by Tish Thawer
(Christian)
I left Evie's office and took a trip around the club, for once doing my job instead of focusing on Rose. Well, almost. I needed time to think on how best to approach Rose with my apology...and my demands.
There was no way I could risk her running to her father, only to fall prey to Meredith's scheme, whatever it was. I knew before I even reached the upper level of the club that I was going to take Evie up on her offer. I had to have someone who'd be able to watch over Rose while I was comatose. I would bite this human, and program my sedative to turn him into her bodyguard. He would keep tabs on her, and if necessary, do anything and everything to protect her. I didn't think it was something Rose would be upset about–people get body guards all the time...right?
* * * * *
CHAPTER TEN
It was Over
(Rose)
I slammed the door to our room so hard I thought it would fly off its hinges. I couldn't believe my dad had just been here and they had all kept me from going to him. What harm could it have done if he was alone? I hadn't killed Meredith, so it wasn't like I needed to worry about being chased by the cops any more, and talking to my dad might have given us a better idea about what was happening with her. Then again, maybe Christian was right. Maybe she was controlling my dad like she controlled Terrance. Who knew? And even if she wasn't controlling him, I'm sure she was probably keeping tabs on him as a way to find and probably kill me.
I threw myself onto the bed and buried my face in the pink covered feather pillow. The familiar scent and texture had my eyes filling with tears. It was the pillow I'd had in my old bedroom. The pillow my mom and I picked out together when we redid my bedroom after our painting project all those months ago. Months? It felt like years.
Shortly after Christian and I had gone into hiding, I was so sad about having to leave my home that I longed for something to remind me of my old life. So, Christian, without Evie's knowledge, snuck back into my house and grabbed some of my clothes and a few small things that wouldn't be missed from my room, including my pillow. He hadn't run into my dad or anyone else, and I was so grateful to have some of my things that I never even considered the risk.
Yes, we'd thought Meredith was dead at the time, but he could have run into her and if he'd bitten her, he would have drifted dark and been under her control, just like Terrance. Which was the same thing that would happen if he bit me. What a nightmare this had become.
I sat up, resolute in my decision. I would put an end to this here and now. I grabbed the box of my things that was stashed under the bed and found my special stationary and pen. I would write Christian a letter telling him it was over. I had to get out of this situation while I had a good reason, and right now, with how mad I was and all the "fighting" we'd been doing, it was the perfect time.
I'd just finished my letter when I heard footsteps outside the door. I watched as the knob slowly turned and Christian called out, "Rose, are you in there?"
I quickly crumpled the paper, threw it into the box, and pushed the whole thing back under the bed. I simply wasn't ready to give it to him just yet. I needed to know what he and Evie found out from Balam, and I figured I could always rewrite it and give it to him later. Or possibly leave it on the bed during the day while he slept, taking the coward's way out.
"I'm here."
His head was hanging low as he made his way to join me on the bed. "I'm sorry" was all he said.
I sat in silence, considering the best way to handle this. I couldn't forgive him like I wanted to, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him until we ended up having make-up sex. No, I had to keep my shields in place. He had to believe that I was still mad, or else he'd dig for the real reason I was leaving. A reason I could never reveal.
"I hate fighting with you, Rose. Can we please talk this through? I already explained I didn't tell you about your dad moving because Evie wanted to gather more information first, but I admit that was a mistake. And about what just happened upstairs, I honestly just found out about your dad being here right before I told you, I swear."
"I believe you. But Christian, the problem is...I'm starting to feel like a prisoner here. I should've been happy to find out that I'm not a wanted murderer, but instead, I still have to remain here, hidden and scared, because the woman I tried to kill is still alive and wants me dead. I love you and I appreciate Evie taking me in and everyone accepting me, but I miss my friends and my dad. This whole situation has been twisted around, and I'm just not sure if staying here is right for me anymore."
The shocked look on his face was enough to make me want to take everything back. I hated hurting him. But if things went back to the way there were, then he would think I was still planning to become his consort, and that was something that could never happen. At least this way I was protecting him from being truly hurt.
"Rose, I know you're mad, and I certainly don't want you to feel like a prisoner here, but you have to understand that you and I remaining under wraps is for your own safety. I wish I was the new Sire already so I could just change you into a vampire, and then we wouldn't have to worry about this anymore. Meredith couldn't hurt you once you were like me."
I pushed off the bed and spun around to face him. "How can you say that? You guys are in more danger from Meredith than I am. If you bite her, you'll become infected and then she'll be able to control you. Have you forgotten that? At least with me, the human, all she can do is kill me. I'd rather be dead than be controlled."
