The Tomb of Blood

by Britney Jackson

  “Rose, you literally sass everyone you meet,” Erik muttered.

  “It’s different,” Rose said indignantly.

  Kara laughed. “They fight because they’re both Alpha-types,” she told Rose, a playful, mocking edge to her voice. She moved closer to Rose. “They’re both protective and controlling. It’s the same thing that caused Alana and Aaron to fight so often.” She leaned in close and whispered, “It’s all about the power.”

  Rose raised an eyebrow at Kara. “And you don’t want power?”

  A mischievous smile tilted at the edges of Kara’s lips. “Oh, I already have power,” she murmured. She trailed her fingers up Rose’s arm. “Because while they’re all fighting, I just sneak in, and,” she paused, her icy blue gaze shifting up to meet Rose’s gaze, her smile deepening, as she whispered, “take it.”

  Rose glanced meaningfully at the nonexistent space between them. “Is there a reason you’re getting closer and closer to me as you say this?” she asked.

  “Once again, Rose…it’s called flirting,” Erik said in an annoyed tone. “Seriously, does this have to be put in book form before you can understand it?”

  Rose glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow. “Is there a book about flirting?” she asked curiously. “Because I will totally read it, if there is.”

  Kara looked at Aaron and sighed, “Aaron, I need to tell you something.”

  “If it’s about your ex-girlfriend, I already know,” Aaron said irritably.

  Kara frowned. “You know about Alana’s plan? But how?”

  “I saw her,” Aaron said dismissively. “She’s in the tombs right now.”

  “What?” Kara said, her light blue eyes widening in shock. She stepped toward him…somewhat aggressively. “If she’s down there, why aren’t you?”

  Aaron narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t question me like that, Kara.”

  “If you fail to protect the Tomb of Blood—the people you’ve sworn to protect,” Kara snarled, “you don’t deserve respect. Cowards don’t get respect.”

  Aaron raised an eyebrow. Then, he stepped closer, meeting her glare with his own, his dark eyes flashing dangerously. “You’re lucky I need you right now,” he growled, “but I would advise you not to ever call me a coward again.”

  Kara didn’t even flinch at the veiled threat. “You have to protect them.”

  “I am,” he growled. “Her army is coming. I came out to fight them.”

  Kara frowned at that. “But why didn’t you kill Alana first?”

  Aaron suddenly looked uncomfortable. “It’s complicated.”

  “You can’t,” Rose realized, “can you? You let her get into your head.”

  Aaron narrowed his eyes at Rose. “Sometimes, I really can’t stand you.”

  Rose flashed him a sassy smile. “Oh, good! My hatred isn’t unrequited.”

  “How did Alana get into the Tomb of Blood?” Kara asked curiously.

  Aaron let out a long, frustrated sigh. “Don’t make me answer that.”

  “It was Osiris,” Kallias told them, reading Aaron’s thoughts aloud, like a book. He chuckled. “Ah, apparently, Rose warned him that this might happen.”

  “Yeah, but he didn’t listen,” Rose said, narrowing her eyes at Aaron, “because, and I quote, ‘decisions of war aren’t based off of the feelings of little girls.’”

  “Funny,” Kara chuckled, a teasing grin pulling at the edges of her lips, “because every war I’ve ever fought was based off of the feelings of little men.”

  Aaron’s bronze-colored skin seemed to take on a purple tint. “She had no evidence,” he said defensively. “How was I supposed to know she was right?”

  “Because Rose is very good at making people look like idiots,” Erik said.

  Aaron sighed. “Kara, I need you to stay up here with me. Alana’s army is on its way, and taking on entire armies by yourself is your specialty, right?”

  Kara laughed, “Something like that.”

  Aaron turned to face Rose, Erik, and Kallias. “While Kara and I fight the ones up here, I need you three to head down to the Tomb of Blood to take on the ones down there. Apparently, Alana swayed a lot of our own to her side.”

  “Your own,” Kallias corrected bitterly. “We’re not part of you.”

  “You are, for now,” Aaron snarled, “and right now, we need your help.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “I see why Kallias moved to America. Apparently, you two need an entire ocean between you, just so you don’t kill each other.”

  Erik frowned at Aaron. “Shouldn’t we focus on killing Alana?”

