Changing Beauty (Book 2) (The Deadly Beauties Live On) (7 page)

As my brow furrows in confusion, he reaches and opens a drawer. Then he pulls out a file and hands it to me. Warily, I open it, and a slight gasp breaks free from me.

It’s me. My life. Everything on public record has found its way into this file. Even some things that aren’t public knowledge, such as my medical records.

“Um… This is a little creepy,” I admit uneasily, but he only laughs while I continue to flip through the pages.

“I’m cautious about who I spend time with, Roslyn. I’m pretty damn rich, so I have to be careful.”

Confused, I look up. “You’re rich?” Yeah, that sounds a little more insulting than I meant for it to.

His eyebrows cock up in surprise. “You sound very shocked by that.”

My eyes slowly scour the room. Decorations are minimal, the walls are plain, and the house is larger than mine, but nothing particularly astonishing.

“It’s just… This is a lake community, and a lot of the lake homes are… huge and luxurious. I just assumed—”

“That I would live on the lake in a big fancy house if I was rich?” he asks, finishing what I was going to say, seeming all too amused. “I have those in other places. I bought this house a while back to help keep an eye on a friend. And I don’t usually get rid of anything that’s mine. Besides, I have one very sexy neighbor that I want to get to see, so I think I’ll stick around.”

I grin and blush on cue, and then lean back to study him. I’m not sure if he’s rich or not, but I can’t imagine why he’d lie about it. Unless he’s trying to impress me. Money doesn’t impress me.

“So you read all this about me?” I ask, swallowing hard when I see one thing in the file that makes my skin crawl.

He looks down at the page I’m on, and he frowns. “That’s one thing I couldn’t get much information on.”

Shuddering, I close the file and hug myself. “He was one of my foster fathers.”

Thad’s face grows very serious for the first time since I’ve been in here this morning. This is so not getting-to-know-you conversation material.

“One of the ones who hurt you?” The hard edge to his tone doesn’t go unnoticed.

How does he…
Oh
… The medical records.

“He was the
only
one who hurt me. The rest of this”—I gesture toward medical records that tell the tale of my broken bones, deep contusions, and hefty gashes that needed numerous stitches—“is me being clumsy.”

He doesn’t look convinced. “Jeffrey really was the only abusive one,” I reaffirm. “And had it not been for his hunting accident, I’d have continued to be beaten regularly for crossing any arbitrary line.”

He leans back, studying the gruesome details of the page as he picks it up and pulls it to his face.

“Says it was a bear attack. The claw marks were too big to be anything else. I guess that was pretty scary.”

It was terrifying. Everyone in that small town went hunting for that damn bear. It’s not easy to walk around with everyone carrying a shotgun or rifle, primed and alert. Five men were accidentally shot in the quest for the elusive bear.

“After the fifth gunshot victim, they declared the bear must have left town, and they told everyone to put their guns away. It was fortunate that all the wounds were mostly superficial. Only one was a serious injury, but it didn’t result in any long-term damage.”

He lowers the paper, studying me again. “Where were you?”

“I was having a sleepover the night before—my foster mother was determined to make me socialize with the
popular
girls from school. He was attacked early that morning. My foster mother woke up twelve sleeping pre-teen girls at five in the morning and told them to call their parents to come get them. She was freaking out, and we had to sit at the police station for hours.” Groaning, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “This is so not the way to get to know each other. Way too heavy for a coffee conversation.”

He chuckles while leaning back against the wall. “If you ask me, I’d say it’s better to hit the hard stuff right out of the gate. The small-talk shit gets on my nerves. Now it’s your turn to ask a question.”

Looking back up, my eyes meet his, and he flashes that smile my way. “What do you do for a living?”

He grins, and I know it’s because my question is mild in comparison to his.

“Never mind. I want to know about your family,” I say quickly.

He cocks his head to the side, and he gestures toward the door. “They’re my family. My only family now.”

That confuses me. “Are you blood-related?”

