“You just wish it wasn’t because of her,” Rose said softly.
He looked away. “I should have trusted her. I realize that now.”
Rose frowned in surprise. “Really?”
“After last night,” he sighed, “it’s pretty clear that she cares about you.”
A twinge of guilt twisted at her stomach. “Kallias…we’re just friends.”
His intense, knowing gaze returned to her. “But for how long?”
Rose just stared down at him, her lips parted, her chest aching, as she tried to think of a response to that. She wanted to assure him that she felt nothing for Kara, but could she say that without lying? She wasn’t so sure anymore.
He moved his hand to the other side of her, leaning over her, and forced a smile. “I’m sorry,” he laughed uneasily. “This obviously isn’t the time for this.”
“No. I don’t want you to hide your feelings just because I’m injured,” she said, a concerned frown pulling at her features. “Say what you need to say.”
“What I need to say is,” he said, “I want you to focus on getting better.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m fine,” she said stubbornly.
“No. You’re trying to look fine,” he corrected, “but you’re not.”
“No, look, I’m sitting up,” she argued. “I’m…doing much better.”
“Yes, but you still have a long way to go. And…my guess is that your strength is fading again,” Kallias said. He tapped his finger against the closed book that still set in her lap. “That’s why you haven’t put the book away yet.”
She sighed. “I just need more blood, I think,” she admitted reluctantly.
Kallias began to unbutton his black shirt. “Now, why couldn’t you just tell me that to begin with?” he complained. He shrugged off the shirt and tossed it aside. Then, he crawled onto the bed, sitting beside her. “Always so stubborn.”
She smiled at his teasing, watching as he leaned back against the black, padded headboard of the bed. She didn’t have enough strength left to move, so Kallias lifted her over him, helping her to straddle his legs. Her head fell against his shoulder, and she turned her face, inhaling deeply, moaning softly at his scent.
He threaded his fingers in her thick, auburn hair, holding her close.
Rose closed her eyes and sank her fangs into his neck. Adrenaline rushed through her veins at the first taste of his blood, bringing out that instinctual, animalistic part of her, giving her the strength that she needed to feed. She rested her hands on his arms, steadying herself, as his blood poured into her mouth.
Kallias tilted his head back against the headboard, exhaling shakily, as the first wave of pleasure washed over him. Rose’s injury made her more feral and desperate, which caused her to feed recklessly and aggressively, and…well, honestly, it was kind of sexy. He worried about the weakened, injured state of her body, of course, but when she began to move against him, rocking her hips against his, he couldn’t bring himself to stop her. He groaned at the sensations.
The door opened suddenly, crashing against the wall.
Erik stood in the doorway with an unusually indifferent expression on his face. He barely glanced in their direction as he stepped into the room, shut the door behind him, and walked to the empty bed. He lay down, still wearing his boots and clothes, and grabbed the remote control from the nightstand.
“What the hell, Erik?” Kallias muttered, covering his neck with his hand. He shifted Rose off of him and climbed out of the bed. He snatched up his shirt from the floor and slid his arms into it. “Couldn’t you have waited outside?”
Erik just shrugged, never taking his eyes off of the television.
Rose wiped the blood from her lips with her fingers as she glanced at Erik, her brows furrowing in confusion. “Where is Kara?” she asked worriedly.
Kallias frowned at her. “Why would Erik know where Kara is?”
“Kara left earlier…to find Erik,” Rose explained. “Apparently, Aaron ordered Erik to go after Alana by himself, and Kara was worried about Erik.”
Erik’s bright green gaze shifted toward her.
Kallias scowled at Erik. “I thought you said that you were going to a bar tonight,” he muttered. “You never mentioned anything about going after Alana.”
Erik glanced back at the television, pretending to be interested in a lipstick commercial. “I said strip club, actually, and that is exactly where I went.”
“But Aaron told you to go after Alana,” Rose said, her frown deepening.
“No, he didn’t,” Erik argued. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Kara told me that you were with Alana,” Rose insisted.
“Maybe she lied to you,” Kallias suggested.
