Rose

by Ripley Proserpina

  Ice touched her forearm before his yellow gaze bounced back to hers. “What. Are. You?”

  A car zoomed by, splashing through the puddle that had gathered at the edge of the curb and street. Reflexively, the man stepped back.

  Rose took advantage of his distraction by charging into the street. Horns blared, but she didn’t let that stop her. Fuck it. She’d heal if she got hit. A car swerved around her, coming so close to the headlight on the driver’s side clipped her hip, throwing her off balance.

  She was going down, palms-to-the-pavement, roadkill-bound, when she was swept up.

  Colors blurred like she was on an amusement park ride. She flew through the air, caught up in a whirlwind she couldn’t control.

  The world whipped by, past the grocery, past the cafe. She fought: scratching, kicking, hitting, but the arms were unyielding.

  Until they were gone.

  She fell to the ground, her hands and the knees of her leggings sinking into wet sand. The man pulled her to standing, settling her in front of him as he held her in place with his hands on her shoulders.

  Her entire body shook from the dump of adrenaline in her system. She was freezing, and her fingers and hands had gone numb from the cold.

  The man leaned closer, sucking in a breath. “Human and not human. Human and poison. Human and crawler…” He smiled, even sharp teeth showing before he frowned. “Where did you come from?”

  Rose tried to jerk away from him, but he merely squeezed harder. Stupid, Rose. Forgetting your pepper spray. Forgetting your knife. If you die, it’s because you’re dumb.

  “No more running, little rabbit. Where did you come from?” Every muscle in her body strained to get away. “You may as well answer. I have nowhere to be, and I’m infinitely curious.”

  What choice did she have? The rain was coming down harder, seeping through her coat and saturating her boots. She could barely get the words out. “Here. Boston.”

  He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “No, no. Not here.” He leaned closer, and she became the rabbit frozen in fear. Or just frozen. Her body shook, teeth clacking together as every muscle in her body convulsed. Move. She begged herself. Move.

  Trailing his nose down the side of her cheek, the man breathed her in. “Older than Boston.” His lips were cool against her skin before he bit her.

  But she was granite. Metal.

  Nearly impenetrable.

  Nearly.

  He jerked his head back, covering his mouth with his hand like he’d cracked a tooth and wanted to hide it. His eyes glowed gold, hypnotizing her. Then, like a cobra, he struck.

  The move was so smooth, so practiced, that she imagined he’d done it a thousand times. Like it was in his DNA, and all he had to do was let his body act.

  His teeth cut through her skin, and she screamed. God. It hurt worse than any biopsy or blood draw she’d ever had.

  Pull.

  He drew hard against her skin, sucking, gnawing. And then he jerked away.

  Rose slapped a hand against her neck. Her skin was ice, but her blood was warm. The only warm part about her.

  She and the man staggered apart. Her head spun, and she fell to one knee.

  The man stared down at her, her blood dripping down his lips and chin. His face was wet from rain, and it washed her blood pink.

  He opened his mouth, to gasp or speak, revealing his stained teeth. And then he fell to his knees, then rolled to his back.

  Beneath her hand, the warmth began to disappear as her skin healed. He blinked at her, staring, but didn’t move.

  His body twitched, like he was trying to regain control of his limbs. His jaw ticked, fingers contracted, but that was it.

  Rose didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky, what had happened to give her this chance, but she wasn’t going to stand around and find out. This wasn’t like the crawler. This was a man. A tall, muscle-bound man who tried to eat her.

  Or suck her blood out of her body.

  Oh fuck.

  Spinning, Rose bolted away. She had no idea where she was, so she followed the sound of traffic.

  God, give me enough time to get to the road. Just let me get to the road.

  She ducked around piles of sand and gravel, emerging in front of a huge garage. Boston Public Works. Snow plows were lined along one side of the garage, ready to be attached to the trucks parked nearby.