  “You shouldn’t,” Aaron scoffed. “You’re clearly not capable of it.”

  “Give him a break,” Kara said. “It’s hard to betray the woman you love.”

  Rose glanced curiously at Kara. That statement seemed to hold a hidden weight beneath it, as if it meant more than what she was saying. She studied the enigmatic vampire with a frown, noticing the pain that betrayed itself in her eyes.

  “If anyone goes after Alana,” Aaron continued, “it should be Rose.”

  Kallias glared at him. “What? No. Absolutely not.”

  “I hate to admit it,” Kara said, “but I think I agree with Kallias on this.”

  “She is incredibly powerful,” Aaron reminded Kara, “and you know it.”

  “I agree. She is,” Kara said easily, “but Alana is manipulative, and…” she trailed off. She glanced at Rose before continuing reluctantly, “And Rose is an extraordinarily compassionate person, which makes her easy to manipulate.”

  Rose scowled. “Wow, thanks, Kara,” she muttered sarcastically.

  “You know that I don’t mean it that way,” Kara sighed. “I have so much confidence in you. I believe that you are immensely stronger than you realize. As a matter of fact, you’re one of the strongest people I have ever met. But…this is what I do. I am very good at finding people’s weaknesses, and…this is yours.”

  “My compassion,” Rose said, frowning. “You think that’s a weakness?”

  “I think it’s beautiful,” Kara confessed, her light blue eyes softening with affection, “but…it’s also something that Alana can—and will—use against you.”

  Kallias didn’t even seem to be listening to them. He still hadn’t stopped glaring at Aaron. “Rose is not going after Alana by herself,” he said with finality.

  Rose glared at him. “I’m so glad that I have you to make my decisions for me,” she said dryly, “since I apparently don’t have my own mind and all.”

  Kallias scowled at her sarcasm. “This is out of the question.”

  “You’d think that, after all of this time, you would’ve realized that telling me what I can and can’t do never works out in your favor,” Rose mused dryly.

  Kallias sighed, “Rose, I watched you die once. I can’t do it again.”

  Her blue eyes softened with understanding. “I won’t die.”

  “I wish I could believe you,” Kallias said bitterly, looking away.

  Rose sighed and shifted her gaze toward Aaron. “I have one question, though. Why do you think I would be the best person to take on Alana? It seems, to me, that Kallias is better suited to go after her. He’s older than she is, which means he’s physically stronger than her, and he’s a telepath, which means she can’t use telepathic control against him. He would have an advantage over her.”

  Kara answered for Aaron. “You’re right. He would,” she agreed. “But Alana knows that. She would have found a way to keep Kallias away from her.”

  Aaron nodded in agreement. “And since I can’t attack her, and Kallias can’t get near her, that leaves you, Kara, and Erik. Kara and Erik are both vulnerable to Alana’s mind control. You aren’t. That makes you the best choice.”

  “But Rose is physically weaker than Alana,” Kallias objected.

  “Not if she uses her power,” Aaron pointed out. “Physical strength is irrelevant when it comes to telekinesis. She killed fifty vampires when she wa
s human. Killing Alana now, as a vampire, should be quite simple in comparison.”

  “It’s anything but simple,” Rose muttered under her breath.

  “You don’t know what that did to her,” Kallias told Aaron.

  “I don’t really care what it does to her,” Aaron said harshly.

  “Well, at least he’s honest,” Rose grumbled.

  “Rose isn’t fighting Alana,” Kallias growled. “I won’t let it happen.”

  Aaron stepped closer to him, staring up at Kallias with flashing, obsidian eyes. “Then, you better find some way to deal with Alana,” he growled, “because if we lose this battle, then…by tomorrow night, we’ll be at war with humans.”

  “On the bright side,” Erik quipped, “I doubt we’ll be alive to see it.”

  “You and I will,” Kara reminded him.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Rose argued. “Alana tried to kill you earlier.”

  Kara shrugged. “A lapse in judgement,” she muttered dismissively. “By tomorrow, she’ll act as if it never happened. In her mind, it was just a little fight.”

  “Little?” Rose sputtered, her eyes widening.

  “We’re running out of time,” Aaron interrupted. “Kara and I need to prepare for battle here, and the rest of you need to get down to the tombs. Now.”

