by Amy Sparling
“Theo, there’s another thing,” Kyle says. “Man, we really want you to stay with Rosewater.”
“What do you mean?” Theo asks. He leans forward on his elbow, his phone on the bed in between us.
“We mean you should stay here, leave Embrook. You feel like a part of the family now, and with Alexo gone, we need someone knowledgeable to help us find our place as immortals.”
“That’s assuming Dover lets you guys stay a clan,” he says, his eyes flitting to me. Something tells me the chances of that are slim to none.
“Yeah I know…” Kyle sighs into the phone. “But if it works out. We’d like you to stay. Just think it over, okay?”
“I’d want to stay,” I say. It’s something we should discuss in private, but now the words just fell out of my mouth in front of Kyle. Theo watches me intently. I shrug. “I’m not a member of Embrook. I’m a member of Rosewater. I love this house more than anything, and it has room for the kids, and if Alexo and Lady Em are gone, then who cares if we take over the clan?”
“I like your way of thinking,” Kyle says, his smile evident in his voice.
Theo doesn’t budge though. He’s still looking at me with curiosity. “I guess we’ll talk with you tomorrow,” Theo says into the phone. “We have a lot to think about now. And breakfast is going to be weird as hell when the other girls are there.”
“Everything about life is weird right now,” Kyle says. “Cara, can I talk to you for a minute?”
My eyebrows narrow. He didn’t exactly say it, but it sounds like he wants to talk in private. I pick up the phone and take it off speaker. “I’m here,” I say. Theo rolls over onto his back, tucking his hands behind his head.
“Yeah so…I don’t know how to say this.” Kyle’s voice is low, just a fraction above a whisper. “I…I want you and Theo to stay with us after this situation is over. But, I also want Riley to stay, too. Do you think she will?”
“She does what I do,” I say, confident in my best friend’s loyalties. “We’ll decide what we’re doing together, but I want to stay, so she will too.” I look over at Theo, who’s staring at the ceiling. “If we get to stay here at all, I mean.”
“Cara. Do you think she’ll forgive me?”
Chills prickle over my arms at the emotion in his voice. Kyle, sweet Kyle, who can’t do anything wrong. “Why would you need to be forgiven?” I ask.
He’s silent for a long while. “Because she’s my lifeblood,” he says softly. “She’s like a sister to me now, Cara. I would have never asked you two to interview for the job that day had I known how great you are. How great Riley is. She’s—” he sighs. “She has no reason to forgive me after this, but I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want to lose you and Theo. You guys are all the family I have.”
“Does she know she’s your lifeblood?” I ask.
“No.”
I feel a smile tugging at my lips even though this situation is nothing but tragic. “I think she’ll be happy to know that, Kyle. You’re her favorite. If we have to be slowly dying for someone here, she’ll be happy it’s you.”
“Will she forgive me though?” His voice is so hopeful, so on the verge of breaking with bad news.
Now I really am smiling, because Riley was right about one thing. He’s a good guy. “She’ll forgive you, Kyle. Of all the shit we have to worry about, you shouldn’t waste your time worrying about that.”
Chapter 25
“I kind of thought I might be Kyle’s lifeblood,” Riley says the next morning. We’re eating breakfast, but I can’t seem to eat much because I’m too excited that today might finally be the day we go to the Dover Clan.
“Why’s that?” I ask. Last night Kyle must have told her right after he talked to me.
She shrugs and fishes out the marshmallows from her cereal with her spoon. “Right from day one, he seemed to be protective of me. Always making sure I was okay. We’re both not attracted to each other in that way, so it was like…what’s the deal? Then we found out about immortality, and I guess I just assumed that’s why.”
“He was afraid you’d be mad at him,” I say, taking a bite of my apple turnover.
She shakes her head. “Nah. I’m mad at myself for getting into this situation, but not mad at him. Especially since they were all brainwashed by Alexo that this was how they were supposed to have lifebloods.”
