The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  Lorri laughed and put her hand in. “Probably not. Group up with me and Sam,” she spoke to me. “We know the way.”

  Aimee, Giselle, and I slapped our hands on Sam. He smelled delicious too. The guys frowned at him. He winked and we were there. The sun beat down. It was warm and lovely compared to the dank air on the west coast of America.

  “Ari would love it here,” Aimee whispered.

  Sam nodded. “She would die and go to heaven. Man, it is hot.” He tugged at his shirt and didn’t notice the glare Giselle and Aimee shot him.

  “Bad timing,” I whispered.

  His jaw dropped. “Oh. That was the wrong thing to say. Sorry.”

  Lorri, Aleks, Ben, Luke, and Shane showed up seconds later.

  “You're all awfully cheerful for people about to die.” Lorri narrowed her gaze.

  “Well, Sam and Hanna have everyone feeling a little more frisky than we’d all like.” Aimee put her hands on her hips. “And what's the worst that can happen? We die? Big deal. Everyone else is dead. We are the worst kind of enemy right now. We've got nothing to lose.”

  Lorri's grim face split. “Have I ever told you I love you, Aimee? I love the ass-kicking bitch you've become.” Aimee beamed. Lorri turned around, speaking to us all, “She’s right. We got shit all to lose. So Jonathan wins. If we're dead, we aren’t here for the Armageddon. Screw ‘em. Let's just do the best we can and see what happens. What have we got to lose?”

  Sam grinned. “You coach a lot of basketball, Lorri?”

  She studied him for a moment and then broke into a gut-blasting laugh. I was scared. I'd never seen her like this.

  Giselle whispered, “Homegirl got herself a piece of ass.”

  “Fo sho,” Sam agreed.

  “We run it the way we practiced. This is going to be typical. Stay together. Don’t attack until we know for sure.” Lorri stalked off. I waited for Sam to lead us the other way. Aimee, Ben, Aleks, and Giselle went with Lorri.

  Sam walked in the other direction. I stayed close to him while Lucas phased and stalked behind me. He stayed close. Close so Shane couldn't.

  “I think putting me with you was a bad idea. You smell sweet,” Shane muttered happily.

  I glared back at him but I could see it in his face. He was the Shane from before. The sweet one who loved Aimee more than anything.

  Sam glanced back. “It isn’t real, dude. She’s hardly even nice, let alone sweet. Trust me on this, Brother.”

  I shoved Sam.

  Shane laughed and Lucas nudged me.

  “So, is Giselle still single, even though now she’s all badass and crazy?”

  “She is, but Luke's brother has dibs on her. We respect dibs.”

  Shane laughed. “Gotcha.”

  I liked him. I couldn’t fight it. We walked through a field behind an estate. Sam looked at me. I nodded.

  I spoke to Shane specifically, “Dude, this is about to get horribly painful. You'll want to attack me and be very vigorous in the loving. I need you to stay here. I need you to fight it. Like Sam said, it’s fake. I'm going to pull the bracelet off and see if you can take it, okay?”

  He took a breath like I was going to punch him in the face. He rolled his shoulders. “Do it.”

  I held my breath and unsnapped the bracelet. Sam jerked at me. He stopped himself. Shane did the same and then his fangs popped out. He put a hand up to his mouth. Lucas stood in front of me and growled at them. Both men stood there, wrestling their inner demons. I snapped it back on and they relaxed instantly. Sam sighed loudly and left to scout ahead like he always did.

  “Wow, that'th potent.” Shane breathed hard. His fangs hung in his mouth. “Thorry. I couldn’t thtop them.”

  I laughed and remembered Giselle.

  “Okay, I'm going to do it when we get inside. It is going to be bad, but you have to focus on the baddies, okay?”

  “I got thith. I'm tho thorry I killed you before too. It wath an acthident. I promithe. I don't even remember it.”

  He was so cute I could eat him alive. I blushed. “It's cool. We got way worse drama than that 'round here. Not to mention, the fangy apology was adorable.”

  “It’s thuper embarrething.” He moaned. Lucas rubbed against him, making his wolf chuckle.

  Shane rubbed his eyes. “I feel thleepy.”

  “It's the sun. Duh.”

  He frowned. “I go out in the thun all the time back home.”

