The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  “Oh shit, he hit you?” He picked me up and flashed us to my bed and laid me on it, sort of awkwardly.

  “What’s going on?” Ophelia walked into the room. “You okay?”

  “No.” I shook my head.

  Aleks stood up and shrugged. “She'll be fine. Her kind heal fast.”

  “What happened?”

  “Dorian hit her. He’s being a dick.”

  “Slammed me into a tree.” My breath was coming back again.

  “He hit you?” Ophelia seemed disgusted. “You don’t want to defend her? She’s a girl.”

  “No, she’s not. She’s Aimee and she doesn’t need defending.” He chuckled. “Besides, I don’t like getting involved in Roses Academy business.”

  “I've had just about enough of this.” She snapped her fingers and grabbed his face before he could move away. She held his head, doing something to make his eyes roll back. He dropped to his knees. She dropped her hands after a second. “There.”

  “What ar—” He paused and scrunched his face up. When he opened his eyes again, there was fire in the stare. “I'll go talk to him.” He vanished.

  “What did you do?” I winced as another rib snapped back into place.

  “I fixed him. He was broken.” She walked out of the room.

  “Broken?” I mumbled and climbed off the bed, ready to find Dorian and push him into a tree.

  As I winked into the kitchen, I heard a scream and slamming.

  Through the back window I saw Aleks and Sam had Dorian outside on the ground. Ben was in wolf form hovering over his face.

  “Boys?” I winked out to the lawn. “What are you doing?”

  Sam grinned. “Defending you, milady.” Ben sauntered to me and rubbed against my hip. I rubbed my fingers deep onto the wolf down and noticed the fire in Aleks’ eyes. He appeared different and yet somehow the same.

  “Aimee.” Dorian's pleading black eyes met mine. “You all right? I didn’t mean—”

  “I’m fine.” I nodded once.

  I knew he was sorry, it was blanketing his face.

  “I'm sorry too,” I whispered. “I’ll get her back.” The fact Ari was still missing made me care less about throwing him into a tree.

  Aleks climbed off of him and grabbed my hand. Something was different. “You’re really all right?”

  “Yeah?” I furrowed my brow.

  His hands were warm around mine. He smiled at me as he walked across the lawn. Dorian followed after him. “Wanker. I could have taken you if the lads hadn’t helped.”

  Aleks chuckled and flashed in front of Dorian again. He punched him in the face once more, knocking him back. “That’s for touching my girl.” He sounded lighter and more playful.

  Dorian's face broke into a bloody grin as he got up. “You hit like a girl.”

  It was a prime moment for a “your mom” joke, but immortals didn’t really play that game.

  Instead, Aleks laughed and offered him a slap on the shoulder. “Apologize.”

  “Let's focus on getting Ari back.” I strode away, pointing at Aleks. “I'm not your girl.” I didn’t know what Ophelia had done to him, but I wasn’t in the mood to be part of it.

  Lorri walked out the back door as I went in, grabbing my arm and hauling me back outside with her. “Okay, planning time. We've worked it out. We know many of the things that happened last time are going to happen again. The place should look the same. Let's do this.” She frowned when she saw them all. “What are you idiots doing?”

  Sam beamed. “Wrestling.”

  “Cut the shit!” Evidently, Lorri was less than impressed.

  Chapter 15

  Nice men

  Ophelia

  The cold of the vampire fortress felt the same as it did last time. But we had killed more this time around. I gagged, watching Aimee take the soul of the man she was holding. She did it rough, like she used to. Even though she didn't remember who she was, her rage was the same.

  Her victim’s black blood sprayed across the pale beige hallway.

  Aleks clung to her side, like he used to. He’d been this way since I fixed him.

  “Why didn’t Marcus come?” I asked. “I thought he wanted this too.”

  “No.” Sam grinned. “He’s holding Jon ransom and won't help us. Not until we make Hanna like she was. He wants her dead and reborn. He’s been having a tough time locating her though.” His grin was cheeky.