I smile at her as I pick at my breakfast. My coffee is untouched, and as delicious as this pastry is, I’m just not feeling it. I wish I could be as calm as she is about everything. Theo walks into the kitchen with Damien on his heels. They’ve been strategizing all morning, and I look up expectedly. “Well?””
Theo holds up a printed piece of paper. “Just booked the next flight to the UK.”
I squeal and jump up, nearly knocking over my barstool. “Finally!”
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up, kiddo,” Damien says.
“Shut it, hipster.” I don’t even bother looking his way as I throw my arms around Theo. I know Damien will be dressed like he just got off his barista shift at Starbucks. “Pack light. We’re only staying for one day,” Theo says. “We leave in an hour.”
I turn to Riley. “Take care of my kids, okay?”
“Your kids?” she says, her gaze narrowing. “I care about those orphans too, ya know.”
“Good, that means you’ll take care of them!” I leave my breakfast on the table, knowing Riley will probably finish my pastry for me, and I rush back to my room to get ready for my first international flight. I’d gotten my passport back when I first started living here since they promised opportunities for travel. Funny, how back then I thought the travel I’d be doing would be for vacations, not begging a centuries old immortal clan for my life back.
To avoid suspicion, Theo and I pack the immortality stones into jewelry cases and put little price stickers on them. That way when we go through the airport lines, we can show our fake business cards that say we’re jewelry makers on our way to sell to some of Europe’s finest shops.
The international flight takes forever, and although I try to sleep, I spend most of the flight laying against Theo’s arm watching movies on my cell phone. But now we’re here, in Kent. The air is crisp and the tourists are everywhere. I’m trying really hard to play it off like I’m not a tourist too, but it’s hard. I’m on the other side of the freaking planet, after all.
Theo knows right where to go, and we don’t waste any time getting there. You can see the castle from a long ways away, and even though the surrounding land has been stacked with modern buildings and amenities, I can still picture how this castle looked centuries ago. It’s set on top of a hill with a grand brick wall encircling it. The castle itself is square, rising up several stories tall. It’s a tourist spot now, so there’s signs and walkways and a place to buy a ticket for the castle tour. The tours close at four in the afternoon, and now it’s six so the castle is empty.
Or at least, people think it is.
Theo gives a password to the guard at the front entrance and we’re taken into the castle, guards flanking us on all sides. I hold tightly to Theo’s hand, the leather briefcase of immortality stones in my other hand.
The castle is absolutely stunning, but we only see it for a second and then we’re taken to the side, through a set of doors, and down to an underground tunnel. We walk for several minutes, and then come to a set of wooden doors with guards standing on either side.
They let us inside. The room is pretty large for being underground, and dimly lit by torches mounted to the walls. A roaring fireplace fills the back wall, lighting the room in flashes and shadows. There’s a large table facing us with four people sitting behind it.
Four immortals.
They’re adorned in velvet cloaks and golden jewelry. They look just like royalty from the eighteenth century. In the middle sits an older man with salt and pepper hair. Next to him, wearing the same coat of arms embroidered on her cloak, is a woman with long brown hair and fine wrinkl
es on her face. She looks to have been about forty years old when she became immortal. There’s an elegance about her, the way she sits and presents herself, the way her hands are folded in her lap. It makes me straighten my shoulders a little bit.
Two men sit on either side of the couple in the middle, and they’re dressed in black. They’re both older too, probably turned in their fifties. They stare straight at me, their expressions hard as stone.
“Theodore Price,” the man in the middle says. “What a pleasure to see you again.”
Theo bows slightly. “Thank you, Lord Marcus.”
I panic a little because no one told me how to behave here. Do I bow too? Do I curtsey? What the hell do I do?
Theo extends an arm toward me. “This is Cara Blackwell. She is my lifeblood and my lover, though the two titles were not intentional.”
“How does this happen?” Lord Marcus asks with a slight tilt of his head.