  “What about Elise?” Rose said, gesturing toward her motionless body.

  “Not a priority right now,” Aaron muttered.

  Rose narrowed her eyes at him. “You can’t just leave her there.”

  “I’ll make her a bed in one of the crypts,” Kara said, “until this is over.”

  Aaron gave Kara a peeved look. “That’s wasting valuable time.”

  Kara rolled her eyes at him. “Relax,” she scoffed, a cocky smile tugging at her lips. “I don’t need time to prepare. I’m a Viking. I was born ready to fight.”

  Erik grinned at that and high-fived her.

  “Whatever,” Aaron grunted. “Just…hurry.”

  As Kara gathered Elise into her arms and Kallias and Erik began to head toward the tombs, Rose hesitated. “Go on ahead,” she said when Kallias turned back toward her and gave her a questioning look. “I’ll be there in just a minute.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Rose…” he began.

  “I’ll meet you in the mausoleum,” Rose interrupted, “in just a minute.”

  Kallias sighed and held his hands up in defeat. Then, he turned, and falling into step beside Erik, he headed up toward the eerie-looking mausoleum.

  Which left Aaron and Rose alone in the dark cemetery.

  Aaron raised an eyebrow at her. “I’ve seen this in movies,” he said in a dry tone. “This is the part where you confess your undying love for me, isn’t it?”

  Rose wrinkled her nose. “Not even close.”

  His lips twitched in amusement. “What do you want, Rose?”

  “I’ll do it,” Rose whispered as quietly as possible. “I’ll go after Alana.”

  Aaron nodded. He stepped closer to her and lowered his voice. “Wait until Kallias is too busy fighting to notice. Then, slip out and head toward Kara’s room. That’s Alana’s old room, too. I believe that it’s where she would go.”

  Rose sighed uneasily. “What if I can’t bring myself to kill her?”

  “Then, you’ll die,” Aaron said simply. “And the rest of us will die, too.”

  Rose opened her mouth to ask something else, but before she could, a door creaked open. She turned and watched as Kara stepped out of the crypt.

  Kara approached them slowly, her boots crunching on the hardened, icy layers of snow. “Rose,” she said with a surprised smile. “You haven’t left yet?”

  “I wanted to talk to Aaron,” Rose said, chewing on her lip. “And…you.”

  Aaron rolled his eyes. “Oh, this is that scene, after all,” he muttered. He turned and started walking toward the gates. “I’m not sticking around for this.”

  Rose cast a bewildered glance at him as he walked away.

  “What did you want to say?” Kara asked curiously, moving close to her.

  Rose looked at Kara, her eyes wide, her heart thundering in her chest, as she suddenly realized that she had no idea what she’d wanted to say, only that she felt as if she had to say something, that she had to convey the intense, bewildering emotions that she felt…somehow. She stood there, searching for the words, for several moments before she settled on a very eloquent: “Don’t die.”

  Kara raised an eyebrow. “Don’t die? You stayed back to say that?”

  Rose shrugged awkwardly. “I just…felt like it needed to be said.”

  Kara’s lips twitched. “Is that all?”

  Rose nodded. “I should go,” she sighed, reluctantly turning to leave.

  “Rose,” Kara said, the crunch of her footsteps following Rose. “Wait.”

  Rose spun around, opening her mouth to ask what Kara wanted, but before the first word could escape her mouth, Kara’s lips crashed against hers, their bodies melding together, as if they’d been perfectly designed to fit that way. Kara’s hands felt warm against Rose’s wind-chaffed face as she clutched Rose’s face to hers. Rose instantly melted into Kara’s arms, her eyes sliding closed, her arms looping around Kara’s neck, her fingers sliding into Kara’s long, silky hair.

  Despite the icy cold wind rushing around them, Rose felt nothing but heat as Kara’s lips and tongue moved against hers. Intense, blinding heat…that moved throughout her body, unfurling in her chest, rushing through her veins, burning her up with desire. Everything seemed to come alive when Kara kissed her—every part of her body, every nerve ending, every ounce of want and need inside of her. Rose moaned, desperate for the taste of Kara’s mouth, desperate for the feel of Kara’s body against hers, desperate for the connection they shared.

