The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  I mouth, “Maria?”

  “Your momma's body was used and tattered, but she keep Maria safe like a good big sister. Your momma done bad things. Den, when she was ready to make her move, she done da ritual and stole Maria's body. Her body was used and sickly but she got herself some connections out der in da swamps. Once she was in your aunt's body, she drained her sister of blood and traded it to da vampires for money. She done da ritual on her sister and stole all da blood in Maria's old tired body. But no Blackwater witch ever gets laid to rest, ma cherie.”

  “She put herself in Maria's body and then when Maria was in her old body, she drained all the blood?”

  Ramón nods. “She was about to do it again.” He points to the door. “That man saved your sister.”

  “He killed her?”

  Ramón shakes his head. “He saved her and your daddy. They was both dead soon anyway. Your momma had done all the preparations. You was gonna be married to get her the right kind of connections and then she was taking Emily's body, drain the blood, and kill your daddy in a car accident and killing you afterward. Emily be an only child and sole heir to the family fortune.”

  It's too much. I'm mostly lost but I'm also livid. I turn and cross the house in a series of angry steps. I fling open the front door and shout, “You knew what she was doing?”

  Whit stands in the filthy, swampy yard with his arms crossed and a dry look on his face.

  “You knew what she was doing and you thought murdering them was the best bet?” I'm angry in a way I've never been. Something stirs in my palms. “Why didn’t you tell me what she was at? I coulda saved them. I coulda killed her.”

  He tilts his head, watching me and not answering. His eyes lower to my hands. I squeeze my hands into fists. “You knew? Answer me, goddammit!”

  He nods once. “She came to us, my family. Said she would have a large amount of a special type of blood to trade. Sometimes we do that, for certain types of blood. I came to meet the family, scope you all out. Make sure it was legit. I spent my nights watching you.”

  I am dizzy and sickened. I turn back around and slam the door shut. I collapse into the chair and drop my face into my hands. “She was trading our blood. He was there because she was trading our blood and he knew.” I rock back and forth and sob.

  Ramón is on me instantly. His cool hands are not a comfort but his touch is.

  “He freed her. Emily was dead anyway, cherie. She was always dead. Your momma had started the ritual. It takes months to perform but once it's in the final stages, there ain't no turning back, cherie. It was done long before he ever come to Baton Rouge. Emily couldn’t even leave the plantation after the engagement party. It would be why she's stuck there now.”

  “I saw her die. I saw Momma die. If Em died, where did Momma go?”

  “You saw what you thought was her dying, but that wasn't, cherie. She had already taken the vampire blood. You saw her transforming. She knew what Mr. Whitlock was. She had called them. She thought it was him checking you out. I too woulda known what he was, had I been alive. Witches sense those things.” His voice changes, “Trust me, what happened to Emily was far kinder. Your momma was using the vamp blood in small doses to keep herself young. But the minute she died, she changed. Not even a Blackwater witch can die with vampire blood in their veins.”

  I lift my head and wipe the devil's tears from my face. Grandmamma Holt sits next to me. “Your grandpappy was nearly ninety years old when you saw him in da bayou. He and your grandmamma were teenagers when dey had dem twins. Might have been fifteen. Your momma was almost seventy-five when she died. Da vampire blood was keeping her young for some time. Your daddy wasn’t da first man in her life and he already ain't da last.”

  I don't have any space left in my brain. I stand and cross the room. “I need to sort this out. I need to know the answers from Maria and Tessa and Em. I love you guys but I need to process. I need all the answers.” I leave the small house and walk past Whit. I climb into my truck. I don’t want to speak to him. I just want to leave. My brain is full. It hurts from the information.

  Whit opens the driver door where I'm sitting and shoves me over. He climbs in and starts the truck.

  I gaze down as the black tears fall and make patterns on my jeans.

  “I don’t understand any of it. Especially the part where you were running away with me?” I say into the quiet of the truck.

