The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  I watched the moon and wished for a second I could shift into an animal and go kill things in the forest. I wished Ben were there. Ben would’ve made me laugh and made snide comments about Hanna.

  We could’ve joked and teased one another.

  And I wouldn't have felt quite so alone.

  I pushed down the sadness when I heard footsteps behind me in the moist grass. I didn't need to turn back to know it was Aimee.

  “Can we talk?” she asked.

  I wanted to say no. I wanted to leave her heartbreak and mine for another night. But I didn't.

  She sat on the bench next to me. Her eyes glossed over as she struggled with her breath.

  “I can’t do it anymore,” she whispered. I knew it wasn't Shane she was talking about.

  “I know. I miss them too, Aimes.” Moisture threatened my eyes, but I pushed it away, taking with it the thoughts of Ben and the many nights we’d spent laughing and joking. He had become the brother I never had.

  “I made the wrong choice, S-S-Sam,” her voice broke on my name. “I knew deep down that he would always be there waiting for me. I knew it wouldn’t always work with Shane. He’s human. I knew it wouldn’t last. I had just loved him for so long. It felt like the choice my heart would have made before.” She broke into sobs.

  I turned and encased her with my arms. Her shaking cries filled my chest as she lost the control she always struggled to maintain.

  Like everyone else, I’d gotten tired of her battles with which guy to love. I had always hoped she would just choose Aleksander and be done with it. I liked Shane just fine, but the whole mortal thing was doomed from the start.

  But now that Aleks was gone, I felt bad that God had made the choice for her.

  I rubbed her back and let her wreak havoc on my tee shirt with her tears, and God only knew what else.

  “And even worse”—she pulled back, wiping her puffy eyes—“I doubt I’ll ever get my sister back because Blake is going to kill her. I feel like everything is lost. You know?”

  “Yeah, I do.” I decided to go for a joke instead of more emotions, “You bitches have been hard on my lady, and now she’s in Greece where she’ll be loved and adored. And she’ll probably choose to stay. They hate me in Greece. They hate angels. Well, they hate humans too. They hate everyone. You should go there. You'd fit in.”

  She laughed and slapped my chest. “I don’t hate everyone. I like you. And we were nice to her. Very nice.” The laugh lasted a heartbeat and then she closed her eyes for a second, leaning in. “You smell like him.”

  I bit my bottom lip to stop the sarcastic shitty comments from flying from my mouth. She was vulnerable and afraid. I needed to just let her be those things and not try to fix the moment with humor or sarcasm.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn't be smelling you.”

  “I get it. We’ve all been through a lot. Ari and the messing around of our memories, and Ben and Aleks. I’m just grateful we have each other.”

  “I guess. I wish it was all easier, you know?”

  “Aimee, you have to be honest with Shane. His life is short. He needs to be able to move on. It’s hard to hear it right now, but it’ll get better with time.”

  “I’m just so scared to make the wrong choice. One side of me wants Shane, just like the other side of me wanted Aleks.”

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath and said the thing I’d held back forever from saying, “This is going to sound brutal and harsh but you need it. You broke Aleks' heart and then he died. You can't say you wish you'd made another choice. The choice you made is over. There is no getting that time back, Aimes. But the fact you chose Shane and now you’re second-guessing tells me you chose wrong. And that’s for the best. Because you have enough on your plate. Worrying about another person isn’t necessary. You’ve already got two humans to worry about.”

  “Three.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Three?”

  “Blake isn’t evil. I know him. He isn’t doing this on purpose.”

  I didn’t want to touch that one with a mile-long pole. Aimee had a hard time being wrong.

  So I nodded and smiled.

  “Want to go kill shit?” She sighed.

  My stomach rumbled. “I’m hungry. Can we eat first?” I shuddered, remembering what Aimee did the last time she was angry. She had pulled the soul so violently that blood shot from the person and splattered everywhere. Lucas had loved it, but I nearly threw up. Lucas had called me Nancy ever since.

