Hyde, Book Three of the Devil's Roses

by Tara Brown

  The only saving grace was her bracelet stopped her from projecting her feelings and emotions onto everyone else in the room.

  The ring was the easiest for her, one hit to the face and she became a psycho. Even Lucas and Ben tag teaming her, couldn’t bring her down.

  Ari couldn’t move fast enough to knock her out. Hanna had shot Ari across the room, before she even had a chance at pushing her. The only threat that was real for her was Lorri. She had been able to get her down every time. Hanna learned to control her strengths and anger. She was surprised the monster side of her was easier to control than the Siren. The ring also stopped the sexual build up. When her thighs ached and she craved release, the beast unleashed inside of her. She released and exhausted herself.

  She wondered about true love, she remembered snow white and the true loves kiss. Snow white had known instantly that the prince was her true love. Hanna wondered if she would ever meet hers if he even existed. The distance between her and Marcus had given her a lot of clarity. Her feelings for him resided almost solely in her thighs. She knew deep down she didn’t love him.

  "Hanna in the ring."

  She looked up from her daydream to Lorri smirking at her. Hanna stood up making sure her hands were taped up properly. She climbed up over the railings and dropped into the huge wrestling pit they called the ring.

  "Lucas and Ari you guys inside."

  Hanna gulped, she hadn’t ever gone against a couple before. She knew they would feel territorial and protective of their lover. She glanced up at Sam, he was sitting on the edge of his seat. He looked upset.

  She looked back at her opponents and prepared herself.

  Lucas jumped down making the mat shake slightly. He was huge. Ari was small and thin. She was never to be underestimated. Her hands were deadly and she moved with speed and strength.

  Hanna knew it would take one hit to ignite her fury. She kept her back to the wall as Lucas rounded toward her.

  As he leapt at her Ari darted to the other side. Hanna tried to maneuver to the left, but Lucas jumped back knocking her instantly. Hanna tried to jump over him but his teeth came down on her thigh. She screamed as the teeth bit down into her skin. Ari was there instantly. Hanna felt the surge filled her. She shoved Ari hard before her hands could make contact.

  Ari's scream made Lucas clamp down harder.

  Hanna screamed again. She grabbed the wolf's face but as he whimpered, Ari was back diving at her with her hands out. Hanna ducked trying to get the wolf from her leg.

  She saw the end coming. They were beating her, she had ducked out of Ari's reach but she was back. Hanna grabbed the wolf's face hard, she dragged his teeth along her thigh and threw him across the mats. Ari dove at her and pushed just as Hanna looked at the bracelet. She ripped it off. It turned white as it dropped. Before it hit the mat she saw Sam throw Ari across the huge room.

  She could see Dorian attacking the wolf. Even Ben, in wolf form was attacking his brother.

  Hanna knew what she had done was wrong, as her eyes slipped behind her lids.

  Chapter Forty-Seven: Siren Sucker Punch

  Aleksander

  It was chaos. Hanna had unleashed her Siren. Ben, Dorian, Sam and Don each flew to her rescue. Ari was knocked out completely as Sam tossed her out of the mats and away from Hanna. Even he felt as if he should rush to her.

  Lorri jumped down into the pit as Ben's teeth went for his brother's throat.

  "STOP!" She shouted. She grabbed the bracelet and tied it around Hanna's wrist. The bracelet instantly flashed bright red again. Aleks sighed as the compelling feeling to rush to Hanna ended.

  Lorri turned laughing like a mad woman. Her teeth grew into sharks, "Next person who moves dies." She seethed. Her shark like, blood lust filled her body, making her eyes turn completely black.

  Aleks walked to her holding his hands out, "Lorri."

  She snapped her face toward him. Seeing him unarmed she got herself under control and let the blood lust go.

  Sam walked toward Hanna's limp body, "Someone better check on Ari, Lucas is too hurt." He still seemed off about Hanna. He gripped her tightly.

  Aleks looked back to see Lucas phased, he lie naked on the mats screaming in pain. His leg was broken.

