Changing Beauty (Book 2) (The Deadly Beauties Live On) (28 page)

Chapter 34

ROSLYN

Dad’s eyes are watering when I walk back in, and he turns away from me as Thad makes himself comfortable right in front of the porch, barely staying away from the reach of the protection spell. Dray won’t meet my eyes, and I know why.

I’m the monster, and everyone knows it. Everyone but Thad, and that’s because he refuses to see the truth.

I thought he’d kill me. It terrified me at first, but then I felt the strong tug of relief to know it would finally be over.

But he denied me peace.

“What are you doing?” Dad asks me when I grab my purse.

“I don’t have their blood. They were careful of that, probably in case I ever escaped. I need to get away from you before they come.”

I wish I had the courage to kill myself, but I wouldn’t even know how to now. Unless I could get ahold of an anointed weapon somehow.

“You’re not going anywhere. I can find you, too. In case you’ve forgotten,” Dad growls, grabbing me by the elbow and spinning me around to face him.

He looks about as shitty as I feel right now, but he suddenly crushes me to him in a hug that’s just shy of being painful, and I fall apart against him as the monster sobs I’ve been holding back finally breach.

“You have to stay here. I’ll go talk to the others. Running right now will only put you in danger, and I swear, it’ll be the death of me. I’m not strong enough to lose my daughter twice.”

I nod against him, letting him win for the time being, and he holds me together when I’d love nothing more than to fall apart. I know Thad is listening to every word—we haven’t been quiet. Just like Thad and I weren’t quiet when my dad wasn’t listening.

“If you can track her, why couldn’t you find her in the rings?” Dray’s voice is sudden, and Dad tenses.

“She’s my daughter. For some reason, that makes me able to track her scent no matter what. As long as she’s in this plane. It’s when they pulled her into other planes that I lost her.”

“Then why couldn’t you find her after the amnesia spell?” Dray asks.

“Because that spell messed up. It somehow completely separated her fey side from her mortal side. I could only track her when she was in shifted form. That’s how I eventually knew she’d gone to Pine Shore, but she’d only be under the fey influence for short bursts of time.”

Dray sighs as my eyes fall back on my mother, and I move away from my dad as she rouses from sleep, groaning as she sits up. Liza is suddenly there, helping my mother, and Mom’s eyes meet mine.

“How’d you get away?” Mom asks in disbelief, as though she’s terrified to be too hopeful.

“Thad loves her,” Dray says before I can answer, and my stomach roils when I see the horror on my mother’s face.

Almost as quickly, it’s gone and replaced by… amusement? How can she be amused right now?

“The fucking irony of that,” she says while leaning back and putting her arm over her face as her dark hair splays across the pillow. “I guess he’s outside then, huh?”

How does she know that?

“Yeah,” Dad answers. “And I’m about to take him back to the others. Roslyn says they’re coming for her—and I’m not talking about Alyssa. I’m talking about the bastards we still don’t know.”

Mom peers out from under her arm, and she tugs my hand until I’m lying beside her. “I’ll keep our girl safe. Go. Get their help. If I can’t even take on three members of Alyssa’s group, we’re going to need as much help as we can get.”

Our world is so fucked up.

Chapter 35

THAD

“If she runs, I’ll fucking kill you for making me leave,” I growl just as I shift back to human, landing on my feet in the woods just behind Gage’s house.

Reese shifts just as we near, and we ignore the gasps as we leave the woods. The fucking lake is crowded today, and two, grown, naked men seems to be drawing a lot of unwanted attention.

“She won’t run. Sadie won’t let her. I can’t make her come here right now, but I want my daughter safe. For once, we have something in common,
Thaddeus.
”

The disdain in his tone doesn’t go unnoticed. Changers and werewolves have never gotten along. Figures I’d fall in love with one whose father I really hate.

“You’re back,” Gage says as we walk in. I don’t even slow down as I grab a bottle of whiskey and start drinking while Reese speaks.

“I couldn’t leave Thad there unprotected, and Roslyn needs a little space from him right now, so she wouldn’t allow him inside the protection spell,” Reese explains, pissing me off.

Gage disappears from sight, and when he returns, he’s carrying two stacks of clothes—clothes that are not made from magic, or there would be cowboy boots involved.

Reese and I both tug on the clothes, and I continue drinking the second I’m finished.

“Alyssa is furious,” Kimber groans, looking like she feels about as good as I do. “And I feel like the worst person ever. I’m supposed to be one of the good ones in this group.”

Her eyes are apologetic, but I can’t stand the pity right now. I just want to kill whoever is after Roslyn so I can have her back. All of her. They still own a piece of her right now, and I didn’t realize it until I saw how broken she is.

“Alyssa won’t be giving you the same ass-chewing we received,” Zee says as he hops up on the counter. “I’m fairly sure she called me a stupid jackass in every language. And I know we heard ‘I told you so’ more times than I can count. Kane’s even more pissed because we upset her. Fucking. Hell.”

