Lost Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 4)

Okay, so maybe it was a nightmare. Just not in the regard I expected.

“You’re a different kind of pissed today. It’s a weakness to show so much emotion, Kya. You’re supposed to be able to channel all that by now,” he goes on, his cold demeanor in place as he stays at my sid

e, walking with me to where the others are training on the backside of our makeshift home.

Home... I don’t even remember the last time that word was relevant. Not that it matters. This is survival. There’s no time for things as trivial as a home.

“You’re ignoring me,” Slade states flatly. “You can’t possibly still be upset over the Aquarius thing.”

Knowing that I myself wanted to kill an innocent girl after seeing the stains of torment from his past, it’s hard to be mad at him any longer.

“No,” I tell him honestly. “I’m irritated with the lack of knowledge we have on the Master. We’ve raided countless archives, and still we don’t have a name to go with the person who has run those rings for centuries.”

“I have a theory on that,” he tells me as he looks over the twenty people who are sparring in the back.

“Does your theory include more than twenty people against a possible army?” I muse.

“Quality instead of quantity,” he chides dismissively.

“What’s your theory?”

He cuts his eyes toward me, and I take a step back. No matter how many times I see the silver glowing there, it doesn’t stop the small tremor that rides up my spine.

It’s as though he gets colder each time his eyes flash silver, and he rarely allows them to shift to any other color, including his natural.

“We know it wasn’t one person to run the rings from start to finish,” he informs me. “Several of us remember the power exchange that happened too many moons ago.”

“I remember this conversation,” I tell him. “But what’s your theory?”

“Well, whoever is in charge now isn’t the same person who started the rings, as we know. It has been several people to take over, in fact. Each person has their own reasons for wanting that sort of control or power at their fingertips. And with the stars aligned as they are... I think the one who was last running the rings wants to open a portal.”

“You mean a gate to a different plane?” I ask, still ignoring the coldness in his gaze.

“No. I mean a portal to a different dimension.”

My breath catches in my lungs, but I shake my head. “No. That’s impossible. Only the Lokies had that sort of power, and even they struggled toward the end. They haven’t been able to return because—”

“Because the portals were locked from this side,” he interrupts.

He turns and walks inside the house, and I follow, knowing he plans to show me something without actually needing to be told. As soon as we walk into his room, I’m forced to step over the numerous ancient books he has open.

He grabs one from the floor and tosses it to the desk in front of me. I look down, taking it in. “The blood from the firsts could recreate the circle.”

“The circle that locked the portal,” I say quietly.

“Exactly.”

“But what portal do they want to open?”

“It doesn’t matter. You can only open portals from three spots in the entire world. Guess where one is.”

“Pine Shore,” I groan. This town is a hotspot for all supernatural activity, including the gates to purgatory.

“Their main priority would be keeping the firsts—or keeping the ones with the bloodline of the firsts, rather. If any escaped, they’d be tracking them down with all they had. Which is probably why we’ve not been attacked.”

“All their efforts are focused on the firsts they need to open the portal,” I summarize, trying to wrap my head around it all.

“Yes, and if a portal is opened, there’s no telling what might come out.”