"Dammit, Rose!" Christian flew across the room and had me by the arms in the next second. "No, I haven't forgotten any of what's happened, but don't you dare say stuff like that. Don't you dare say you'd rather be dead! I can't bear to hear it." He released me and ran his hand through his rapidly drifting hair. "I know vampires can't bite her, but soon we'll have the information we need to kill her. If you were a vampire, you'd be strong enough to stand against her. That's all I meant."
I hated putting him through this. I almost meant what I'd said. I'd rather be dead, if only to avoid causing him pain. "Christian, I'm sorry this is hard to hear, but I'm going to reach out to my dad and find out what's going on very soon. There's really nothing you can do to stop me, and it upsets me you'd even want to try. Don't you want to know what's up with Meredith?"
Christian was breathing heavy and he hadn't stopped drifting, but I didn't expect the menace in his voice when he said, "Evie already sent Renard and Loni to check things out with your dad and the demon. We should know their whereabouts by tomorrow. But Rose...you're wrong if you think there's nothing I can do to stop you."
* * * * *
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Make This Work
(Meredith)
After spending a perfect evening with Jeremy, eating pizza, drinking wine, and making love, I took the next day off from work, faking a cold. I had too much to do to prepare for the next demon meeting.
Damien and I were going to meet in an hour to check out the prospects for tonight's bloodletting. He'd been disappointed when I told him we wouldn't be able to continue drinking and draining our victims to death. No, we had to start draining and storing it so it could be introduced to the other demons at the meetings as planned, though killing the donors was still the ultimate end to the process.
"I'll be there in an hour. Are the workers still in the area?" I asked.
"Yes. They're taking a lunch break now, but once the horn sounds, they branch off again and head to their designated areas. There's one section way in the back and only two workers are assigned there. It's perfect."
"I'll decide if it's perfect once I'm there. I'm leaving now."
Damien had found what he thought was the perfect place to obtain some of our victims. There was a logging facility outside of town that had recently hired a large crew of Labor Ready employees. He figured it would be the ideal situation since there were so many new faces; it was likely that no one would miss the men we took.
Honestly, I didn't care if
they were missed or not, as long as I got what I needed and we didn't leave any evidence behind. I wasn't stupid and had recently bought a bundle of gloves so our fingerprints wouldn't be found in the area. We'd have to knock these men out and transport them to a secure location before draining them.
When Damien first told me his plan, I looked up the area on the computer and found there was an abandoned hunting shack just a quarter mile from the location. I figured with my demon speed, it wouldn't take me long to transport the men there to meet their death. I had everything we needed to make it look like they wandered off to get high and met their end by way of a wild animal. I was sure we could make this work.
As I gathered the last of my supplies and stuffed them in my oversized purse, I glanced out the kitchen window and noticed a blue SUV parked across the street. I couldn't recall if it had been there last night, but I'd lived here long enough to notice a strange car in the vicinity. I looked closer but didn't see anyone in the vehicle so I made a mental note to check and see if it was still there when I came home tonight.
I eased into my BMW, excited about starting this next phase of my plan and sped towards my meeting with Damien.
* * * * *
(Renard)
It didn't take long for Jeremy to notice that he was being tailed, so I backed off and let him think he lost us. Evie had been very specific with her instructions. We were to follow him and find out where he and Meredith lived, but were not to engage either of them.
After tailing him to some pizza joint and the liquor store, where he purchased a bottle of wine, we finally watched him pull his Lexus into the garage of an old brownstone off of 29th Street. It was a nice neighborhood; the streets were lined with tall trees and the lawns were manicured to a perfect green. We parked across the street and flew from the car to the shadowed area within the park that sat slightly to the east of their residence.
After feeding from a couple who'd been strolling in the park, I made sure the street was clear before Loni and I crept towards the house. We took care to remain as stealthy as possible, since we were still unsure of the extent of Meredith's demons powers. There was no need for us to worry though, as we found them very occupied and distracted. From what we were seeing, it looked like Rose's father was enjoying being with the demon very much.
We spent the night watching the house from the car. After their lovemaking ended, they went to bed like any normal couple would do. We used our enhanced hearing to listen as Meredith washed her face while Jeremy brushed his teeth, then they slid into bed and slept until their alarm woke them. We were still up at 5 a.m. as the sun had yet to rise. But knowing it would happen soon, we had to decide where we were going to hide for the day, because after we called Evie to report their inactivity, she asked that we stay for another night to see if we could catch a break of any kind.
"What about the hotel we saw just around the block? We wouldn't even have to move the car, we could just run there and check in," Loni suggested. She hated being in the car.
We'd recently returned from our honeymoon in Europe, where we'd trekked across the region during the night, hiding and sleeping in hotel rooms with "Do Not Disturb" signs hung from the doors during the day. It had apparently become our "thing."