  “You go ahead and eat. I’m saving my appetite for later.”

  “I definitely need to eat first. You have that look. The one where people bleed everywhere.”

  “They taste better scared. I so get what Dorian’s deal is with it. He likes them afraid before he does it too.”

  “Dealers are disgusting. I’m a lover, not a fighter.” I stood and lifted her up to her feet.

  “Yeah, whatever. Every time we go anywhere, we learn another new talent of yours.” Her eyes turned serious again. “Thanks for letting me miss him.”

  “You let me love Hanna and obsess about her, and even talked me out of trying to kill Marcus.”

  She pointed at me. “That would have been a mistake. You would have died.”

  “Aleks would be alive instead of me. It would have been better that way.”

  “No.” Her words were a whisper in the night air, “Never say that, Sam. He wouldn’t want it that way. He was better than us all.”

  “Let’s just take one detour before I grab some grub.” I gripped her arm and instantly we were standing on the side of the road. The old faint cross in the bark was barely visible. I wanted her to see it, to remember how she felt about Aleks, and to let go of poor Shane. The guy deserved to be free.

  She gasped and walked to it, dropping to her knees. She rested her head against the tree and brushed her fingers against the lines of ripped bark. “How did you know?”

  “Aleks. He called it your spot, like his and yours. He told me you would sit here and tell him everything. You poured your heart out to him. He spent eight months listening to every thought and feeling and fell in love with you.”

  “Sam?—what the hell, Aimee?”

  The voice made my back straighten but I turned and waved. “Shane, hey man.”

  He jogged over to where we were. “What are you doing here?” He put his hands on his hips.

  Aimee turned her back on the tree but never stepped closer to us.

  Shane was clearly hurt. “I’ve been calling and texting you, Aimes. What’s going on?”

  I took that as my cue to leave. I never should have brought her there. “I’ll give you two some space. See ya around, Shane.”

  Shane put a hand out for me to shake. I took it, trying desperately not to feel the pain in Shane’s heart but it was everywhere. His love for her was far more genuine than hers for him. He was that piece of her past she refused to let go of. “See ya, man.”

  I flashed to Greece instead of back to the castle. I knew I shouldn't and yet I couldn’t stop myself.

  It was nighttime there. I stared at the small house in the lonely part of the island, but no one moved beyond the windows.

  The thought that they weren’t home crushed me.

  I knew where she was.

  I flashed downtown, searching for her. I could sense her. She was still on the island.

  The feeling of her in the air pulled me to the left. I climbed a steep street until I heard music. I left the road to venture into the woods at the top of the hill and flashed into a tree so I could better survey the area.

  There was a huge dance going on, people were everywhere.

  Her bright strawberry-blonde hair shone like a beacon of light and stood out against the brunettes.

  She smiled and laughed, clueless I was spying on her.

  From the moment we met, I knew I was hers and she was mine. In the tree, I closed my eyes and remembered the first time I saw that splash of strawberry-blonde hair in the crowd of b
runettes. Her mother was alive back then and Hanna was a sweet kid. The next time I saw her she clung to her father’s leg, scared of everyone. When her mother took her own life, Hanna changed. The happy little girl she’d been was gone.

  I was only a boy at the time and never suspected Marcus was to blame for her mother’s death. No one had. His advances toward her mother had been kept secret.

  Her mother was of the few sirens that had shown love and sisterly affections toward mine. They’d visited us on the Canadian island many times when Hanna was tiny.

  I fell in love with her then, but I didn't know how we would ever find our way back to each other. Especially after her dad put the ban on anyone from our world seeing her. I always suspected she was special, but he had believed she was a human, and humans have no place in our world. Or hearts.

  Shane was a prime example of that.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Lorri spoke as the tree branch shifted from her weight.

  “I go where my heart is, Lorri.”

  “She’s safe.” Lorri watched Hanna laugh and enjoy meeting the other sirens. “It’s you who’s in danger. They could come for you, if they sense you.”