“Blood doesn’t equal family.” He shifts off the wall and comes to prop up beside me, careful not to spill his coffee on me as he leans against the headboard, pressing our sides together. “When I bought this house, I had a different family—one I also chose, but couldn’t trust. Then I found an entirely new family—one I trust with my life.”

That has me smiling. He makes it sound so easy.

“That smile is turning me on. You better hurry up and get to know me.”

My laughter spills out, and he nudges me while kissing my shoulder. It’s oddly… easy to be around him, when only yesterday I couldn’t put two words together in front of him.

“I want to know everything there is about you, Thad,” I tell him honestly, turning my eyes back to his again.

Something flickers within the depths of his honey-colored eyes, and his smile falters.

“That might take a while.”

I settle back against the headboard, and in a moment of brazen abandon, I toss my leg over his waist and snuggle up against him as though it’s the most natural thing in the world. “I’m all yours for however long it takes.”

Chapter 7

THAD

“Hashtag—Thad is cranky,” Zee says, filling in for the annoying incubus who is off searching for his mother and her witch girlfriend.

“Ha,” I mumble as we trek through the woods. “I’m not cranky.”

Okay, so maybe I am. Frustrated would probably be more accurate than cranky.

“You’re welcome for the sleeper spell I did to keep Roslyn at your house last night. And I did a birth control spell on her, FYI,” Ella says, appearing at my side with Kimber. Gage appears next, wrapping his arms around Kimber as though this is a romantic outing instead of a hunt for dangerous creatures.

“Thanks, but it’s apparently not going to be necessary until she gets to know me.”

I shift uncomfortably, cursing my cock for refusing to go down. Roslyn isn’t just under my skin; she’s crawling around inside me. This is getting ridiculous.

“That sucks,” Zee says. “Considering you can’t really tell her anything too truthful.”

Amy and Sierra stop ahead of us, studying a section of the ground. But the sight of both of them gives me an idea.

“Zee, you’re from a weak bloodline, right?”

“Yeah,” Zee scoffs. “That’s apparently why Gavin did this crazy shit to me that has me working with Gage and Kane all I can. I have to learn absolute control before I accidentally kill someone with power I shouldn’t have.”

“Why only them?” I ask absently while the wheels of my twisted mind turn.

“Because Alyssa and I have light magic, and Gavin gave him dark magic,” Ella answers, making me feel stupid instead of merely distracted.

“Yeah. I knew that,” I mumble.

“Why are you asking about Zee’s bloodline?” Gage asks me, ignoring the sidetracked conversation. I look over to see him studying me as though he already knows the answer to that question.

My gaze returns to Zee, who seems oblivious to the meaning behind my initial question.

“She told me she was mine for as long as it takes to get to know me.”

Air hisses between Ella’s teeth as she shakes her head. “She has no idea what that means to one of us. She especially doesn’t know what it means to say that to an alpha changer who is already obsessed with her; a changer who has possibly already claimed her,” Ella points out, not realizing how damn true that is.

“Yeah,” I murmur, still distracted.

“What did you tell her about you?” Gage asks.

“I lied and said I was from Ireland. And I told her a few other lies about my past. I can’t tell her the truth.”

“What is the truth?” Ella pries.

I snort out a laugh. “My past is my past. You wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Gage tenses, as though he understands. We’ve been around a long time and lost inside our skin. He understands what they can’t.

The silence stretches on until I finally commit to my plan. “Zee, how strong would your bonds be to someone you sired?”

“I don’t know. Never sired anyone. Never plan to. Why?”

“You can’t be serious,” Ella growls, slapping my arm hard enough to make me wince. Damn, she’s strong.

“You can’t honestly say you didn’t see this coming,” Gage says to her, unaffected by my plan. He gets it.

“I won’t sire her,” Zee says adamantly.

“Not even for me?” I drawl, charmingly of course.

“Hell no. The bonds would be intense, and Roslyn would even think she’s in love with me for at least a while. Do you think you could take that? Because I’d rather not be your punching bag after doing what you asked.”

Hadn’t thought of that shit. He’s right—I’d fuck him up if she started trying to seduce him because of the bonds.

“Then Sierra can do it,” I say, shrugging. “Lycans don’t bond like that.”