  Ben leaned over him, "Dude I'm sorry. I don’t know what happened to me."

  Don nodded, "It was like I had to save her. Its all I could think about."

  Aleks looked at Sam, "Get her to her room. She'll need someone there when she wakes up."

  Aleks walked from the ring and walked to where Ari lay unconscious. Her legs both looked broken. He sighed knowing it would all heal in a matter of an hour but he was glad she was unconscious. Listening to Lucas scream was more than enough. He knew Hanna would be devastated when she realized what she had done. Hanna was one of the few beings that could actually break bones in the others. They always healed rapidly but he knew she would still feel awful.

  He picked Ari up. She weighed nothing in his arms.

  Dorian stood in front of him looking menacing, "Give her to me."

  Aleks got a flash of her covered in tattoos and scars as he passed her to her father. Her abilities came with strange consequences.

  She moaned, "Lucas."

  Dorian held her tightly to him, "It's okay darling. He's okay. You'll be fine in a bit."

  "Is she okay?" Lucas asked as his brother carried him to a seat. Lucas's face was covered in blood.

  Dorian never took his eyes from Ari's limp body but spoke softly, "She'll be fine. You alright?"

  Lucas laughed bitterly, "I'm fine. Hanna is a nightmare."

  Lorri laughed as well, "I'm glad she's our nightmare."

  Aleks looked at Aimee who sat stunned on the bench, she, Lisa and Anne were the only ones who hadn’t been involved in the battle.

  He sat beside her.

  "She is something."

  Aleks nodded, "Yeah she's deadly."

  Aimee looked worried, "Do you think she's too much?"

  Aleks shook his head, "Nope. We need her. Marcus emailed me just before this. Blake is the guy in the lab. He has your sister. Marcus knew her the minute he saw her. He said she's looking rough. He is doing experimentation, not blood drugging."

  Aimee frowned, "Why didn’t he take her?"

  He shrugged, "Aimes it’s the same with him as with all of us, we don’t get involved in other peoples business. He has no intention of joining us."

  "He's a dick."

  Aleks laughed, "Yeah he is but he's Hanna's dick not ours."

  "Ewww dude. Why? Gross."

  Aleks laughed, "That came out wrong. Not quite what I meant. Anyway. He said that Blake is working with Daniel and they are making an army. Daniel has him convinced he's saving the world. Imagine Hanna with an army of evil monsters all attracted to her. She'll be like the pied piper."

  Aimee laughed, "Nice. Again we sacrifice her for the greater good. I watched her get her skin ripped from her body once. I don’t want to see that again."

  Aleks frowned, "I never meant it like that. She would always be able to get away." He shivered, "I never want to see that either."

  Aimee sighed, "At least I can tell my dad Alise is alive. Blake hasn’t murdered her yet."

  "We'll get her back."

  Aimee's grey eyes turned cold as stones, "Then I'll fucking kill him."

  Aleks frowned, "Potty mouth Aimes."

  Chapter Forty-Eight: Are those Goldfish?

  Hanna

  She woke with a gasp. She shot up out of bed screaming. She leaned over the edge and grabbed for the waste paper basket. She emptied her stomach into it.

  She heaved for a moment and sat up.

  "Water?"

  She looked up to see Sam, "Oh my god you just saw that."

  "Well if it makes you feel better I got sick after Ari did that to me last time too. I think she's getting stronger."

  She lie back down on the bed and shivered, "That was horrid. What happened?"

  "What do y
ou remember?"

  She shook her head, "Not much. It's hazy. Ari was looking at me, like down on me and I pulled my bracelet off." She looked down at her wrist seeing the brightly glowing bracelet still there.

  "Yeah you did. It was nuts. Instantly as if they were your servants Ben and Don were there defending you. Dorian grabbed Lucas and broke his leg it was nuts." He looked embarrassed, "Even I couldn’t fight it. It was so strong. I've never felt it like that before. I even threw Ari across the room."

  She winced, "Is everyone alright?"

  He nodded, "Yeah. It was bad though. I've never felt it that strong before."