  “Ha. Well, good luck, Marcus. The blue sisters have been watching the house for me. They've been keeping her guarded and cloaked. He doesn't stand a chance.” When Lorri asked me to help guard Hanna, I was more than happy to lend my sisters. It protected them from my father and Hanna from Marcus.

  “Well, we might have more of a fight on our hands with that one than we bargained for.” Sam scanned the area as we followed the group. “He’s pissed and won't let Henry have Jon until we change her.”

  “Bastard. I promised my sisters Henry would free them.”

  “I know.” He pressed his lips together. I knew he wished Hanna was changed too. It was only a matter of time before he or Marcus got their way.

  “You don’t want to even see if your mom is okay?” I asked.

  He drew his brow in. “No. I know she’s fine. I know what she is.” He meant traitor, and I hated her for it. She had broken his heart.

  We walked in silence and my stomach flipped when we neared the main courtyard. I remembered the pain and suffering Aimee endured here last time. I was terrified but also anxious. Oliver should have been waiting for us. His face flashed in my mind.

  Aimee squinted back at me severely. Her beautiful pale face was covered in the splatter of the black blood she had filled the air with.

  I nodded. She was checking to make sure I was ready. Dorian and Lorri had gone off separately. This time I didn’t go with them though. This time I was meeting my father in the courtyard. Lorri and Dorian had gone to kill Daniel. Daniel had no idea they knew about him. Not this time.

  Aimee opened the door leading to the courtyard.

  The cold wind hit us. I caught a glimpse of him, Oliver. My insides fluttered. His lips, his cold hard face, his steely eyes, and thick body. I remembered too clearly how it felt to be held by him. The ground thawed beneath me. His eyes met mine but the love wasn't there like it was before. Something was wrong. He didn’t see me. He saw Jonathan's daughter. I sensed it in his emotionless recognition.

  My father stood in the middle of the courtyard looking youthful, barely old enough to drink, let alone be my father. The way they all looked. The cruel sneer on his face was all I saw. I hated him. My memories of him burned when they crawled around inside me.

  He lifted his lips into a grin. Two men dragged the limp body of a bleeding Ari out into the snow. Lucas and Ben growled. Aimee grabbed them by the fur, holding them back.

  “So we finally meet,” he said and I felt sick. I forgot how much I hated his voice.

  He pointed one finger at Aimee. “You must be Dorian's little puppet. The cure.”

  Aimee stood, ready to be shot. I wasn't sure if she would be or not, but we’d all made a pact. No one would be near her and she would wink as he fired the gun. He didn’t have one though.

  He reached over and grabbed Ari's limp arm and dragged her tiny body closer to his.

  “This is the one that has surprised us the most. The push is fascinating, is it not?” His voice was silk and evil.

  Aimee stepped forward. “She’s harmless.”

  He smiled wickedly. “She’s not though, is she? She can change the time. Daniel mentioned it and I realized that of course I knew about this talent. We had one once. She was amazing. Had to kill her. She just couldn’t be trusted to let us have things the way we wanted them. Had a conscience. Very annoying.” Oliver laughed as if remembering. He was my father's puppet. My heart was breaking.

  “Hello, Ophelia. These nice men are going to take you for a little stroll. We can't let you run off with these Roses, you see?” The
two lugs that had brought in Ari stomped toward me. Aimee nodded once but didn't turn her head to see me. I knew Trist and Phillip would rescue me. I let the men take me even though I fought my urges to electrocute them both. The snow melted where I stepped. Flowers spring from the cracks of the bricks and cobblestone under the deep snow.

  I stole a glance at Oliver. He didn’t budge. I felt sick. The flowers died on the spot. Like my heart.

  Nothing would be the same this time.

  I was taken to a doorway. I glanced back at my father. He was without mercy. I didn’t like the way he held Ari. I had a sick feeling as I was heaved into a stone hallway. I struggled to watch as he reached behind Oliver who didn’t budge, who didn’t stop him. My father pulled out a blade and held it to Ari's throat. The wolves whined and moaned but the door closed as screams filled the courtyard, and I was left with the horror of my imagination.