“You’re a selfish, arrogant son of a bitch,” Amy growls, reminding me that she’s within earshot. “How could you even think of doing that to her?”

“Just because you didn’t appreciate being turned doesn’t mean everyone would be that way. If Roslyn and I get close enough, it would only make sense to turn her.”

Amy snarls, but Sierra shrugs. “Let me know if you want it done. I don’t mind.”

Amy turns a fire-breathing glare on her, but Sierra acts unaffected as she squats to examine the ground closer.

“Don’t just have her turned. Give her a choice.” Ella’s threatening and scolding glare is concentrated on me, but it doesn’t make me feel bad in the least for what I want.

“Can’t. She might say no. Besides, after she realizes she won’t age, she’ll be fine with it. I can help her leash the inner beast.”

Gage laughs, but smothers it quickly when Kimber turns a warning glare on him. He’s so fucking whipped.

“Look at Amy,” Ella reminds him. Of course Amy still looks like she’s plotting my death. “She hates this life. She wants to be human. She never wanted any of this. What if Roslyn is like her?”

She wouldn’t be. Amy was turned by a ruthless killer that just wanted a mate to mount. I want Roslyn for many other reasons, even though it’s all a little murky to me. I actually hate being away from her right now.

“Amy and Roslyn are two different people.”

“She could end up hating you as much as I hated the monster who turned me into this,” Amy growls.

I roll my eyes. She’s such a drama queen.

“You constantly point out that we’re not human,” Ella says, bringing my attention back. “But Roslyn is. You have to treat her like a human with human views. She doesn’t understand the ways of our world.”

My mouth opens, but Sierra speaks before I can come up with any sort of rebuttal.

“I hate to interrupt, but, Gage, I need you to lift this soil. This entire section has been disturbed recently,” she says, still ignoring Amy.

Gage does it without hesitation, while Amy, Kimber, and Ella all shoot daggers at me with their eyes. But all attention goes to the disgusting sight Gage’s magic unveils the second the top of the soil is gone. There, in a deep pit, lies at least thirty dead bodies.

“Holy shit,” Gage says on a gasp, kneeling in front of the mass grave.

The bodies are all crumpled on top of each other, legs and arms entwined awkwardly from their careless placement. They look like they’ve been dead for years, but the grave is a few days fresh, judging by the look of the dirt before Gage removed it.

“What the hell?” Zee asks, getting closer.

“I’m calling Dray to see if he’s close by,” Sierra says, worrying her lip between her teeth as she pulls out her phone.

But there’s something missing. “Why the hell can’t we smell a grave of rotting corpses?” I ask.

“Because these are night stalker attacks,” Zee answers while tugging a body out for examination. “They used dragon’s breath venom most likely, which essentially keeps the bodies from ever giving off a scent. But the bodies have been drained completely dry. Aside from a few
vampire
myths the humans concocted long ago, there has never been a night stalker attack where the bodies were completely drained. What the hell is going on?”

Dray appears in a puff of dark smoke, and his lips twist in a tense position. That’s not a good look. I’m fairly sure Dray is older than all of us, so he might be the only answer there is to this puzzle.

“I’ve never seen this,” he says, confused.

Shit.

“The night stalkers have been blood starved.” A new, deep, male voice has us all spinning on a heel, instantly on high alert and defensive.

What the…

“Who the hell are you?” Gage asks.

A guy stands several hundred feet away, barely visible through the trees. He’s wearing a hood and a mask—a black mask that stops just below his nose, revealing his mouth. It’s a damn good thing I can see so easily at night, otherwise he’d be lost in the shadows.

A girl stands at his side, but her hood covers her head, and her red mask conceals her entire face. Either Halloween came early, or Kane is putting people in masks again—like he used to wear when saving Alyssa’s ass.

“Do you want to know who I am, or what a blood starved night stalker is?” the guy asks callously.

I’ve heard of them, but only in vague mentioning—blood-starved night stalkers.

“It would take centuries of blood deprivation for something to go on a rampage this wild,” Dray says to the masked strangers. “These bodies are all within a few days’ old. We’d have noticed something escalating to this before now.”