“But Thad gets off because he almost killed his girl’s mother?” Dice asks, ever the annoying interloper. “Makes sense. I’m sure losing the girl is punishment enough.”

When I grip the bottle in my hand tight enough for the glass to crack, Karma slaps Dice in the back of the head.

“The hell, woman?”

“Shh,” she hisses.

“It’s how I communicate!”

Chaz walks in, thankfully interrupting the weird argument, and he walks straight toward me.

“The glowing red blood. Did Roslyn say anything else about it?”

“Okay… Random. Right now we’re sort of trying to figure out a way to convince her to come here.”

Chaz shakes his head. “Believe me, this is much more important. Did she say anymore at all, Thad? Think.”

“No, dick. She didn’t. And it’s not more important than getting her back.”

“It is. If I’m right, this is all a lot worse than we could have even imagined. Did she mention any creatures that seemed different? Perhaps deformed or disfigured?”

Reese and I both look at each other, because we heard the same thing about how Roslyn truly escaped.

“What?” Chaz prompts. “What did she see?”

“Yeah,” I tell him, still confused. “They sent her after a blood-starved night stalker. But it wasn’t one.”

“Who sent her after that?” Kimber asks.

“Not important,” Chaz interrupts. “What did the thing look like? Gray? Ashen, maybe? Violent?”

How the fuck?

“Yeah, except it freed her instead of killing her. She said it killed ten of their best men, though. Can’t say I’d blame it after what they did. Why?”

“It freed her? That means she’s important to it—kindred. Probably because she feeds on immortal blood. Did she kill it?”

“No she didn’t kill it. She was just set free after two years of captivity. She ran. What’s with the twenty questions? What is this thing?”

He sits down, groaning as he scrubs two hands over his face, and suddenly a book appears, minus all his usual gold dust.

“The first night stalker.”

Dice starts laughing, but when no one joins him, his laughter tapers off.

“We talking Dracula?” he asks, amused.

“This isn’t a joke, Dice,” Chaz grumbles, turning the book to a particular page. “The first of all magic was never truly destroyed. They were too powerful to die. But they were drained, and vials of their blood were spread around the world, because the blood kept trying to seek out its host’s body. After a few centuries, the bodies decayed and turned to dust without their blood. Centuries. It took centuries to kill them. But the blood was never recovered because of all the spells they used to keep it buried.”

“Okay, you lost me at first vampire and first magic,” Karma interjects.

“He’s talking about myths of origins,” I say while sitting down. “No one really knows where we’re from. Magic is magic for a reason.”

“It’s not myths,” Chaz goes on. “Lokies split the dimensions, managing to travel around and create magic in more than just the one dimension it was meant for.”

“Lokies?” Zee asks, snorting out a laugh. “As in Norse God of mischief? We’re supposed to believe this? That’s a human thing.”

“Yeah. And vampires burn in the sun or die from a wooden stake to the heart? Or werewolves only shift on a full moon. Humans know the fabled versions of us, jackass.”

Zee clears his throat, sitting a little straighter. “Point taken.”

“Lokies weren’t gods of anything. They were a nation of mischievous beings, and they loved the taste of blood even though they didn’t need it, which is why they brought magic to planes that weren’t meant for magic, and why so many of us were created with the same thirst for blood.

“They created the firsts… The first night stalker. The first werewolf. The first changer. The first black widow… You get the point. There was a large circle of firsts, and the bitten fey were the strongest, because they could reproduce right away.”

“Now the bitten fey are almost frowned upon,” Reese points out; albeit he sounds a little bitter.

“For centuries, the bitten fey were supreme. And the firsts were vicious. Most of their stories predate our archives for magic details. Not too many people wanted anyone to know of the firsts or their demise, because the solution wasn’t permanent. It was said that if the blood was ever discovered, life could be restored if an appropriate vessel was found. In other words, if they find those with lineage to the firsts, they can recreate the first circle.”

Motherfucking lunatics and their bizarre, dramatic schemes.

“Why would they possibly want this?” I ask, trying to keep up with the crazy train.

“Because if they revive the first circle, they can repair the bridge to other dimensions that was trashed so long ago. If the dimensions can be reopened, there’s no telling what sort of power someone could conjure. This isn’t something small. This is apocalyptic madness I’m talking about.”

Dice holds his hand up as we all reel from the crazy bomb.

“So you’re saying they find some red glowing blood, a vessel or whatever, and suddenly poof? We’re all fucked? And if Lokies are real, where are they?”

Karma walks away, running her hand over her arm, over her slave marks. I watch her, curious.

“I’ve seen one before,” Karma whispers.

“A Lokie?” I ask, confused.

“In the rings,” she goes on. “He was who they used to punish us, even though he was just as much a captive as the rest of us. There was no such thing as mercy, and his soul held darkness that could chill someone to the bone.”