“She became my lover first when she was unaware of immortality, and was then tricked into wearing the bracelet by another member of the Rosewater Clan.”
The lord lifts an eyebrow. Theo continues, “That member has been killed. I have come to you today with two requests.”
Lord Marcus nods. “I’ll hear them.”
“The first is that, on behalf of the Rosewater Clan, I’d like to petition to have the three remaining immortal members of the clan recognized as a legitimate clan who means no harm to the elders or the sake of immortality.”
“Has the woman been eliminated?” he asks. So he knows about Lady Em, and he wants her gone. That makes both of us.
Theo takes a breath. “Not yet, sir. But soon.”
“Very well. With her gone, the Rosewater clan may live in peace.”
Theo dips his head in a bow again. “Thank you.”
“What is your second request?”
Before Theo can speak. I do. “I would like to have my bracelet removed safely so that I can live out my life as a normal human again.”
The silence that follows my request awakens butterflies in my stomach. When I’m nervous, I talk too much. “And also for my best friend,” I add. “Actually…just tell me how to do it myself and that will be great.”
“What makes you think such a thing is possible?” he says.
I swallow. “I thought if anyone knew how, it would be you, sir.”
Lord Marcus chuckles and turns to look at the woman next to him, who is probably his wife. Her lips curve upward in a demure grin. I notice her immortality stone is laid into her necklace pendant differently than the ones I’ve seen before. Hers has a solid band of silver running horizontally across the middle. It wraps around the stone and then curves and lines the outside before curling over at the top to make a loop for the necklace chain to go through. I think it’s weird to put a band of silver across the middle of the stone—it hides all the beauty of the stone itself. Maybe she’s scared of it falling out of the setting.
“I’m afraid I cannot offer you such a thing,” Lord Marcus says, pulling my attention away from his wife’s chest.
“So there’s not a way?” I ask. My heart hasn’t quite caught up with my brain yet, so I don’t feel as much pain as I will in a minute.
He stares at me. “I didn’t say there isn’t a way. I said I won’t do it. If I tell one human how to reverse a lifeblood, how will I know she won’t run and release all of them?”
“I won’t,” I say quickly. “Just myself and my best friend.” And the other girls of Rosewater, I think. Still, that’s not as bad as wanting to release all of them worldwide.
Beside me, Theo’s shoulders fall. I shift on my feet, suddenly remembering what I’m holding in my hand. “What if I offer something in return?” I ask.
The Lord’s chin stiffens. “What could you possibly offer me?”
I hold up my briefcase. Before I can even say anything, a guard rips it from my hands and brings it to the table.
“Hey!” I yell. Theo grabs my arm and gives me a warning look. I grit my teeth and stay put even though I’d like to run up and punch that asshole in the face for taking my stuff.
“That’s my offer,” I say, trying to keep my voice level. “Tell me how to remove my bracelet safely and I’ll give you those as a thank you.”
Lord Marcus opens the briefcase. His eyes widen when he sees the contents. The other people at the table all seem as confused as he does, and then he narrows his eyes at me. “How did you get these?”
“Lady Em had them put away,” I explain. “Theo and I broke in and stole them back for you.”
He closes the briefcase and looks me over from head to toe. “The Embrook clan is pleased with your efforts.”
My heart brightens a little. “I’m sorry you lost good people. We will be killing Lady Em as soon as we find her. She won’t do this to anymore of your people.”
“No, I don’t believe she will,” Lord Marcus says.
Beside me, Theo watches me with a pained expression. Doesn’t he see this is looking up for us? I turn back to the elders, holding up my wrist.
“May I please have the secret to removing this thing?”
His wife looks at him. She frowns slightly and then looks away.
“No,” Lord Marcus says quickly. “Goodbye.”
The guards beside us move to usher us back through the door we came from, but I don’t listen. I am a blur of anger as I charge toward the table.
