The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  Suddenly, and with a small amount of flame all around her, Lorri reappeared in the room. “Well, they’re all in Boston. They have a witch too. The building is completely fortified. We need our own human army.” Her fiery eyes landed on Lydia. “How’s she doing?”

  “Her heartbeat is getting stronger. She’ll live.” Aimee wiped away her tears as her smile turned to a look of horrific realization. “It’s Blake.”

  “Yes, you’re probably right. New chemist who is smarter than anyone. He took Giselle to a vamp bar. It’s him,” Aleks’ voice filled with rage. He never sounded that way.

  Aimee was clearly sickened. “He took my sister there. Oh my God! What if he’s using her to test the different experiments he’s doing? I bet you he is. It’s probably more than just the blood drugging. I’ve been trying to find them, but I haven’t been able to.”

  Ari raised an eyebrow. “That nerd who worships your sister—that guy who didn’t believe any of what was happening to you was real? He’s the chemist?”

  Aimee nodded. “Well, he obviously believes now.”

  Lucas shook his head. “You’re guessing. We need answers. We need to know how to get into the building.”

  After a moment, I exhaled loudly. “I can get in. I’m human, and once I change, nothing hurts me. It’s like I don’t notice it till after. This is all my fault—I should be the one to fix it.”

  Aimee agreed, “She’s right.”

  “No.” Lorri snapped. “We aren’t going to send you in there to get killed.” She glared at Aimee.

  Ari pointed to Lydia. “She’s going to be fine. We need to move before they kill the kids.”

  “Or worse. We have to go, now—if Daniel and the chemist get away I’ll be pissed,” I spoke through my teeth.

  Lucas scanned the room. “Where is Annabelle?”

  Aleks pointed to the ceiling. “Upstairs. She’s upset.”

  Aimee frowned. “Annabelle?”

  Howling filled the room, along with a cold wind.

  Aleks spoke soothingly, “Annabelle, it wasn’t your fault. Lydia needs you.”

  The young maid appeared, sobbing at Lydia’s side. “I am sorry. I never made the guards for humans. The smoke took my magic from me.”

  Lorri tried to comfort her, “Annabelle, her heartbeat is getting stronger. That means she will live. She just needs someone to protect her and care for her until she wakes up. Can you stay calm enough?”

  Annabelle sniffled. “I can do it. I can change the guards.”

  “I can help too,” a little boy spoke from the hall.

  Aleks turned to see Danny standing in the doorway. His tear-stained cheeks were flushed.

  Lorri agreed. “Thanks, kid.”

  “It’s all my fault. I had the dream, but I got scared.” The little boy was devastated.

  Aleks’ eyes filled with pity. “There is no way this is anyone’s fault. Each of us is a victim of the circumstances. What we need is to stand together and rescue those kids before Daniel kills them.” He glanced back at me. “You ready?”

  “Yeah.” Humiliation and the awareness that I would die filled me. It was sad I didn't know which was worse.

  Chapter 22

  The cure

  I tried to stay close to Aleks as we walked. His scent was overwhelming. For the first time ever, I sensed his indifference to me. I wished I too was apathetic, but my feelings and attraction for him were as potent as they had ever been. I noticed everything about him.

  Aimee had winked us to a parking lot several blocks from the building in Boston. I had never been to Boston before, nor had I considered the history or heritage of the place. And now my mind was only on the pain I would soon be in, and the death that would follow my shift. And saving Sam.

  For whatever reason, saving him was the only thing that mattered to me.

  We walked to the large building. It was several stories high, reminding me more of an apartment building than anything.

  I looked up at it, thinking about the things I hadn’t gotten to do yet. I hadn’t stopped by Rebecca’s parents’ house. I hadn’t visited Rebecca’s grave yet. I never got to have a Christmas with Roland, and I never got to watch my aunt be tried for her crimes.

  But none of that mattered now. Kids were in danger because of me. I glanced at Aimee and mumbled, “Punch me in the face, hard.” I didn’t want anyone else to hear me.

