The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  “Miss, are you all right? Let me help you.”

  “Miss, no, let me help you.”

  “Piss off, buddy. I got her first.”

  “No. Let go of my girlfriend.”

  They surrounded me. The humans became a barrier. It was a pretty pathetic move, but I was desperate.

  Marcus laughed as he started throwing them aside.

  With every step he took, he removed another human. As I backed away from him, five more surrounded me. Their hands were on me, grabbing my arms.

  Their greedy fingers pinched my skin as they tore at my clothes in an attempt to get me to come with them.

  The wall of humans grew. I got swallowed up in it. The beast tried to rage its way to the surface. My strength crushed it, sending it back into the dark.

  I noted a hand on my arm. It grabbed me hard, pulling me more forcefully than the others.

  I turned to see Sam.

  He drew me to him, shoving people out of the way as I collapsed into his arms. He lifted me up and flashed to be standing outside a black SUV.

  The door was open. He placed me inside and jumped in. “Hanna, are you all right?”

  “No.” Most of my clothes had been ripped from my body, appearing as though I had changed again.

  “I got you.” Sam held me like he’d won the prize, although just a little too hard. Ben leaned forward, earning himself a growl from Sam.

  Whoever was driving wasted no time. The SUV bounced all over as corners were rounded like it was a Maserati.

  I looked around the SUV for one face, Lorri’s. “He dragged me out when I went to Aleks’ room. I’m sorry.”

  “I’d imagine you are.” Lorri smiled bitterly at me from the driver’s seat. “I told you to stay away from the windows, kid.”

  Aimee eyed me over. “What’s the damage? I smell blood.”

  “Don’t know. Foot’s broken for sure.”

  “She reeks of blood.” Ben leaned in to smell. “Sexy blood.”

  Again, Sam growled.

  “Sam, it’s okay. It’s not his fault. Just like it’s not yours. I broke my bracelet.”

  “No.” He was confused.

  The SUV stopped dead in its tracks.

  “For shit’s sake,” Lorri cussed under her breath.

  Marcus stood in the middle of the road with Henry. Henry’s hands were in the air.

  The SUV spun for a moment.

  I squeezed Sam, terrified. As much as I wanted to get away from Marcus, I didn’t want the price to be Sam or the others dead.

  I wondered what Lorri would do against Henry.

  Lorri opened the driver’s window as the SUV halted. “Evening, Marcus.” Her voice was full of anger.

  He casually stalked up to the window of the SUV. “Fine evening, Lorri. Hanna, my love, don’t make me get angry. You come with me or Henry will start extracting them.”

  Lorri growled, “Don’t move, Hanna. I can take him.”

  Marcus grinned. “You will kill me. I’m certain of that, but Henry—no. Lorri, we both know he will make a meal out of you. There is also the fate of Aimee’s ever-beloved sister. Alise, isn’t it? I do know of her location. I will trade what is mine for that information.”

  “I’ll go,” I mouthed.

  Sam held me. “No.”

  “He won’t hurt me any worse than he already has.”

  “No deal.” Lorri put a hand up. “I honestly don’t give half a shit about some sister. Hanna stays.”

  I reached for the door to the truck. “I’ll go.” I tried to open it but Sam held me, refusing to move. “No, you won’t,” he growled. “No offense, Aimee, but I don’t give a shit about your sister either. Hanna stays with me.”

  Aimee sat helplessly on the seat, pressing her lips together.

  “I’ll go.” I pulled away from Sam. “Stay here.”

  Lorri looked at me. “You sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s her choice.” Lorri put a hand on Sam. His hands dropped from me and his face went soft. She controlled him somehow.

  Aimee touched me and we were outside the SUV. I bent over, throwing up on the cement. Aimee leaned forward, brushing my hair from my face and whispering, “When I get her, I will come for you. Be ready.”

  “Even if you don’t, it’s cool. I’ll get away. I always do.”

  “DON’T DO THIS,” Sam screamed against the window as Lorri held him, preventing him from flashing from the SUV.