  Rain blurred her vision, and she wiped her hands across her eyes. For a moment, it let up, but as it did, her body chilled. Knowing what she would see before she turned around, Rose nevertheless prayed she was wrong.

  So much for luck.

  The man blurred. All Rose could track was the muddle of color he made as he charged through the rain. One second, he stood at the base of a huge pile of gravel, and the next he had his hand wrapped around her throat. Grabbing it, she curled his fingers around his.

  But he held it there, a light touch that belied the rage in his face. Eyes glowing, he touched the edge of his lips with his tongue. “Crawler in human skin.” Ice filled her veins. “I can taste your poison.” He drew her closer, his hand squeezing. “It feels human.” He squeezed a little tighter. She gasped at the pressure on her throat, trying to get under his hand to pry his fingers away. “I could crush your neck in my hand, I can feel the give. And yet when I bite…” Teeth bared, he hissed at the memory. “Stone and poison.”

  “Hey! What are you doin’ to that girl?” A heavily accented voice echoed through the yard, and the man dropped his hand.

  Rose sucked in a breath and backed away, her hand going to the place his hand had been. She wanted to see who had found them, but she was afraid to look away from him. He could grab her, sweep her up and disappear with her. No one would be fast enough to stop him.

  “You’re not supposed to be here!”

  The man glared at the human approaching them. Human. Rose had the thought without meaning to.

  “I’ll be seeing you again,” the man said and smiled. As he left, the aching, body-numbing cold went with him.

  “You okay?” An older man in a Boston PWD jacket approached her.

  “Ye—” Her throat ached when she spoke, but in seconds, the bruise-like pressure was gone. “Yes.”

  The man stared past her and shook his head. “Want me to call the cops?”

  What would the police do? She’d give them her name, and tell them… what? A man had picked her up and brought her—wherever? Where is here?

  “No,” she answered. “If you point to the T or a bus, I can go.” Except she couldn’t. Her bag was gone, her phone. Computer. All of it.

  “Come inside.” The guy pointed toward the garage, lined face creasing into an easy smile. “I got a daughter about your age, and I’d be pissed if she took the T after getting a scare like that. You got someone you can call?”

  No. There was literally no one in this world who gave a shit about her enough to come get her. What a fucking depressing commentary about the state of her life. But there was someone who might be able to explain what had happened to her.

  “I think so,” she said. “If I can use your computer?”

  “Sure,” the guy said. “Let’s get out of the rain.”

  Apparently, Dr. Hudson Nors was one-step away from a celebrity, because Boston College was real hesitant about giving out his number. Eventually, using all her limited stalker skills, she found a class he was teaching, an online syllabus, and an email address.

  Urgent. She wrote in the subject heading of Liam O’Connell’s email. From Rose. Liam was the man who’d saved her life, and now he was letting her send an email from his Public Works email account.

  He’d set her up with a borrowed coat, a cup of coffee, and his computer before going about some of his work. “I’ll be back in ten. You really got no one to call?”

  She’d shaken her head. “No,” she said. “My mom’s…” Her throat closed, and she shook her head. Liam didn’t push any further.

  Her fingers hovered over the key
s. In the body she’d written, I was attacked by a… but she paused. Did she say what attacked her? Did she write the word?

  “It’s okay,” Liam called from the doorway, and she glanced up. “I’ll bring you wherever you need to go. Ever driven in the big trucks?” He pointed over his shoulder to one of the dump trucks parked in the garage.

  “No.” Rose shook her head. “It’s a dream I never realized I had.” She smiled at the kindhearted man who saved her life before she wrote the word and pressed send.

  There.

  “Thank you for the coffee,” she said. “And the coat.”

  “No problem,” he said. “You know they sell sweatshirts with Public Works written on it at tourist shops? You can get them for free if you just agree to work for the city.”

  She laughed, and he jerked his thumb toward one of the trucks. “Well, let’s go then,” he said. “Forget the ema—”

  The phone rang on his desk, and he reached past her to pick it up. “Public Works.” He listened for a second, his gaze going to hers. “She’s right here.” He held out the phone and she took it. “It’s your friend.”