  “What?” Aimee looked at me like I had two heads.

  “Punch me in the face.”

  “Why? I can’t just punch you in the face.” She scanned the others as if waiting for them to chime in.

  “Ari told me you were a LARP dork. I guess I could ask one of the others to punch me if you’re going to be a little bitch about it.”

  Aimee lifted an eyebrow and punched me in the face. I saw stars the moment my head snapped back but it did the trick. Rage filled me straightaway.

  The shift started.

  I tried not to scream or make too much of a spectacle of myself.

  My skin rippled, straining as if it would tear. My hands gripped my face as my clothes ripped from my body.

  My legs dropped to the concrete, my vision went hazy, and my mind went numb.

  I heard myself chuckle as the pain subsided.

  Lorri, who was smiling, pointed to the building. “Bring it down.”

  I saw everything the beast saw but was not aware of its thoughts. Somehow Lorri was able to control the beast. It turned and ran at the building as hard as it could.

  The huge hands ripped the front door from the structure and threw it. A man came out, but my hands reached for him. I pulled him apart. The laugh was there again. The beast was laughing at the ripping and tearing.

  Watching the bloodshed of the second person was horrifying, I slipped into the background of my own mind, just leaving the beast to do its work.

  I woke to screaming. I recognized voices but couldn’t understand the words they said. Blood pounded in my ears.

  I leaned forward, throwing up all over the cold pavement. I tried to push myself up but everything ached. I opened my eyes to the pool of blood I lay in.

  “I WILL KILL THE NEXT PERSON WHO MOVES!” Someone screamed and it was the first clear noise I could discern.

  I turned to find Marcus and Henry. Henry’s arms were outstretched, and his hands trembled as if they held something. Aleks, Aimee, and Ari were pinned to the ground but nothing touched them. Lorri was gone.

  With quivering hands, Marcus carried something in his fingers. He knelt on the ground beside me, smiling. “My love, you must drink this. It will save you. I found it. He finished it.”

  When I reached out I gasped, seeing my arms. Pieces of flesh were ripped from them. I gasped. My stomach bled as did my face. I put my hands to my face, touching the parts that hurt. My cheek had a hole in it. My tongue moved to feel the hole. I cried out, seeing the desperation in his eyes. “I’m dying, Marcus.”

  “No.” A small tear formed in his eye. “You will live if you drink this. It’s the cure.”

  I surveyed my body. “I don’t w-want to live this way.” My words were broken as blood gurgled in my throat.

  “You’re not going to die!” he shouted at me. “My blood will heal you, after you drink the cure!”

  I took the vial, taking in everything around me. It was chaos and I wasn’t sure I wanted to live. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to die. I drank the vial, screaming as it seared through me as if cutting its way through my body.

  The pain grew beyond agony. I had no reference points for it or ways to express it. My mind went blank as my body convulsed on the ground.

  I lost consciousness somewhere in there.

  I woke to the muted light of the castle. I exhaled, feeling safe at long last. Terrified of what I would find, I lifted my fingers to my face. My cheek was normal again. I lifted my arms, seeing nothing but my normal skin.

  “Oh, thank God,” I whispered.

  “Pretty sure the name is Marcus.”

/>   I lifted my gaze, seeing him sitting in a chair across the room. “What?”

  He smiled, standing in the dim light, and walked to me. “The person you need to thank is not God, it’s me.” He sat on the bed beside me.

  “Thanks.”

  He bent and kissed my cheek tenderly. “Never scare me like that again.”

  “Okay.”

  He lay down on the bed beside me and held me.

  “Is everyone else all right?”

  “Yes, Lydia is waking up now. A few hours a day, she actually speaks and tries to do magic.”

  “What about those kids?”

  He laughed. “Those wicked little brats are fine.”

  “Aimee, Aleks, Ari, and Sam?”

  He pulled me back. “Everyone is fine. Honestly. You were the only one hurt. Well, and Lorri a little bit, but that was nothing to do with the Dark Ones.”