  I was dragged to the cell. It was all the same. Nothing was different here. It smelled and felt exactly as it had the other times.

  I was tied, bound, and left.

  There were no footsteps or chatting of my brother and his boyfriend to be heard. Nothing but my own thoughts and the sound of the wind whistling in the cell.

  Chapter 16

  Along came a spider

  Aimee

  The blade came from Oliver's back somewhere. The glint of it in the air above her head stopped everything. The wolves whined and I screamed, “Stop please!” I put a hand out, trying to be calm. “Stop. Please. Whatever you want, I will do it. Kill me, not her. Please don’t hurt her.” Aleks took a step for me but I shook my head. “Take me, kill me instead.” I stepped forward. Lucas was beside me, ready.

  Jonathan's fangs glinted the same as the blade did. “Why do you think I want you dead? I have something I need you to do.” He held the short blade at Ari's throat. “Go peacefully with Oliver here. When he’s back here and you are in the cell safe and sound, I will release her. Otherwise I kill her now.” He dug the blade in, drawing her dark blood and making it drip in a slow stream onto the white snow.

  “Yes!” I conceded anxiously. “Please. I'll go.” I put my hands forward.

  Oliver stepped forward. “Hands behind your back, death dealer. I know how it works.” His voice was harsh. He didn't match the Oliver they’d spoken of, the Oliver he had been before.

  I put my hands behind my back. The others argued and bickered but I ignored them. I made eye contact with Jonathan. “He will be right back.”

  “Let’s hope.” He nodded. “Take her.”

  Oliver seized my arms and hauled me roughly to the same door Ophelia had gone through.

  I was trembling. I couldn’t stop peering back at her. “Sam, don’t let them move.”

  “I won't.” He gripped the wolves.

  Giselle gave me a last look. “Aimes.” Her voice was small and weak.

  “It's okay. I'll be right back,” my voice cracked.

  Oliver dragged me through the doorway. When it closed I spoke to him, “Are you on our side?”

  “On your side?” He shoved me hard down the stairs. I almost stumbled but I winked and ended up standing at the bottom of the steps, staring up at him when I caught myself.

  He pointed. “Don’t do that again or I won't go back to the courtyard.” His blue eyes sparkled.

  “I won’t.” I waited for him as he unlocked a door and pushed me inside. O was already tied up. She smiled and spoke through the gag, “Oliver. Oliver, untie me quickly.”

  He pushed me against the wall and rubbed his body against mine perversely. “Why would I untie you, princess? Not when I have this in front of me for the taking.” He nuzzled into my neck and kissed. “I've heard you dealers can be quiet extreme in bed.”

  “Please don't.” I gagged. “I'm a virgin. Please don’t do this,” I whispered into the cold rough stone wall.

  “A virgin?” He chuckled his warm breath into my neck. “I could help you change that.” My hands burned against the bricks.

  “Please go back up there before he kills her.”

  “Maybe if you’re nice to me.” He roamed his hands over me.

  Tears left my closed eyes as I whispered, “O, don’t do anything to him. They're going to kill Ari if he doesn’t go back up.” He ripped my shirt from my defenseless body. I was trembling, wearing only my bra and skinny jeans in the freezing cold cell. I couldn’t imagine what Ophelia was going through watching this. “Please stop. Please.”

  I was not weak. I was not feeble or helpless. I was strong. I could have killed him in a heartbeat but it would be a death sentence for my best friend and her unborn baby. So I tolerated and acted feeble.

  Ophelia was crying behind us.

  “Stop crying.” He turned back. “You'll get your turn, baby. Don’t you worry about that.”

  “Oliver, stop! Please, baby. Stop. He’s done something to you. This isn’t you,” her voice cracked. “Untie me first. Do me first,” she pleaded.

  He grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed my head into the bricks, cracking my head. I saw stars as he tied me up and gagged me. Then he was across the room to her. “You want me first?”

  I was in a haze of blood, pain, and tears, and hating the fact that I was nearly naked and hanging by my hands. The black blood was dripping down my head and neck onto my chest.