  He drives out of the dirty yard. “I didn’t know what to say to you. Your sister was dying, you wanted to bring her with you, but her death was imminent. She couldn’t even leave the plantation anymore. There was a spell trapping her there. It's more than I could explain without scaring the shit out of ya. I knew I couldn’t get you to leave without her, but she couldn’t leave.”

  “Murdering my whole family wasn't a better choice. You asked my daddy for my hand? Why?”

  He sighs. “I was trying to call the whole thing off. I was trying to tell her to stop, that I was done and wanted you. I could have found witch blood somewhere else.”

  I turn to face him. “What witch blood? You keep saying that.”

  “Your blood, it's magical. Well, it was before I killed you. For my kind, it's like a drug. It makes us human again in emotion and feeling. You know how you feel when you're sad or angry or happy, like something is stopping the full feeling? It's the curse of our kind. We can't feel anything the right way. It makes us more than what we are. We don’t feel the little things, just huge amounts of hate and anger and lust and love. It's addictive.”

  I'm stunned. “You've known my family all this time? She sold my aunt's blood to you before and then came to you with the offering of my sister's?”

  “She did. She’s strong, Lorelei. When I told her I loved you, she threatened to just kill you to hurt me. And as soon as she found out I loved you, she went crazy with the plan. I offered to turn you and her and Emily. She laughed in my face. She never wanted to become a vampire. She wanted to be able to go out in the daylight. We don’t have day walkers, except the highest of pureblood royalties. So I fed you my blood. I did it to keep you safe. I had been putting a tiny bit in your mouth when you were asleep at night, just in case. A tiny bit won't change you unless you die. And it would leave your system after a couple of days unless you kept taking it.”

  “You coulda told me before. I woulda got my sister out.”

  He laughs. “Your ma wouldn’t have let that happen. Not with all the work she had put into your sister. By the time I got there, the spells and rituals were nearly done. She had Ramón killed so he wouldn’t tell you about the magic she was doing. He would have sensed it. I met you the night you were sick.”

  My hand lifts to my face. “You killed him?”

  He clenches his jaw. “It's why I said I wished I had known. I never knew you were close. He was nothing more than a driver. She told me he was a driver who had magical blood and he had to die.”

  I turn away from him and watch the roadside pass me by.

  “I love you. I have since the moment I met you. Don't let this ruin everything.”

  I look back, horrified. “Ruin what? The fact you helped my momma murder my family, you murdered my best friend, and then stalked me for half a century? Yeah, I feel the love, baby.”

  He’s savage. “What about the fact I saved you, several times? Or the fact I saved you from marrying that cad? What about the fact I saved your sister? I knew the ritual had been performed and she would at least live a half-life in the mansion. What about the fact I spared your life and saved you?”

  My mind does a dangerous flip. “WHAT? YOU SAVED ME? YOU KILLED ME AND DAMNED ME TO BE THIS! I AM A HIDEOUS MONSTER AND MY SISTER IS STUCK AS A SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD! SCREW YOU!” I open the door of the truck and roll from it on the dusty pavement. It scrapes and scratches, but it will heal. I take off as tires screech. I run. I always run.

  Chapter 15

  The image of the house burns in my chest. I creep from the woods like an animal would. My clothe
s are torn, my hair is everywhere.

  Em’s in the window, waving. I wave back as I trek up the driveway that’s cleared and appears more normal now. I need to get to bed, the sun is gonna rise soon.

  Tessa opens the door for me. “Hello, my love.”

  I grip her hands and rivet my eyes to hers. “Did my momma trick you in school?”

  She swallows and there’s a moment of clarity in her eyes. “She tricked me. She was always doing magic on my mind. Making me think things was a good idea. Forcing me to make my brother like her and meet with her. I see it now.”

  I grip her hands and shake my head. “I'm sorry, Aunty.”

  “Well, I ain't. I got you and Em. My brother didn’t know he wasn’t happy.” She points behind me. “You want some tea?”

