Lost Beauty (Deadly Beauties Live On)

by C. M. Owens

“With Thad and Roslyn?”

  “No. With Chaz, Zee, and Leah.”

  “Why the hell is she with them?”

  Kya? Does that mean Slade is close by? I don’t like that I associate the two of them as a pair. I also don’t like the fact that I don’t like it. I haven’t decided if Slade is our enemy or friend. When he’s not trying to kill one of us, he’s saving our lives.

  He’s past the point of being an enigma.

  “I don’t know why she’s there. Just hurry up and catch up with us.”

  “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  I hang up, and I push the gas even harder. My eyes stay trained on the backroad as I weave in and out of the winding streets. Just as I turn a sharp curve, a body steps into the middle of the lane, and I scream while slamming on my brakes.

  My car skids and slides, barely stopping in front of an unmoving man who is carelessly waiting. But when the vehicle rocks to a stop, my panic turns to fury as a set of silver eyes meet mine through the glass.

  Slade.

  His lips twitch, and I push open my door, ready to kill him for scaring the hell out of me when I’m already drowning in enough fear. My own eyes flash to silver in warning.

  “Are you out of your fucking mind?” I snap, glaring at him.

  He cocks his head to the side. “Depends on who you ask,” he says without an ounce of humor.

  “What do you want, Slade?” I ask, keeping at least three feet of precious space between us.

  I act stupid when we’re closer than that.

  Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t try to close that distance. He seems to prefer space between us as well.

  His eyes sweep down my body in a slow, lingering way. I feel his gaze caressing every place on me, an intimate feeling that shouldn’t be possible without touch. That’s another confusing thing about him—he’ll look but gets pissed when we accidentally touch.

  Not that I care. I don’t care one bit about him being pissed when I accidentally run my hands over his body. Because... I have no idea why I touch him when I’m close—that is actually the truth.

  He reaches up and runs his finger along the scar on his lip before bringing his slow perusal to a halt right back where it started, locking his eyes with mine.

  “What I want is both annoying and infuriating. What I’d like to know instead is where Kya is. Something tells me you know, since you’re miles from home and driving like you’re on a mission to get somewhere. What have your friends gotten her into?”

  Again, I don’t like how I feel when a bitter taste rises to my mouth.

  “Maybe your girlfriend just needed a break from you,” I say with a syrupy sweet smile.

  His eyebrows go up, and a slow smile curves his lips. I’ve never seen him smile like that, and it’s like a kick to the chest when I lose my breath. That smile transforms his face.

  “Jealous, princess? I’ve told you once already she’s not my girlfriend. Now where is she?”

  “Why are you out this far?” I ask him instead.

  “Because Kya’s phone signal led me here. Something blocked it long enough after this point that I lost her trail.”

  “So you’re not her boyfriend, just her stalker. Nice,” I state dryly.

  The amusement in his eyes has me regretting that comment.

  “I’m starting to think you don’t want me around Kya, Princess.”

  It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking, but he’s definitely smug right now. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him smug before. I want to slap that smugness off his face.

  I don’t have time for these games, and I do sound like a jealous girl with a crush. A crush I shouldn’t have.

  “She’s outside of Vegas in the desert.”

  All the amusement in his gaze dies, and his jaw tics.

  “Why would she be out there?”

  “Because she has a gambling problem,” I deadpan.

  “Tell me why she’s really there.”

  I roll my eyes. “Zee has a niece who was taken by a night stalker. She’s just a kid, and I suppose Kya came to help out. I don’t know how she knew. I also don’t know why she went to help.”

  His face becomes a stone mask, impossible to read.

  “I know why,” he says as he turns and walks away.

  “Why?” I call to his back, unable to help myself.

  “Because no one came to save her,” he says without turning around.

  I grimace when I let that sink in. Kya was just a child when she was taken from her family... from her twin... from everything. She was raised in hell—no pun intended.