  I frowned. “You and Lorri got into a fight?”

  “One doesn’t fight with Lorri. One attacks savagely when she is distracted and then retreats.”

  “I remember Henry there.” I was puzzled by my jagged memories.

  He laughed. “I told you it was better for Henry to be smitten. I told him what was going on and he was adamant that we go to help you out.”

  “He is stronger than any of you, isn’t he?”

  “He is ancient. He is a magic we cannot ever compete with.”

  “Why does he stay with you?”

  Marcus beamed, “I captured his soul. It was a foolish thing to do, but I was bored and it was a challenge.”

  “What happens if he finds his soul?”

  “He can kill me. He cannot kill me until the moment he does find it.”

  “You idiot, why would you ever do that?”

  He shrugged. “I was young and foolish.”

  “Give it back and beg his forgiveness.”

  “No, I cannot. He will never forgive me. He will only kill me and be done with it. He will return home and it will end.”

  I felt sad for Henry. He was a kind man who didn’t deserve that as a fate. I wondered if I gave back the soul, he would just leave and not bother with his revenge.

  My phone rang. Marcus checked it. “Roland. Again.”

  I took the phone. “Again? Hello.”

  “My dear, you’re awake. Lydia told me what you did. That was imprudent and reckless.”

  “Roland, I’m sorry. It couldn’t be helped. I needed to redeem myself. Marcus got the cure from them too. I’m free of the beast, I think anyway.”

  There was silence.

  “Roland?”

  “I’m here. What did he tell you the cure did?”

  I eyed Marcus whose face darkened slightly. “Nothing. Why?”

  “Your father had a cure once too, but it would have turned him into something unnatural. He chose to stay with the devil he knew.”

  “I will get back to you on that. I’ll be home tonight.”

  “Excellent. I will prepare a feast for us. Dinner will be at six.”

  I hung up the phone and looked at Marcus. “What happened to your rule?” I mimicked his English accent, “Let’s agree not to lie to one another, shall we?”

  He chuckled. “How else could I get you to listen? You were dying. My blood would heal you, but the changes would come more frequently as your body weakened. I watched your father go through it.”

  “What has this cure done to me?”

  He bit his lip. “Well, it’s made you strong, stronger than the beast. Your anger, when provoked, could still be quite bad, but honestly, it will be controlled by you, one-hundred percent, in theory.”

  I closed my eyes. “You made me into a small beast. I won’t change shape, but I’ll potentially kill people nevertheless?”

  “In theory, you should be able to control all of it.”

  “In theory?—in theory means eff all, Marcus. Who could you possibly have tested this on, if I’m the only one of me?”

  “I know you’re concerned about what you might do, but let’s focus on what you won’t do. No more shifting into the beast, no more blackouts, and no more random injuries.”

  “No more injuries?” I asked skeptically.

  “You’re strong now. Like me.”

  “Will I age and die like a normal person?”

  “No. When you were sleeping, I gave you the same thing I gave your father a long time ago to make sure you live forever.”

  I didn’t know how to feel about that. My father died of the things he’d taken. Well, Aimee and those things.

  “Regardless of that, you may have lived longer than a normal human because of your mother. Sirens are supernatural creatures blessed with long life and rapid healing. It might be why you have fared so well thus far with your injuries.”

  “What was she like?”

  “Who?” He said it innocently like he didn’t understand who I meant, but I knew he was too clever for that.

  “My mother.”

  “She was kind and funny and beautiful. She laughed all the time and she adored your father.” His voice revealed far more than his words.

  “How much did you love her?”

  “It was never like that with us. Before I knew she was a siren, seventy years ago, I was in love with her. In truth, I took the potion and then I didn’t love her. She saw me as a regular man and I saw her as a regular woman.” Something was off. He was hiding the truth from me.

  “Did you love my father?” I continued on with the questions in hopes he’d reveal something by accident.