  I laugh and shake my head but the tears and the sickness inside me take over. Instantly, Emily is there. She smiles. “I love him. Luke. He is everything a kind, sweet young man ought to be.”

  I smile back but it forces a tear from my eyes.

  She scowls. “What?”

  “I just heard about Momma today.”

  Tessa points. “You've been to see Ramón?”

  I nod. Emily looks sad for me. I think it's for me.

  I swallow. “I'm sorry, Em. I didn’t know what she’d done to you. I swear, I never knew any of it.”

  She shakes her head and places her hands over her ears softly. “We don't talk about some things here.” She vanishes.

  Tessa's face fills with concern. “All that nice building that nice young man did and she is gonna ruin it.” I take off up the stairs. I scale the stairs three at a time and burst into her room. Her hands are carving into the newly finished walls. I tackle her to the floor.

  She vanishes and I drop to the new subfloor.

  I shout into the air, “Don't do this. You like him. Don't make a mess of the work he's done. That’s letting her win.”

  She is back. Her face is filled with rage. “SHE WON!” The walls vibrate.

  “She didn't. You're here. I'm here. You like him—you like Luke. He likes you. I could see it.”

  She sobs but nothing leaves her eyes. “I'm dead.”

  “If her magic can take your life and your soul, then it can bring them back. We can find a way.” I step across the floor carefully with my hands out. “I won't leave you this time. I will find an answer. I swear it.”

  Her eyes dart around the room as energy radiates from her. She twitches with the explosive need she has.

  I shake her slightly. “I won't leave you.”

  She slumps and lets it all out in a wail. I wrap myself around her and hold her until the light is coming in the window. My panic starts.

  “I have to go,” I whisper.

  She frowns. “But you said—”

  “The sun will roast the arse off me.”

  She nods. “The basement. I got Tessa to ask Luke to make a room. It's nice. His guys finished it just as they left.”

  I smile. My heart is crushed and I'm dying inside. “Thank you.”

  She crosses her arms, but it's more like she is hugging herself, holding herself together.

  I kiss her forehead and walk from the room, glimpsing back. “We don’t need to fear her, Em. She didn’t win. We can destroy her. We always could, we just didn’t know it. If that hateful bitch is a Blackwater witch, then screw it, so are we.”

  She nods, but when she looks at me there is defeat in her eyes.

  I walk down the stairs and let the millions of thoughts I'm having filter through. They make a million questions. There’s a light knock at the door. I open it. He stands in front of me with his jaw clenched.

  I walk away, leaving the door open for him. I open the door to the basement and leave it open also. I may be angrier than I can express, but comfort and companionship are worth more than my fury. It ain't even real hate. It's more like disgust and exhaustion. I'm too tired to kid myself on how I feel about him. How I always have.

  The room downstairs is nice. It's got no windows but there is a platform bed with blankets and a mattress. I don’t even know how she got it all here in so little time. The room is plywood and concrete, but it's better than half the places I have slept. I take off my boots and fall into the blankets. He is here, closing the door and climbing in beside me. He kisses my head. “Sleep, my love.” His accent is back completely.

  It makes me smile. “You're a complete fraud, aren’t you?”

  He laughs. “I am not.” But the “not” sounds like he says no.

  “Yes, you are.”

  He wraps around me. “I love you more than a single thing in this world. There is nothing fraudulent in that. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. I honestly never wanted to hurt you. I love you.”

  “Why do you love me? You can have any girl you want, any night of the week, right?” I shove him back but his hands stay on my arms, pinning me against the wall.

  He lowers his face and presses his lips against mine. “We both know that wasn’t what I meant.”

  “It doesn't matter anyway. You let them all die and then you killed off the life within me so I've never even been able to be sad the right way. My feelings are hindered by the devil you put inside me. It's in there now dancing with the devil I already had in me from my momma.” I close my eyes and let the inky tears slip until I'm asleep.

