The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  She laughed. “It's all the time. Now, I left Abbey with Marcus, so let's make this snappy.”

  I clicked down the hall and smiled.

  Hanna walked toward me. Sam was behind her. I could smell the siren on her so strongly now. The shell bracelet she wore was bright red.

  “Where did you get that?”

  She gazed down and shook her head. “The Ophelia girl who’s really weird gave it to me. She made me like five and said they were for when she’s gone. Bizarre chick.”

  Sam snorted. “You have no idea.”

  Lorri cut past us and stomped into the doctor’s office. “I need you to hurry up.”

  We all turned and walked in. She was the last of the fallen. She and Jonathan.

  “I think they're in the South of France,” I muttered.

  She turned and laid out a map. “Shane?”

  I nodded once. I didn’t want to but I said it anyway, “Phillip came to me as I killed his father. He didn’t even seem to care about it at all. He told me he was looking at condos in the South of France, and he wanted me to bring Tristan there when the condo was ready, as a surprise for him. Just me and Trist.”

  She wriggled her lips. “Odd. I would say it’s odd. It is possible Marcus wiped him too.”

  “Or Shane. Shane’s almost as strong as Marcus.”

  She scratched her face. “Okay, where is Tristan?”

  Sam gulped, “He’s at Marcus’. He was watching TV when it all went down. Not really eating or anything.”

  “The wolves?”

  Sam's voice lowered, “Nonstop tracking. They made me bring them to Alaska again, every hideout we've been to yet, and Italy twice. They phase and text and then change back. Ben’s even texting with his wolf toes, I think. Swear to God. Cell phones on collars. It’s crazy.”

  I glanced at Hanna. I noticed her sliding a hand into Sam's. She squeezed it.

  “We need to go to France. We need to see. I know where they'll be.” Lorri glanced back at the doc who added, “Lillith would be able to get great strength there.”

  “Lillith?”

  He nodded. “He will use her if he can.”

  “We bring the kids then?” Sam asked.

  Lorri shook her head. “Just the one who makes herself disappear. The rest stay with Marcus.”

  Chapter 23

  The truth of the matter

  Hanna

  I glanced at him and wondered if he sensed it. I couldn’t stop touching his fingers. Gripping them. My tears were sitting in the back of my throat. I couldn’t talk if I wanted to.

  The change had brought it all back.

  My beast knew the truth.

  Nothing Ari did could change the way my beast remembered it all. I saw it differently, extreme versions of everything.

  But I remembered everything.

  I glanced at Sam sideways and remembered how I had broke his heart.

  Every emotion was extreme. My beast was savage and hateful about her feelings. Now that she was fused with me and our minds were one, I could sense the basic survival skill she thought with.

  She knew things in a plain way.

  She loved him.

  She saw things clearly.

  She saw Marcus as fun but she loved Sam.

  He glanced at me, saying something I didn't hear. He frowned but continued talking to Lorri and Aimee.

  Ugh, Aimee.

  She hated me so much and my memory of her killing my father wasn't a fan fav.

  My father.

  The journals.

  All of it.

  It was too much. The tears started to leak out. I didn’t move or twitch or budge. I looked down and hoped the minor spillage would be enough to ease up the pressure.

  It wasn't. A heave slipped from my lips. I couldn’t stop thinking about them all. The deaths of the children who were now back and the world without Sam. My fingers tightened around his. There was no world without Sam.

  Now the world was new again and O was gone. Dorian was gone. I wouldn't ever be with them all again in one place. I could remember it all before O. Everything was perfect. I wanted to blame her, but her death hurt too.

  “Hanna?”

  I didn’t look up at him. He lifted my face. My ugly-cry, snot-covered face.

  He grabbed a tissue from my dad's desk. Everyone stared at me.

  “She remembers everything. Look at that face,” Lorri said harshly.

  I covered my face.

  Sam pulled me into him.

  “How?”

  “B-b-beast memories,” I stuttered.

  “Oh, like how Luke could always sense who Ari was to him, even when she fudged with the time,” Aimee added softly.