  I put a hand up to the glass. “It’s just the bracelet, Sam. When I get a new one, you won’t feel that way anymore. You’ll feel better.”

  “No! No, I don’t need the cure. My mom’s a siren too. The magic doesn’t work on me. Not like that. When you’re on fire I can’t resist you, yeah, but it can’t force me to feel anything. A siren’s heart cannot be forced, not in love, just lust. I like you, Hanna, on my own. I always have!” He raged to get out but Lorri held him.

  Marcus grabbed me before I could comprehend what was being said.

  When I did, I struggled to get away, shoving him as hard as I could. He fell back. I limped around the truck to the open window. “Sam, if you like me on your own, you might be my match!” I stuck my head in the window.

  “Not like, Hanna. Love. I have always loved you.” Sam leapt over Lorri, shoving his head through the window. His lips met mine for a second.

  The electricity that had been there before was there again, only it was ten times stronger. All the air left my body.

  Marcus seized me by the hair, snapping my head back and dragging me to the car. “Enough of this, Hanna.” He spoke through his fangs at Aimee, “I will tell Aleks as soon as I have her home.”

  Tears poured down my cheeks as Sam made eye contact with me.

  Lorri held Sam in the truck. He was screaming and fighting an ever-still Lorri.

  I was shoved into the car again. My hands trembled. The sexual tension and build up were gone, even when Marcus climbed in, slamming the door shut. His voice was fierce. “You will be a good girl or my pit stop will be to eat Aimee’s gorgeous sister.”

  I heaved silently as tears poured down my face.

  Henry got into the car. Sam vanished from the truck just as Henry quickly drove from the scene.

  Sam appeared on the road, chasing the car, screaming my name. He ran and flashed, keeping up with the car for blocks until Henry turned onto a freeway exit. My heart felt as if it were being ripped from my chest as I watched him get smaller. Soon we turned the corner and he was gone.

  Chapter 30

  Mother lover

  “You may come now.” Marcus sounded smug as he hung up the phone. “Be a good girl.” He said as he strolled out of the room, leaving me behind.

  A second later I heard Aleksander’s voice from the hallway, “Henry!”

  “My old friend, how are you?” Marcus chuckled, his voice fading as he walked away from my room.

  “Where is she? I want to see if she’s okay!” Aleks spoke loudly, sounding worried.

  “Hanna! Tell Aleks you’re all right.” Marcus yelled down the hall to my room.

  “YOU SON OF A BITCH!” I screamed after him.

  “Satisfied?” Marcus mocked us both.

  “Not nearly. I want to see her.” Aleks wasn't giving up on me, thank God.

  “No. Now Alise is being held in France, south of Paris. Daniel has a property. I believe you are aware of it. Blake has a lab set up there. They’ve been there the whole time. Boston was a set up. Alise is living as Blake’s slave. He is a bit twisted—there are no words for how she lives some days. You may go now.”

  “Okay,” Aleks spoke.

  He was leaving me behind?

  “Hanna?” he yelled, his footsteps ringing out in the halls.

  “I’m here!” I ran to the doorway, making it only partway across the room before a huge steel manacle and chain stopped me from going farther.

  Aleks wrapped his arms around me. “Can we get it off?”

  “No, Henry d
id it. It’s spelled.”

  “Let me see.” He grabbed at it. Already, it was starting to wear the skin on my ankle.

  “How’s Sam?”

  “He’s across the street in a tree and very angry. He wants you back. Been fighting at the house all morning about it. He asked me to tell you he’s sorry for not revealing who he was in the beginning. He just didn't want to come on to you while the siren’s call was so strong. He didn't want you to think the feelings weren’t real. And for him they weren’t while the call was the strongest. He told me he met you when you were three and he was four. Your mothers were friends. He said your red hair was more orange then, but your freckles were the same.”

  “He knew me then?”

  “Yes, when you were in Europe visiting your mother’s family, everyone thought you were a regular girl. Your father wanted you left alone. No one from our world was allowed to tell you who they were, and then not allowed near you after she died.”

