What had gotten into them? To say the word crawler to a human—that was asking for trouble. The warmth he knew had something to do with the girl remained, but it was gradually subsiding.
“Was that…” Was she the reason why he’d found Horus staring out the window, hand to his chest? He breathed in. Beneath the wet earth and rot of the crawler was her human scent. “She is human.”
“No human has ever caused this.” Horus poked him in the chest, and he smacked his hand away. Usually, his response to Horus’s seriousness was to joke, but not right now. He needed to concentrate.
The elevator had trapped her scent, and he breathed it in again. There was a quality to it that was different—appealing—and somehow familiar.
“Do you know her?” he asked.
He opened his mouth to answer, but the doors opened to the parking garage. A group of humans waited for them to exit, delaying whatever it was his brother was about to say.
They walked in silence to their car, side-eying each other the entire way.
Seti had driven them here to visit a human they’d met long ago. Losing humans was a part of his interminable life, but it never got easier to say goodbye.
Ra, his oldest brother, preferred to stay away from humans rather than get attached. For a while—give or take a millennium—he and Horus had done that, too.
“I saw her today,” his brother said as they drove out of the parking lot.
He’d been right. “For the first time?”
“Yes,” he answered impatiently. “I passed her leaving the hospital. The same thing happened.” His brother shifted on the seat. Seti could feel him watching, and his skin prickled under his gaze.
“What?”
“We have to find her again. Figure this out.”
He agreed. The girl was a mystery. An intriguing, nervous mystery.
“Did you notice how she looked, Seti?” Horus asked.
He hadn’t. He’d been so surprised by the sensation in his chest and the way her dark brown eyes had widened in fear, that he hadn’t focused on any other details.
But now he thought back to details that he hadn’t focused on when he first saw her.
A blade of grass caught in her wild curls. Mud on her boots. Torn pants. Stains on the elbows of her coat. “She was attacked by a crawler.”
Next to him, Horus was silent. Never a good sign.
“Rose,” Seti said. All he’d gotten was a first name.
“Do we tell Ra?”
Good question. Their elder brother’s reaction to a human like Rose was… uncertain.
“I think the first thing we should do is find her.” He glanced at Horus. His brother was nodding, but stared out the window, lost in his own thoughts.
“I wonder if she’s like Briar,” Horus said. “Or Lindy.”
Another good question. His brother was on fire tonight. Briar was a human-turned-vampire, and Lindy, her daughter, had been born with “vampire-ish” characteristics.
“She could be,” his brother went on. “Lindy is like us. She has a mother and a father. Rose could be something different. Just because we’ve lived longer than any other vampire doesn’t mean we’ve seen everything there is to see in this world.”
That was certainly true.
While immortal, Seti—and his brothers—weren’t truly vampires. They were something close to it, because they drank blood. But they were different than vampires in important ways. Long ago, they’d had parents, not a maker. They could walk in daylight without fear.
And they were more powerful.
But Rose’s scent was human while Lindy and Briar’s wasn’t. Though to tell the truth, Seti had never really noticed Briar’s. And the last time he’d seen Lindy she was a baby, and she’d needed a diaper change.
“We’ll find her first, and then we’ll talk to Ra,” he said. Why stress their oldest brother before they needed to? It was possible all of this was just a fluke. Perhaps they’d see her again and there would be no heat, and no enticing scent, and no crawlers.
Perhaps…
“Turn left up here.” Horus’s directions interrupted his thoughts. Among other powers, his brother had the ability to locate anyone he’d come into contact with. It was a useful ability, but it didn’t usually work so fast. He must have already been searching for her before Seti had spoken aloud.
A tingling sensation, a little like static electricity, traveled from his fingers along his arms.
“Do you feel that?” his brother asked.
“Yeah.”
“Next right and then the white house.” With the turn, the feeling grew, changing from static to heat as he pulled his car in front of a three-story house.
Any hope he had that the whole thing was a coincidence disappeared.
“Do you feel it?”
Seti nodded as he turned the key to shut off the car. “Yes,” he told his brother. But this was more than a physical sensation. It was the welcoming lights of home after emerging from the forest. It was a fire on a cold winter’s night.
It was the knowledge of something right.
“Where is she?” he asked, peering out of the window toward the house. He’d never begrudged his brothers their abilities, but right now, he wished he could identify the source of this feeling.
As if in answer, a light flicked on through a window on the third floor.
There.
7
Rose
Rose flipped on the light the way she always did. She hated, hated the dark. And even though her head was pounding and the light wouldn’t help, she also turned on a table lamp.
Unwelcome surprises came from the dark.
Collapsing into a worn armchair, she curled her legs under her. Then she shut her eyes and rested her head on her arm. This was the worst she could remember feeling in a long time.
A bone-deep weariness settled into her. Not only had she fought for her life today, but her entire belief system had been upended.
And then—because those two things hadn’t been enough—she’d had an intense interaction with two slightly scary, and ridiculously good-looking, strangers on the elevator.
