Blood of a Red Rose (2 page)

CHAPTER
TWO

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(
Jeremy
)

Today was the day I was go
ing to
find my little girl. I just knew it.

After her attack on Meredith, she and that boy
friend of hers, Christian, had gone
into hiding. It hadn't taken me long to re
member where he worked, but when I went t
o
see th
e owner
and ask
ed
if she'
d seen them
,
the answer I
'
d gotten was
, of course,
no. I didn't believe her.

I'd thought about going
to
the police
and ask
ing
them to get a s
earch
warrant
,
but since Me
redith didn't press any charges
and Rose was over
eighteen,
there
r
eally
wasn't anything
I could do except continue to
look on my
own.
Besides, i
nvolving the police could be detrimental to us all
since we'd covered up what had really happened that night.

I
did find out f
rom her college that she had completed her courses online and graduated on time, but they were unable to divulge any information as to where the
computer's
IP address
was
originating from without police involvement
. Again, another dead end.

But today, I just had a feeling I was in for a lucky break.
I had to take a trip back to Seela to go over some business accounts with
my boss.
After Meredith's
recovery
,
I
'
d sold my home and moved to Masen to live with her.
The decision wasn't easy, but i
t
had been th
e best choice a
fter my wife's death
and Rose's attack on Meredith.
I just couldn't stay in the home
that carried all tho
se
horrible memories
.
It had been the place where I
'd
spen
t
the happiest times of my life, but now it was just a constant
rem
inder of everything
I'
d lost.

So I moved in with Meredith and we'd been blissfully happy for four months
now
.
Her recover
y
had been almost miraculous
according to the doctors
. That type of injury usually would have been life-threatening, but Meredith barely had a scratch left on her
,
and
she'd
shocked all the therapists with how quickly she regained full mobility. She
'
d
even
gone back to work and so had I.

I was lucky enough to have moved my office to Masen, and instead of having to travel here every month or so, now I traveled back to Seela instead. Today was one of those days.

"Do you have everything?" Meredith bustled around the desk, gathering all the loose papers I had spread across it.

"Yes, honey. I have everything. I don't need those right now
;
they
'r
e for a different campaign." I was the Vice President of D&L Marketin
g and
was headed to a meeting with my boss to go over my latest campaign
proposal
.

"
Alright. I'll just stack them here then." She always made it a habit to keep my desk tidy for me. I wasn't sure if it
was because she was just curious,
or
a neat freak who was s
till getting use
d
to my presence in her life. I had tried to ask her about it once, and her response was, "
Don't be silly
. Y
ou're my destiny and
I love having you here with me."

I
was slowly starting to share her
sentiment
, but o
ur relationship was something of a
conundrum
. I
'
d originally met Meredith when my wife, Loraine, was still alive, and the shock of how much
the two
looked
a
like
had been
intense
: long blonde hair, a tall athletic body, and a killer smile
.
Then
Loraine
had
died,
and
Meredith had
really
been there for m
e and we
'd
s
tarted dating.

I
'
d considered it a bit awkward t
o be
dating a woman that reminded me of my dead wife, but at the time, it was exactly what I needed to help me dea
l with the pain. But w
hen Rose
found out
,
I was suddenly forced to look at the relationship in a whole new light. One that cast it as something that wasn't a
s
bright and brilliant as I had made it out to be.

I tried to break it off with Meredith, but then the whole situation with Rose attacking her
happened
. Her choosing
not to pr
ess charges
, but instead
protect
my daughter
and me
, well
,
that
made me
fall
for her all over again.

"Are you going
back to look for Rose at that club again?" Meredith asked, rousing me out of my
stroll down memory lane
.

"I was thi
nking about it. The owner said
she hadn't seen either one of them since that night, but I don't believe her. I might just sit outside in my car instead of going in. Maybe that way I'll see something they weren't expecting me to see." I wiggled my eyebrows at her in an attempt to relay how sneaky and brilliant I thought my plan was.

"Well, just be careful. And call me when you get there. At least if I'm talking to you on the phone, I won't be worrying that something bad
i
s happening to you." She straightened my tie, then wound her hands around the back of my neck and pulled me into a passionate kiss. "I just got you
back
and I never
want to lose you
again
."

The feeling of Meredith's lips on mine and the sensual feel of her curves pressed against m
e
had the potential to make me very
la
t
e
. This woman intoxicated me and I was so grateful to have her in my life
during this difficult time
, s
o I
had to
force myself out the door and into the garage.

I waved goodbye from the car as I pulled out of the driveway. The
trip
to Seela from Masen took about two hours, so that would give me plenty of time to think over my plan for tonight. The business meeting was going to be a breeze, same old same old, but
a
stakeout was something new
to
me. I
certainly
hoped it would le
a
d me to Rose
because a
s hap
py as Meredith and I were,
I missed my baby girl.

* * * * *

(Meredith)

As soon as Jeremy waved goodbye and started to drive away, I grabbed the phone
and dailed
. "Have you had anymore reports of Rose and her vampire at The Rising Pit? Are they still there?"

"Yes, m
a'
am
. According to our people, they
're
still there. Rose is now working for Evangeline as her bookkeeper."

Our people.
I liked the sound of that. I ca
me from a long line of human/
demon
descendants
,
but until recently, I'd only associated with my own family
. But after
some searching
,
I'd b
eg
u
n to find more demons in the area. I
'd
discreetly organized a few
meetings to pull the demon families
together
. It was tricky since we'd spent our entire lives in hiding, but it was slowing working and i
t was nice to final
ly connect with people like me–with demons like me.

When I'd
met Jeremy
,
he didn't have a clue that he was a demon, and
he
still didn't. I wasn't sure
if I was going to tell him or not
. I was afraid if
he found out the truth about me, let alone himself,
he'd start to question everything about our relationship again.
And t
hat was something I couldn't
permit.
Not after finally getting everything I'd worked so hard for.

