Blood of a Red Rose (14 page)

* * * * *

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN

Rules

(
Damien)

After the meeting was over
, I
told Meredith that with her permission I'd like to leave with my cousins in order to keep an eye on them
,
instead of staying to help her clean
up as usual. She thought it was a good idea, waved goodbye
,
and said she'd give me a call tomorrow.

I was pleased with how the guys were
handling the e
ffects of the blood
in their systems. But,
after Meredith
had
put down her foot about no more tests
earlier
, w
e
hadn't been able to find out if everyone in the group had
increased in str
ength
,
or if it was just Ra
ú
l
. So, I decided, the
hell with Meredith's rules, and we were currently
head
ing to
the warehouse
to conduct
some test
s
o
n
our own.

I
dispo
sed of the woman's body after I
finished with her earlier, so that wasn't a concern. Besides, I didn't want to introduce them to killing and feeding directly from a person just yet. I couldn't risk any of my cousins becoming frenzied and growing stronger than myself. Instead, we were just here to test the limits of our strength.

"This is fucking amazing. I'd heard the stories that our ancestors used to drink human blood, but honestly, I just thought it was a crock of shit that fed into the tales of Mayan sacrifices and stuff like that. I had no idea it was true and could have this kind of effect
on us,
"
Raú
l said.

"I was pretty shocked w
hen
Meredith first introduced me to it as well. She's the first of our kind to figure it out and begin the process of turning immortal."

"She's pretty fucking hot, cuz. Have you tapped that yet?" Juan never
was known for his
tac
t
, so his crass statement didn't surprise me.

"No, Juan. I haven't tapped that yet, but trust me...I p
lan to." Their laughter and cat
calls rang through
the
wareh
ouse as we made our way inside.

Thinking about how much I wanted Meredith had me ready to demonstrate just how strong I'd become. Strong enough to take out her lame-ass boyfriend, Jeremy
, that was for sure
. The d
ip-shit d
emon who didn't even know wh
at
he was.
What a joke.

* * * * *

(Terrance)

Watching m
y new cell-mate drain his blood
bag had me jonesing to get the
hell
out of here. I did not play well with others. Especially a strange vampire
who'd
drifted dark and was already demonstrating signs of aggression.

He
was
pleasant enough when Dax
first
brought him into the cell and se
cured his chains. But
it didn't take long before h
e
started bucking, growling
,
and baring his teeth at me. It was like watching a rabid dog
throw a hissy fit.

Since I was able to focus on Meredith and everything she'd made me do,
I knew
that
all of
her
blood
had left my
body.
I wasn't sure why Evie was still holding me here. I wanted to ask the question, but already felt bad enough
over
everything
I'd put
them t
hrough
and
didn't wan
t to be an ass b
y pressing the matter. I knew she'd let me out
sooner or later.
I just
hoped
it was sooner.

I leaned my head back against the cinderblock wall as
I closed my eyes
,
and did the only thing that brought me peace.
I started to think about Loraine
.

The memories of her were the only thing that had
seen me through this
entire situation. Once my thoughts had s
tarted to clear
,
I focused on her beautiful
face and
how
her laugh
use
d
to make
me feel.
It was truly a miracle that despite Meredith's manipulations
,
I'd genuinely fallen in love with her.

She never knew how I felt.
S
he loved her husband
,
and therefore
I
chose to keep my feelings to myself
.
It was so easy and
relaxing when we were together, and even though I knew she'd never reciprocate my feelings, it didn't diminish what I felt.
There were times I wouldn't even feed from her, but
we would
just sit and talk instead. I knew if anyone heard me expressing these tender emotions
,
they would think I was being manipulated again, but that wasn't it. It was just Loraine and
how
she
'd
made me feel.

As I sat thinking about our time together,
I felt a cool breeze brush past me as I relaxed into my memories.
It almost felt as if she was here with me. I laughed at the stupidity of my thoughts. But in my own defense, s
itting in a cell
, chained to a wall, while listening to
an
infected vampire rant and rave, was a definitely a situation that lent itself to fantasizing about the woman I loved.

* * * * *

(Loraine)

After my plea to the g
ods, I felt myself start to disintegrate again. Thankfully I was sent whisking through space and escaped Jeremy
's bedroom before Meredith ca
me home.

When I felt my ghostly form solidify once again
,
I opened my eyes and received a surprise. I was in the
basement
cell
of
The Rising Pit with Terrance.
I quickly looked around for Rose or Christian, but only saw Terrance and...Kennedy. Yes, there was the information I needed. His name was Kennedy, and he was a vampire who was infected with demon blood. Rose's blood.
Oh
crap.