She needed this day to be over.
She needed her mom.
On a day-to-day basis, Rose missed her mother with a yearning that couldn’t be measured. She had acquaintances, but her past had made her wary of people. She didn’t like to get attached, just in case they decided her crazy wasn’t worth their time.
Her mom was the one person she could count on, and she was the one person Rose wanted now. She needed someone to tell her everything would be all right, even if it was a lie.
Shifting uncomfortably on the chair, she got a whiff of herself and wrinkled her nose. She smelled horrible.
But she didn’t want to move. Her body ached, and she knew from experience, it was better to lie still and let the pain run its course rather than aggravate it by ignoring it.
Sometimes the pain was like a parasite inside her, purposefully hurting her when she tried to live her life. It was as if it was saying, “Your life revolves around me.”
But she couldn’t take the smell, and she couldn’t handle the memory of the creature’s touch on her skin.
Mentally bracing herself, she stood and nearly toppled over. Oh, she’d made the pain maaaaad. Fire zipped along her spine, but she gritted her teeth. She needed a shower, and she would take a shower.
But the second she took that step and her foot touched the ground, every muscle in her body seized and she hit the ground.
Somewhere in her mind, she realized she hit her hip on the coffee table and bit her lip, but the pain had locked her down.
This was a ten.
It had been a long time since the pain had made her seize like this. A groan was ripped out of her, and she clenched her fingers into her hands. She was dying. She had to be. There was no way anyone could survive this sort of pain… this was the day it would finally kill her.
And then it was gone.
Rose lay there, blinking up at the ceiling. The release from torture made her slow, unaware of the time that passed before she recognized the glowing warmth in her chest.
The only part of her body she could move right this second were her eyes, so she studied her apartment, looking for the reason why she’d been granted this reprieve.
She listened for a breath, a footstep. But there was nothing.
She was alone. On the heels of such intensity came exhaustion. And so she stayed right there. On the floor.
And fell asleep.
Rose woke up the next morning with the same warmth in her chest, but the weakness that had kept her nearly paralyzed was gone.
Pushing herself to sit, she glanced around her apartment and rubbed the center of her chest. No one was here.
A weird thought had occurred to her when she’d met the men on the elevator. She’d wondered if the strangers had felt the same thing she had, or if maybe—somehow—they were the cause of it.
Now, an unexpected disappointment filled her as she realized the warmth and the presence of the strangers was just a coincidence. Obviously, one had nothing to do with the other.
If she’d smelled bad yesterday, she smelled worse today. The shower practically sang a siren song, luring her to sudsy heaven. She peeled off her jacket and shoes right where she was. She would burn these clothes and any reminder of the day before.
The sun was shining through the window. It was another beautiful day, and she still had photos she had to take.
Her stomach clenched at the idea of going back to the same place she’d been attacked before she started to get angry. Yesterday had been a shitty, shitty day, but she couldn’t dwell on it. She couldn’t live her life afraid when she had deadlines to meet and bills to pay. She didn’t have the luxury of never going back to the Arboretum, not if she wanted her business to be successful. Or, if not successful, lucrative enough to pay her rent.
Rose got through her shower and dressing fueled by her anger. She even got outside and onto the bus with it. But as the bus turned the corner, easing onto the congested morning traffic of Centre Street, her anger made way for a different realization.
The pain hadn’t returned. She didn’t hurt today.
She’d made it through her morning routine without it, and without losing that comfortable warmth in her chest.
So this wasn’t a coincidence. The warmth and the pain went hand-in-hand. One chased the other away.
Rose glanced down the bus aisle, half expecting to see Horus or Seti on the bus.
But no. No dark head and intense gaze. No nearly identical friend. They weren’t part of the equation.
Rose sighed and propped her elbow on the window frame. Staring out the window, she watched the same sights she’d seen nearly every day of her life pass by.
She’d stayed in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood in Boston, all her life while other people her age moved on. Even if they physically stayed here, they moved on in other ways. They started careers. Made friends. Had families.
One out of three isn’t bad.
She loved photography, and she could support herself (barely) by doing what she loved. She shook her head to clear it. No more wallowing. This was a good day. Her body felt good. It was sunny outside.
A good day.
Rose folded her hands, staring down at them. She smoothed her thumb over the back of her skin. It moved and wrinkled like regular skin. How weird was her life?
The bus stopped, and Rose took a deep breath. This was it. She could do this. Her knife was…
Oh, shit. Her knife.
Well. That was gone. She wasn’t stupid enough to go back to the pond for a knife. She’d buy a new one. If she had to defend herself, she had her pepper spray. And her shit-kicking boots.
Those had done the job yesterday.
Much more confident, she got off the bus and strode toward the Hunnewell Building. Unlike yesterday, when she was planning on walking around before she went to the bonsai, today she was all about business.
