by Tara Brown
He leaned in and kissed my cheek which felt super weird since I was naked in the tub. “If I die you have to swear you'll wipe Phillip's mind and let him start fresh.”
“What?” My eyes darted at him.
“Swear it.” He stared me down.
“I can’t.” I searched his beautiful eyes for some kind of joke in what he’d said. He smiled as if at peace with it. “No. Don’t talk like that. Please don’t talk like that.”
“I have fallen in love with him so hard, it is enough for a lifetime. When he pursued me, oh, it was amazing. It was such a feeling to be sought after by a man like that. His love has been more than anyone deserves. If I die, you save him, O. You make him whole again and let him have a normal life. Swear it to me.”
My eyes were filled with tears but I didn’t know why. It was all hypothetical. “I swear.” My voice broke.
“Thank you.” Tristan stood. “I’ll go make you some pancakes and sausages.”
I chuckled. “Tell Annabelle I want some scrambled eggs to go with it.”
“I will.” He laughed and closed the door. I didn’t know what to say or do about any of that.
This was all too weird.
Chapter 5
Blood bath
Aimee
“These guys hate me,” I leaned in and whispered to Ari.
“Yeah.” She agreed, “Me too. When they found out Lucas and I were mated, his uncle punched him in the face.”
We weren’t allowed to sit at the table where they discussed Aleks’ father. Instead, we sat back against a wall of the huge log home.
Aleks glanced back at me.
“Why is everyone giving me that shitty grin?”
Ari's face split. Her black eyes filled with humor. “What grin?”
I pointed. “That stupid grin.”
“Oh my God, Aimes. They can all smell the sex on Aleks. He reeks of it. They can smell the demon on you. They know you’re a succubus-like demon. They can't help but smell the sex on you two and imagine the way you suck from him while you're doing it.”
“They can smell all that?” My face glowed red. I scowled at Aleks who tried to look innocent. I didn’t like talking about sex or even thinking about it. I had sex but it was a private matter. My cheeks flushed and I refused to lift my gaze again.
Ari giggled and covered her face where the piercing in her mouth used to be and nodded.
“Great. Just great.”
“We don’t really want to get involved in this. It’s Roses Academy trouble, not a pack problem. What do you expect us to do?” Luke’s uncle asked loudly.
I wanted to intercede and get this over with. But Lucas was diplomatic.
“We need your help, sir,” he said politely.
“Lorri has asked this of us before. We told her what we’re telling you. No,” another old guy answered not nearly as polite.
“Uncle, be reasonable,” Luke pleaded.
“No, Lucas, you be reasonable. You and Ben are the first of the fae to choose to become Roses. We didn’t support your decision then because we knew what the Roses are. They meddle.”
Ben slapped the table. “Our kind has been killing, raping, and committing crimes against the humans. It’s up to us to monitor that. The Roses are the law. That’s all. We’re justice for all. How can you disagree with that?”
Their uncle glared savagely at them. “I’m alpha.”
“Uncle, this is a pack problem too. Aleks’ father kills chaotically and without discretion. He leaves raped dead women and girls.” Luke’s tone was strong but kind.
His uncle's face reddened. “What does this have to do with us?” His voice boomed across the room.
My jaw was clenched. Sparks flew from my fingers like a sparkler.
Ben cleared his throat. “Uhm, well, he does his attacking as a wolf. Sometimes part wolf.”
I gagged and turned my face away. The image of my mother splayed across the hood of her car forced its way into my mind.
Ari put her hand over mine and killed the sparks. I closed my eyes and forced in thoughts of happier times. Times that included Sam.
“If it ever got out that shifters coexist with humans, well, you can imagine how that would be. Experiments and all.”
His red-faced uncle seemed to be processing the idea. He spoke to Aleks, “We will consider helping, but we would need everything. Every offense, dates and locations.”
Aleks put a hand out across the table. “Done.”
They all stood and I felt lost. I leaned into Ari and whispered, “That was weird.”
“I know, right? Bravado.”