  It's the best sleep I have ever had. I wake and feel safe, which never happens. His body is still wrapped around mine completely.

  My stirring wakes him. He moans, “It isn’t time to wake up yet.”

  I shove him off me. “Yes, it is.”

  He drags me into him and throws a leg over me, trapping me. “No, it isn’t.” He holds me to him.

  A sneer creeps across my face. “I'm still as angry as I can get with you. The whole vampire-maker thing that forces me to like you is interfering with it. But trust me, it's a huge amount of dislike.”

  He chuckles into my ear. “Works for me.”

  “Not today.”

  He pulls back to look at me better. “When?”

  “When Emily is happy again. When you have made amends for that. You've lied to me since the beginning of this. If you'd been honest, I might have saved my sister. I don’t deserve to be happy until she is.”

  He watches my face for a moment and then growls. “You expect me to wait for that?”

  I shrug, which is difficult in his embrace. “You can be with whoever you like. Just not me.”

  His dark eyes narrow. “That means no though, right? You say I can, but deep down it means I can't. If I were to date other women whilst waiting for this to work, you would stack that against me? Correct?”

  “You’re an idiot.”

  He grins shamelessly. “It was a poorly timed joke. Calm down.” He kisses the tip of my nose.

  I shove him away and climb off the bed. I stretch and walk from the room, watchful, of my sister or Luke or anyone else. There is no one. I frown. “Do you think they did any work today?” I look around. The basement is finished and dry but it's not nice. It's never been nice.

  I climb the stairs, expecting a wooden stake at any moment.

  Voices are coming from the front room. I walk across the sawdust and boards on the plywood subfloor.

  Luke points to the molding. “The way that one curves matches this one perfectly, don't you think?” He holds the book out for Emily to see. She is dressed normally, in jeans and a tee shirt. I almost raise an eyebrow but I let it go. They're standing under a pot light that is new, picking out moldings. It's better than her destroying the house and killing him by accident.

  Hammering and other noises start up as if they were waiting for me to wake up, or I just never noticed them. I walk into the kitchen and look at the mess. I sigh and walk out into the back garden. The smell of magnolias and jasmine is everywhere. The lilacs are almost done blooming so the sweetness of them is nearly gone. The air is too fragrant. I wonder if it smelled like this when I was normal? I don�
��t think it did.

  His voice breaks my thoughts, “I need to show you the other thing.”

  I turn to see Whit standing next to the broken pillar on the ground. He must have gone around, through the backyard. In the gloom of the twilight and the overhanging fragrant garden, his face could stop my heart. If he hadn’t already done it.

  I nod and follow him around the back of the huge house. We wade through the old overgrown gardens. The willows, oaks, and moss have taken over completely. When we get to the oak alley, I can see the difference in the front entryway.

  He takes my hand in his. My skin doesn’t spark the way it used to when he touched me. It's just warm and lovely. I tug my hand free.

  “You've got to give me something.” He cocks his grin at me.

  “Not a hope.”

  We walk in silence until I can't take it anymore. I grab his hand and spin him to look at me, it's no easy feat. He is massive. His brooding face makes me inhale sharply.

  I don't want to ask but I need to know. “Why did you just watch? Why didn’t you talk to me? Help me? You must have seen me teaching myself to drive, killing randomly, eating animals for a while until I started to become one. Why didn’t you help me?”

  His jaw is tight, it's part of the inner conflict he has going on about something. He swallows it down before he speaks, “I didn’t know how. I knew what I had taken from ya. I knew what I had done was wrong. I couldn’t feel it, I couldn’t make myself be sad about it, but I knew. Your face was so sad. You talked to her, Emily, like she was there. You cried every day. Watching you fall apart was hard, but being the reason you were broken was worse. So I came back here a lot and watched over Tessa and the house. I made sure she stayed alive.” His face almost kills me a second time.