The guy nods while the girl remains silent and still.

“Exactly. They’re refugees set free from the blood rings. They’re feral, confused, and very lethal. The person they were no longer exists. But they can’t stand too much noise or light, which is why they keep to the woods.”

Ella steps up, and the guy’s lips curl into a secretive grin. “How do you know this?” she asks him.

He cocks his head to the side while taking a step back.

“Just helping you out,
Princess
. You can be suspicious or you can kill them before they expose us all. I have more important things to do. Just so you know, they burn in the sunlight—like the old human stories. It isn’t immediate—it takes about twenty minutes—but it still happens. If anyone sees that, there will be a major human panic outbreak.”

Before Ella can say anything else, the guy and girl disappear from sight, dematerializing silently as though they were never there.

“Burn in sunlight?” I ask in disbelief. “They have to be full of shit.”

Ella turns around, looking a little dazed as she glances back over her shoulder to make sure they’re really gone.

Something crunches in the grass nearby, and I turn around just in time to catch sight of a blurry figure. I start to point it out when I see a second figure blurring around. Fuuuck.

“Ella, look—”

Before the words can leave my mouth, Ella gets tackled to the ground by something moving so fast that it almost looks like a shadow. Gage lunges before I can, ripping the thing off, and I rush to knock Kimber away from the second shadow before it can reach her.

Unfortunately, I don’t manage to miss the wrath of a pissed off, blood-starved, psychotic night stalker.

“Motherfucker!” I roar when the vicious thing latches on and tears a hunk of flesh away from my shoulder before I can get my hands up to defend myself.

A surge of power hits me hard in the back, knocking me down to the ground with the stupid son of a bitch still latched onto me.

“Sorry,” Zee says quickly, apparently sucking at his magical fucking aim.

“Get it the fuck off me,” I growl, but then I shift, tearing through my clothes and turning into the first big-ass thing that comes to mind—a bear.

My body stretches, the skin sliding over the cracking bones, and my own growl turns into a beastly one as the bastard on my arm loses his grip. I turn as a roar drums out of me, deafening and terrifying the creatures of the woods.

Blue eyes are stained red, and they meet my eyes without fear. Pale, sickly looking, and freakishly fast, the wild night stalker attacks again, but this time, I manage to dodge him. The razor sharp claws of my paws shred through flesh, and a howl of pain erupts from his lips, sounding more animal than anything else.

Before I can do more damage, a flash of white light zips through, and the creature screams before becoming pinned to the ground, shaking and gurgling on blood.

I look over in time to see Ella stalking forward, her eyes bright silver as she sentences death. Roaring because I can’t speak, I try to get her to stop, worried she’ll go too far. She doesn’t have enough control yet to keep from losing it.

“Ella!” Kimber yells, but suddenly Ella’s eyes lose their silver color, sinking back down to normal.

My eyes go back to the night stalker, but there’s not much left of him. Quickly, I whip around, only to see Gage has taken down the other with the same merciless fate. Fuck. Now we can’t ask them how many are out here.

“Get that look out of your eyes, Yogi Bear,” Gage says, mocking me when he knows I can’t speak back.

I growl, and he laughs.

“They can’t speak,” Dray explains, walking toward me as I slowly start the shifting process. Motherfucker, my shoulder really hurts right now.

“Why?” Kimber asks while I bite back a string of curses that would only sound like garbled animal chatter in this phase.

I watch as skin slowly takes the place of the white fur, taking longer because of the pain in my shoulder. Damn it.

“Because they’re savage now. The only thing they do is kill. The fact that they’re working together concerns me. There could be more. I expected them to be too mindless to work together, and I also would have thought they’d be territorial. Unfortunately, this means we could be dealing with a pack mentality like werewolves or something.”

“Just what we need,” I say as I finally finish shifting back into myself.
Ah, hell
. I glare down at my tattered clothes. No use in trying to put those pants back on.

“At least they’re easy to kill,” Zee says on a sigh. Not that he did anything besides take me down. Jackass.