  Sam was back. “Sun here is stronger. Marcus settled in Portland for a reason. The sun makes him a bit weak. You being his royalty can go out in the sun like him. But it does weaken you when it’s direct and hot. Weakest time of the day. This is why you guys stay on the West Coast and wear rings.”

  “I need to get a ring.” Shane appeared disinterested.

  Sam sighed again. “They got a lot of baddies. Mostly human. So, Hanna, you got this, right?”

  “Oh, I got this.” I could sense the beast hanging in the background. She was looking for a fight.

  We walked through the gate at the back of the property where the bushy garden was. The lilacs smelled amazing. I shook my hair and rolled my shoulders as we crossed behind a garden shed of sorts. The estate was stunning. Flowers and gardens and stone pathways. The house was huge. It reminded me of the Tudor but it was made from whitewashed bricks. The roof had a terraced garden balcony with stunning railings. I wondered what was up there.

  I turned to the front of the house and gasped, “Oh my God. It’s like the lake out front of Mr. Darcy's house in the newer Pride and Prejudice.” The words left my lips before I realized who I was with. They looked at me like I was insane. Even Luke.

  “It’s a good movie.” I rolled my eyes and snapped a picture of it and sent it to Aimee's phone. She hated me but she had to agree it looked exactly the same.

  “Put the phone away. Sweet friggin’ God, you're going to get us killed,” Sam whispered.

  It was my turn to roll my eyes as we hurried up the side of the house. There were huge garage-looking things at the bottom of the house on the side where the land sloped. They were old and creepy. Of course Sam walked right for them. We snuck into the dark and waited. A man walked past a garage opening with a gun. Sam nodded at me, his eyes darting to the bracelet.

  Feeling a little cheap, I unclasped the bracelet. The man turned, smiling. I walked to the dark entrance. He grinned and licked his lips. “Allo, beautiful lady!” He had a thick French accent. I let him get close, close enough to grab at me. Then I spun him and snapped his neck. My beast raged as I dragged him into the darkness and clasped the bracelet back on. “One down.”

  Shane was gripping Sam and panting. His fangs were bigger than before. A small trickle of blood left his lip and drizzled down his chin.

  “We got this.” Sam tried to sound convincing.

  Chapter 27

  A fairly weak ending for such a bad guy

  Aimee

  “Do you think Shane’s safe with her?” I couldn’t help but worry. He was still my friend.

  Lorri put a finger to her lip and dragged a man into the bushes. His semiautomatic weapon was tossed aside; we didn’t need it. She bit into his throat, ripping and tearing. She wiped the blood off her face and licked her hands clean.

  He didn’t even get a scream out. I was sure she ate his voice box.

  We scouted the far side of the garden where Sam and the others crept into a garage of sorts under the mansion. Men were flocking to the side of the house. In the distance Hanna's strawberry-blonde hair glistened in the sunlight as she ripped off heads. I grimaced and glanced back at Giselle.

  She wore the same expression. “Ewww. That's nasty. Why do the baddies always have to be in a house somewhere? Why can't it ever be a bridge shoot-out or a high-speed chase?” Giselle asked.

  Lorri eyed her incredulously. “Because we wink and flash and move faster than the human eye, or cars.”

  Giselle nodded. “Right. Still kinda boring sometimes. Sneak into the house. Kick down th
e doors. Kill the people. You know? So cliché and repetitive.”

  I patted her on the back, impressed with the word choices she had used. “The faster we’re done with this, the faster we’re done. Right, Lorri? Roses will be done?”

  Lorri looked at me. “In some ways.”

  Ben nudged Giselle. “You know you don't want it to end.”

  Giselle laughed a throaty sound. “I am going to eat you up if you keep giving me that look.”

  His smile grew. “Promise?”

  “Stop screwing around.” Lorri stalked into the lilacs and rose bushes. She pointed to the roof of the house. “We wink there now.” She grabbed Giselle and vanished.

  Ben turned back to me. “I am going to get killed, staring at her.”

  “Phase.” I didn’t have time for his being cute.

  He leapt into the air and shifted into his wolf. He put a paw on my hand and we winked to the rooftop to find a full garden.

  “Wow. I wanna be rich one day.”

