by Tara Brown
“You hate Giselle?” Marcus laughed.
“Obviously, not her.” Aimee rolled her eyes. “But the blood drugging and blood bags only happened because you just had to make little Marcuses.”
“I want the Roses to leave Hanna alone. No convincing her to join the club or campfires at Lydia’s. Leave her be.”
“Marcus!” I was appalled. “Don’t you dare bring me into this.”
Aimee spoke to me, “You want this?”
“I don’t know. I want to know more about the Roses Academy and choose for myself.”
Aleks laughed. “Okay, well, maybe we will just wait for your answer in another room.”
I ignored his dig. I never took my eyes off Marcus, but he refused to meet my gaze. He stared adamantly at Aimee.
“I will give you this answer now, but Lorri leaves Hanna alone—”
Humiliated, I stepped in front of him, cutting him off. “Don’t promise him anything. I will get your answer for you myself. It was nice seeing you again.” I stormed from the room.
I couldn’t believe Marcus. I stomped up the stairs to my room, slammed the door, and huffed my breath. I pulled out my new cell phone and dialed.
“Yes?” a woman answered.
“Lorri, it’s Hanna. I was wondering if I could come now to the Roses Academy?”
Lorri chuckled into the phone. “Eager to be killing bad guys again?”
“No.” I frowned, trying not to recall the things she’d seen the beast do. “Marcus is trying to forbid me from doing it. He wants me excluded from the Roses Academy.”
“Ahhhhh, yes. You would never be one of those stay-at-home sirens. He is a fool to try to make rules for you. I will send Aimee tomorrow.”
“She’s here now. Well, not here, but she’s downstairs.”
“I will send her a text with instructions now then.”
“Thank you.”
Lorri mocked, “Don’t thank me yet, Hanna.”
I pressed “end” and grabbed a suitcase.
Roland appeared at the door. “You’re leaving?”
“For a while. I’m going to be trained.”
“The Roses Academy?” He beamed, “This is the miracle your father always wanted for himself. He always wished to have the control you now have.”
“Yeah, but it’s like I gained control of one monster and now another has suddenly gone crazy.”
Roland laughed. “Yes, well life can’t always be easy. I want phone calls every other night.”
“Okay.” I ran to him and hugged him. He tensed. I pulled back. “Even you?”
“Yes,” he answered, making a sickened face. “Even me. Everyone can feel your special blend of emotions, my dear.”
Nauseated, I let go of him and stepped back. “I’m sorry, Roland. I guess I should have noticed you were keeping your distance.”
“The same thing happened with your mother. Well, until she committed herself to your father.”
“Sounds like a fairly tale.” I sighed.
“It does but it’s true. She was never easy to be around until it happened. Even then, she needed a charm bracelet for some of us.”
“How did they fall in love?”
“The old fashioned way—he attacked her. Tried to force himself on her. She beat him with a bat. He changed. Even his beast couldn’t resist her. She ran, he chased. She got hurt, he felt terrible. He brought her to Lydia and begged for her help. He offered himself up if Lydia would help her. Obviously, the Roses had wanted your father dead for some time. Lorri agreed. They would fix her if he would allow himself to be killed.”
“How tragic.”
Roland’s eyes sparkled. “Not so tragic. Once they saved her, she convinced him to take the elixir until they could find a cure. He and Lorri reconciled, obviously, since he ended up living another seventy years.”
“How did she die?”
His face hardened. “Have a great trip, my dear. Since the Roses Academy is gone, I have no idea where you’ll be going, but I imagine Aimee will tell you soon enough.”
Marcus stepped into the room. “Tell her what?”
Roland turned and left the room. “Don’t forget to call,” he said softly, leaving me alone with Marcus who looked less than pleased.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to pack.” I turned away from him but he grabbed my arm.
“Don’t you dare turn your back on me.” He spun me to face him. “You can’t be serious?”
“Well, I am. You’ll just have to suck it up and accept that I want this.”