  I turned and ran from the office. Anger and pain were everywhere. I had betrayed him. I had betrayed him so badly.

  I felt like my chest was going to explode. I ran up the stairs to my room and slammed the door. Only it wasn’t my room. Father hadn’t died and left me the Tudor. The room was similar to when he had died but it had nothing of me in it. Just the bed and furnishings.

  I collapsed onto the bed.

  I heard footsteps in the room. I expected Sam.

  “Hanna.” It was Lorri. I didn’t know what to say. I hated being weak in front of her.

  She crawled onto the bed and sat beside me. I waited for her to break my neck or bite me, the way Shane had. The way Marcus had let him kill me and bring out the beast.

  “Hanna, I know how you feel right now. If I stop and think for even a second, I'll burst into a thousand different emotions and tear this house apart. The hold I have over myself is so tense, I don’t think I can keep it much longer.”

  That was a terrifying confession.

  “But mourning is selfish, my child. We don’t have the leisure of being selfish. The dead are gone and the world is still a mess.” She slapped me on the ass and got off the bed. “So let's do this.”

  She was gone. I started to laugh. I wiped my face and shook my head.

  A man's voice interrupted my moment of insanity, “That was weird for me too. I flashed in and then out.”

  “I'm so sorry, Sam.”

  “No. Hanna, it never happened. This is the first time we've ever met. This is a clean slate.” He walked toward me and crawled onto the bed. I loved the smell of him. I closed my eyes and let him wrap me in him. I expected him to kiss me but he didn't.

  I opened an eye. He was looking at a text on his phone. I frowned. He grabbed my hand and flashed us back to the office. I stumbled where we stood suddenly, but he wrapped an arm around my waist and caught me.

  “Luke found them. Not France. Florida.”

  Lorri's face dropped. “He wouldn’t.” Her voice was a growl and I was scared again.

  Sam nodded. “I’m not sure what that means, but they're in Florida.”

  Lorri bit her lip nervously which was odd for her.

  Aimee frowned. “What is it, Lorri?”

  “The dark witches. The dark witches there. Shit.” She sighed.

  “I'm lost. The ones I gave my blood to?” Sam said slowly.

  Lorri turned and scowled. “Oliver saved you that day. Those women are dark and evil. That's his plan.” Her words were a whisper and her eyes were haunted and distant. She snapped her red head around. “He plans to turn Lillith dark. To let them fill her up. But why?”

  Dad's eyes darted to Roland who cleared his throat. “We fae have long believed Lillith has almost no powers. Legend says that she split the power amongst her children. Every time she gave birth, another piece of the magic was given to the baby. She has many children now. Very little magic.”

  “Is that true?” Aimee asked and pulled out her phone. She sent a message. She sighed and vanished.

  We all looked around.

  No one had an answer or a clue.

  Chapter 24

  The O monster

  Aimee

  The sound of my boots in the hallowed halls lifted the eyes from the sofa. The little kids smiled
, Marcus growled and slithered away, Abbey gave me a nod but didn’t take her eyes away from the video game she was playing. Tristan sat perfectly still, watching.

  I grabbed his arm and winked us both. He was unshaven and smelled funny.

  “Dude.”

  His eyes scanned me and the hallway we were in. “Where are we?” His voice was missing the feisty passion and sarcasm it had before.

  “Hanna's. You okay? You look like shit.”

  “I know. I just feel so empty without it. The magic was more than I knew it was. I miss Phillip and O.”

  I spun him and planted a huge kiss on his lips.

  He shoved me back. “What the heck, Aimes? I didn’t switch teams. Gross. You got lip gloss on my teeth. Gah.” He coughed and wrinkled his face.

  “Okay. Now that you're awake, let's do this.” I dragged him into the office. Everyone gave him a slanted look.

  “Didn’t realize I was missing a team meeting.” Tristan cocked an eyebrow.

  Lorri rolled her eyes. “You're missing lots of things these days.”

  “Is it possible Phillip has switched to the bad guys?” I asked the question I didn’t want to.