"Sure thing, crumpet. That sounds like a good idea. We'll leave the car here so we don't lose our spot. Let me just grab our things out of the boot and we'll knock off." We climbed out of the car and I took note of how soon the sun would be up. It was something that was built-in to our vampire DNA. We had less than two hours before the sun rendered us comatose, so we started walking down the sidewalk towards the hotel. After a few steps, I took one last look back at the brownstone and saw Jeremy looking out their bedroom window from the second story. Blood hell. We were busted.
My gut instinct was to grab Loni, and with our vampire speed, get the hell out of dodge. But I didn't want to give Jeremy any more fodder to fuel his assumptions. So instead, I reached out for Loni's hand and hoped it looked like we were just a young couple out for a stroll. At five in the morning...yeah right.
I didn't risk turning around again, and in just a few minutes we reached the hotel, checked in, and hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. With the locks in place, Loni headed for the loo to take a bath and I dialed Evie to check in one last time before nodding off.
"I think Jeremy saw us."
"Don't worry. Your recent absence is something that will work in our favor. Neither Jeremy or Meredith have seen you or Loni here before. Get some rest, but as soon as you wake, head back to the car and see if you can find out anything that could be of help to us."
"Roger that, Evie. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Renard."
* * * * *
CHAPTER TWELVE
Falling Apart
(Christian)
After Rose's and my fight, I left our room once more, slamming the door in my wake. I was so mad at the way Rose was acting. It had been really hard to hear she was feeling like a prisoner here. How could being with the person you love feel like a prison? And I loved her beyond measure. So much so, that I had recently gotten a tattoo to demonstrate the very fact.
It was three words done in Slavic runes: Truly, Madly, Deeply. It was located on my upper right shoulder-blade and was meant to describe how I lived and loved. I loved Rose with all my heart, but I was starting to question if she still felt the same.
I understood finding out Meredith was alive changed the situation for her...for all of us. It had been good news that Rose wasn't a wanted criminal, but I knew, once again, she feared for her father's safety. What I didn't understand was why this had changed things between us.
"Hey. Can I talk to you?"
I hadn't realized I was in front of Terrance's cell until he'd called out.
"What do you want to talk about?" I leaned against the opening of his cell and watched as he paced what little distance he could while still chained to the wall.
"Have you found out where that demon bitch is yet?"
"Evie has Renard and Loni checking it out. They're supposed to be back tomorrow night."
"I'm going to kill her, Christian. Just find out where she is and let me out of here and all our problems will be over. I'll make her pay for what she did to Loraine and me."
I remembered Terrance expressing his feelings for Loraine when Rose and I had questioned him months ago, but none of us had talked about it since.
"Did you really love her?"
"Yes." Exhaling, he stopped his angry pacing and leaned his back against the cell's gray cinderblock wall. "She was honestly the first person I loved since I'd been turned and lost my family." As his shoulders sagged and his head dropped, I realized that I finally felt sorry for him.
"Well, as soon as we learn how to kill her, I'll let you know. But honestly, I'm not sure Evie will let you out even though you're obviously drifting back. She won't risk that Meredith may still have the ability to control you. This may be a fight you're just going to have to sit out."
His chains rattled as he started drifting and pacing again. "She killed Loraine and messed with my mind! Made me lie to everyone I cared about and to Rose. She has to be stopped, and I want revenge for Loraine. I loved her, Christian. I really did."
"Then you and Rose have a common goal."
It was in that moment I realized I wouldn't be biting a human to guard Rose during the day. She needed to meet with her dad and start planning revenge for her mother. She hadn't killed Meredith the first time, but with all of our help...she wouldn't fail again.
"Hang in there, Terrance. I'll let you know what we find out."
* * * * *
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Merry Little Men
(Meredith)
"I'm impressed." The logging site Damien had scouted really was ideal. Merry little men hustled around doing their manly work, yet in the last designated area of the site there were only two workers, far removed from the rest of the crew. "Let's go check out the hunting sh
ack and get everything set up, and then we'll head back down here just before quitting time."
"Ok, boss. Sounds good. Let me grab the stuff from my truck."
I watched Damien gather his supplies as I did the same. We were parked far enough from the work site, along a lone dirt road, that if anyone happened to stumble upon our vehicles they would most likely think they belonged to a couple of hikers exploring the woods.
"Do you have everything?" I asked.
"Si. Do you need me to carry anything for you?"
"No. Let's just get this over with. I want to have everything set up before sundown, so when the final horn of the day blows we can just grab them and go."
The excitement on his face was clear. He couldn't wait to kill these men and get another taste of fresh blood.