  A car sounds in the distance, and taillights appear out of nowhere before the car Slade’s in disappears from sight. He’s just going to drive around the desert until he finds her? And how the hell does he track her phone with magic? Gage showed me, but I can’t do it that damn well.

  Looks like I unwittingly added another set of hands to the mission.

  They’re all going to kill me.

  Chapter 7

  CHAZ

  My vision picks up glimmers of magic infused in the cave walls that prove this isn’t a natural cave. Someone made this.

  I try to think of that and only that, not the girl who is driving me insane.

  Kya is pressed against my side, and I work damn hard to focus on the task at hand instead of how each movement has me fighting primal, base instincts. Turning on this power was a bad idea.

  Lokies were actually not very sexual. They were more interested in magic than sex.

  Red jinn have a sexual appetite, but it is easily controlled.

  Unleash a fucking beast inside you, and you feel like an animal with no real reasoning. Kya is a terrible distraction. I wish she wasn’t here.

  My mind is in a haze of confusion, struggling to stay on point. Her scent is driving me insane.

  “Did you just growl?” I hear her ask in a whisper, her words so quiet I almost miss it.

  I probably did growl, but I don’t answer.

  She leaves the question hanging, not pressing for answers since we’re supposed to be silent right now. She tries to push away from me, but my grip tightens on her, pulling her even closer. I’m afraid of what might happen if she tries to deny me that right now, because I’m not acting right.

  Her ass brushes against the front of my pants, and everything on me turns to stone as I move stiffly behind her. My grip tightens even more, and her breathing grows shaky as she comes to a stop in front of me.

  Without thinking, my hands roam down the front of her shirt, sliding around to her middle. She shudders against me as my hands travel lower, my fingers teasing the top of her jeans again.

  Her breaths grow heavier, and I dip my head, inhaling her scent that is unlike any other. It’s spice, fruit, and wicked all in one. A small growl escapes me, and she shudders again.

  Voices coming from under us fortunately seems to help snap me out of my current frame of mind. And I push away from her, fighting to restrain all the pointless damn instincts that are demanding I do something stupid.

  Fucking Kya against the wall of a cave while we’re supposed to be concentrating on saving an innocent child’s life... That constitutes as something stupid.

  Kya’s eyes flick to mine over her shoulder as she steps farther away, and she darts her gaze to the cave floor as we listen.

  The words are too muffled to hear, so we move silently, following it as it grows louder. Zee appears suddenly right beside me with Leah’s hand in his. The four of us exchange looks, even though Kya is probably struggling to see.

  Zee nods to me, I nod to him, and my arms drag Kya close as I transport, bypassing the faux dematerialization I usually do. We land first, and a gasp sounds from Kya, as my eyes take in the wide, brightly lit cavern we’ve just landed in.

  It’s hard to dematerialize underground. It’s also risky to dematerialize somewhere when you can’t see where you’re going—such as underground. So Zee is taking longer. I should have helped him.
/>
  I release Kya as my eyes settle on the little girl who is locked in a small cage. She’s huddled in the cage with her knees drawn to her chest as she sobs, hiding her face as she trembles.

  My eyes dart around, looking for who might have been talking, but I see no one and hear nothing.

  Zee appears a split second later, and he darts across the room before I can stop him.

  My eyes see the barrier, but his don’t. He crashes into the invisible force and slams back with a hard grunt as he thuds against the floor and groans.

  “It’s protected by magic?” he asks in disbelief, looking around.

  My eyes take in the strong shimmers that reveal the hidden barrier. The little girl sobs harder, and Leah looks around like she’s trying to find something to break through.

  “A night stalker can’t do this,” I whisper softly.

  “He can,” Kya says, tossing a thumb in Zee’s direction.

  “He’s not a typical night stalker. Gavin did something to him that defies all laws of immortality and magic,” I remind her.

  “Then maybe he did it to Silan too. It’s too coincidental that the girl would go missing right now when—”

  “Well, well, well,” a voice says from the side, causing us all to snap our gaze to the far wall.