He shook his head. “No, you don’t. You’re doing this because I spoke for you. I apologize—I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s fine.” I shrugged. “Apology accepted.” I walked into my massive closet and grabbed a few things and stuffed them into the bag.
He walked to the suitcase and ripped it in half. “NO!”
My clothes spilled out onto the floor.
“Are you insane?” I pointed to the door. “Get out!”
He grabbed my hand, crushing it. “You’re not leaving.”
“Stop!” I ripped it away from him. “You’re hurting me.”
“I’m saving you.” His voice broke, “They will kill you. This is a ploy.”
“No, they want me to join them, and I want to go and see if it’s where I belong. I don’t belong out there in the world. And I absolutely will not be at your beckon call, watching you eat women every Thursday night!”
He stepped closer to me. “You belong with me.”
“No, I don’t.”
His eyes bore down on me like he was trying to compel me. “You belong to me.”
“How dare you! Leave now.” I stomped into my closet and grabbed another bag.
“You’re not leaving!” He grabbed it and ripped it to pieces.
“You are ridiculous. You’re a child. Ripping everything I own to pieces will not stop me.”
His nostrils flared as his breathing became harsh and uncontrolled. “You will not go, Hanna. They will not take you from me.”
“If we were meant to be, they never could’ve taken me away from you. But this isn’t love, Marcus. This is you being insanely attracted to the siren’s call. You are a liar and an asshole.” I turned and stormed to the door.
It slammed in my face as he beat me there, looking savage.
The rage filled me as the room became a cage. I shoved him aside and grabbed the door, ripping it off the hinges and throwing it in his direction.
Aimee stepped through, touching my arm, and everything was gone instantly.
As my feet touched the ground in Lorri’s backyard, I bent and threw up everywhere.
Aimee jumped back quickly as I heaved and gagged.
“I-I-I’m sorry,” I heaved again.
“No, don’t be. I hated it in the beginning too. Are you all right?”
“No.” I stood, wiping my mouth. “I will be.”
Aimee sounded truly remorseful, “I’m so sorry all of this happened, Hanna. I know what it’s like to just wish everything could be normal.”
“I don’t get how my life can be such a train wreck too. Like one thing can’t just be easy.”
Aimee laughed. “Oh God, my sentiments exactly. We need to go.” She pointed down the dark, cold grass to where Aleksander was standing waiting for us.
Chapter 27
Vikings don’t have faults, they have clubs
Aleksander was pacing when we got up the hill to him. “How’d it go?”
“Marcus was a dick,” I muttered.
“Hanna handled it well though. Needless to say, Roland will be doing some renovating while she’s gone,” Aimee joked.
He smiled at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just feeling funny. I got so angry. I swear I saw red.”
He noticed my bright-red bracelet and smiled. “Yeah, no kidding.”
“No.” I blushed. “Not that kind of red.”
“I can’t believe he wouldn’t tell me abou
t Blake. I still need to help my sister.” Aimee glanced over. “He never said anything about where the chemist was?”
“Just Boston. I think.”
“Do you know where she was last?”
“No.” Aimee sounded defeated. “I don’t know. She’s so stupid. She could be anywhere. Giselle doesn’t know either. I’ve searched all over Boston but I can’t find them.”
“Blake is the last person I would ever imagine siding with the Dark Ones. Ever,” Aleks added.
“I know. Chess club, mathletes, science major, me as a best friend. How could he have gone so wrong?” Aimee groaned.
“Maybe you were more important in his life than you realized. Maybe he hasn’t dealt with the loss of you.”
“I went to his house and freaked him out.” The words left her lips with zero emotion.
I wanted to focus on the whole Marcus thing and my nearly changing into the beast but seeing Aimee so vulnerable was alarming.
“Aimee, I didn’t mean it was your fault, just that he hasn’t coped with the loss of you as a friend. You’re way too smart to blame yourself for this.”
“No, you’re right.”