  Hanna felt a tear slip from her cheek, "Oh my god." She looked at the bracelet and gripped it to her skin. She held it so tightly the shells cut into her skin. Droplets of blood hit her pants but she ignored them and sobbed.

  Sam sat beside her, holding her, "It wasn’t your fault. It was survival. Everyone one of us uses what we have to survive."

  She shook, ignoring him, she cried ashamed of herself.

  She lie back on her bed and wished she could fall back to sleep. The vomit smell was too overwhelming.

  Sam held her, wrapping her in warmth.

  "You stink."

  She laughed, "I know. I feel sick again though."

  "Is that all you feel?"

  "Don’t make me turn around to face you, my breath is bad."

  "Knock a buzzard off a bandwagon bad or just regular bad?"

  She laughed again.

  He got off the bed where she laid cold and shivering. He lifted her up off the bed and carried her to their bathroom.

  "No." She said softly, not even convincing herself.

  He put her down and turned his back turning on the shower.

  He turned back smiling. His warm fingers went to the hem of her shirt. She protested with her eyes but his did something she hadn’t expected. His eyes looked at her, not full of lust as they had before, but honest and sweet. He lifted her shirt off gently. She trembled with the temptation he represented in her mind.

  His fingers were back, before she could reason with him. They touched down on her torso, sliding down her waist to her hips. He pulled her Lulu Lemon yoga pants off. She stepped out of them. He stood up blushing after having his face so close to her torso. She smirked as he reached around and pulled her ponytail out. He pulled his shirt off making her inhale sharply. His skin matched hers in color but his had muscles she hadn’t imagined. His body was a man's body, there was no doubt. His shoulders were full and rounded. He unzipped his pants dropping them to the bathroom floor. He stood in their bathroom in yellow boxers with gold fish all over them. She giggled.

  "Would you believe laundry day?"

  She nodded, "You let me throw up in front of you and never got too grossed out. I can let fishy undies go without judgments."

  He held his hand up, "Wait." He grabbed her toothbrush and pushed his own toothpastes onto it and passed it to her. She frowned taking it.

  He pulled open the glass door stepping inside and taking her hand. He pulled her in and closed the door. They stood under the warm water in their underwear. She was grateful she wore her sports bra with yoga underwear and not something sexy.

  She laughed as the warm water washed down over them. She quickly put the toothbrush in her mouth. She scrubbed her teeth brutally and turned her back to him to do her tongue. She bent over spitting as close to the drain as possible.

  He laughed, "Hanna your spit doesn’t gross me out."

  She stood up facing him again smiling a mint fresh smile, "It bothers me. Seriously someone could pee on me and I'd be pretty pissed but if they spit on me. Death."

  He laughed harder. He pulled her under the water scrubbing her hair for her. She closed her eyes under the water as he grabbed the shampoo and proceeded to wash her hair. The smell of the mint lavender filled the steam. His strong fingers massaged her head.

  He tilted her head back into the water and let it remove the shampoo.

  The feel of his strong hands running along her scalp was relaxing. She started to see him in a new light.

  He pulled her out of the water again.

  She smiled up at him and squeezed the lavender shampoo onto her hand. She poured as much as she would use for her own long thick hair.

  He looked skeptically at her, "Is that for me?"

  She nodded lifting it up to his head.

  She started to laugh as she coated his head in thick shampoo.

  "Overkill Hanna." He spoke nonchalantly as she pulled him under the stream of water and rinsed his head. "It's going to take all night to get that off my hair."

  She scrubbed feeling her arms fatigue from the effort. She was weak from the fight.

  His hair rinsed clean making a puddle of suds under their feet.

  He looked down and smiled shaking his head.

  He grabbed the conditioner and poured out a small amount. She reached out and squeezed the bottle a lot more.

  His eyes grew wide, "That’s a lot."

  "Yeah did you notice how much hair I have?"

  He smirked, "I did." He put his hands up into her hair again massaging her scalp.

