Blush Pink Rose: A Rose and Thorn Prequel

by Bailey, Fawn

  The street was deserted, and it should have been comforting, knowing there was no one out to get me, but instead, I felt fear seeping through my pores and filling me with an urge to run. But there was no one around, no one to hurt me or do me any harm. I just needed to brave the weather and the empty city and get a move on.

  I put some distance between myself and the theater, the bright lights slowly moving farther and farther away until only the nightlamps remained, lighting up the rest of my journey. My steps were brisk and hurried, and I rushed home, thinking about what awaited me. A lonely, cold apartment where I'd turned off the heating to save some money. An empty fridge and very few coffee grounds for the next morning, since I'd been too broke to get some more. But all of it was bound to change, and a smile tugged the corners of my lips upwards as I thought about my bright future.

  Stepping off the main street, I decided to cut a corner to get home and warm up faster.

  It was a decision I'd regret moments later.

  I heard footsteps behind me, only a few.

  I turned around with my eyes panicked, scanning the empty street in search of a stranger. But there was nobody there. A sigh of relief fell from my lips, and I turned back towards my destination, but now my path was suddenly blocked by a tall, looming figure standing in front of me. The rose fell from my gloved fingers, breaking when it hit the ground.

  "God!" I cried out. "You scared me, I-"

  I didn't get to finish my sentence. He knocked me out with a single punch and my body crumbled to the ground, barely conscious but panicking, adrenaline surging and begging my body to fight back. I never got the chance to do that, and never even got to see the man who took me. He wore a hood, but I could tell he was impossibly tall and broad. I would never have been able to escape. A small consolation, knowing that I hadn't even tried.

  "P-please," I muttered, and he reached for me, my battered body screaming in protest as he sank a needle in my neck. "No!"

  The last thing I saw was him picking up the rose I’d dropped when he attacked me. Its bud was intact, but the stem had broken, hanging down sadly as if it were observing me struggling on the ground. The man twirled it between his fingers, seemingly not caring about the thorns.

  “I like broken things,” he muttered in a dark, deep voice.

  I blinked, my eyelids heavy with sleep. I needed sleep. I needed to rest.

  And then darkness took over. The same soft, calming darkness I felt when I slept, a darkness that held a promise of pain and beauty.

  I let it pull me under.

  Pre-order Blood Red Rose here!

  Acknowledgments

  Since this is just a short prequel, I’ll keep it short and sweet!

  Thank you to my boyfriend for believing in this story from the very beginning. You will never know how much I appreciate your input, and I’m truly excited to embark on this new journey with your help.

  And thank you, dear reader, for coming over to the dark side. I hope you’re excited about Rose and Thorn… They have quite the story in store for you.

  Love,

  Isabella Starling writing as Fawn Bailey

  More information…

  Preorder the Rose and Thorn series now:

  Blood Red Rose

  Pure White Rose

  Last Broken Rose

  If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon! I would very much appreciate it.

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