Bitten Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 3)

“You’re not acting like a typical newb.”

I shrug, still focusing the majority of my attention on the man unravelling in my arms.

“Explain what typical means.”

“Well, typically a newb is so enamored with their sire that they practically can’t even think for themselves. It’s annoying as fuck. Zee’s night stalker blood is from a weak line, which is supposedly why Gavin infused magic into his system. But you should still be a little more entranced than you are. You’re really not acting any differently than you were, other than the fact you don’t seem to have a problem with what he’s turned you into. Which might keep him out of the century sentence.”

My head snaps over to Chaz, and he watches me as I glare at him. “No one is putting him in prison for doing what he had to in order to save my life.”

Chaz’s lips thin, and Dice—being the asshole he seems to be—adds, “Well, technically they won’t listen to your grievances now, since you’ve just been sired. They can’t trust your words for a century or so. You made it known you didn’t want to be a night stalker, but he turned you. That’s all anyone outside of this circle will hear. The queen can’t show favoritism.”

I lower myself to Zee’s lap, and he keeps his silence while I think of ways to get us far away from them. Has Roslyn had either of our blood? She can’t track us unless she has our blood.

“No one outside of this circle can know what she is,” Chaz says, eyeing me like he knows what’s going on inside my head. “I think Kane would definitely agree with that, but we’ll even keep him out of it so that nothing comes back on them.”

I relax, but Zee doesn’t even seem to hear anything going on right now.

“Is he worried about prison?” I ask, trying to snap him out of it. He doesn’t respond to the gentle tug I give his hair.

“No. He’s worried about what he’s done to you,” Ella says weakly, still doodling.

Frowning, I try to say his name, but he still acts catatonic.

“How different am I?” I ask, diverting the attention when I see everyone staring at him with concern. I don’t want him feeling the weight of their gazes while he seems defenseless.

“Very,” Chaz says, motioning up and down me. “I almost wonder if there are any bonds between you two. Maybe Gavin’s magic messed up the bond process—which isn’t a bad thing. Or maybe your anointed half changes the rules. Anointed blood isn’t supposed to ever be tainted by ours. In fact, the hex is the only reason we can find that allows you to be turned.”

The hex…

“Slade mentioned the hexer. I think… I think the hexer was his mother.”

Ella drops her pen, and her eyes snap up to meet mine as Chaz slowly leans forward, removing his arm from behind her as his brow furrows.

“Why would you think that?”

“Something he said. Then… Then he did something with my blood to my face. He mentioned his mother and father.”

Ella turns a little puce, and Chaz goes still beside her.

“That fucking changes the game. He’ll never stop,” Chaz whispers.

“What? Why?” I ask, noticing the way they both tense at my question. Apparently I wasn’t supposed to overhear, but all of my senses have heightened since Zee… Since I changed.

“The Aquarius book… Where is it?” Ella asks, glancing down at her doodles.

“What the bloody hell is going on?” Dice asks as Karma hands Ella the book.

Ella flips it open, and she rapidly turns the old pages like they aren’t fragile.

“Slade is a hell of a lot older than we thought. We knew he spent centuries in the cages, but we had no idea how long he spent in the world before he was taken. Hell, everything we’ve heard so far was only hearsay anyway. Distorted, reworded rumors at best,” she explains… Well, sort of.

“His age is a factor?”

“A big freaking factor. It disproves some rumors we’ve already heard. It also means he laid low in a big way. It… It changes everything because if he’s…”

He words trail off like she’s lost in thought as she reads something, and she has to turn away from the page. Chaz takes over, and I get a little nauseated when I see the hand-drawn sketch.

A woman is sprawled out with her hands and feet bound, and blood is all over her like she was brutally assaulted and murdered very slowly. A man is on the page beside her, and his hands and feet are nailed to a stone floor beneath him. The nails are almost as big as his hands, and it’s… It’s so sadistic that I actually get sick and have to look away.