“What have you got so far?” I asked, trying to keep up.
“Nothing. I moved my dad again which, FYI, he isn’t liking. I told him no calls to or from Alise. He’s not impressed with me right now. I took his cell and gave him one of ours. Shane is staying with him and taking vacation time until we have this figured out.” She paced. “I don’t even know if it’s Blake. I need to confirm it.”
“I’ll try to get the answer from Marcus when he’s not so pissed. Apparently, I have that ability, to make people do what I want.” I said it as an offhand comment. I wasn’t trying to brag, in fact the whole thing grossed me out.
“Are you and Marcus together?” Aimee cocked an eyebrow.
“No. He believes we are, but I think he’s under the siren’s call.” My gaze darted to Aleks. “We both do.”
“Sam said something happened between you guys. I just thought—never mind.” She looked upset.
“Something did happen but it’s just the siren’s call with him too.” My eyes lowered, mostly out of shame. “And now the only guy who actually likes me for me, is currently getting his brains and his memories scrambled by Marcus so he can stay safe.”
“Yikes.” Aimee laughed. “Being a siren seems pretty awful.”
“It’s horrible. I just started reading up on it. It sucks.”
“It’s a survival and reproductive instinct. I have the same thing, only for me it was the shaman’s way of guaranteeing I would suffer. Girls fall for me, my father kills them, and I clean up the mess. Or he kills, I end up in a town, and the grieving girl falls for me. Pretty sick actually.” Aleks’ voice softened as his gaze darted to Aimee.
“Yeah.” Aimee cringed. “How is the hunt for Daddy Dearest going?”
“Badly. It never seems to end. He’s always a step ahead. Now I don’t feel the longing to help the families so we don’t even know how many victims there are.” He gave me a gentle smile. “But we aren’t here to listen to this. We’re headed to Roses Academy training. You ready?”
“I guess.” I shrugged. “I don’t have anything.”
“We can get Roland to ship over clothes and whatnot for you.” Aimee reached for me and Aleks at the same time, flashing us to a massive great room in an executive suite or something. It was huge, like a penthouse apartment.
Other people were there already.
“You know Sam and Anne obviously?” Aimee pointed them out.
I grinned at Anne, one of the kids from Lydia’s house, and avoided Sam’s gaze altogether. “Hey.”
Anne twitched a smile. “Yo.”
Aleks pointed to the other kids. “This is Lisa. She’s from Kansas, and this is Don from DC.” And then he turned to me. “This is Hanna from Portland.”
I smiled at them. Don’s face brightened immediately. Aleks winced, watching his reaction.
Lisa sounded cranky or tired. “Well, do we have rooms or what? Are we sleeping on cots in this apartment?”
Aleks turned to Aimee and shrugged. “No clue.”
Aimee answered, “I’ve been here once. I didn’t get a tour. Lorri should be here soon. She’ll fill you in. This is a new place for us.”
“Lorri is here now,” Lorri spoke sharply as she strolled into the room, wearing tight white pants, a teal running jacket, and strappy silver flip-flops. Giselle followed her in, making Lorri, who was gorgeous, look plain. “This is Giselle. She’ll be here training with all of you. Thank you everyone, for coming a couple of days early. I know it was sudden, but we had to move the date up.” Lorri’s eyes flickered to me for a moment.
Lorri scanned the room. “All right, kids, let’s get some basic rules down. Do what you want in your own rooms. The communal rooms are not for anything that makes anyone else uncomfortable. No bringing anyone here, ever. No friends and no family. No fighting in the house. No leaving. We’ve downsized a bit recently and need to be extra careful. Everyone is kind to others, unless we’re in the ring. Then it’s no holds barred.” She pulled a cigarette out as she spoke to everyone, “Your rooms are that way, down the hall, everyone can pick a room. There is no assigning anything. We have the top four floors of this building. No exploring without someone else with you, as in me, Aimee, Aleks, Dorian, Ari, Lucas, or Ben. We will be your instructors here. No one else is permitted inside.” She walked through the huge room to the massive balcony.
