Unchained Beauty (Deadly Beauties Live On Book 5)

by C. M. Owens

  Walking outside, I see all my people training for a war, still waiting on their promise of revenge, and I hold the papers up in my hands, drawing all their attention.

  “I’ve got names. Lots of fucking names. Who feels like taking a day off from training and finally reaping some debt?”

  Eyes look around, all of them lighting up with eagerness, and everyone faces me again as a chorus of affirmative sounds raises in the air.

  I toss the papers in the air, and they all land at the appropriate feet. They begin pairing off.

  “Don’t go in alone, and don’t let them out alive. You’re the ones hunting them this time. Make it count. Be smart. Use your training. Assess your surroundings. And if you have to travel long distances, drink the drop of blood you’ll find in a vial on your person.”

  Everyone starts patting themselves down, finding the gift I’ve given them, and without question, they drink it down.

  Simone and Hank stand off to the side, not speaking or joining in. I walk over, a sheet of paper in my hand, and give it to Simone. Her eyes drop to it, and then they bounce up to me.

  I gesture to it. “It’s from the time period you were locked up. Kya’s time starts within the same frame, even though she came much later on. The funders overlap in a lot of them. Get her before you go there. Don’t let her new royal family see you. Understood?”

  They both nod, and tears drip from Simone’s eyes.

  “This isn’t forgiveness,” I tell her, narrowing my eyes. “This is just your own chance for your personal redemption. Enjoy it. It’s the only gift I’ll ever give you.”

  She doesn’t need to be told twice. Hank dematerializes her, and they’re gone.

  I straighten, looking back down at mine, and I curse as I go to the woods where I found Alton that night. Then decide I simply can’t give him this. Not after all he took from me, so I start to leave.

  “I don’t want revenge,” he says from behind me, causing my spine to stiffen. “It’s all yours. Revenge is for a man who still has fight left in him.”

  I turn around, cutting my eyes toward him as he stands there, looking so small in the grand scheme of things.

  He was a pawn.

  A toy.

  A weak idiot who cost his mate her life, effectively shattering whatever was left inside him that used to be my brother.

  “All I want is the death promised in the prophecy, Slade. I have nothing left to ever offer you but that. I can die, and be with her again, if there’s any mercy in the universe at all. And you can stay here with Ella,” he goes on.

  I doubt his mate has forgiven him even in death, but for whatever stupid fucking reason, I can’t force myself to tell him that.

  “We were more than the Gemini Twins once,” he goes on, his voice cracking. “We were best friends, Slade. We were brothers—”

  “And who destroyed that?” I roar, turning and slamming my fist into his face.

  He stumbles backwards before collapsing to the ground, blood running from his mouth as he peers up, simply exhausted.

  “They promised to kill me if I showed them Ella, and I wanted my death. I couldn’t show them. You protected her. Be with her and leave me to die, brother! It’s all I’ve wanted since she was killed!” he shouts.

  I dematerialize instead, feeling myself push through the planes at warp speed, thanks to the dragon blood. I land at the address I tore off.

  The coven home is far larger than the one they had then.

  All this time, I thought the only ones to have betrayed us were the Aquarius, never once thinking it would be the family of dark users under my father’s protection who aided in our transportation.

  This home was paid for by our blood, our broken minds, and our torture.

  Fields of green stretch out, the wind breezing through as I walk forward. This is a Scottish heaven they moved to, while my family was tore apart in another country and another time so they could have it.

  Power runs off me, stabbing into the ground, as I turn their home into a prison.

  My eyes lift, and a dark smile finds my lips as my mind blanks, forgetting absolutely everything else for a brief, freeing second.

  John walks out on his porch, his eyes scanning over me dismissively for a second until widening in recognition. I can see the panic when he realizes he’s stuck, unable to dematerialize.

  He turns and runs into the house, shouting to warn the others, and my grin grows.

  “The predator always loves for the prey to run,” I say as I stalk toward the house.