  A man with glowing blue eyes is smirking at us while casually leaning against the opening there with his arms carelessly crossed over his chest. His white blond hair confuses the hell out of me. All night stalkers have dark hair. Even if they were blond before changed, they still turn dark immediately.

  “Silan,” I hear Zee growl as he slowly stands. “What the fucking hell are you doing with my niece? What have you done to her?”

  Silan continues to smirk as a slender woman steps into view with the same white blonde hair, glowing blue eyes, and wicked glimmer. Something isn’t right.

  “Nothing yet,” Silan drawls. “You’re here much too early, brother. How’d you manage that?”

  Silan doesn’t appear overly concerned, which worries me. My eyes scan the area for any other barriers, but I don’t see any... Until I look up.

  Shit...

  We’re locked in. It seems appearing in here is a one-way trip.

  My eyes come back down, and I pretend I don’t notice we’re stuck in a trap.

  “Why did you fucking take her?” Zee asks again.

  “Where are all your little friends?” Silan asks instead. “You know... the new family you abandoned me for?”

  My wheels start turning, trying to decipher the situation as I remain in the background, not drawing attention to myself.

  Kya is still beside me, but I can tell she’s plotting something. It better not be something stupid. No one can touch the kid but Silan right now, even though I don’t know how he has a magical barrier in place.

  I wish Kane was here. He can walk through spelled barriers better than anyone, even better than Ella.

  Kya steps closer to me, her shoulder brushing my arm. Her eyes are intently focused on the duo who seem to think they have full control of the situation.

  “Damn it, Silan!” Zee roars. “Why? She’s just a fucking kid. I know you haven’t gotten that cold.”

  “You know nothing about me, Zee,” Silan drawls. “You were too busy getting all self-righteous right after I rescued you to stick around and learn about me. Now I’m here to show you what you’ve been missing.”

  He grins like he’s enjoying this, and Zee balls his fists as his jaw tics. He’s about to do something stupid.

  “Absorb the barrier,” Kya whispers just loud enough for me to hear and no one else.

  “What?” I ask her, confused.

  “Use your jinn and Lokie. Absorb the barrier,” she says in that same, almost silent tone. “Do it quick, because I don’t know how long I can hold him.”

  Before I can ask what she means, her body drops lifelessly to the ground, and a faint glimmer of something darting through the air has me diving toward the barrier. My fist slams into the barrier as an unnatural roar comes from Silan.

  I feel the magic draining into me just like it does when I’m stealing it from unsuspecting volunteers. With each second, I feel stronger, and the barrier feels weaker.

  My eyes dart over as Silan goes into a fit of seizures, standing wide-eyed as the color in his gaze changes from blue to black to red to... What the fucking hell is going on?

  The girl beside him curses as she slams him against the wall and yelling wildly. Kya is inside him, fighting for control of his body, giving us just enough time.

  “Zee, hit it as fucking hard as you can!” I yell, breaking Zee out of his trance.

  He turns and slams his fist into the barrier. It cracks, but it doesn’t break. He hits it again. And again. And again. I keep draining it, and finally, he hits it so hard it shatters like glass around us.

  “The cage is coated too!” I yell at him before he latches onto it.

  Leah rushes over with a dagger and starts slashing at the lock over and over, expecting it to somehow magically open.

  “It’s warded against us,” Zee snaps.

  My eyes scan the lock, searching for any weakness, and I find one. It’s not warded against demons.

  Kya.

  When my gaze jerks over to Silan, I see him drop as something shoots through the air again. The girl at his side shoots a streak of red energy across the room, but I release my own streak of... holy fucking fire.

  Fire collides with red, and wide eyes meet mine as I stare at the night stalker girl. I never expected fire to come out of me, so I’m as surprised as she is.

  Kya’s body comes to life with a harsh gasp.