Aleks smiled. “So you guys want to pick your rooms?”
Anne snarled. “Whatever, I just need some TV. I am so not watching Big Brother on my iPhone again.”
“Whatever that is.” He chuckled and led us down the hall that was huge and wide like a museum.
The walls were a sand color with paintings and the rooms were full of beautiful furniture. Each was set up with a double bed, desk, table, nightlight, and a rug. The rooms were large and each shared a massive bathroom with the room next to it.
Lisa took the first room on the right and Don chose the one on the left. Giselle grabbed the next room on the right side of the hall and Anne took the one across from that. I took the following one on the right.
Aleks watched me walk in and spoke quietly, “Maybe just text him and let him know you’re okay. It would be bad if he showed up.”
“I will.” I closed my door.
I glanced around the room, feeling terrible. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, seeing I’d missed seven calls, although none were from Marcus. I dialed his number, frightened of his response.
“Hanna.” His words bit at me.
“Marcus, can we talk rationally?”
“No, absolutely not.”
“Marcus, can we try?”
“No.”
“Are you going to hang up on me?” I asked, too tired and weirded out by the day I’d had.
“No. What are you wearing?”
“Nothing.” I said it too fast, not thinking about my response.
“Interesting.”
“Can we talk about this?”
“No.”
“Admit you are being a big baby.”
“I’m not.”
“Liar.”
He laughed into the phone. “If they harm one hair on your head, I want you to know I will destroy the entire city. I will unleash the Henry beast on them. Tell me where you are.”
“No. Behave yourself. I’m fine, really.”
“I will be there tomorrow to ensure that. I will find you.”
“Stop.” I inhaled sharply. “Please don’t come. It’s one of the rules. No outsiders.”
He was silent.
“Marcus?”
“I’m an outsider?” He sounded hurt.
“You’re not a Rose.”
“Fine, but I will need to see you’re okay.” He laughed. “We could use that FaceTime thing on your phone. I think that might be interesting.”
I laughed, flushing.
“No. That’s such a bad idea.”
He chuckled. “Hanna, I love you.”
“I have to go.” His declaration made me uncomfortable and more certain he had never taken the stupid elixir.
“When will you love me and only me?”
“Night, Marcus.”
“Sleep tight.”
“You too.” I pressed the phone off and sat on my bed, staring out the massive window at the city below. I didn’t even know what city I was in. The lights of it gave way to my imagination.
“Hanna.”
I turned to see Sam walking into my room from the adjoining bathroom.
My stomach flipped. “Hey, Sam.” My eyes darted from the bathroom to the door to my room.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Okay. Want to go to the living room?”
He smirked, making me uncomfortable and aware of his scent filling the air. “No.” He took a step toward me but changed his mind and sat on the chair in the corner. His eyes searched mine.
“What’s up?” I gulped.
He spotted the bracelet. “Where did you get that?”
“Lydia made it for me. It stops me from making everyone go nuts.”
“Have you tried taking it off?”
“No.”
“I’ve seen them before. They don’t work super well.” He shrugged. “The thing is, even with the bracelet on, I still feel something for you, not that it matters. I know which room you’re in and where you are exactly. I can sense you, no matter where I am. I can smell you in the air around me. You smell sweet. That’s why I’m here. I want to talk to you about something. I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while but—”
“I need to get you a cure. It’ll go away. You only feel that way about me because of the way I am and—”
“No.” He smiled and interrupted me, “No, it only works on me when you’re really out of control, like before the brace—”
“Please,” I argued, cutting him off again. “You being Nephilim makes me feel things I don't want to. It’s not real. It’s what we are that’s making us feel this way. I’ll get you the elixir and you’ll just see plain old me.”
“Is this because of the old guy?” He looked defeated for a moment.
I had to assume he meant Marcus, who looked thirty tops, even though he was crazy old.