  Chapter 21

  ELLA

  “These books are going to give me nightmares,” Dice says from beside me.

  “Yeah, but if we understand more about Hannah—”

  “Oh, I know exactly why we’re reading a Thousand and One Ways to Torture Immortals. Doesn’t mean I’m not still going to have nightmares,” he grumbles.

  “The attention to detail is definitely stomach-churning,” I confess, bristling.

  “Especially since our clan is stacking up with immortals who went through all this shit,” Dice goes on, paling a little. “How were they all not scarred?” he asks on a heavy exhale.

  I stare at one of the pages I can’t read—things Hannah later did to Slade, even though his name isn’t in this book. I’m starting to wish Gavin hadn’t told Gage where to find these.

  “They’re all scarred, Dice,” I say quietly. “You just can’t see all their scars.”

  He mutters something about unicorns and rainbows, but I’m busy reading about werewolf claws dipped in the same widow venom as the lycan claws that tore open Slade.

  “She preferred werewolf claws because they were slightly smaller and more concise for cutting,” Dice says, as though I read that part aloud. “And I hate that I know that.”

  He slams the book shut. “So, I’m going to go watch some compilations of mortal men finding terribly stupid and painful ways to bust their nuts—and not in the kinky sense—just so I don’t feel as bad about my life for a few minutes. Then I’ll be back to finish the books of immortal horror,” he says as he stands.

  My new phone rings, and I answer it absently, scanning the contents of this page a little closer.

  “Yeah?”

  “Ella, where are you?” Chaz asks in an urgent tone that makes my skin prickle with alarm.

  “At the new house. Why?”

  “Slade got his hands on all the rings’ ledgers. All of them. And his people have divided up into groups to go slaughter the names on that list. He took John Trout, Ella.”

  My breath sucks in. “He’s one of the dark user council’s elders. If he kills him without any proof—”

  “A lot of dark users will be coming after all of them. I know where he is. Kya found the paper he tore off. He needs to get a confession, Ella. Recorded. He might not be thinking about the future, but the rest of us are.”

  “Where do I need to go?” I ask him.

  “I don’t know. Right now I’m chasing Kya through the fucking woods because I’ve never seen her so…bloodthirsty. And I’m going to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

  “Chaz—” My next question is cut short when a man who looks vaguely familiar appears on our front porch, startling me.

  He holds his finger over his lips, then gestures for me.

  “Chaz, take care of Kya,” I say as I hang up. “Lokie,” I hiss, finally remembering where I’ve seen him before.

  He’s Hannah’s favorite torture master in these books.

  His eyes light up gold, and he nods. “I don’t have long before she summons me back. She’s found you again,” he tells me. “She plans to come tonight. Her blood oaths are strained right now because she’s spent days upon days rebuilding the armies you’ve felled the past few months, straining her strength to do so. She wants you dead. I have only minutes to get you to the scarred one.”

  I’m walking out to him before I can stop myself, and he backs up.

  “You’re stronger than me, so d
on’t fear me. I was never meant to stay strong,” he adds on a rasp, lowering his eyes. “But I’m still strong enough to get you to him.”

  “If this is a trick—”

  “I want all of them dead too,” he says, his jaw going rigid. “All of them,” he adds bitterly. “Myself included. You’re the only one who can make that happen.”

  He grabs my hand before I can think it through, and my breath sucks in sharply as we’re suddenly moving through darkness. Light filters through, somewhat differently from when Chaz does this, when we’re suddenly in a field.

  I see Slade moving inside a house, his steps methodical and leisure at the same time.

  “You should know,” the Lokie says quietly, almost distracting me, “Hannah turned your Aquarius’s father.”

  My gaze snaps to his. “Leah’s father?” I ask him incredulously.