I snorted and stood to leave with Aleks, but Lucas and his uncle cornered him. A silky-haired blonde strolled up in short cutoffs and a tiny tank top. She smiled too much and stood too close to Aleks.
“Come on, champ.” A huge hand grabbed my arm and hauled me from the room.
Ben kissed the side of my head. “Down, girl.”
I let him drag me from the building.
“Her name’s Janine. She’s always on the prowl. You know Aleks better than that.”
“I know.” I sighed but the frown stayed plastered to my face.
Ari stood outside with the same haunted look.
“What's up with her?” I whispered to Ben. “She seemed good a minute ago.”
“Sam,” he whispered back. “Every time we go outside she gets that same troubled look.” He pulled me the other way and continued, “I can’t imagine what it’s all been like for her. She changes things and then has to run around like the movie Groundhog Day and fix everything she’s undone.”
I kicked a small pebble. “I know. She doesn’t talk about it, but if you ever share a bed with her you know it bugs her. She still has bad dreams.”
He shivered. “From the orphanage. She told me about them once. She tried to get Giselle to persuade the memories from her. She even got Dorian to try but they are imprinted on her soul, we think.”
“Maybe it’s because she’s part angel.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Anyway, I've been meaning to ask, how are you?” His eyes killed me. He was sadder than anyone. He and Sam were like brothers. Same as Luke and Sam.
“Not good.” I held on to my control. “Not good at all.” I didn’t like vocalizing my feelings.
“Me either. I just can't stop myself from missing them.”
I glanced back at Ari as we walked into the forest. “She must beat herself up so much.”
He sat on a huge mossy log and appeared lost, just like Ari. “She does. She constantly tries to think of a way to control the push. She, O, and Trist have been working on it.”
“Why? Who would they push?”
“Not sure.” His eyes told me otherwise.
“You know.”
“I don’t know.” His words were firm, and even if he did know, he wasn’t going to tell me. He reached over and grabbed my hand, dragging me to him. He pulled me down on the soggy log and wrapped his huge arm around me. I leaned into him and rested my head.
“We need to get them back, Ben.” My voice was hollow.
“She’s working on it.”
Aleks walked across the grounds of the huge house next to the patch of forest we sat in. He seemed to be searching for something. My heartbeat picked up, until I saw the silky blonde greet him with a kiss on either side of his face. My insides clenched.
Ben laughed. “Wow, awkward.”
“Who is she?”
“No one.” He scoffed. “Janine. She’s one of the elders. She’s really old.”
“She should’ve realized she’s outgrown those shorts by now.” My petty was showing and I didn’t like that.
Ari walked past them to where we sat. She glanced back at them talking and made a face as she huffed over to us and sat next to Ben. He wrapped his arm around her as well. “You'd think she would’ve noticed her vagina is longer than her shorts.” I burst into laughter. Ben chuckled but Ari just gave us a look. “Really though. Look at
those things. She could die of exposure if she were a human.”
A jealous growl rumbled through my throat. “I could help her with that.”
Ari offered, “Dude, if she keeps pawing your man, I would for sure be showing her how the hands work.”
Ben squeezed us. “Down, girls. Jeesh. Aleks is a smart guy. He won't fall for the sultry ways of Janine.”
“Her hair is awfully shiny and glossy.”
“And she is very pretty,” Ari agreed.
Lucas walked up to them, smiling. He gave Janine the up-down after she greeted him with a hug and then turned back to Aleks.
“She did not just rub her huge boobs on my boyfriend.” Ari's jaw tightened.
Ben clutched her shoulder firmly. “That was a wolf move. We can't fight it. The up-down was a wolf move, Ari. He let go of me and held her to him. “It’s nothing.”
The blacks of her eyes ate up the whites. She shocked Ben with her skin. He twitched but held on.
“Whoa.” I jumped up and grabbed her face. “Hey.”
The black floated back to just her irises. She looked at me. “Sorry.” She turned and hugged Ben. “Sorry.”
“No worries.” He twitched again. “No. It was cool. I'll kick Luke's ass later.”