  “Untie my hands so I can touch you too. I'll make you happy, I promise.” Ophelia forced herself to sound sweet.

  He was taking too long. Ari was dead. I knew it. My heart burned and ached. I spun on my ropes and watched as her eyes became dead and unfeeling. She smiled weakly.

  “I will make you happy.” Her words were as dead as her eyes.

  “You haven’t had any magic training, have you?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Not yet.”

  “And you won't tell your daddy dearest?”

  “I'm not a virgin,” she whispered.

  He groped her. “Good.”

  “Please.” I sobbed, watching it. “Please, just go stop him from killing Ari and then come back.” My voice was broken. I couldn’t speak without making sounds I didn’t recognize.

  He turned back at me. “He was never going to let her live. I never planned on going back up there. Now shut up and wait for me to get back to you.” His grin was cold and sick. He undid her hands and then his pants.

  Ophelia’s trembling hands lifted, slowly, for his arms. She rubbed them for the slightest second and then closed her eyes. Her fingers bit into his skin. Where her hands touched him, black veins crawled up her arms to her bare breasts. They made a black pool around her heart. He froze where she touched him. She pulled the black veins from him until she couldn't stand anymore and fell to the cold stone, unconscious.

  He gasped for air as she fell away and then he blinked and looked at me. “Aimee?” he whispered, stunned.

  I cried harder. “Ari. Get Ari.”

  His blue eyes were clear. He stared at me again and then was gone.

  “Ophelia. Please wake up, O.” I stared up at the stone ceiling and sobbed. “Please. Please help us. We fight for you. Please help us.”

  Not that I expected anything, but when nothing happened I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. Even though we’d given everything of ourselves to the God everyone believed in, he treated us no differently. He didn't send help.

  Her body moved with shallow breaths as she twitched and trembled.

  “O. O, please wake up.”

  She moved a pale hand that was still covered in the black veins. Her fingers clinched like she was having a seizure.

  I closed my eyes and lowered my head, opening them when the air moved around me. I lifted my face and jumped. Ophelia stood directly in front of me. Her eyes were completely black. The veins covered her body.

  Her voice was a whisper that didn’t come from her. It was as if something spoke through her.

  “She took it all, Aimee. She took his evil and his dark. She took it all inside her. S
he’s dark now. Her soul’s as dark as our father's.” I was confused for a moment watching her black lips moving faintly with the whispered words.

  “What can I do?” I asked.

  “Kill her now before he finds her. Before it’s too late.”

  “I can’t. Don't ask this of me.”

  Her eyes started to flutter. “Do it before she gains consciousness. Or you will not be able to stop her. She will rule this world with chaos and pain at her father’s side.”

  Tears blinded me to everything but the blackness of her fluttering eyes. If I closed my eyes I smelled the ocean and saw the harbor of my small town. I heard my mother laughing and my sister criticizing me and even that made me smile. I saw my father rocking in his chair with a book and a tea. He smiled at me. I sniffled as her hand lifted and pressed into mine. The things inside her knew what I was.

  My fury had waited for this moment, spurned on by Oliver’s assault.

  It waited for me to do it.

  Her cold bare chest pressed against mine. I kept my eyes closed as I released it. I pulled it hard and fast and let it take the control.

  Her body slammed hard against me again and again as she struggled. The real her felt herself dying and fought me.

  But I let it go. I let it have her.

  I sucked and pulled.

  “Aimee,” she said softly once.

  Her body heated up just as the suck stopped. She was dry. I had taken all the evil and the life. I opened my eyes in time to see the horrified expression on her face, frozen there. Her dead body slid down mine. The tears soaked us both as she fell to the floor.

  Voices interrupted the silence of my sobs, the ones choking me.

  “I'm not talking to you.”

  “You're talking right now.”

  “I hate you.”

  Two men bickered as they walked down the stairs. I ignored them both and hung, swinging against the ropes. Ophelia's corpse was against my feet which barely touched the ground.

  “Oh my God. What did you do? Who is that?” the men began to shriek.