  “Yes,” he says softly. “He’s a man no more, but now a First. Your Aquarius will have to kill him, because he’s stronger than he was, and Hannah is doing everything different this time. None of you will be able to kill him. This battle will be bloodier, Your Grace. She plans to leave you at war while she escapes through the portal to my plane.”

  I was right. She’s going for the Lokies—the original power that will level this place. She’ll win if that portal fires and she makes it through.

  “We’re coming in stronger too,” I assure him. “Where is she right now?” My eyes flick back to the house then back over at the—

  I spin around, but the Lokie is already gone, damn it.

  “Slade, stop!” I hear John shout, then I curse as I race to the house, pulling my phone out as I go, and send a text to my father about Hannah coming tonight, hoping I’m not making a stupid mistake by trusting that Lokie.

  But his eyes looked as broken as Alton’s…

  I slide to a window, unable to move past some barrier holding me back. The magic I feel is Slade’s. He’s locked them all in.

  Two women are in the corner, hands raised like they’re ready to fire out power. Five men are in the room with him, but all his attention is solely on John.

  “Let’s talk about this like reasonable men,” John goes on, holding his hands up. “You can’t kill me, Slade. My people will come for all of your people if you do.”

  Slade laughs humorlessly, oblivious to me recording all this with my phone.

  “Let them come defend the traitor,” Slade says bitterly, a familiar book in his hand, hanging open at his side. “I’ll kill all of them too,” he adds, snarling. “I thought it was just the Aquarius who betrayed my family. You masked your faces. You masked your scents. You never spoke,” he goes on. “You almost got away with it.”

  John trips, stumbling backwards when Slade takes another step. “You’re outnumbered. I have fifteen people here,” John goes on. “Let’s settle this like civilized gentlemen, Slade. I have plenty of money too—”

  “To pay for my family’s blood?” Slade asks him, an eerie calm to his tone.

  The others in the room stay ready, like they’re waiting for the signal. But John seems to know exactly how powerful Slade is, because he’s not making any sudden moves.

  “There’s not enough money in the world to pay for what my family has suffered while your family thrived and went on like this,” Slade growls, gesturing around at the lavish surroundings in the massive home.

  “Your father wouldn’t listen to reason,” John goes on, holding his hand up, still backing up, his profile to me as he faces Slade. “We were in a war—”

  “There’s always a fucking war,” Slade growls.

  “But this war was one we were losing—”

  “To the Aquarius! My mother tried to form a truce, and they betrayed her,” Slade barks. “That’s who you dragged us to! How did that better your war?!”

  “Your father wouldn’t test your powers! The Aquarius were never going to just allow your mother to make the rules. She had no authority and expected them to give up too much. He wouldn’t let us see if you could infect humans, so he brought this down on you himself. Could you imagine an army of your kind defending us? We would have won! But instead, we had to work for them, or be next on their list.”

  “We can’t infect humans,” Slade snarls. “We’re not bitten fey. So excuse me if I find your reasoning less than up to par.”

  “We had to know for sure,” John snaps. “And if we were in league with the enemy, making deals instead of brokering pointless truces with the devil, then our family was safe. Our family didn’t go into those infernal torture chambers because of what I did.”

  “Just mine went, then,” Slade says bitterly, tucking the book into his back pocket. “And all the others you turned over for the sake of saving your own hide, despite your place of power.”

  John backs into a table, and my eyes widen when I see him grab a familiar stone. John smirks as the scent of fresh power rolls through that stone. Slade sees it, but doesn’t seem overly concerned with the power boost John is taking just in front of him.

  “My mother, the kind and gentle woman who wished to bring true peace to all our kind, was raped and tortured as they tried to breed her and force more creatures like me to be born,” Slade bites out.

  Slade’s growl grows a little as he takes another step and continues speaking.

  “My father, the man who did all he could to protect weaker immortals at the constant expense of jeopardizing himself, endured the same,” he adds, his growl turning vicious. “He protected you and your family over and over.”

  He takes another step.

