She nods as though that’s already the plan. No way would Kane leave his pregnant wife to fend for herself, but I still thought I’d point it out.

“Drackus and Mom will be coming with us, too, but they’ll be on call if you need them. I tried getting Ella to join us, but with the arrival of the new creature god and a possible twin… Well, she feels it’s better if she’s here. I still think she’s too dangerous. If you need more power, call Kane. He’ll be there. And he has more control than she does.”

That’s an understatement.

“We got this, light girl,” I tell her, bringing her in for a hug.

She stands and wraps her arms around me, resting her head on my chest.

“Sorry about the timing,” she whispers softly. “We were using a spell, but it must have expired or something.”

“Don’t apologize for getting pregnant,” I say around a small chuckle.

“Yeah, well, I mean because there’s never been a time in the past twenty years that you’ve needed us to be here more than now, and I’ve got to go into hiding. As long as no one sees me with a swollen belly, they won’t know I’m pregnant. No one will be stupid enough to attack if they think I’m at full strength.”

I kiss the top of her head, then glance back at the stairs. “I should get back to Roslyn. Last time I left her alone for too long—”

“Go,” Alyssa says with a small smile, pushing me toward the door.

I look back down at her, frowning. “Don’t worry about the spell. I don’t want you exhausting yourself. A spell like that would take a lot of power. I’ll wait until Gage is back. He’ll be able to do it.”

She starts to object, but Zee helps me out.

“It’s just one more day, Alyssa. Gage said he’d be back tomorrow at the latest if he and Chaz can’t get any leads on where this Slade guy and his crew are holed up.”

Before we continue arguing with her—because she’s going to argue—I meet Zee’s eyes. “What’d you find at the motel?”

He shudders. “You mean besides a lot of gross? No security films. The cameras are dummies that are just there to make people think they have security. Only one woman seemed to have seen her. My Spanish isn’t all that good, but from what I eavesdropped on, she saw your girl ‘disappear once she stepped out of the car, and one eye looked like it had flames, while the other sparked with a wild orangey red color. I dusted her memories and the memories of everyone there. She was a manager or something. I wanted to be safe. She called the authorities, but they didn’t believe her—obviously. That’s what she was

bitching about when I was listening to her talking to a few of the maids.”

Now to go find my girl before something goes wrong. No more taking chances.

“Someone else cover my shift for a few days,” I say, clapping Zee on the shoulder before heading up the stairs.

“Ah, hell. If I hear howling,” he says, pointing a finger at me, “I’m totally going to start a cock-blocking mission.”

There won’t be any sounds, because I’m not taking her until she’s herself.

Whoever that may be.

Chapter 18

ROSLYN

“Why exactly do you want me here?” I ask Kimber, confused as to why Karma went to retrieve my clothes. And why the hell did Jenny just let her take my stuff?