  “I would kill them all.”

  “Samuel.” The tone of her voice told me there was no negotiating with her.

  “I’ll leave in a minute.”

  “You have two minutes. I’ll meet you back at Lydia’s.” She flashed a second later.

  Lorri had no sooner vanished than Hanna accepted a dance from a greasy-looking man.

  She let him take her hand and pull her to the dance floor. They danced slowly, swaying to the music. The sight of her in another man’s arms burned me, even if I knew why she was doing it. She was filling up. They were teaching Hanna to glean emotions like a succubus, stealing energy from her victims. It would dull the ache of her need and fill her up. Sirens fed similarly to a succubus. They needed energy to satisfy their craving which was called a need. It was more vampirism than any of them wanted to admit.

  The dark-haired man roamed his hands across her back and down.

  He gripped the thin satin dress, sliding his hands everywhere.

  I gagged with rage and fury, waiting for my girl to react but she didn't. She allowed it. If anything, she encouraged it. She smiled and giggled.

  As if sensing my attack of the heart in the tree across the garden from the patio party, her eyes darted to where I was.

  Her hands dropped, along with her smile.

  The other women followed her stare, maybe sensing her agitation and loss of joy of the glean, or whatever they felt.

  I flashed to the ground, across from the patio where they danced. “Why?” I couldn't hold back. I had to know why she would do this. I had to know why I wasn't enough.

  The sirens’ faces dropped as they recognized me.

  “You are an abomination. You must leave this island,” one of them whispered, knowing I would hear it.

  But I didn't care. I could kill them all in one swoop. It was her I was there for.

  Hanna’s eyes flooded with tears. “It isn’t what it looked like.”

  “I know what it is, Hanna. You’re no better than a vampire, a disgusting one. I feel like an idiot. I freed you from someone who wanted to do this very thing to you, and here you are. You and Marcus deserved each other.” The words cut me leaving my mouth but the emptiness seared my insides. My heart was breaking, burning and crumbling and she didn't care. I could smell her indifference in the air.

  “You have no right to be here. Your angel blood is a disgrace to our kind.” One of the older ones with shiny blue eyes pointed at me.

  “Don’t worry. I’m leaving.” I turned and began to walk away from Hanna. A heave ripped from my lips as I tried to flash but the emotions tied me down. I couldn’t flash. My power was gone and pain was everywhere.

  “Sam, wait.” She ran after me. Tears poured down her ruddy cheeks. “Sam, honestly, what do you expect from me?” She shoved me and I didn’t have to turn back to know she was fighting the beast. “You say you’ve loved me your whole life. You’ve known about me since forever. I’ve known you a year. It’s not the same for me. I don’t even know why we love each other. I can’t explain it.”

  I winced but kept walking.

  “Sam, I just need a little time to adjust. I can't learn everything from you. Your mother was a disgrace to our kind. You need to know how bad her choice was. I shouldn’t even love you, Sam. You shouldn't be my match.”

  “We don’t have to love each other, Hanna,” I muttered and turned down the hill. I needed to be away from her. I tried to flash but the agonizing ache inside me stopped it.

  She shoved me again, this time harder. “Good, I don’t want to love you anyway. It feels forced, like I have no choice in who I love. I wish I’d never met you. Jesus, just turn around and talk to me like a real man.” Her voice changed a little.

  She shoved me once more. But this time it wasn't her.

  I flew down the road and smashed into a building. My face and arms stung where fresh blood began to trickle from the wounds. Rocks and buildings began to crumple around me.

  Rage filled me too, replacing the heartache, and I flashed as the rocks covered where I was.

  I lay in the yard at Lydia’s.

  The last thing I ever wanted was for Hanna to meet the others. I had hoped to explain the whole situation before she met the rest of them.

  This was exactly the reason I was terrified of her being in Greece without me, and without an explanation. They had polluted her. They had told her I was bad, I was cursed.