She had to take pictures of the trees from inside the center, and for that she’d need permission and a guide. Some of the bonsais were almost three hundred years old, and worth more than a house in Back Bay or Beacon Hill.
As she left the busy street behind her and made her way down the drive toward the visitor’s center, the warmth seemed to abate a little, making room for discomfort. While she hadn’t expected to feel good forever, she wished it hadn’t left so soon. She could imagine a life without that constant annoyance.
Did people appreciate how great it was to wake up without hurting? To go about their day not thinking about their body?
She hoped so. If she was ever lucky enough to become the girl she was before her attack, she’d appreciate it every single day.
Stones crunched behind her, and she moved to the side of the road. A wave of heat filled her chest as an SUV passed by, giving her plenty of space to walk, and she let out a relieved breath as it chased away the hurt.
Rose didn’t know what was going on, but she was going to enjoy it.
With a spring in her step, she approached the visitor’s center and started up the ramp that led inside.
“Rose.” A deep voice called her name, and she turned.
Part of her was completely unsurprised to see the two men, Horus and Seti, from yesterday.
The other part of her calculated the distance between where she stood and the door.
Hoping she was being sneaky, she reached for the pepper spray. Seti’s gaze went to her hand, but she grabbed it anyway.
“If you feel better holding that, then go ahead,” Horus said.
Flicking off the safety, she held it loosely at her side. “I do.”
“We wanted to talk to you,” Seti said. “Will you hear us out?”
Automatically, she started to shake her head, but from the corner of her eye, she caught Horus’s hand on his chest. Just like yesterday.
Her curiosity and what she knew was the smart thing to do warred.
But curiosity won.
“You stay on that bench.” There were benches nearby and cameras on the visitor’s center. “I’ll stand there. You make a move and I spray you, got it?”
One side of Seti’s mouth lifted, but he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Got it.”
They walked in front of her, leading the way. Maybe they did that to set her at ease, who knew? But she felt better with them in front of her and not behind her.
They seated themselves on the bench, and she stood out of arm’s reach, though still close enough that she could hear them.
“You smell better,” Horus said, and winced. “I mean—”
“I washed the scent of the creature off,” she replied and couldn’t help smiling. Quickly, she pursed her lips. “I knew what you meant. Why are you here? Did you follow me?”
“Which answer will make us sound less stalker-ish?” Seti asked, his eyes sparkling. Both men seemed different than they had yesterday. Less intense. More like regular guys.
Except they knew what had attacked her. And if the way they kept lifting their hand to their chest and then dropping it to their side was any indication, they all felt the same sensation when they were around each other.
“It’s not a coincidence, is it?” she asked, thinking about the warmth.
Horus shook his head. He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “No. I feel this when you’re nearby, but it disappears the more there is distance.”
Which meant one thing— “You followed me to my apartment yesterday.”
“This isn’t helping our stalker situation,” Horus grumbled at Seti.
Rose laughed. Horus’s blunt way of speaking set her at ease. She liked to think she was street smart, and a street-smart girl would spray these guys and run inside. But none of her internal alarms went off that said danger.
Intense, yes. Those alarms were sounding, but they weren’t a threat to her.
“We followed you,” Seti said. “To ma
ke sure you were safe.”
“Why do you care?” she asked. “We met yesterday.”
Seti opened his mouth to answer, and she held up her hand. The one without the pepper spray. “Is your answer going to make you sound obsessed with me?”
“We’re not obsessed, we’re curious,” Horus said. Ouch. Though why should she care? She was curious about them, too. He wasn’t trying to insult her.
God, she was a head case. Did she want them to be obsessed with her? She needed therapy.
The wind blew, messing up Seti’s hair, and he pushed it out of his face. “I’ve never felt this before. And neither has my brother. We’re rarely confronted with the unexpected, so that, in conjunction with the crawlers… We decided it was worth looking crazy.”
Crazy.
“People think I’m crazy, too,” she replied. In that moment, she made a decision. She moved her finger off the trigger and placed the spray back in her bag. Sitting on the edge of the bench, she curled one leg under her and faced the men. “You’re not planning on murdering me, are you?”
“There are too many cameras to get away with murder,” Horus said.
Seti slow blinked and turned to face his brother. “Are you fucking serious right now?”
“I was merely pointing out…”
He sighed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, but Rose was completely comfortable now. “The cameras don’t really matter. A thousand cameras recorded what happened ten years ago, and everyone is certain it wasn’t real.”
“It was real,” Horus muttered. Propping his elbows on his knees, he stared at the ground before looking over at her. “It’s unfortunate you remember all that. You must have been a child.”
Unfortunate. That was the understatement of the century. If only they knew… Rose cleared her throat. “Yes. But I know what I saw then, and I could never forget…”
Both of the men straightened. Seti’s easy-going countenance disappeared, replaced with a soldier’s posture and focus. She could almost see him putting the pieces together. “Yesterday wasn’t the first time you came face-to-face with a crawler.”
Rose Page 4