  “Oh my God.” I didn't know what else to say. I had no memory of it. “I want to go home. I need to see him. You have to help me.”

  “I will. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Marcus is leaving me alone because—”

  “Apparently, young Sam is her match, her true love. Especially rare for a siren. More common, evidently, when the male is the offspring of a siren. Which—who knew?—young Sam is.” Marcus strode into the room, clearly vexed.

  “He isn’t here to free me,” I stated defiantly.

  Marcus’ dark eyes shot at me. “As if he could take you from me. Unfortunately, for poor Hanna, Henry no longer feels the need to help. Your seductive powers are gone.”

  Aleks glared. “You need to let her go, Marcus. This isn’t the fourth century; you can’t just hold women captive.”

  Marcus shouted, pointing at me like a madman, “She isn’t a woman. She is a siren. She is MY siren. Get out.”

  “See you soon, Hanna.” Aleks winked and left me there.

  Marcus stayed, strolling to me with arrogance and a mocking smile. He grabbed me, pulling me into his embrace, dragging his lips up my throat. “Hanna, I need you to want me again.”

  “It isn’t in my control. Sam is where my heart is.”

  He grabbed my waist. “I don’t need your heart.”

  “Please, Marcus, just let me go.”

  “Never. I’m going to kill your little boy toy and then you’ll be free to love again.”

  His words stabbed me in the chest. “Marcus, I will never love or forgive you if you harm a hair on his head.”

  “What will you do? Fight me every day on the matter? Kill yourself like your mother did?”

  “What?” My insides tightened.

  “Nothing.” He stepped back as regret flooded his face. “So what? Yeah, she committed suicide. It was cruel and selfish. She left us both.”

  Disgust crept around inside me. “She killed herself? Why?”

  “Because she couldn't learn to love me!” He leaned in and spit from his frothy lips hit me in the face.

  “What did you do?” Tears flooded my eyes as his words tore everything into pieces. “My father was your friend! You said you loved him like a brother! How could you?”

  “DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE DEAD INSIDE?” he screamed in my face. “NO! SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” His wild eyes frightened me but there was no turning back.

  “You did lie about taking the potion! I knew it!” I sobbed, losing all control. “YOU LIED!” I screamed right back at him.

  He stared me down for a moment before he laughed, stepping back with his hands out. “Who would want to end the love of a siren? Nothing is more amazing than being with a woman like you.”

  “You let me believe she died in a car accident.”

  “I lied. I’ve lived long enough to know what you need to hear from me, Hanna. I made you like me once. I can do it again.”

  “Marcus.” My lips trembled at the coldness in his eyes. “I never loved you, not even slightly. You disgust me!”

  “Hanna, Hanna, Hanna. You cannot imagine the effort that has gone into this plan. Do you really think I care about love and disgust? No. They’re the same thing to me.” He mocked me, wiping his mouth and strolling about the room as if he were in a British Shakespeare production. “This has been in the works since you were seven. They always say you can’t plan for every detail, but I did. Every detail but Sam.” He paced the room. “I never saw him coming, not from a mile.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I have planned it all, every second.” He turned angrily. “I did what I had to, Hanna. I knew nothing would change you but death.”

  My stomach sank. “You did this to me?”

  He laughed. “Your friend was an accident, Hanna. You have to believe that. Cecile was an idiot. I told her about the money, but she didn’t care. She genuinely loved you. So I helped her along.”

  “Oh my God.” I gagged. My poor aunt. I knew she’d loved me. I knew it.

  “What about my dad?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Oh my God. You killed him?” I felt sick. “You knew the change would bring out the siren.”

  “Of course. The beast was the risk. I suspected your death might trigger the beast, it was a gamble I was willing to take.”

  “Oh my God.”

  He sat on my bed. “I am cursed. I feel nothing. I have no heart. Henry cursed me. Don’t you see? It’s why I stole his. He stole my heart.” He looked at me, pleadingly. “Don’t you see? You make me feel again. Your feelings are so strong, even I feel something.”