  Rose pulled back to catch her breath, determined to stop, but as she met Kara’s intense, piercing blue gaze, she found herself closing the space between their lips again, her hands cradling Kara’s face as her lips covered Kara’s lips.

  “Fuck,” Kara breathed against Rose’s lips, stunned by the intensity of the arousal that rushed through her, the intensity of the needful ache that burned inside of her. She slid her hands down Rose’s back, moaning as Rose arched her back, their bodies pressing closer together, creating a pleasant, soothing friction.

  Rose pulled back suddenly, panting, breathless with need. “Kara…”

  Kara’s icy blue gaze remained on Rose’s lips, as if she were fighting the urge to kiss Rose again. “For good luck,” she breathed. “It was a good luck kiss.”

  “It was awfully,” Rose said breathlessly, “intense for a good luck kiss.”

  Kara’s lips curved into a mischievous grin. She leaned into Rose, gripping Rose’s hips. “Intense?” she whispered. Her dark, lustful gaze slid down Rose’s body. “If you think that was intense, just wait until I’m kissing your…”

  Rose pressed her finger against Kara’s lips, abruptly cutting off Kara’s sentence. “Let’s not put those thoughts in my head,” she squeaked, her eyes wide.

  Kara grinned wickedly, her lips curving against Rose’s finger.

  Rose stared at Kara’s curving lips, trying not to think about how soft and warm they felt against her finger, how soft and warm they’d felt against her lips. She quickly dropped her hand and stepped back, terrified that if she didn’t, she’d wind up kissing Kara again. “You have to stop kissing me,” she breathed.

  Kara’s smile faded. “I don’t know if I can,” she confessed.

  Rose swallowed uneasily. “Don’t say things like that,” she pleaded.

  “Please, don’t go after Alana by yourself,” Kara said suddenly.

  Rose frowned in surprise. “What? I’m not. Kallias and Erik are…”

  “I know you, Rose,” Kara interrupted, her voice so breathless that her words came out as little more than a whisper. Pain and fear flashed in her cornflower-blue eyes. “I know I haven’t known you long, but…I still know
you.” Kara shrugged her shoulders helplessly, as if she hated admitting this, as if she were ashamed of the emotions that bled into her words. “You’re brave and selfless, and you care way too damn much about everyone…except yourself. And because of that, I know that if it comes down to it, you will go after Alana by yourself, and Rose,” she paused, her voice cracking with fear, “she’ll kill you.”

  Rose stared speechlessly at Kara for several moments, stunned by the pure, undiluted emotions that she heard in Kara’s soft, breathless voice. Rose forced a nervous smile and teased, “I’m glad you have so much faith in me.”

  “I do have faith in you,” Kara told her.

  Rose frowned, surprised by the confession. “You do?”

  Kara lifted her hand, pressing her palm against Rose’s cheek, her fingers sliding beneath a lock of Rose’s soft, auburn hair. Kara’s hand felt soft and warm against Rose’s face, and the scent of Kara’s blood invaded Rose’s senses, pulsing just beneath the skin of Kara’s wrist, the arteries just inches from Rose’s lips. The scents of leather, blood, and flowers swept around Rose, enticing her desire and hunger. Kara tilted her face forward, until her lips once again brushed against Rose’s lips. “You’re the kindest and most compassionate person that I have ever met,” she admitted, her chest heaving beneath her tight, black shirt, as if the emotions that were flashing in her eyes were physically difficult to endure. “Even in your darkest moments, Rose, you’re not evil. You won’t be able to kill Alana.”

  “I will,” Rose argued, her brows furrowing, “if I have no other choice.”

  Kara smiled sadly. “No, you won’t. It’s not who you are.”

  “I’ve killed before,” Rose sighed, her voice full of regret. “You saw it.”

  “I saw you kill Osiris to save me. I saw your anger and your fear. And I saw something that I didn’t quite understand,” Kara said as she affectionately swept a lock of Rose’s hair behind her ear. “But none of that changed what I know to be true about you: You’re kind and compassionate. And Alana knows that, too. She’ll use it against you. She will manipulate you. And…she’ll kill you.”

  “Why do you care?” Rose whispered.

  Kara grimaced, as if she were in pain. “Please…don’t ask me that.”