“Okay,” she muttered as we all watched Aleks and Luke eye up Janine, staring at her long and tanned legs.
Janine pawed Aleks and then turned and pawed Luke. They stood there with dirty grins on their faces.
“That’s enough of that.” I grabbed Ari's hand and lifted her up. “Let's walk.” I glanced back at Ben. “Rio?”
He put a hand in but then pulled back. “I better not. The wolves will be ready to leave once they're done going over his dad's priors.”
“Your loss.” I winked us to Rio. The warmth in the air and the chaos in the streets were exactly what I needed. Ari gripped my hand tightly.
We slipped into a dark alley and lifted our faces to the wind, eager for a fight.
I caught a smell and pulled her down the alley.
My boots clicked, my long thick hair felt like my cape, and my heart raced.
I pointed to a building when the smell was so strong I knew we were there. “You ready?”
Her eyes glossed over and the black inky color filled the whites up. Her powers had developed into something frightening.
We dropped hands and snuck around the side of the old brick building.
The front of the business resembled every other seedy establishment. Rio was a haven for vampires and succubi to hang out.
When we got to the steps, greasy-looking men stood out front.
“Olá, meninas bonitas.” The other men in his small group nudged each other and laughed as one of them spoke.
I leaned in close enough to taste his sweat in the air and whispered, “Escapar.”
He chuckled and grabbed for me. Ari shot her push at him, not the real push. The push she learned to do to humans. It knocked him back on his ass on the filthy street.
His face was a mixture of shock and anger as he pointed and shouted, “Essas meninas são putas de diablo.”
Ari turned to me. “Did he call us devil bitches?”
I laughed. “Yeah, no, more like devil whores.”
“Devil whores?” She seemed offended and then shrugged. “Surprisingly accurate.”
The small group of men backed up like we were wild animals. I faked forward. They ran.
I leaned into the man and pointed. “I told you to run away.”
He struggled to get up and ran after the others.
Ari nudged me, her eyes were still jet-black. “Dude, your Portuguese is good.”
“All part of the life I was going to have. You know, Doctors Without Borders and shit.”
“Well, as one of the devil’s whores, we’re almost Doctors Without Borders.” She patted me on the back and stepped up into the doorway. “Let's do this.”
I lifted my leg and kicked the door in. As we entered, the sparks from my fingers filled the dark hallway with flashes of light.
A man jumped at me, stabbing his knife into my torso. I ripped his soul from him, spraying his dark blood everywhere. Ari pushed several of them against a wall. She held them there.
“You know that blood brothels are illegal,” she said softly.
The eyes flashed on our rings. I pulled the knife out of my skin and shivered from the pain of it. Anger flashed through me. “I hate being stabbed.”
The first man against the wall spat at me. I smiled and rubbed my hands together, walking to where Ari held them suspended to the wall.
“You have been charged, tried, and convicted,” I whispered and leaned in close to the man who spit at me. “I find you guilty.”
His eyes widened as my hands sparked his soul from him. I ran my fingers along the wall, pulling each of them. The pleasure and ecstasy made me mouth breathe in a way I didn’t like doing in front of other people. Not that Ari was “other people.” She knew how I felt when I did crowds. The bodies dropped to the floor, nothing more than gutted dead humans.
I scanned around at the room. “Stairs over here.”
Essentially, the room was a large foyer. There was a desk with a ledger and couches. There were no doors leaving the room. Just a hallway with a set of carpeted stairs. I grabbed the ledger and ran after Ari.
“Why do vamps always decorate with the same blood-red carpeting? It’s so cliché.”
We climbed the stairs cautiously. “I know, right? Marcus’ house was nice, but dude. So retro whorehouse.”
Ari turned back. “I still think it’s weird he has a castle. You go left, I go right.”
I gave a head nod and we split up at the top of the stairs.
My boots dug into the carpet. I hated the feel of it. Too squishy. I didn’t even want to imagine the things in this carpet.