Rose scowled at him. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Kallias flinched a little at the accusation. “Rose, he’s telling the truth,” he tried to explain. “I can see it in his thoughts. Erik never saw Alana tonight.”
Rose sighed. She briefly wondered if she’d imagined the entire conversation. Perhaps it had been a hallucination, caused by the fever, the injury, or the medication. But no, she remembered it clearly: Kara told her that Erik had gone after Alana and that Kara intended to save him. Rose swept her gaze over Erik’s long, lean form, looking for any sign that something was off. But aside from the wrinkles in his black shirt, everything looked as it had before he left. “But…if that’s true,” she said skeptically, dread twisting in her gut, “then, where is Kara?”
“She’s with Elise,” Erik said suddenly. “I saw them together in the hall.”
“You’re sure?” Rose asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
There was an eerie coldness in Erik’s voice as he said, “Of course.”
Kallias shrugged. “He’s telling the truth about that as well. I can see it in his mind,” he sighed, almost as if he were apologizing. “Maybe Kara was afraid that it would hurt your feelings if she told you that she was with Elise tonight.”
Rose scowled at that ridiculous conclusion. “Why would it?”
“Kara’s fine. I’m fine,” Erik said irritably. “Can we just go to bed now?”
“Sounds good to me,” Kallias sighed as he sat down on the bed.
Rose glanced at Erik one more time, and then, she froze as she found him staring at her, his eyes narrowed, as if he were frustrated by her questions. An eerie chill traveled down her spine as she considered the blankness of his bright green eyes, the deadness of his expression. He seemed so unlike himself.
She desperately wanted to believe Erik, but…she had a bad feeling.
And her bad feelings had this annoying habit of being right…
20
A Message from Kara
“Rose, what the hell are you doing out of bed?” Kallias snarled.
Rose gripped the desk tightly as she tried to keep herself in an upright position as she sifted through her bag. “I’m looking for a new book. Obviously.”
As she said the word obviously—the same word that she and Kara had used in teasing each other—her stomach twisted with worry again. She glanced back at Erik, who sat on the bed, staring at nothing, as if he were in a trance.
Kallias closed the bathroom door much harder than necessary, startling her, as he marched over to her. “What part of injured do you not understand?”
“The part that involves being held prisoner in bed all week,” Rose said.
“It’s been one day, Rose,” Kallias growled. “You nearly died yesterday.”
“I finished my book,” Rose said grumpily. “I needed to get a new one.”
“You could have asked someone to get it for you,” he reminded her.
“You were taking a shower, and Erik’s a zombie,” she muttered.
“What?” he said. His brows furrowed as he glanced at Erik.
“Clearly, he thought that being a vampire wasn’t creepy enough. So, he joined the other group of undead,” she said. �
��Because non-zombified Erik would have made a disgusting comment when I mentioned being held prisoner in bed.”
Kallias rolled his eyes at her. “Zombies aren’t real, Rose.”
“That’s what they say at the beginning of zombie movies,” she said.
“Stop changing the subject, and get back in bed,” Kallias said irritably.
Rose squeezed the desk tightly, leaning forward. “Uh…yeah…sure.”
His brown eyes softened with sympathy. “You can’t walk, can you?”
“Of course I can walk,” she scoffed. “I walked over here, didn’t I?”
Kallias crossed his arms, resting his jean-clad hip against the office chair. “Okay. I’ll just stand here until you make it back to the bed,” he said smugly.
Rose groaned in frustration. “Fine! Fine! You’re right! I used up all of my strength walking over here, and now, I can’t move. Are you freaking happy?”
“No,” he said indignantly. “Why would I be happy about that?”
“The sun set an hour ago,” Erik said suddenly. “We need to leave.”
Rose frowned at his formal tone. It didn’t sound like him at all.
Kallias stepped forward, and with no warning whatsoever, he scooped Rose off the floor, one arm beneath her legs and the other beneath her back. He ignored her indignant glare as he cradled her in his arms and carried her back to bed. “Why didn’t you stop her from getting out of bed?” he asked Erik as he set her on the bed. He scowled at Erik. “You knew that she was being an idiot.”