“I sacrificed my life for you!” I scream. “The least you can do is help me!”
I make it halfway across the room when a hand grabs my arm so hard it probably breaks the bone. My eyes lock onto Lord Marcus and he simply shrugs his shoulders at my pain. “Give me my life back or I’ll fucking destroy these stones!” I roar, breaking free of the guard’s grasp of my hand. I charge toward the briefcase.
There’s a loud sound, a shock of unimaginable pain, and then everything goes black.
Chapter 26
The hushed sound of voices is the first thing I hear. Then it’s the gentle hum of the road, the vibration of the tires on asphalt a familiar sensation under my body. I blink slowly, and find that I’m in a car, laid across the backseat. The voices are Theo and Damien’s, from the front of the car. Relief pours over me that it’s only them, and not some of Lord Marcus’s henchmen. Theo is driving. I watch him silently, trying to make out the words he says.
My head is pounding like my skull was cracked open and filled with hot lava. I reach up and touch my forehead, feeling the bruised skin. What happened to me? Where am I?
“Now that she’s back, it’s only a matter of time before she finds out what we did,” Theo says.
Damien’s face glows from the bright screen of the phone in his hand. I realize now that it’s after dark, the only light coming from occasional street lights and the neon green lighting on the radio in the car.
“She’s only been to her room,” Damien says, reading his phone. “We have guys watching through the windows and she hasn’t been to the attic yet.”
“She might not realize her attic security guard is gone,” Theo says.
“This could be an easy attack,” Damien adds. “Get a sniper, one shot to the head.”
“Absolutely not!” I say with a dry mouth. I push myself up in the backseat, but my head throbs so much it overpowers me and I fall back down.
“How do you feel?” Theo asks, sneaking glances at me between driving.
“Like my head is going to explode.”
“You took a pretty good hit,” Damien says. “Straight to the stone floor.”
“What happened?” My memories are foggy wisps that don’t stay put in my mind.
“You threatened the leader of the Dover clan, Cara.” Theo rolls to a stop at a red light and looks back at me, his lips creased in a frown. “They could have killed you.”
“They almost did,” Damien says. “Luckily, they have enough respect for Theo that they spared his lifeblood. If you weren’t connected to him, you’d be toast.”
I swallow the bile in my throat and slowly push myself up into a sitting position. Shame pours over me, bringing heat to my cheeks. I kind of remember that. I remember being really mad when they wouldn’t tell me how to remove my bracelet.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble.
“It’s over now,” Theo says. “I promised Dover we would never return and they spared your life. We’re headed to the airport now, and we’ll be home by morning.”
My mouth is dry and tastes stale. I haven’t had anything to eat since we left the plane but I’m not hungry. My stomach is filled with regret, and my head hurts so bad I’m on the verge of crying. I blink away the tears though. This isn’t the time for that kind of weakness.
“I should have kept two sets of stones.” I stare at my hands. “Those bastards don’t deserve them. We did all the hard work and they don’t even care. No thanks. No appreciation.”
“Why would you have kept stones?” Theo says. “It’s clear they won’t bargain with you.”
Damien snorts. “A fact I’ve been saying from day one, I’d like to add.”
I ignore Damien’s sarcastic comment. “I should have kept them for me and Riley.”
The moment I say it I feel like a snake. Like some lesser life form that just sunk as low as you can possibly go.
Theo twists around in the driver’s seat. “You want to be immortal?”
I shrug. “It’s better than dying, which is all I can do now.”
“I won’t let you die,” Theo says. A muscle in his jaw twitches. “There has to be a way, and I’ll find it.”
“You won’t,” I say. “You haven’t. We’ll go months and months looking for something we’ll never find and then I’ll drop dead and you’ll get a new lifeblood.” I fold my arms across my chest and stare out of the window. “If I’d been smart enough to keep two sets of stones then Riley and I would be fine. I’d use convicted rapists as lifebloods. It’d be great.”