I kicked the first door. A dark-haired girl, younger than me by far, sat on the bed looking spaced out. It took a minute for her eyes to move and register I was even there. “You okay?” I asked.
She shook her head and spoke a language I didn’t know. Her dark silky skin was marred with bites and bruises. Her rail-thin arms were filled with needle holes.
“This is dire,” I murmured as my hands balled into fists.
The air in the small room was rich with blood and sex and drugs, but no immortals. I put a finger to my lips. She nodded.
I closed the door and slipped farther down the hall. Every door had the same thing: blondes, redheads, brunettes, dark skin, light skin, every kind of skin. There was one in every flavor but no immortals. Each girl was the same: young, skinny, covered in marks, and had the same empty stare.
In the last room, a blonde with a French accent spoke to me, “Can you help me?” she whispered.
“Yeah, but I need to find the vampires. Where are they?”
She swallowed hard. “I don’t know. They only come at night.” She shivered, remembering no doubt.
“How long have you been here?”
She wiped her bright-blue eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe a month.”
“Are you from France?”
“Canada. I'm from Montreal.”
“Stay here and don’t move. I'll keep you safe, but I need to find them.”
“No, please.” She shook her head as silent tears streamed down her filthy cheeks. “They’re not here. Please just take me with you.”
I put a hand out for her. She leapt from the bed, staggering and swaying. Her ice-cold hand almost shocked me. She was nearly naked in an old torn and dirty tee shirt.
I pulled her down the hall.
Ari met me at the end of the hall. “Just dying girls?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I'll flash them out in parties of six.”
“They must sleep near here. Those things downstairs can't be the only ones here.”
“Right.” I thought for a minute. “Is there a basement?”
“I don’t know.” The blonde shook her head. “I only
ever saw that bedroom.”
My eyes darted at Ari. “Someone who can flash.”
She bit her lip. “Jonathan?”
“Maybe. Let's get the hell out of here.” My stomach was rumbling. The idea of it being a trap had started to form. I ran down the hall getting the girls from the rooms. Every time I had six, I flashed them to Lydia's grass. By the second trip, Annabelle was shouting at me but I flashed so fast I missed what she was saying.
I left the last of them at Lydia’s and flashed back to Ari.
“I sent a text to O and Trist and told them what the naked blood bags are doing on the lawn.” She scanned around the room disgustedly and put her phone away.
“Lorri’s gonna shit,” I mumbled.
“I sent her a message too.”
I glanced at her. “Great. She’s gonna yell at us for taking this on alone.”
“YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I AM!” Her blood-red boots stomped across the hallway.
She seemed angry but sexier than normal. She had on a tan skirt and a white blouse that was open a little, revealing her ample chest and cross necklace she wore to spite the haters. Her red hair was spiky but softer, more glamorous, and her makeup was done in earth tones.
“Were you on a date?”
She scowled and I saw past her mask of prettiness. “Yes,” she seethed. “Now explain this fast. She thinks I'm in the bathroom.”
“She is human?” My jaw dropped.
Ari blushed. “Aimee!”
Wide-eyed, I turned to Ari. “What?”
“Anyway.” Ari had her badass-teenager look pasted across her face. “Someone is flashing these girls in and out. The girls haven’t seen the rest of the house.”
“Daniel had houses like this, but I could never figure out who did the flashing for him. It can't be just Jonathan. There has to be another who can flash. Who do we have?” Lorri folded her arms.
“Me, you, Dorian, Oliver, Aleks, and Phillip. I guess Trist and O could probably learn it, if they had to. For the record, my money’s on Dorian.”
Lorri snorted sarcastically. “Yeah, maybe it was me or Aleks. Burn it to the ground. I'll arrange a mission. The nest of them must be around here somewhere.” She turned to me. “Not today though. I’m on the first date I’ve been on in a long time where I felt like this was the one. And even if she isn’t the one, I need to get laid, Aimee. Second, we need Aleks’ dad. So stop dicking around and go back to Maine.” She was gone, leaving only a waft of her expensive perfume behind.