  “Like a brother. When he and I met, we were both alone in the world. All the vampires I’d made were incredibly young compared to me. They were living lives I’d lived hundreds of years earlier. It had lost its appeal to me. And then I met him and he was such a strange man. I couldn’t help but be intrigued.”

  “Strange?”

  “He was a terrible mess with other people. The whole experiment was to give him normal social graces. To make him more than the man he was.”

  “Well, he definitely got his wish.” I laughed bitterly.

  Marcus laughed with me. “Oh, he got more than he bargained for.”

  “And then he met her?” I didn’t know their story at all.

  “Yes. And she was more than he had bargained for too.” His tone darkened.

  “Were they happy when they found out they were pregnant with me?”

  “You ask a lot of questions.” He was avoiding it.

  “Were they?” I pushed.

  His eyes twitched. He was hiding the truth from me. After staring into my eyes for too long, he spoke softly, “No.”

  His answer hurt but I didn’t let it show. “You were thinking about using your mind thing on me, weren’t you?” I changed the subject.

  “Maybe, clever girl.” He laughed.

  “Your pupil flexed.” I sat back, watching him. He was the strangest man I’d ever met. I forced myself to be brave and asked the question I really wanted to, “How bad of shape was I in yesterday?”

  He pulled back. “I just want to kiss you. Can we play this question game later?”

  “No. I want to know.” I stayed frozen, watching him.

  “Fine.” He sighed, annoyed. “The worst shape I could have imagined. Most of the skin on your body was gone. I didn’t think you would live, even with my blood. Your legs were broken and your hair had been ripped out.” He pushed a hand up into my thick strawberry locks. “I haven’t been that scared in hundreds of years.”

  “You saved me.” My brows knitted, seeing the pain on his face, and I realized his feelings for me were real. It changed how I saw him.

  Chapter 23

  Daddy Dorian

  I parked the car outside Lydia’s and took a deep breath. I had to get Ben and Sam to drink the tincture to cure them of me. I hadn’t brought the cure with me but would need more of it.

  When I got inside I came upon Aleks first. “How is Lydia?”

  “She’s good. She’s awake for
short periods now and becoming bossy again.”

  “That’s good. I’m glad.”

  “How are you feeling?” He was distant, not at all how he was before. There was no twinkle in the eyes or staring at my lips the way he used to.

  “Fine.” I missed it, mostly because I still had a thing for him. The appeal hadn’t ended for me, just like Roland said it wouldn’t.

  “It’s Christmas in four days. Are you excited?” Aleks was making small talk.

  “I guess. What does everyone here do for Christmas?” It seemed irrelevant compared to the week we’d had.

  He laughed. “Oh, we usually blow it up. It’s over the top and ridiculous. This year Annabelle would have done things to this house none of us would’ve recovered from. In the wake of the last few days, I don’t know what we’ll do.”

  “Can I see her?” I pointed up at the ceiling.

  “Yeah. She’s expecting you anyway.” He chuckled. “Of course.”

  I walked through the silent house to Lydia’s bedroom. Giselle was sitting at her bedside already. Her cheeks flushed a little when she saw Aleksander. It dawned on me then that they had feelings for each other, real ones.

  “How is she?” I sat next to Giselle and gazed at Lydia.

  “Recovering. Annabelle told me Lydia’s, like, over two hundred years old. How is that possible?”

  Aleksander came and leaned on the wall next to the bed, staring lovingly at Lydia. “She uses a type of magic—good magic that replenishes her. It won’t make her live forever, but it will give her a lot of extra time.”

  Giselle watched the older woman with the same care and compassion. “She has been so kind to me. My own mom has never been this loving.”

  Aleks’ jaw tightened. I wondered if he was thinking about how cruel Giselle’s parents were. He had told me all about it when Giselle was sick and she filled in the blanks when she later told me the story of her and Aimee. Her parents hadn’t even come to see her when she was dying, and when they did, her mom brought some weirdo. Apparently, someone named Dorian had taken care of her mom’s boyfriend. It was grisly.

  “How is your mom?” Aleks asked after a moment, obviously thinking about the same thing as me.