  “Hello?”

  “Rose?” Hudson’s steely voice made her sit up straighter. “My brother Sylvain is on his way to get you. He’ll be there momentarily.”

  She slouched, relief loosening tense muscles. “Thank you, Hudson.”

  “He looks like a wild man, so don’t be frightened.”

  “Wild man?”

  “Long hair,” Hudson intoned. “A scar. He’ll probably be wearing plaid.” In the background, Briar added something Rose couldn’t quite make out. “I’m not saying sexy lumberjack, Briar.”

  “I think you just did,” she said, inordinately relieved. Someone was coming. Someone who would help her.

  “Long hair. Brown eyes,” Hudson snapped. “He’ll be there soon.” And he hung up.

  “He’s sending his brother to get me,” Rose said as she hung up the phone. “Thank you, Liam. I think you saved my life.”

  The guy watched her with a thoughtful expression. “Rose…” His eyes widened as he realized who she was. “Rose.”

  Instantly, she dropped her gaze to the floor. “You’d think people would have forgotten about me by now,” she whispered.

  “Your face is on the news every winter,” he said. “The interview in the hospital when you were a little girl. The pictures from the Nightmare. You look different though. I forget how young you were.”

  “I can wait outside if you want.”

  “Why?” he asked. “You want a warm up on your coffee?”

  It was still steaming so she shook her head. “No, thank you.”

  A huge crash sounded in the garage. “Shit! Liam!” someone yelled.

  He touched her shoulder. “Saw some crazy shit during that time,” he said. “Not everyone in this city thinks you’re lying.”

  Rose sucked in a breath as tears sprung to her eyes. He didn’t wait around for a response, leaving her confused from that kernel of kindness.

  When he left, she went back to staring out the window. It was still raining.

  17

  Horus

  All day long, Horus had been anxious.

  If he was honest, he’d been anxious since they left Boston and stalled somewhere in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Now they sat on a cliff in the rain, staring at the place the Old Man in the Mountain used to be before it disintegrated.

  He was wet. He was miserable. He was angry.

  And he didn’t know why.

  Except for the wet. That was obvious enough. They’d driven only a few hours before Horus couldn’t take the building agitation anymore and made Ra stop their trek north.

  “It’s because of Rose,” Seti had said when they stopped, but he and Ra ignored him. That wasn’t it.

  They parked their car. Left it sitting in a campground off the Kancamagus Highway, and they’d been hunkered down, living wild. For six days they’d been camped out, hunting deer and moose.

  Not even Seti complained. Maybe they needed this after spending so much time in the city and that was what had been bothering him. They were used to living quietly, just the three of them, far away from humans and vampires alike. He’d said as much to his brothers, but Seti had shaken his head. “It’s because of Rose.”

  Up here in the mountains, Horus pondered his humanity. He thought they’d grown a little more civilized in their old age, but less than an hour ago, he’d gone hand-to-paw with a bear. It felt so fucking good to battle. For a short while, it had eased the ache in his chest, but now it was back.

  “It’s because of Rose,” Seti said for the hundredth time.

  “Shut up,” he growled. Thinking about Rose only made him more anxious, which in turn made him angry… which in turn made him fight bears. He fingered a rip in his sleeve and the raised, newly healed skin. “It isn’t.”

  Ra stood, toes at the very edge of the cliff. The rain turned to snow, thick flakes landing in his brother’s dark hair and building up into little piles on his shoulders as he stared at the mountains.

  “It is.” Seti persevered. “You’re rubbing your fucking heart, Horus. It feels empty, doesn’t it? Don’t you want to know why?”

  “No,” he lied. He didn’t care why his chest warmed when he came closer to Rose. She was a human, which meant she had an expiration date. That was all he needed to know.

  “Why did you save her, Ra?” Seti asked.