  “My sister…” Slade’s voice wavers as his eyes glisten, and I feel my own tears gather in my eyes as he says it again, more anger and pain in his tone this time. “My sister.”

  It’s like that’s all that needs to be said, or he simply can’t say any more about her.

  “Better all of you than me,” John says just as they all fire on Slade at once.

  I drop my phone, and I try to break through the barrier, but the house starts rumbling as Slade spins in the air, letting their powers collide, missing him entirely.

  The blast blows them all back, and Slade lands in the middle as they start climbing to their feet.

  Slade’s lips twitch.

  “You made a deal with the wrong devil, John,” Slade says with an eerie growl, his eyes glowing the brightest silver I’ve seen yet as his darkest grin emerges.

  I hiss out a breath when Slade spins, claws distended, dodging the blows of power they shoot at him. More men rush down, freshly charged from the stones they drop to the floor, and I slam into the barrier again, trying to break in.

  They hit him hard enough to send him flying into the wall, and keep hammering him until Slade releases a hellacious roar, blowing them back with a burst of power so strong it knocks out one side of the house.

  I run around to that side of the house, hoping it’ll be easier to break into.

  Slade slashes through the two women, spilling their guts—both of John’s daughters. The family tree seems to be filled with rotten apples, because their insides are black, likely from all the power boosts and other gifts they’ve received as dark payment from the rings.

  Including all the anointed weapons decorating the walls.

  John yanks a sword off the wall and throws it at Slade’s back. I don’t even have time to shout and warn him, but Slade spins, catching the blade just in front of his heart, as blood drips from his hand.

  He flips the blade, grabbing it by the handle, and slices through the next blast of power, using their own weapon against them.

  “Is this one perk? You take what the slave rings are producing on the side? Weapons? Stones of stolen power?” Slade growls.

  “That’s just the benefits,” John says with a bloody smile, but then his eyes widen, because Slade is suddenly in front of him, doing something I miss that hurts John.

  John drops, and Slade bats down power, as John wheezes from the ground. His children, grandchildren, great gr
andchildren…everyone here attacks at full force all at once.

  I scream for Slade, but my sound is drowned out by the roar of power that explodes from him at the same time, launching them all back. He stalks through, and then goes feral.

  His claws rip through them, slicing into their chests, as he dodges or blocks their magic. Blood sprays into the air as Slade becomes the beasts inside him without ever giving up his flesh.

  His lycan claws shred through skin, and his resilient body barely reacts to the few hits of power that manage to reach him. It’s a bloodbath for twenty straight minutes.

  And during that bloodbath, I realize Slade has held back every time he’s gone to battle against my family.

  He’s held way back.

  John said fifteen, but I count at least twenty-five who all rush him—men and women—all sharing John’s blood.

  Two of the men absorb several stones off to the side, their whimpers stifled as they try to swallow them down, watching in horror as Slade continues to slowly slaughter the family tree. Slade has only killed a few, because he’s enjoying this. He wants them to suffer.

  Predators often enjoying toying with their prey.

  A subtle little growl starts in my chest, rumbling. The two men suddenly leap from the corner while Slade is distracted, and with their fresh boost of power, they may not can dematerialize, but their adrenaline gives them the extra boost to burst through the barrier.

  And stumble right into me.

  Their eyes widen for a second as I grab their throats, moving with speed no dark user can possess. In the next instant, they’re on their knees, watching the madness, with my werewolf claws dipped in venom stabbed into the base of their necks.

  “It’s a trick from Hannah,” I tell them as they’re forced to watch with unblinking eyes and unmoving bodies. “She learned she could paralyze immortals if she stabbed in just the right place with just the right weapon,” I go on, their shaky breaths their only way of expressing their terror.

  Half of a head comes bouncing out of the missing section of the house, then slaps back inside from the barrier spell.

  “If I did it right, then you’ll be able to run, scream, or do anything else once I release you,” I say as Slade rips a man in half, right down the middle—head to groin.