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

by C. M. Owens

  Sierra frowns, sighing. “It would explain why you’re so drawn to her if she’s a succubus. You’re not mates.”

  “You said that earlier,” Ella interjects, jumping in before I can. “Why are you so sure?”

  Sierra motions to me. “Because he would have been in as much pain as she was if they were mates. Lycans don’t share that sort of bond, but I studied up on the changers’ bonds. And all documented cases of those bonds were between two changers. The connection was never found with another form of fey.”

  So she’s not really mine. Doesn’t matter. She will be. Anyone willing to die for me is definitely someone I want around. And Roslyn is the only addiction I’ve ever had besides the taste of blood.

  A bond would explain the addiction. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s not like I fucking need a reason to keep her.

  “Just for the sake of argument, what happens if she is the witch/wolf hybrid?” Zee asks, looking back up from his phone.

  I narrow my eyes at him in warning, but he doesn’t take a step back like he usually does. Apparently all that extra magic he has is making him too brave.

  “It’s not her.”

  He groans as Gage counters, “And if it was?”

  I roll my eyes, not even the slightest bit worried about it. “Then I’d do what I had to. I won’t let something that dangerous roam free. But if she was able to pull off this sweet act and fool me so easily, don’t you think she would have just let that slayer bitch kill me and been done with it? She’s not cold. She’s not cunning. She’s a fucking angel. And I really hope she is immortal. Or Zee is going to try his venom on her.”

  Zee holds up a finger. “I hate to point out the obvious, but has Gage tried his mark on her? If she’s fey, it’ll reveal what kind.”

  Gage groans at the same time I do. Yeah… We’re fucking stupid.

  “Do it,” I tell Gage, cursing myself for not thinking of it sooner. It’s been years since any of us have been involved with anyone we were unsure of. In fact, I think the last mess-up was with Kane and Alyssa.

  Gage walks over, and he gently touches Roslyn’s arm. Just that small amount of contact has me grinding my teeth and reining in my instincts to rip his hand off.

  Ella mutters something under her breath, but wisely refrains from stating her opinion on the matter. Roslyn mumbles something unintelligible in her sleep before she sighs, seeming content.

  You can’t even tell she was just stabbed. And I won’t tell them, but I’m a little freaked out by how quickly she healed. After drinking my blood.

  “Nothing’s happening,” Gage points out. “Did the poison have any effect on her?”

  I shake my head. “No. At least I don’t think so. That would mean she’s not fey.”

  “Okay, so let’s run over the facts,” Gage says on a sigh while sitting down on the window ledge. “How did this happen?”

  “We heard a noise, someone screaming or yelling, and I took off toward the house. Wendy—the slayer I killed—had just used her freaky poison mojo on the ogre who was here with Alex.”

  Gage stiffens. “She killed an ogre? Fuck. She’s strong.”

  “Was,” I correct. “Was strong. She’s dead now. He might have been big, but he was young. The poison must have worked quicker on him than me, because it was a slow burn when I felt it. It paralyzed my hand, but the poison didn’t take root quickly enough to save her life, and the second her touch on the blade was lost, the poison receded without a trace.”

  Gage purses his lips, running over the facts. “That’s actually very good to hear.”

  “Yeah,” Zee growls, “if you’re old as shit. I wish we knew how good it worked on younger fey. Like me and Ella. Kimber’s young too,” he adds.

  Gage tenses again. “We’ll fix the doubles—put old fey and young fey together. I heard Alex and his ogre friend came back to the party. They left earlier with Jenny, and—”

  His words are cut off as Chaz suddenly appears in the room, a gold-dust trail accompanying him.

  “Jenny’s memories have been dusted,” Chaz says, interrupting Gage. “But I learned that Alex got a call and had to leave. Josiah—who I’m assuming the ogre is—was taking Jenny home. I have no idea if he was going to fuck her or consume her. Don’t ask. But Wendy was waiting, expecting Thad and Roslyn. Jenny said she demanded to know where the blonde beast was, and Josiah was trying to fight her off when she attacked. The poison wasn’t fast, but it was apparently stout, because she said he suddenly froze up after a few minutes. However, she stabbed him directly in the heart, unlike where she stabbed Thad. I’m sure that sped up the poison’s reaction time.”