  “Demons!” she shouts. “Fucking demons are in them! It’s not Silan!”

  When I jerk my gaze back to Silan, he’s up and his eyes are solid red.

  “Guess the cat’s out of the bag,” he says with a wicked grin. That grin fades quickly. “Game over.”

  He shoots red energy in time with the girl, but Kya slams her fist into the ground, releasing a wall of red that crashes into the bolts, ceasing their attack.

  “Get the girl out!” Kya yells.

  “You have to! It’s warded against us!” Leah yells back.

  “Do I have to do every-fucking-thing?” Kya harps, struggling to keep the wall in place as the possessed duo push against it with all they have. “Feel free to help at any time!”

  Zee and I launch into action, and his hands start to shake as a black and blue wall forms behind hers. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I do know he can’t do it long without losing his motherfucking mind.

  With a hard push, I let go of the power I’ve been reining in and pray it doesn’t blow us all to hell.

  Chapter 8

  KYA

  My stomach tilts as I flip backwards, landing far away from the hell the two powerhouses are unleashing. The fire flows into a seamless wall that collides and melds with the blue and black force field Zee is barely keeping in place.

  Red eyes widen in disbelief and the first flicker of fear becomes evident as the two body snatchers struggle to try and break through.

  This was definitely a trap, and I sense more power coming, meaning they have reinforcements on the way and we’re running low on time.

  With one hard yank, I break the lock on the cage that isn’t warded against me, and I crawl on hands and knees into the small cage toward the child. I sniff the air, searching for any trace of blood. She’s been drunk from recently, and that has me cringing.

  Her eyes dart to mine, widen in panic, and she closes them again. It gives me just enough time to truly see her.

  Fortunately, all I see is a child and not a night stalker. She hasn’t been turned.

  Unfortunately, I apparently can’t see possessions, since I didn’t know Silan was just a host until I was inside him. I also can’t risk someone else being inside the child, so I do the unthinkable that has my stomach churning.

  With a shaky breath, I release myself, dropp
ing out of my own body and flowing quickly into the child’s. The second I’m inside, nausea hits me. Fear. So much fear.

  Mommy! Daddy!

  Please don’t hurt me! I want Mommy!

  So many memories swarm me at once, but it’s just my presence inside her, so I drop out, trying not to let her know I’m even inside.

  My breath hurts when I land inside my body again, and I fight the urge to let her emotions linger inside me. As much as I hate to hurt her, I have no choice but to mark her to ensure there are never any possessions.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper to the child who sobs harder when she hears how close I am. She never looks up, just shakes with terror.

  I make it quick when I grab her arm and do something only my kind can. It’s a gentler process than others have to use in order to brand themselves and prevent possession, but she screams in agony because it still hurts like hell.

  Her head flies back as she screams louder, and tears fill my eyes when she stares at me like I’m a monster. She struggles uselessly, and my gut clenches. Her eyes roll back in her head when she finally passes out, and I look down at the lines on her wrist where I’ve marked her. They fade quickly, as they do on a human, and become an invisible barrier that will keep her safe.

  “We can’t get out of here!” I hear Chaz shouting as I carefully remove the girl from the cage, cradling her to my chest as I stand. “It’s a barrier!”

  If he releases that wall of fire, we’ll be blasted. If he doesn’t release that wall, he can’t drain the barrier of our trap.

  My eyes look up in search of said barrier, but see no proof it exists. Apparently he sees something I can’t.

  I try dematerializing, but it doesn’t work. There is definitely a barrier.

  I also become thankful for that, because I could have just killed the child in my arms if I had dematerialized. Shit.

  Fire burns hotter, and Chaz releases some horrifying sound as his body tenses.

  I look over to see others rushing into the room, all buried in red eyes as they hurl power at the wall that is defending us, trying to weaken it. A roar escapes Zee as his control slips.

  I’m not sure what’s more dangerous at the moment—an unrestrained Chaz and out of control Zee, or the demons who want us dead.