  Tristan scrutinized me and then crumpled to the floor in a sobbing heap. I raised an eyebrow at Lorri. She mouthed several swear words.

  Hanna dropped to her knees and held him to her.

  “It's okay, Trist. It’s okay.”

  He shook his head. “No, it’s not. Shane and Marcus wiped him. He’s a nasty asshole now. Hateful bitch. He doesn’t love me anymore.” His words were mixed amongst sobs.

  “He made me give him my blood. He took it and left. He hasn’t come back. He’s gone to them. He’s gone to Team Vader.”

  “Honey, you need to help us end this. We are out of time and out of allies.” Lorri patted the top of his head. “Hanna, go shower and clean him and get him pretty. He looks like shit. The rest of us need to come up with some sort of a plan.”

  Hanna lifted him off the ground and carried him princess style from the office.

  Blake crossed his arms and sighed. “What if Tristan killed the O monster and took back his magic. It’s just like Highlander, right? He killed and took the magic?”

  I laughed.

  Lorri nodded. “We could do that. But the prophecy states that Lillith cannot be killed by a man.”

  “He’s her son. He isn’t just a man. He’s a witch.”

  “What if the prophecy was made up, or wrong? What if Jonathan wrote it? How do we know any of it is true? Lillith could be just as strong today as she was a thousand years ago.”

  I crossed my arms. “I say we try. We can't control the O monster and besides, she won't do anything to help us. We get her here and let Trist cut her head off.”

  “He doesn’t cut her head off. It isn’t actually Highlander. He needs to make the ghost sisters believe it’s for the greater good.” Blake snapped his fingers. “Chaotic good, ringing any bells? The ghost sisters are the chaotic good. If they think it’s for the best, they'll do it. We tell them he’s still in with the baddies. He has an in to get to Lillith and kill her. He has been invited to go meet up with the bad ones. They give him the magic, and we go as a group and kick ass.”

  Lorri added, “All that, but you stay here. You're delicate.”

  Blake looked annoyed.

  Dr. Jekyll glanced at Roland. “We can help.”

  Roland’s face was grave but he replied, “As you wish, sir.”

  Lorri clapped. “Excellent. Let's get Tristan back to being Tristan, and get the magic back.”

  Chapter 25

  Dance for me, baby

  Aimee

  Tristan smiled and nodded politely to all their questions. He wasn't lying to the ghost girls. He just wasn't telling the whole truth.

  “You would kill our mother, Brother?” O’s voice still freaked me out.

  Tristan replied, “Of course. You ladies know how I feel about everything. I want Jonathan dead. I want him to pay for what he has done to us all.”

  The sparkly dead glow in O’s eyes made my skin crawl. She looked at Lorri and me, nodding. “Take my hand.”

  Tristan took a breath and put his hand into hers. She gazed up into the sky. The clouds hovering above us cleared, except for one dark cloud. A bolt of lightning struck their hands. They both lifted off the ground, shaking and convulsing. Tristan dropped to the ground on his knees as O slumped in a heap.

  “They're gone,” he whispered. He moved his hands, making the magic sparkle through them. He grinned. “Guess I'm ready then.” His eyes were sinister.

  I had a bad feeling.

  We flashed back to the mansion and gathered the forces. We winked in groups to the forest in Florida where the wolves waited. I dropped to my knees and let them maul me when I saw them.

  “I missed you guys,” I whispered. Luke whined. “I know. We're going now. We’ll get her back.”

  Lorri led us through the woods.

  “This is where you came last time?” I asked Sam.

  He nodded.

  Roland leapt and phased midair. He was a huge black wolf. Hanna gasped. None of us had ever seen it.

  “Do it now, Sarah,” Lorri said softly.

  We could see each other but nothing could see us. Sarah had worked hard at developing the talent and was finally able to make us all invisible.

  I could feel the line when we crossed it. The darkness hovered in the air like a black cloud. I instantly felt uncomfortable. The wolves growled softly. Hanna and the doc looked savage. He didn't change into the beast either. Hanna and her dad would both be beasts but in control of it.