“My IQ is higher than yours,” Rose muttered under her breath.
Erik just shrugged. “Why would I care about Rose? She’s not my lover.”
Rose glanced at Erik, her eyes wide. “I’m your friend, you jerk.”
“It’s probably the hunger,” Kallias muttered, but his brows furrowed, as if he doubted his own theory. “When he first started weaning himself off of blood, he lashed out at everyone. He insulted me in every way imaginable.”
“You forced me to starve myself,” Erik said. “You deserved to suffer.”
Kallias scowled at him. “That’s a weird thing to say.”
“It kind of sounds like something Alana would say,” Rose mumbled.
“I didn’t force you to do anything,” Kallias told Erik, shaking his head at Erik’s unusual behavior. He grabbed his jacket from the chair and slid it on. “Let’s head into the city. You’ll feel better if you keep your mind off the hunger.”
Rose watched them worriedly. “Kallias,” she said slowly, “be careful.”
Kallias laughed at her concern, “You’re the injured one, remember?”
“Mm-hmm,” she said noncommittally. “Just…please…be careful.”
His eyes narrowed. “As long as you promise to stay in bed.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Rose said dismissively. She waited until Kallias had already left the room before calling out, in almost a whisper, “Erik…wait.”
Erik turned toward her, his eyes flashing with frustration. “What?”
Rose didn’t even flinch under the hostility of his gaze. “Erik…if Alana is controlling your mind, I need you to find a way to tell me. Just give me a hint.”
Erik just stared at her, his eyes narrowed. “Goodbye, Rose,” he snarled.
Rose winced as he slammed the door shut behind him. For a moment, she just sat there, her heart racing against her chest, as she considered all of the things that could have possibly happened. Something was wrong. She knew it.
So, she did the opposite of what she said she’d do: she got out of bed.
She immediately staggered and nearly collapsed as she tried to hold her body upright. Her chest ached and burned with every step, but she moved her feet anyway. She just needed to make it out of the room and then down the hall.
She needed to see Kara. If Kara really was with Elise, she could stop worrying. And if Kara wasn’t with Elise—which is what she feared—then…well, she wasn’t exactly sure what she’d do. But first, she needed to know the truth.
She grimaced as she noticed her blood soaking through her shirt again. Her unsteady, strained steps had apparently reopened the wound. She continued to walk anyway, bracing her hand against the wall, as she turned the doorknob.
A drop of blood splattered against the black, marble floor as she stepped out of the bedroom. She sighed and continued to stumble down the hall anyway.
Rose braced her hand against the cold, crimson-red wall, panting, as she tried to muster up the strength to keep walking. She staggered away from the wall as soon as she caught her breath and began to stumble through the hallway, toward Elise’s room. When she was nearly halfway there, she heard Elise’s voice.
“Rose? Merde!” Elise gasped as she raced forward to help Rose.
“Huh,” Rose grunted as Elise slung Rose’s arm around her shoulder so that she could help support Rose’s weight. “I was just on my way to your room.”
“Really?” Elise asked. “That’s…strange. I was on my way to yours.”
With her body pressed against Elise’s delicate figure and Elise’s blonde curls bouncing near her face, Rose couldn’t help but notice that Elise smelled nice—like sweet pea and lotion. She groaned irritably at her overactive hunger. “Why were you coming to see me?” Rose asked as Elise opened her door.
Elise helped Rose into her room and then helped her into a peach-colored arm chair on the other side of the second bed. Elise moved to sit on the bed in front of Rose, clasping her hands together in front of her, several silver bracelets sparkling against the fair skin of her arms. “First…are you okay?”
Rose ran her fingers over the velvety fabric of the arm chair. “Are you sure you want me to sit here? I would hate to get blood on your fancy chair.”
Elise’s curly, blonde hair bounced when she laughed. “It’s not fancy. Besides, I’m a vampire. I’ve become quite good at getting blood out of fabric.”