  Lorri sighed at Giselle and walked to the door. She held up her hands. Three. Two. One. She opened the door. I winked ahead and scanned the bedroom at the bottom of the long narrow stairs. A man slept there with a rifle next to him. I sucked him hard and fast. His red blood sprayed the wall behind him.

  I turned to see Aleks snap the neck of the man shaving at the sink in the next room.

  Ben crept ahead of us.

  He leapt into a doorway and snarled. A muffled scream broke out. He came back with black blood spread across his muzzle. He nodded his wolf head at me. I rolled my eyes.

  Lorri and Giselle were ahead of us. A woman jumped at Lorri. Light flashed from her hands. Lorri was shot back but winked herself behind the girl. She ripped the girl’s head right off. Giselle covered her mouth.

  The body slumped to the floor. Lorri tossed the head into the room and winked in after it. She came out licking her fingers. “This floor is nothing but a barrack,” she whispered. “I don’t think they're here.”

  I shook my head. “I know. Remember the house where Ben and Aleks died? I'm scared it’s the same idea. Let me wink through and see what it all is.”

  Lorri nodded. “Back in two.”

  “Two.”

  I winked down the stairs far enough to see into the floor below. I peeked my head out and glanced down the hall. I winked to the far end of one hallway. I rapidly winked to each door. My winking eye started to tire, but I saw nothing. On the other side of the stairs there was a huge living room and a fancy office. I winked so fast the people sitting or talking didn’t see me. I winked back to the stairs. A man was coming up them. He opened his mouth. I grabbed him and winked to Port Mackenzie. I snapped his neck and left him dead on the ground at the secret beach. I winked back to France. I ended up at the bottom of the stairs to the basement.

  I smelled it there.

  Something familiar.

  Angels.

  Past the creamy white wall Jonathan spoke to a group of men. “They're contained on the third floor. Detonate in two minutes.” He turned to a lady. “You need to stay here and make certain it goes off. Shield yourself and these guys. I'm going to get the other guys out.”

  He was gone. I winked to the woman and winked away. It was done in a flash. I was at Marcus’ house holding the savagely fighting witch by the throat. “MARCUS!” I screamed.

  The woman blasted me with lightning. Marcus was there, tackling her to the ground. His fangs dropped.

  “NO!” I screamed again. She grinned at him. He stopped himself but she flung him to the wall.

  I winked her to his lab. I tossed her and winked back out again.

  He pointed at me from down the hall. “Did you just put a bad witch in my lab?” His accent was thick. Cockney almost.

  “Not right now, Marcus.” I took a deep breath.

  He snarled, “Aimee, I'm going to kill you—”

  I winked to the third floor of the house in France and sent a text to Sam at the same time as I shouted, “LILACS! WINK TO THE LILACS!”

  Lorri grabbed Ben and Giselle. Aleks and I flashed as I pressed send. The smell of the lilacs was everywhere. I sighed when I saw everyone else just behind us, until a scream blasted across the extensive grounds of the mansion.

  “AIMEE, YOU MEDDLING LITTLE BITCH! WHERE ARE YOU? I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!” Jonathan stormed across the garden. He screamed and grabbed a man next to him. He sunk his fangs into the man's neck and bit savagely.

  He pointed in our direction. “You are dead.” The house blew up behind him. We all flinched and ducked as pieces of the mansion scattered everywhere.

  “I knew it was you. You little bitch.” He snarled and snorted and stomped closer.

  “Don’t get your panties in a knot.” Lorri stalked out, almost sauntering. She was laughing.

  He put a hand out to her. “Just join me. Just join me and end this. Can't you see he doesn’t give a shit? He never did. HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOU OR ME OR ANY OF THEM!” Red spit flew from his mouth with every word.

  She just crossed her arms and watched him spaz like a drama queen.

  “Lorri, don't do this! Don't force my hand!”

  I walked out of the lilacs and grinned at him. “How did you know it was me?”

  His blood-stained lip lifted. “I could smell you everywhere. You little bitch. Where did my witch go?”

  “Somewhere only I've been. No one else knows what it looks like inside and it’s protected so you can't get out without some kind of CIA assistance. Even then I'm not convinced she'll get out.”

  He laughed. “I wish you had just joined me from the start.”