  Ra’s shoulders stiffened. His brother was going to get thrown off this cliff if he wasn’t careful.

  “Kids died. Families died. Why did you care enough to save her?”

  “Shut up, Seti,” Horus warned.

  But Seti—blind, impetuous—forged on. “You could have let her die. She’s human. Humans die. But you forced her to life. You told her she had to live, and she did. And somehow, you connected all of us.”

  “We’re not connected.” Ra spun and strode to their brother. His hands fisted next to his sides, like he wanted to reach out and throttle him. Horus stood, moving closer to Ra. Seti would survive a fall from this height, but it would take a long time to heal.

  “We are!”

  “We’re not!” Ra grabbed his brother, flinging him toward the cliff. Horus grabbed Seti before he would have dropped, and the two of them landed against the stony ground. Something stabbed Horus’s side, and he groaned.

  Seti, on the other hand, was uninjured. He leapt to his feet and shoved Ra.

  He dug his heels into the ground, dirt and stones spraying as he slowed. The snow was falling faster, but Horus could make out the two deep divots of his brother’s path.

  “We’re connected.” Seti was breathless. The arm of his jacket was ripped, and he pulled it at the seams, tearing it the rest of the way. “Say what you want, but that girl means something. At least to me. I’m going back.”

  “We can’t go back,” Horus said. “She’s human.”

  “Fuck that.” Seti grabbed the other arm of his coat and tore that off as well.

  “You look like a douche,” Horus observed, to which Seti held up both his middle fingers.

  “Both of you are douches! You want to pretend? Go ahead. Live like nothing touches you. Like you’re eternally bored and too good for the rest of the world, but I’m done.”

  It had been a thousand years since his brother had spoken so passionately about anything. The last time… the last time was about Asher, the vampire who called himself their father.

  Seti had warned them. Told them to run before it was too late, but they were young and stupid and had fallen under the spell of a vampire who’d promised them blood and glory.

  It was almost too late when they came to their senses. They’d nearly lost their lives and their souls.

  If they had souls.

  But even then, Seti hadn’t left them. It was always the three of them.

  “You can’t leave,” he said.

  But Seti was already running. Before he thought too muc
h about it, Horus took off after him. He didn’t wait to see if Ra was behind him.

  “You can’t leave,” he called.

  Seti skidded to a stop. “Then come with me.” He glanced over Horus’s shoulder and shook his head. “He’s not going to give in. He’s too damn stubborn.”

  “Seti—” he began. He rubbed his hand down the back of his head and squeezed his neck.

  “What’s the worst that happens?” Seti asked. “We see her again. Feel nothing. It was all a fluke. We go on with our lives.”

  “That’s not what I’m worried about,” Horus said.

  “Then what?” He shook his head, but Seti grabbed his arms and shook him. “Then what, Horus. What are you afraid of?”

  He spun out of his brother’s grasp and clutched his head. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

  “Then, what?” Seti asked again, quieter.

  He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to shut out his brother’s voice scritch-scratching at his brain.

  Seti sighed. “I’ll be in Boston if you need me,” he finally said. There was a gust of wind, icy cold, blasting Horus so he fell back on his ass.

  When he opened his eyes, his brother was gone.

  18

  Rose

  Sylvain did look like a lumberjack. And while he was handsome, all long hair that blew back from his face and muscles upon muscles, she found his growly attitude and scowl fell firmly in the not sexy category. Especially when he paired it with a riot act.

  “You should never leave home without a weapon. Anything could happen!”

  She’d been in the car with him for ten minutes, and in that short span of time, he’d managed to give her an experience she never thought she’d have—overprotective older brother.

  “I know,” she said, rubbing her forehead.

  After their initial introductions, and three-point-five seconds of awkward silence, Sylvain had begun his tirade. Now, pissed off and wet, she gave it back as good as she got it.

  “Put your seatbelt on,” she muttered as he pulled onto the Mass Pike.