  My insides hurt. I just wanted Ari. I wanted her so badly. I knew Lucas felt the same. He was skin and bone almost and his fur didn’t glisten like it usually did. He seemed exhausted.

  We crossed a dirt path. Ben was out front. He stalked, sniffing and searching it out.

  We stopped when he stopped. Lorri checked with little Sarah. “Still good?”

  Sarah nodded. She appeared to be concentrating very hard. She was the only one who could control her talents completely. The other kids were still a little nutty when they got scared.

  Sam stayed close to her.

  I heard them before we could see anything. A man laughed. It was Jonathan. My skin shivered.

  I winked into a tree just above us. There was a small village in the forest. Just some shanty huts with dirt paths between them. The houses were old and decrepit-looking. Jonathan stood outside next to a girl with dark hair. She was tied to a pole in the middle of the path. She had whip marks that were somewhat healed. Instantly, I was angry and sickened. It was Ari. She was filthy. Her clothing was torn and gross. After everything she had been through, this was too much. Phillip wasn’t there. No one else was. It was Jonathan and Ari. He rubbed something down her cheeks and then stopped. The wind changed. He lifted his face into the air like a sniffing dog.

  “Shit,” I whispered and winked back to the ground. “He can smell us, I think.”

  Lorri agreed, “Guaranteed. What are you getting, Trist?”

  “Bad juju. These witches are bad. They're almost as strong as I am. Phillip’s here. I can feel him. The earth might not fight with me here. It’s tainted.” He put his hands out. “Ari’s sick. We need to hurry.” He made a face.

  “She’s tied to a pole in the middle of the road there. It’s a dirty little village of sorts. Gross. I saw Jonathan but no one else.”

  Lorri flexed her fingers. “Chances are he knows we're here and is ready. Are we ready?”

  We all nodded. We had no concrete plan. Ari always wrecked our plans anyway.

  We skulked from the damp forest and into the village. The electricity in the air was too much. I gagged from the stench of the humidity and dead animals. To the right, carcasses and skins made a pile. In the distance, I could see Ari.

  Lorri turned to me. “Aimee, you get Ari. Tristan and I will get Jonathan. Sam, you come with me in case he winks. We track hi
m.” Her whisper was so silent I almost missed it.

  She held a hand up with three fingers.

  She lowered one.

  My heart raced.

  She lowered another.

  My palms sweated.

  She lowered the third and I winked.

  I touched Ari and was blasted across the dirt yard. Lorri had Jonathan in her hands, but he just stood and laughed.

  Tristan blew the pole where Ari was tied up, sending her flailing. I winked and caught her. Lucas was instantly with me, nuzzling her.

  Suddenly, they came out of the house in hordes with their fingers raised as they chanted. They resembled regular women but their eyes were black.

  They all pointed at Tristan.

  His fingers and hands shook.

  “Lorri!” he cried out. Lorri winked to him but was blown across the dirt road. Ben was attacking one of the witches. He killed her on the road. Her body became a black blood puddle.

  I scanned around at the pandemonium.

  Lorri was being held to the ground. Jonathan was still standing, laughing. Ben leapt at him but he didn’t wound. He didn’t budge. The witches chanted. Aleks was flashing and killing, but the witches didn’t stop. The ones still standing didn't defend themselves. They chanted. There were at least twenty of them still upright.

  “He’s glamour. Jonathan's not really here,” Lorri shouted.

  Hanna and her father were ripping and tearing. Both were covered in blood. It was savage and disgusting, watching them kill unarmed women who didn’t fight back. They continued to chant even as they were ripped limb from limb.

  Tristan screamed again. His fingers twitched. “LORRI!” he screamed. His hand whipped from his own neck and shot a bolt at the ground in front of me.

  “MOVE!” he screamed.

  I grabbed Ari and Luke and winked. I left them in the living room at Marcus’ and winked back. I grabbed the first witch and sucked. She tasted like the best thing I had ever eaten. Dirty filthy death.

  We murdered every one of them to the sound of Jonathan laughing his head off. As the last witch dropped dead, Tristan vanished.