  I checked my phone and saw the picture Hanna had sent. I sent my response. Hatred filled me as she came walking out of the woods alone. I could hear the wrestling behind me. Giselle was no doubt holding them all back.

  Jonathan's face turned sharply. A grin crossed his lips. “Why hello.” He sounded so charming. He looked it, even with all the blood splattered across him.

  Hanna waved coyly. “Hi.” She bit her lip. He flashed, grabbed her, and they were both gone.

  “SAM!” I shouted. He grabbed my hand and Lorri's and we were off. It was a horrid feeling. I gagged as we bounced in the flashes. We stopped and I swallowed my stomach's contents. It was much worse when someone else was driving the boat.

  I shivered and followed them down a dark hallway.

  Lorri's nails glistened in the dim light. I'd only ever seen her fight with them a few times. They were hard as diamonds and sharp as razors.

  We followed the trail. The smell of Hanna. The tension poured off Sam. He stared back at me, scaring me. His eyes were completely black, like Ari's always were when she let go of her hold.

  We were under something, a building maybe. It was dank and gross. The hallway was dark and made from stone or old brick that was worn smooth. It smelled like the water at Aleks’ house. Old and musty. A scream rang out in the air. We ran, winking ahead.

  A dim light flickered in the hall when we rounded a corner. Shadows moved. I was nervous for Sam. I knew Hanna was basically indestructible but that didn’t make me feel better.

  Lorri peeked in the doorway and then turned back toward us. “Tristan and another woman.”

  Sam smelled the air. “Lillith,” he whispered.

  Lorri paused. “I've never seen her. I don’t know. She was always with the fae. They never liked me.”

  Hanna screamed out again. Sam almost walked in, but I grabbed his arm and shook my head. Lorri winked us back to the lilacs. The group had waited for us.

  “I think he’s got her with Lillith and Tristan.

  Sam's eyes lit up. “Oh my God.”

  “What?”

  Sam swallowed. “Remember how I gave my blood to the bad witches and Oliver saved me and took it back? He said they could control me if they had it; I was never to give my blood away.”

  My stomach sunk. “Phillip took Tristan's blood.”

  “What if Lillith is bad? What if all alon
g the hostage thing was fake? My mom loves him, Jonathan. She wasn’t a prisoner like we thought she was. What if Lillith isn’t either? What if she is using him to get the magic back?”

  Lorri rubbed her eyes. “Why? Why would she lie to the blue sisters and Henry and everyone else? Why would she pretend to be on the fae side if all along she was in it with Jonathan?”

  Sam shook his head. “What if the act wasn't an act? What if this is all part of the plan?”

  Giselle crossed her arms. “Well, Adam did rape her in the garden and God's punishment was giving him another wife. Like, dude. I would have smoked his ass with lightning, not given him another chick. Then he goes and tells him that shit-ass story about the rib. Like, bitch please. I am so not second to any man.”

  It was the smartest thing she had ever said.

  “Genius.” I grabbed her head and kissed her.

  Lorri looked like she had been kicked between the legs. “Oh my God. Sweet Jesus. All along. She played Jonathan, getting him to protect her so she could singlehandedly ruin God’s Earth. She made the evil on purpose. She never was going to let us end her and Jonathan. All of it was an elaborate plan. He probably forced the pregnancies on her to get the magic out a little bit at a time. He has spent all this time trying to get the magic. They’re having a power struggle for the same outcome. He thinks he’s taking her magic and meanwhile she’s waiting for the moment to attack and kill him and rule the evil domain she’s created.” It felt like the end of a Murder She Wrote episode.

  “Thousands of years and Giselle solves it.” Sam glanced back at Ben. “I did not see that as an outcome.”

  “Not the moment, Sam.” Lorri sounded hollow.

  My voice was equally as heavy. “Except Ari. That must have screwed with things.”

  “I feel so dumb. How did she trick Lydia's magic? Or Annabelle's, or O's?” Aleks turned to Lorri who was stunned to silence.

  I watched as something changed on her face. Slowly, her eyes became bloodshot. Red veins filled them until they took over and all the color was consumed. I didn’t even think she had red blood. She turned her head to me. “They mean to use Tristan, each for their own reasons. Him to have Tristan make him greater than he is and her to take back the power. His birthday is almost upon us. Now it’s a race for whoever can get it first. Who can trick the other better.”