That still didn't explain why I was here
,
and then I received another info dump and settled down next to Terrance. The vampire who loved me.

* * * * *

CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT

Rose

(
Jeremy
)

After waiting up for Meredith and welcoming her into our bed as planned, we spen
t
the night in each other's
arms and the thought of going
back to The Rising Pit never crossed my mind again...until this morning.

I
decided
it was something I was going to do on my own. I wasn't sure why Meredith was against going to the club, but I didn't
want
to pressure her
to go with
me if she didn't want to. And if I was being honest with myself, I didn't really want to hear why she thought it was a bad idea anyway.

I kissed her
goodbye as I threw my suitcase into the backseat of my car. I was
once again
headed
to
Seela
for another busin
ess meeting that would keep me
overnight. How convenient.
The timing of
this meeting had me penciling
"
Friday night at The Rising Pit
"
in
to
my day-planner.

As I made the normal pit-stops on my way out of town
–
the cleaners, the Coffee Hut, and the Donut Mill
–
I thought
about what I
'd
say to Rose
if I was lucky enough to actually find her.

Obviously, we'd have talk about the accident and why she
'd
practically gone off the deep end and attacked Meredith. But we'd
also
have to discuss what was going to happen next.

Since I'd sold the old house and moved in with Meredith, I
honestly didn't
see my twenty-one year old daughter want
ing
to live with me and
the woman she'd attacked.
I could
continue to dream about R
ose
coming back to me,
but I had to be realistic
, it was something that just wasn't going to happen. But
a
s long as I knew she was okay and th
at we'd be staying in contact, I
supposed
it was
finally
time I
let my little girl go.

Halfway into my trip
,
my cell phone rang, showing a number I didn't recognize.

"Hello. This is Jeremy."

The line was silent. I looked down at the display to make sure I hadn't dropped the call, but it still showed as active. "Hello?" I didn't hear any breathing or background noise at all.

"Hello?
Is anyone there
?" Again, silence. But, just as I was about to flip the cell closed I heard, "Dad.
It's me...
Rose."

It was now my turn to be silent. Tears filled my eyes and I eased my car onto
the shoulder. "Rose? Honey, is
that really you?"

"Yeah, Dad. It's me. Are you alone?"

"Oh
,
baby, it's so good to hear your voice. And yes, I'm alone. I'm in my car. Where are you? I'm actually headed back to Seela today."

"That's great. I'm still in Seela. Is there any way you could meet me somewhere today?"

"Just tell me when and where."

* * * * *

(Rose)

After listening to Christian, Evie
,
and Dax argue about the finer points of creating a vampire
-
demon hybrid for the past
t
wo
hours, I finally decided to call it a night.
Once Christian joined me
,
he
delivered the disappointing news that
they were no closer to
figuring anything out than they were
before.

Well, I had
many
things of my own to figure out
,
and my first bit of research was going to involve my dad. I'd warned Christian that I was going to be reaching out to him soon. I just hadn't clarified that I would be doing it tomorrow. I'd decided I would call my dad in the morning and see if I could arrange a meeting with him during the day, while Christian and the clan slept. I didn't think I had anything to worry about from Meredith because I'd planned to make sure that Dad
would be coming alone.

I snuggled up n
ext to Christian just before he went
comatose. I figured I'd better get a few hours of sleep before putting my plan in motion. Just the thought of seeing my dad was exhausting. Exciting, but exhausting. I knew he'd
have
tons of questions
,
and to be perfectly honest, I didn't know how I was going to answer any of them. But I knew it was time, especially with how things were about to change
.

* * * * *

(Christian)

I couldn't believe
I
'
d just
become the new Sire
,
only to be faced with
such
an impossible situation.
What Balam and the elders had come up with as
"our best chance,"
was absolutely ludicrous. I was pissed at the prospect of having to bite a demon and risk
permanently drifting dark, but the real problem came from that damn mind bond they were able to forge. How could we risk a Sire,
any
Sire, ending up under the control of a demon
?
This simply wasn't going to work. We'd have to find another way.

I knew my hair and eyes were most likely still drifting even as I reached my room, but seeing Rose lying in there with her long blonde hair splayed over my pillow had me relaxing instantly. I should have followed her out of Evie's office and spen
t
that time finishing what we'd started earlier, but I couldn't. I had to
stay behind
and continue to talk circles about what we should do.

As I laid down next to Rose
,
I informed her that we hadn't gotten any closer to finding a solution to the problem, then
I
opened my arms to her, letting her snuggle close.

I wasn't going to let this new problem take the enjoyment out of the simple things like this. Holding the woman I loved as I fell comatose. No matter how bad things seemed, all I had to do was put my arms around her and everything was right in my world once again.