“Ah…the enhanced laundry skills,” Rose said. “I forgot about those.”
Elise giggled at Rose’s sarcasm. “You didn’t answer me. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks,” Rose said, frowning, “I’m feeling a lot better today.”
Elise nodded. She smoothed her hands over the soft, plush fabric of her sweater in what appeared to be a nervous action. Rather than a dress, like she’d worn the last few times Rose had seen her, tonight, Elise wore a black, turtleneck sweater, tight jeans that clung to her legs like a second layer of skin, and black, high-heeled boots. “I was coming to your room to ask if you’d seen Kara.”
Rose’s eyes widened. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
Elise’s fingers began to tap a nervous, erratic pattern against her thighs. “Then, you haven’t seen her?” she breathed. “She never came home last night?”
Rose felt a sharp pain in her chest that had less to do with the massive hole in her chest and more to do with the icy fear rushing through her veins. “I thought she was with you,” she stammered. “Erik said that he saw her with you.”
Elise shook her head. “Not last night. Are you sure he didn’t mean the night before last? The night that you were injured, she came to my room. But only for a few minutes. Then, she left. She couldn’t sleep. She was too worried.”
Rose forced her mind to just gloss over the too-worried part…because the last thing she needed to do at the moment was consider the fact that Kara might actually care about her. Instead, she focused on the fact that Erik had lied to her. “I need to call Kallias. If Erik lied to me, then…Alana’s controlling his mind.”
Elise frowned worriedly. “What makes you think that?”
“Kara said that Aaron ordered Erik to go after Alana by himself, which, obviously, makes him vulnerable to her telepathic control. Because he was alone with her. No one was there to protect him,” Rose explained. “Kara was worried about him. So, she said that she would find Alana and get Erik away from her.”
Elise covered her mouth with her
hand. “You think Alana has Kara?”
“I hope not,” Rose admitted, “but…Erik told me that he saw her with you. He lied. That makes me think that Alana commanded him to say that.”
“Oh, no,” Elise whispered. She slid her hand into one of the pockets of her blue jeans and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “She sent me a message.”
Rose frowned at that. “She did?”
“Yes, it didn’t make any sense,” Elise said, her voice rising with anxiety. “That’s why I was coming to ask if you’d seen her. I didn’t understand her text.”
“She sent you a text message?” Rose asked again. “That’s odd.”
“She sent it during the day,” Elise explained, “when I was still asleep.”
“While other vampires were sleeping,” Rose realized, her eyes widening. She leaned forward in her chair. “Read it to me. Maybe I can figure it out.”
Elise glanced down at the phone in her hand, shrugging her thin, delicate shoulders. “The message just says, ‘The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether,’” she read aloud, her brows creasing in confusion. “What could that possibly mean?”
“It’s a story by Edgar Allan Poe,” Rose told her. “The main character visits a mental asylum and finds out that the patients have taken over the asylum. The title refers to the fact that the patients tarred and feathered the doctors.”
“Oh,” Elise said, her blue-gray eyes shifting up toward Rose. “Hmm.”
Rose frowned curiously at Elise. “What’s wrong?”
Elise shook her head, her yellow-blonde curls bouncing as she moved. “It just reminded me of something Kara told me once,” she mumbled, staring down at the black, marble floor. “About two hundred years ago, Kara fed from this human, and she couldn’t bring herself to let the woman die. So, she shared her blood with the woman and healed her. Alana had been trying to persuade Kara to come back to her, so Alana went to the human’s home that night and…” Elise sighed sadly, “Well, apparently, she used her telepathy to drive the woman insane. She basically unraveled the woman’s brain from the inside-out. It was terrible, and Kara, of course, blamed herself. They locked the woman up in an asylum. But a few years later, Kara snuck into it to check on the woman. She just wanted to make sure that the woman was all right. But when she got inside, she realized that the doctors were abusing the patients and experimenting on them. The woman also told Kara that one of the doctors had raped her. So, Kara went to Alana and asked for help. Because if there’s anything that Alana hates, it’s…”
The Tomb of Blood Page 49