  “Why did she freeze up when she stabbed Roslyn?” I ask, touching her face. “She would have known if she was fey, too. Right?”

  That had to be why she stabbed her. Maybe I just didn’t see the poison. Wendy was dead before I realized Roslyn was hurt.

  I really hope I’m not being too hopeful.

  “She’s fey?” Chaz asks incredulously. “Because the only way she would have frozen up was if she thought she killed a human. It’s ingrained in their blood to be protective of the human race. It would definitely freak her out if she murdered an innocent—innocent by her standards—person.”

  None of this is making sense.

  “Hashtag—what the fuck is going on?” Dice’s loud, obnoxious voice draws my attention, and I look over just as he and Karma stroll inside.

  “That’s a terrible hashtag,” Ella points out, groaning at the leather-wearing incubus.

  “It’s all I could come up with at the moment. You said you needed Karma, so here we are.”

  Karma walks in a little farther, scanning Roslyn with a wary eye. “Well, I can see her soul. It’s pretty damn pure. I don’t think she’s your coldblooded killer. But I need to look into her eyes to see if she’s fey.”

  Her eyes warily gauge Chaz, as though she’s leery of him for some reason. I thought she had moved past all her apprehensions of him. They were starting to be friends until the murders.

  He glares at her, and she cuts their gaze off immediately. Chaz is a duster. In short, he’s a motherfucking fairy. Don’t call him that shit, because he’s a mean fairy when you do. But he’s definitely nothing for her to be so freaked out around.

  Ella is a damn creature goddess, and Karma doesn’t seem the least bit afraid of her. And she should be. Ella doesn’t have control over herself yet. But she only seems to fear the damn fairy.

  So weird.

  Now that Roslyn isn’t bleeding to death, my instincts seem to be calmer, and I don’t flinch when Karma touches Roslyn’s eyelid, pulling it up to peer into her eye. She frowns, which is an expression I don’t like right now.

  “What is it?” I snap, growing impatient. “What is she?”

  She gives us all a quizzical look. “She’s human. Why are you all freaking out and thinking she’s something more?”

  I don’t know if I’m relieved or pissed. Pissed. Definitely pissed. I want her to be immortal, but she rejected Sierra’s venom. Unless that bitch is lying. She and Amy are best friends, so Sierra could have just been playing me.

  “Sierra’s venom allegedly didn’t work,” I growl, glaring at the lycan who growls at me like she feels challenged.

  Zee’s the only one from Kane’s crew that I’ve ever really liked. I wish he’d dump all the rest.

  “I used my venom. I don’t know why it didn’t take.” Her eyes flash orange, and I feel mine shift to yellow.

  “Hashtag—freaky eye war. Put that shit away,” Dice groans. “There has to be another explanation.”

  “Thad forgot to mention she healed off his blood quicker than any immortal I’ve ever heard of. Witch blood is the only thing I know of that is that strong. And Thad isn’t a witch, so his blood shouldn’t have those healing properties,” Sierra says through clenched teeth.

  As they continue trying to explain the unexplainable, I resume studying Roslyn. I almost got her killed. If s
he can’t take the venom for whatever reason, then… I won’t be able to keep her. Our world is too dangerous.

  “Try it, Zee,” I say, looking over at him.

  He mutters something too low for me to hear, but takes a deep breath before saying, “Fine. But if she’s bonded to me and gets all doe-eyed on me, you can’t come after me. And someone is going to have to help me break the bonds, because the second I sire her, I’ll feel possessive of her. It’s instinct—not choice. Got it?”

  My jaw ticks, and I fight the urge to shift again. I honestly don’t know how I’ll react if Roslyn gets mind-fucked and thinks she’s in love.

  “Just do it,” I finally say through clenched teeth.

  “Damn it, Thad,” Ella gripes. “Don’t. She’s fine now. There’s no need to change her. It should be her choice. This is wrong. You need to be better than this. She deserves better from you. She thinks you’re a prince and you’re acting like a beast right now. You’ll regret this.”

