Lost Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 4)

“You coming down?” Chaz asks me as he tugs his shirt on.

“I wasn’t invited.”

He holds his hand out. “I’m inviting you.”

I smile like a fool, because that’s apparently all I am these days. “Your friends still respect their circle. Amy’s night—”

I stop there, not wanting to cross a line.

“He’s still missing. I think you were right about him. He could have been feeding information to them the entire time. And Amy never pressed the issue about including him because she was the most cautious about bringing in newcomers. Leah was accepted right away. No one questioned her motives. But there was always something about him... He never spoke. But he always listened.”

I nod, understanding that completely.

“Your Karma’s sister, and you’ve fought alongside us numerous times. They trust you. And even if they don’t, it doesn’t matter. I trust you.”

With a shaky breath, I slowly get up and take his hand, and he leads me downstairs to the frenzy of hushed theories and animated chatter.

“I’m not going. Hell no. I’ve already got one scar!” Dice is griping, jerking his shirt up to reveal the solid white line that cascades down his abs. “Too many more and I’ll match the brooding asshole.”

“What’s going on?” Chaz asks.

All eyes swing to me, and Leah moves to my side, looping her arm through mine. I’m not sure why.

“The dragonites have requested a meeting,” she says softly.

“Why are we whispering?” Dice growls.

“Because the soundproofing spells have been shit lately, and we’re not sure if anyone is listening,” Ella hisses, slapping him on the arm.

“Have you been patrolling?” Dice asks her, pulling a twig from her hair.

“Yes,” she says quickly—too quickly.

My eyes narrow in suspicion. She’s been missing a lot this past week.

“Wait, what?” Chaz asks, leaning forward. “They want to speak?”

“Yes,” Ella says, getting back on topic. “They requested a meeting this morning. I’m not sure how they got my number or how they knew to call, or even how they knew how to work a phone. But there it is. They want to meet, and they requested we send two delegates to represent our queen.”

I shake my head at the same time Chaz growls. “Smells like a trap. Take us hostage and then make demands to the queen.”

“Probably,” Ella agrees. “But they’d have to get their hands on us first. They can only fly. They can’t dematerialize or whatever it is that you do. So I think you and I should go. You’re part dragonite, in case that sways their opinion, and I’m part crazy, and could possibly lose it enough to blow them all to hell if they push me into that corner of my mind. I think we can manage.”

“It’s too risky, especially with Alton possibly being on the loose. Hannah will be looking for a new base in an effort to open her portal.”

They argue back and forth, everyone taking a different side on the matter. I listen, not interjecting. Our people don’t argue. Well, Slade and I argue, but the rest of the group shuts up and does what he says.

I’m not used to an entire group deliberating on a course of action, and I’m not sure if I’m allowed to interject.

A meeting place was decided, picked by them. It’s all on their terms, it seems. Two delegates is very specific.

“Fine,” Chaz curses, putting a hand on the back of his neck.

“We leave in fifteen,” Ella tells him.

“No,” I say, the words tumbling from my mouth with insistence and drawing the attention of all the eyes in the room as I glare at Chaz. “Hell no. Do you have any idea what they can do to you? It won’t matter if you can transport. They’re faster, and they could kill you before you blink out. No. It’s suicidal and insane.”

“It’s riskier to take everyone else in,” he says, cupping my chin as he studies my eyes.