“Were there others? Was he released?” I ask, seriously frustrated this is the first she’s telling us about this, but Chaz starts talking before she can answer.

“First of all, it’s not all red and glowing. The vials will have different colors. Glowing red is the color of blood the first night stalker had. Secondly, Lokies were tricked back into their own dimension, just as several strong, powerful beings emerged to kill the circle.”

Before anyone can ask him the obvious question, he holds a hand up and answers the unspoken query.

“Who killed them? Fuck if I know. The book just talks about the deaths. But the deaths weren’t permanent. The firsts started feeding on immortal blood, and it made them stronger and stronger. It also made them too predatory and dangerous.

“This power group set a trap; pretty much managed to drain them all; hid their blood all around the world; and destroyed the links to dimensions after tricking the Lokies. It doesn’t say how. It doesn’t say when. And it doesn’t give any details about what to do if they ever got brought back. It just says the circle can be recreated. And it looks like it wasn’t as big of a secret as I thought.”

I take his book, looking through the old, magic dusted pages. “Where the hell did you get this?”

“Long story. The point is, we need to stop them from finding the vials. Or the bloodlines that could be compatible. Even if we have to kill the lines ourselves. Otherwise, this world could crash down as soon as someone has all the pieces.”

My eyes fall on one crucial part of the page. “Says only the strongest can open the portal to dimensions. Which one of the firsts is the strongest?”

“It’s not a first. A first can’t open them because it has to be a being tethered to the breathing plane. It’ll be another immortal. And I don’t know who. I almost don’t want to know.”

“It could be Slade,” I point out, saying what everyone else would be thinking eventually.

“Or his brother,” Kimber reminds me. “Or someone who was able to catch two Geminis at full-strength.”

“Touché,” I grumble.

“I don’t think anyone needs to be rushing off to kill any more powerful beings who might be able to help us against whatever nasty thing is coming our way.” Ella’s voice draws our attention as she and Drackus walk in. “Besides, Slade wants this nasty evil gone as much as we do, so he’s not going to be opening up any dimensions.”

Kimber groans while massaging her temples, distracting us for a moment, and Gage’s brow furrows.

“Still have a headache?”

“It’s getting worse,” she mumbles. “It feels like I’m trying so hard to get a vision, but all I get are blurry snippets with no sound. It’s useless.”

He starts massaging her scalp, kissing her forehead as she leans into him, and a pang of jealousy strikes. Roslyn would be here right now if not for what I did to her mother. She needs me, but she won’t let me be there.

Karma crosses her arms over her chest, seeming a little afraid right now. “So if this big bad opens the dimension portals, does that mean all the dimensions will be allowed access here? Are there things worse than the Lokies? Because in the rings, I heard stories about them, and I wanted them to be myths. But like I said, I saw one. So they didn’t all get sucked away.”

Her eyes move to Chaz, since he seems to have all the answers.

“Believe it or not, there are things far worse than Lokies. And you didn’t see a full-blooded Lokie. Lokies weren’t immortal. Their life spans were a hell of a lot longer than a human’s, but to be immortal, they had to mate with other fey. And they were the only ones able to do so after the ability to mix fey was banished. They weren’t tied to our worldly rules, and they knew how to bend them. But there were only a few who were still left here.”

“Great,” I groan. “So what should we expect as a worst-case scenario?”

“I wish I knew,” Chaz sighs. “Only one portal can be opened at a time. There are thousands of dimensions who haven’t had a bridge to come here in so long. The humans were once nothing more than food. The breathing plane, as we call it now, was originally referred to as the feeding dimension. And now the humans won’t be the only food. Hell, we’ll be just as hunted.”

Fuck a duck. This just keeps getting better.

“Great. Any chance we can survive and hide in another plane if a different dimension comes in a starts a feeding frenzy?” Karma asks. “Because I’m too young to die.”

“And I’m too pretty to die,” Dice adds.

“Once they gain access to our ground plane—the breathing plane—most creatures will be able to access all the other planes as well,” Chaz tells us.

“Got it. Gloom and doom unless we find the big bad boom,” Dice says while clapping his hands together once.

I grab an anointed sword, testing the weight of it, and feeling myself transported back centuries ago when my name was a loud roar in the stands. Even as a mortal I was controlled and forced to relish the kill when they forced me into the arena for their entertainment—to the death.

Maybe life has been preparing me for this.

“I need to go back to—”

Kimber’s blood-curdling scream cuts my words off, and has all of us spinning around as she clutches her head, swinging her elbows as she backs away from everyone. Gage panics, trying to reach her, but he suddenly drops to the ground as though he’s unconscious.

What the hell?

Kimber’s eyes are screwed shut as she battles whatever in the hell is going on inside her head. Fighting it as though it’s tangible. Ella starts to go to her, but staggers back when some invisible force hits her like it hit Gage, unable to do the same damage it did to him.