by C. M. Owens
“Where could that Gemini have gone, and how did he escape?” Hannah asks calmly.
“Doesn’t matter,” one of the coven member says. “His mind is broken. He has no strong will to survive. We can find him again.”
Hannah nods, still seeming thoughtful. With a wave of her hand, the night stalker appears in front of her. Adam. The one who offered her the lycan and the others, though she wasn’t prepared for the damn mixed breed who could manipulate more than any red jinn.
“You still want your vengeance?” she asks him.
His eyes turn to slits. “You know I do. It’s what I’m owed. You’ve left me like this, and I’m too weak to defend myself when they come for me—and they will come.”
A dark smile curves her lips as she hands him a bowl of stones. “Absorb their energy. It will be painful, but you will have your power.”
She doesn’t tell him the cost of taking too much power too quickly instead of slowly fusing it to the body, giving it time to adjust and grow with the new energy. But he’ll serve his purpose. His life means nothing to her.
As he greedily takes the offering, she smirks. “I think it’s time the princess is finally gone.”
End of Book 4.
Book 5 (the final conclusion) coming in 2017.
Keep reading for a peek at Unchained Beauty.
Chapter 1
ELLA
I’ve done many things, but until now, I’ve never betrayed everyone I love by keeping a secret. But as I’ve learned, none of them have a problem keeping secrets from me.
It alleviates some of the guilt I feel as I walk down into the dark chambers. My eyes land on the familiar face that tugs at those absent guilt strings. It’s not just my people I feel as though I’m betraying.
It’s also Slade... Though I have no loyalties to him, so I’m not sure why this feels so wrong.
Alton is not a prisoner, but he doesn’t seem to want to leave either. I wasn’t going to sit around and do nothing, and I showed up at the fight too late. Morgana was escaping, but I grabbed Alton before she could run off with him too.
I had no plans of keeping him safe. Had no plans of an accidental alliance. I was going to hand him over to Slade.
Then he spoke. He became a person instead of a rumored ghost. And he also became valuable.
“Why are you helping me?” he asks, suspicion lacing his tone as I hand him the basket of food and packs of blood.
“Because you have a lot of information I need. You helped me close the portal. You know things Slade doesn’t.”
“Because I hide in the shadows and watch like a coward,” he says, regarding me, watching for my reaction.
“Everyone has a reason for what they do. I trust you’ll share your reasons with me in time.”
He picks up the sketchbook from the floor, placing it in his lap, but his eyes remain on me.
“My brother will kill you for this. If he finds out you’ve been helping me hide, he won’t show mercy.”
I swallow down the knot in my throat. “I’m aware.”
“Yet you’ll risk it?”
“My life is not as important as my family’s. If you can give me information to help save them from Hannah, I’ll do all I can to protect you from Slade. That’s a promise.”
“He can’t kill me, but he can kill you,” he reminds me.
“He can do something far worse than death to you. Trust me. I’ve seen his plans.”
A pained expression crosses his face. “I only assumed as much,” he says quietly.
I want to feel sorry for him, but that nagging guilt remains, stripping me of any possible sympathy. He reads it in my eyes too.
“You wonder how any brother could ever decide it was better to let his brother suffer in agony? You’re wondering how any brother could ever betray the other?” he asks, reading my mind.
Unsure what to say, I answer, “As I said, I’m sure you’ll explain your reasons in time.”
His lips purse. “If you’re planning to risk your life, then you should know I only live to spare his life. I only stay hidden to spare his soul... To spare him the cost of damning his brother—because a decision like that, no matter how warranted, will destroy everything inside him. I know.”
I’m not sure what to say to that.
He passes me the sketchbook, and I stare down in confusion at the picture he has drawn with such careful, loving detail.
“Who is this?” I ask him.
“The reason I betrayed my brother,” he says on a pained breath. “If you want to know everything, then prepare to have a piece of your soul stained for all eternity.”
-Unchained Beauty
Coming in 2017.
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Other books by C.M. Owens
*The Sterling Shore Series (Hooked on the Game, book 1, is free. Box set available for first 4.) Romantic comedy series.
10 books available for this series as of now.
*The Death Dealers MC Series (Property of Drex #1 is free.)
2 books available for this series as of now. Dark erotic romance series.
*Deadly Beauties Trilogy (Blood’s Fury, book 1, is free.)
Trilogy is complete. Paranormal romance series.
*Deadly Beauties Live On Series (Dark Beauty is book 1.)
4 books are available for this series as of now. Please note: This is a spinoff from the Deadly Beauties Trilogy. Paranormal romance series.
*The Daughter Trilogy (Daughter of Aphrodite, book 1, is free. Box set available.)
Trilogy is complete. Paranormal romance series based loosely on Greek Mythology.
*The Curse Trilogy (Box set available.)
Trilogy is complete. Paranormal romance series. (Vampire dystopian.)
*The Gifts Trilogy (Secret Gifts is book 1.)
Trilogy is complete. Paranormal romance series. Spinoff from the Curse Trilogy.
*The Coveted Saga (Treasured Secrets, book 1, is free.)
4 books in this series, and it is complete. Paranormal romance. (Witches and shapeshifters.)
*Faders Trilogy (The Devil’s Artwork, book 1, is free.)
Trilogy is complete. Science-fiction romance.
*Pieces of Summer (A stand-alone contemporary romance) available now.