  "This feels nice." She closed her eyes letting him pick her knots out and stroke her strands with the silky conditioner.

  He tilted her face up into his, she thought he meant to kiss her but he put her back into the water to rinse her head off. Her face got covered in warm water making her sputter slightly.

  She opened her eyes under the steady stream. He was grinning hard.

  As he finished rinsing her hair she leaned in again to kiss him.

  "No Hanna."

  She pulled back, "Why?"

  He smirked, "I want you to see me not feel me."

  "You thought getting semi naked in the shower and doing gentle sweet sensual things to each other was a great way for me to see you?" She had to admit it was working. The sick feeling had prevented her from feeling sexually charged so all she saw was him. Dark hair pasted against his face from the water, eyes so dark she could see herself in them, a devastatingly handsome face and a genuine smile. His eyes truly showed care and concern for her. She wondered how he was able to stay calm and enjoy being around her? He didn’t seem affected by her charms.

  He raised an eyebrow looking like the epitome of boy next door, "Yes. I thought we could be girlfriends. You know wash each other's hair, maybe have a pillow fight. Later I will braid your hair and you can tell me all your darkest secrets."

  She laughed, "You're a dork." She liked that he made her laugh. He never tried anything.

  The warmth from his body started to emanate toward her. She caught his scent in the air. She felt her body begin to react.

  "Shall we towel off?"

  She pushed him against the wall of the shower hearing a tile break behind him. "Lets." She smiled up at him through her lashes.

  "Easy Hanna. Take a deep breath. Don’t let it rule you."

  She looked at him and nodded, "Thanks."

  He turned the shower off. She climbed out feeling much better. She grabbed a fluffy towel and passed him the other one.

  "Why are you doing this? You could have just taken advantage of that lapse in self control."

  He laughed looking back at the broken tiles, "That's going to be a tough one to explain. I fell maybe or you slipped. No it's much too high and large for you. I guess it'll have to be me slipping on the excess amount of conditioner you use. Not like that couldn’t happen."

  She sneered at him.

  He leaned in and kissed her forehead but backed away again quickly, "I'm doing it because I want you. I want you too much in fact. More than I've ever wanted anything. That’s not healthy."

  "So you're redefining our relationship to make it healthy?"

  He nodded, "Clever huh? You and I will be friends before we are anything else."

  She grinned, "Are we friends yet?"

  "No."

  "Well goodnight, friend." She needed to get away from hi
m, before she embarrassed herself.

  She walked into her vomit-scented room and closed the door. It brought her back to reality quickly. She looked down at the puke bucket and sighed. She opened the window feeling the rain and cold of the night air and tossed the bucket out the window.

  She looked down at her cell phone realizing it had been days since she'd spoken to Marcus. She wanted to call but even her fingers felt her betrayal of him and left the phone where it was. He had taken the cure and still loved her. Being away from him had proven she didn’t love him, not even a little.

  She looked around realizing she needed to end it all. She would deal with Marcus when she saw him but Sam, Ben, Dorian and Don she could deal with right away.

  She picked the phone up and dialed a different number.

  "I need you to get him to make something for me and have it at the house. I will send Aimee." She spoke softly, feeling her heart bursting with regret.

  "How many?"

  "At least four. Thanks." She put the phone down and tried not to cry.

  Chapter Forty-Nine: I like my Viking glossy and humble

  Aleksander

  Giselle sat on his bed looking at the pictures with him.

  "That one."

  He beamed at her, "You're getting really good at this."

  She smiled.

  He was amazed at how quickly she had picked up the fine art of recognizing supernatural creatures and beings in photos. It wasn’t hard but not everyone could spot the halo they gave off.

  He looked down at her lips and smiled, she was wearing the berry gloss he'd grown to adore the scent of.

  He leaned in imagining the feel of her lips against his.

  She pulled back, "Uh no thanks. Dude you never gave me the time of day when you thought I was dumb. Now suddenly I'm doing pretty good at something you want to get all up in my grill."

  He laughed at the expression on her face, "Giselle it wasn’t that I thought you were stupid."