  I turn and glare at her, wishing she’d wake the hell up and take a look around.

  “Do you hear yourself?” I laugh grimly while shaking my head. “This is just who we are. Stop thinking we’re something we’re not. To the eye, we look human, but it’s part of the deception that makes us such good predators. Our morals are listed under shades of gray. The longer you live, the more your idea of morality changes. And ethics? We have none. We survive; we kill or be killed; and we own our lives. You won’t find Prince Charming among us. Stop looking for the logic and redeeming qualities in a world full of killers. Because we take what we want, and we don’t feel bad about it.”

  Dice, being the smartass he is, starts slow-clapping, slowly building speed while mocking awe.

  Fuckstick.

  “Hashtag—preach,” the annoying incubus says with that cockiness I hate so much.

  Ella shakes her head, clearly disappointed before she dematerializes from the room. Zee warily approaches the bed, then he turns to face Gage.

  “Watch him. Don’t you dare let him kill me.”

  Gage moves forward, and I’m forced to step back before Zee will attempt it. Kimber is absent. Fortunately. Ella probably went to retrieve her, so I need Zee to hurry the hell up.

  My entire body flames when his fangs form and his eyes grow blue. He chances a glance at me before he strikes quicker than the mortal eye can see. Roslyn groans against him, feeling the bite, but she doesn’t react other than that.

  Zee pulls back, wiping away the blood from his mouth as he closes his eyes and licks his lips. “She’s sure as shit human,” he says under his breath. “Immortals don’t taste that damn good.”

  That has me pushing past Gage, but I slam into an invisible barrier instead of making it to Zee. I curse, knowing Gage doesn’t have that spell. A chill settles over the room seconds before Drackus materializes, proving he’s the son of a bitch that just bubbled me.

  He smirks, eyeing me like I’m something amusing. He can’t use this spell for long or he’ll go all crazy-eyes and mad.

  “Something wrong, pup?” he asks. I really hate that fucking pet name.

  Zee’s eyes open, and I ignore Drackus as the night stalker’s eyes fade back down to a different, more natural blue. Even his eyes have changed since Gavin fucked him up.

  “It didn’t work,” Zee says, his brow pinching as he loses that fucking look of lust.

  “How do you know?” Drackus asks, clearly intrigued as the bubble around me disappears.

  I go to Roslyn’s side again, and the second I sit down, she curls against me. Lacing my fingers through hers, I study her, including the wound. But the wound is nothing more than a couple droplets of blood. At least Zee took the time to use his freaky night stalker thing to heal her instead of leaving the wound open.

  “I don’t get it,” I mumble. “Is she fey or not?”

  “She’s not,” Karma says adamantly. “I’d be able to see it. All I see is human.”

  Roslyn smiles in her sleep, stirring just a little, and I run my fingers through her hair.

  “Well,” Drackus sighs, “I came here because Ella was trying to convince me to talk sense into Thad.”

  I roll my eyes. Did Ella really expect him to do that?

  “And?” Zee prompts him.

  Drackus shrugs as he nears Roslyn. “And I was curious why she wasn’t changing. Obviously I didn’t tell my granddaughter that. She’ll be going to Calypso next, so you’d better hurry and figure out what’s going on. Calypso is prowling the woods right now in search of more bloodthirsty beings.”

  “Where’s Alyssa?” I hear Chaz ask, even though I’m too distracted.

  Why isn’t Roslyn accepting venom if she’s human? She can’t be human.

  “She and Kane are acting odd,” Drackus answers. “She said she’d call me later when I asked what was going on.”

  They start talking and worrying about Alyssa, but I’m too worried about the fragile girl in front of me. Alyssa has Kane and an entire crew of followers to watch after her. Roslyn doesn’t have anyone. Well, she has me now.

  “Roslyn,” I whisper, trying to wake her up.

  Her smile deepens as a little moan passes through her lips, but she remains asleep.

  “So this girl drank your blood, healed, and can’t be turned,” Drackus says, snapping me out of my reverie.