  My lungs ached from the distance between us. I rolled over and pushed myself up, ignoring the wet moss soaking through my jeans. The extreme difference between late June in Portland Oregon and Ithaca Greece became obvious as the cold mist crept into my skin.

  “Sam, what are you doing?” Ari rushed at me and cradled me in her arms. Tears I hadn’t realized were there, blinded me, making her face blurry. “Sam, what’s happened?”

  Luke came out of the house, running. “Is it Hanna?”

  I covered my face to hide my pain, ashamed of myself.

  “Is she hurt?”

  “Where is she?”

  I tried to speak but my voice cracked and it came out as a raspy whisper instead, “She doesn’t want to be with me.”

  “Dude, you’re bleeding.” Luke helped me to my feet. “Did she do this to you? Tell me you fought back.”

  “Lucas,” Ari scolded him.

  I shrugged them both off. “I’m fine.” I turned and walked inside the house.

  Danny was in the kitchen eating and playing his DSI. “Hey, Sam. Did Anne tell you she met some Internet dude? She’s going on a real date. Like gross. I pity that poor sap.”

  I ignored him and ran up to my room. I closed the door and slid down with my back pressed against it.

  I missed my mom.

  I hadn’t seen her since she was taken. The Wiccans hinted that maybe she got caught by the government after Sarah was taken from our island. I let the government take me after I promised the Wiccans I would find Sarah and my mother.

  The moment I entered the facility where they kept the special kids, I knew my mom had never been there. I met the Nephilim children and stayed with them until we were rescued. Sarah was a fire witch, a real witch, not like the Wiccans.

  She was taken from her elementary school for burning the gymnasium down. When we met and she touched her hand to mine for the first time, our magic sparked and I was able to see the future. I saw Aimee and Ari long before they came.

  I knew we had to wait and this was the path I was meant to take.

  But at that moment, sitting alone and devastated in the dark room, I didn't see how this was possibly the destination.

  That spark had felt like God touching me, God telling me I was doing the right thing.

  The stabbing pain in my heart felt like something else. I got up and walked to the window, needing to be away from this
and everything else. I’d helped free the kids. I did my part. I was done now. I was free.

  “Sam.”

  Lydia was in the doorway. “You have everyone pretty worried, Sam. Is Hanna okay?”

  “They’ve turned her. I saw her gleaning off someone, some gross older man. He was touching her—”

  “Why would she do something like that?”

  “Sending her there was a mistake. I will never forgive you, or Lorri.” I pulled the ring from my finger and placed it on the nightstand.

  “Sam, don’t be foolish.” Her voice filled with hurt, for me. I knew she loved me. She was the mother I’d lost.

  “Make the pain stop, Lydia. Please. Break the match,” I begged, finally showing her how much anguish I was in.

  “I won’t, Sam. It will break your heart. You’ll never feel love again. You'll die.”

  “I won’t love again anyway.”

  “What’s going on?” Lorri's voice filled the room.

  “Hanna and Sam have had a fight.”

  “She just sent me a message to come and get her. She wants to come home. You should just go get her and talk.”

  “Never!” I spit the words angrily at Lorri.

  “Don't be a pain in the ass, Sam.”

  “People make mistakes, Sam. Don't be the person who can’t forgive. You’ll only end up hurting yourself.” Lydia put her hands on her hips.

  Lorri gestured at my ring on the nightstand. “Is it bugging your finger?”

  “I’m not doing this anymore. I’m done. The moment I went searching for my mom and became bent on saving the kids was the last moment of peace I’ve had. And watching my girlfriend glean on some old pervert because you just HAD to send her to Greece, even though you knew what they’d teach her, pisses me off more than anything!”

  “I’m going to kill her.” Lorri rubbed her eyes like she was exhausted.

  “Whatever. I’m done.” I flashed away.

  I wasn't certain of the decision but it was better than ever seeing Hanna again.