  I refused to hear him.

  My mind reeled from the events that had taken place.

  He had betrayed my father in every way. He was the reason my parents were dead. Why I was alone. He set up my aunt and uncle and then made them murder my best friend. He forced me to be reliant on him. He had been my savior. I looked back, realizing every step I’d taken had been planned out by him. I’d contemplated dating him. I fought back the urge to throw up.

  “Let me die, Marcus.” I was empty.

  “Hanna, you will see this as better. When I kill Sam, I will make Henry erase your memories of him. And this conversation. And from that moment on, everything will be better.” He walked to the door, leaving me alone in the room.

  How had my father and Roland been so blind? How had Roland and Lydia and Lorri all missed this?

  I curled into a ball on the cold floor, running my hands over the stones, touching the imperfections. I used to see him this way, rough and hard but beautiful with the imperfections. Now I saw only the monster.

  He’d taken everything from me and planned to take even the things I didn't have.

  I had to kill him.

  It was my only choice.

  I didn't sleep but I also didn’t stay awake. I laid still, like I was hibernating through the pain of everything, until I heard his voice.

  “It’s time for your shower,” he shouted from the hallway.

  I hated shower time.

  I hated him.

  When he entered the room his smugness suggested he didn't even care that he had killed everything good in me. “Shower time.” He practically sang it. He yanked me off the floor and dragged me to my feet so he could unlock the cuff around my ankle.

  Then he hauled me, stumbling and sobbing, to the bathroom. He started the water and threw me in, nightgown and all. He slammed the shower door and left me there to fall to the stone floor. He then exited the bathroom, maybe leaving me to kill myself the way she had.

  But my weaknesses weren’t the same as hers. Angry and possibly half changed into the beast, I got up and grabbed the soap. I ripped the nightgown from my body and soaped everything. He hadn’t touched me, disgusted that my heart belonged to another man. I washed my face repeatedly. I imagined Sam’s face. I imagined his strong arms encircling me, protecting me.

  I imagined him for so long I thought I heard him.

  But then I heard it again.
/>   Hanna?

  I poked my head around the side of the shower to where Marcus still stood in the doorway, his eyes on his phone. I slipped back into the water.

  Hanna?

  I jerked to the left and right, not wanting to whisper. Marcus had incredible hearing.

  Hanna, if you can hear me, be ready. We will be there at high noon.

  I nodded, wondering if Sam could see me in the shower. I used my thoughts to speak to him. Sam?

  Nothing happened. I wondered if Lydia was able to somehow make their voices come out of the shower. Or maybe I’d officially lost my mind. There was that possibility.

  “Okay, love, wrap it up.”

  I glared out at Marcus. “Why?”

  He frowned. “I’m getting annoyed standing here.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Why?” he groaned and put his phone down.

  “Curiosity.”

  “Eleven thirty.”

  “I’m hungry.”

  “I don’t care.” He was an asshole.

  “I’m starving. Can I have some lunch? Please.”

  “Fine. I’ll tell Henry to bring you lunch.”

  I forced a smile. “Thanks.”

  He rolled his eyes. “If you’re trying to butter me up, it won’t work. You’re staying.”

  “I’m fine with it as long as you stop treating me like your possession. It’s the only problem we’ve ever had, Marcus,” I lied.

  When I was out of the shower and dressed in a new nightgown, he tightened the manacle around my ankle and stood up, giving me a new look. One that suggested he might be over his hissy fit. “Hanna, do you want to have dinner with me?”

  “Like untied and in a normal pair of pants and a tee shirt at a table?”

  “Yes.”

  I pretended to be thinking. “Uhm, okay. I guess.”

  “I will have lunch brought to you now.” He left the room.

  I ran to the window and looked out the frosted glass. I tried opening it but it had been nailed shut. I panicked, glancing around the room, wondering how they’d free me with Henry in the house.

  Chapter 31