  I just nod before looking back at him. “I’ve heard tales of humans that are immune to bitten fey. They’re rare, but they do exist. It doesn’t explain why your blood healed her though. Then again, with the world being so unpredictable now, it could be an anomaly that has formed in your blood. We’ll study it tomorrow to see what we can come up with. In the meantime, I’m stealing Zee. He needs to be working out his magic.”

  Zee mutters something about psychopaths training killers, but I’m not really paying him much attention.

  As Zee and Drackus leave the room, Chaz comes over to the side. “I’ll dust her memories until we know for sure what’s going on.”

  He lifts his hand, but I grab his wrist, halting him. It almost burns to touch him as his eyes try to shift to flakes of gold, but immediately the burning dies down just before I remove my hand. Apparently the fairy has a few defensive tricks.

  “No. Hell no. She knows we exist now, and she stepped in front of me even though I know my eyes were showing their true color. I’m fairly sure my fangs and dropped, too,” I protest. “Yet she stepped in front of me. I don’t want her forgetting it, because I need to talk to her about who she really is. She has to be fey, but she may not know it.”

  Karma quickly interrupts Chaz before he can speak. “She’s human. I told you that. She’s not fey.”

  “You’re wrong. We don’t even understand your power yet.”

  Karma is glaring at me when I look over my shoulder. “She’s good at that part of her power,” Chaz says, forcing me to turn my head again. “If she says the girl is human, then she’s human.”

  Fuck this.

  I pick her up, cradling her to my chest, and walk out without standing around to listen to more. Her white sundress is splattered and drenched in drying blood. It looks like I’m taking back a victim instead of a sleeping girl. Then again, I suppose she’s both.

  Gage appears at my side once I reach the shadows that have been cast by the woods, and before I can object, he’s dematerializing us both. I really hate the fucking weightless sensation that is involved with my molecules being rearranged, but as we cross through the planes and suddenly end up in my house, I shrug off the lingering twitches.

  He says something I can’t hear, but I probably can’t hear it because I’m too busy concentrating on my girl. I strip her out of her bloody dress, tossing it in the trashcan next to the door. But suddenly the dress is back on her, and it’s like brand new.

  “Damn it, Gage,” I groan. “She’s going to be confused if she wakes up in a shiny dress that should be stained with blood.”

  I turn to see him leaning against the doorjamb, seriousness
etching every feature of his face. “Sorry, but I think it’s best if she doesn’t remember. At least not until we do our own research.”

  Immediately, I think back to him mumbling as soon as we got here, and I curse.

  “You already dusted her memories, didn’t you?”

  He gives a slow nod of his head, and I fight back the desire to rip his arms off and beat him with them. The only thing that finally stops me is Roslyn whispering my name in her sleep.

  Gage disappears from the room, not giving me a chance to change my mind. Now I’ll have to wake up and act like nothing ever went wrong whenever Roslyn decides to come around. I don’t want to pretend. I wanted honesty between us—well, a much honesty as possible.

  Roslyn tucks herself against my side as I settle in beside her, and I stare at the ceiling while running gentle patterns down her back.

  What if she’s not fey? What if she’s immune to venom?

  What if I can’t keep her?

  Figures I finally find something I want for myself, only to find out it’s not mine to keep. I suppose it’d be a fitting punishment for the years I spent being the sort of monster I hunt now.

  Chapter 12

  ROSLYN

  Warm arms are wrapped around me, and a gentle breath blows against the back of my neck. My eyes dart down to Thad’s hand that is cupping my breast in his sleep, and I smile until the night rushes back to me.

  Memories and images assault me in incoherent bursts, and I suck in a deep breath as a tremble wracks my body.

  I was seconds away from blacking out as fear and fury battled within me, trying to stop the psychopath in my living room from stabbing Thad…

  My eyes dart down to my white dress, and my hand comes up to my stomach. Nothing. The dress is perfect, crisp, and white. There’s no wound. There’s no damage. There’s not even any pain.

  I look around, realizing I’m in Thad’s room, on his incredibly soft bed, and definitely in his arms.

  What the hell was in that one drink I had at the party? Surely all that wasn’t just a dream.