When I
discover
ed
Jeremy was a demon, I'
d made it my mission to seduce him in order to become pregnant and continue my pure demon bloodline.
But
I'd never expected to fall in love with him.
O
nce I had
,
the only way to secure my life with him was to kill
the one person who stood in my way...
his wife. And now, having successfully separated Rose from her father, we
'd finally been able to start our life
together.
So for now,
I
would
n't
tell him that he was a demon
. At least not yet.

Besides,
I
wanted to spend more time with the other demons I'd met and see how they lived their lives and what
of our
histories they knew. A lot of demons were like Jeremy, clueless about their heritage, but every week, more and more demons were coming out of the woodwork and attending our little get-togethers. I
t
was comforting. Especially since I
knew it wouldn't be long until Rose and her boyfriend's clan found out that I was still alive
.
I knew they would be coming after me
, and
I
'd have to be
prepare
d
.
And the more demon "friends" I had, the better.

"I'm coming over. I have something I want to talk to you about."

CHAPTER
THREE

Spy

(
Christian
)

Once aga
in, I woke up
realiz
ing
I was
the luckiest vampire in the world.
Rolling over in bed to find t
he love of my life, Rose,
sleeping peacefully beside me was like waking up in heaven every night.

After
gently
brushing
the
hair out of her eyes, I leaned in and placed light
kisses on her cheek before tip
toeing into our bathroom to shower.
I
needed to talk to Rose tonight
.
I wasn't looking forward to what I had to tell her, so I was happy for this brief time to myself to collect my thoughts.

After showering
,
I wrapped the towel around my waist and slowly crept back into the bedroom in case she was still sleeping.
Sh
e wasn't. Instead I found her lying in bed with her hands tangled in her hair and a worried look on her face.

"Rose, are you okay?"

S
he sat up
and
a
warm
smile spread across her face
while
she looked at me standing there in nothing but a towel. If I hadn't been concerned
over
what she
was worried
about
, I would have dropped the towel and proceeded to start
our evening off in a much more delightful way, b
ut with a crease to her brow
,
she pushed herself off our bed and wrapped her arms around me. "I was just thinking about everything that's happened. Terrance, Meredith, my dad. I...I just can't believe how much everything has changed."

I pulled back from the hug to press my lips to hers and then made sure to look her straight in
the
eye. I wanted her to know that she didn't have anything to worry about
ever again
. "I know, baby, but now you're living and working here full-time
,
and once I become the new Sire, I'll change you and then we'll truly be able to start planning our
very
long future together."

When I'
d started to show signs of being triggered as the next Sire, I was completely skeptical
. A
ctually
...
I
was
still
p
retty skeptical. I wasn't
truly convinced that what was h
appen
ing to me
really mean
t
I was
the one,
but in moments like these, I hoped it was true.
Only a Sire had the ability t
o create another vampire, and t
he idea of being the one to turn Rose and to have her join me as my consort was euphoric.

She smiled at me and then headed towards the bathroom. As I walked towards my closet I heard her ask, "
Do you have any idea wh
en you'll become the new Sire?"

I was happy to hear the question because it meant she was thinking along the same lines as me. "
I'm not sure. My
abilities are increasing
,
but
I think Evie wants to wait and see what other
talents
I develop before we do the Passing of Powers ritual. Honestly, I'm not even sure I'm really the
one being triggered. It could all just be a big mistake."
I didn't feel the need to hid
e
my insecurities
from Rose. We'd been through so much together, and I knew we'd face this together too.

"What happens if it's not you?"
she called back.

After pulling on my jeans and slipping into a navy t-shirt, I s
hrugged. "I guess we just wait until someone else starts to show signs of being triggered."

I heard the water for the shower turn on and then Rose said,
"I'm gonna hit the shower, but when I'm done...there's something I want to talk to you about.
"

I mulled over her words as
I finished getting dressed
, wondering
what she could possibly want to talk to me about.
I knew what I
needed t
o tell her wasn't going to be easy
for her
to hear, but I thought it was something she needed to know. I hoped it
would
help her get some closure.

I was a little nervous about how s
he would react to the fact that Evie had
recently
sent R
enard and Loni
to spy on her father
. Especially since what they'd found would come as a pretty big shock
.
Jeremy, Rose's dad, had sold their family home and moved away. I knew it was going to be
devastating
for Rose to hear, but she had a right to know.

After her attack on Meredith,
Rose and I
went into hiding here at The Rising Pit. A few weeks after the incident
,
however,
Jeremy had come to the club looking for
us
. E
vie
turned him away, telling him she hadn't seen either of us since that night.
He hadn't been back since.

At the time
Evie
had
suggested that one of us bite him and use our sedative
to
make him forget
, b
ut Rose
panicked at t
he idea. She
'd
said no matter
how bad the
memories
her father had of her
were
,
she just could
n't
live with the idea that he
wouldn't
remember h
er
at all
. Evie tried to convince her we could
wipe
just
the
memories of Meredith and the attack
,
but Rose
was adamant
. S
he
insisted that he needed
to remember those things so
he would
be more willing
to
let her go.

Apparently her plan worked because
h
e'd moved away completely
, l
eaving the memories
of what happened
and any hopes of finding hi
s
daughter behind.
I guess he realized
his daughter was now a grown woman and there wasn't anything left
for him to do b
ut
to move on
.

It wa
s a hard situation for everyone, and this conversation wasn't one I was looking forward to.

* * * * *

(Rose)

As I lathered my hair with my favorite
honey and oat
shampoo, I
contemplated the best way
to tell
Christian that I wanted to go see my Dad.
I knew he'd probably say no, that it was too risky, but honestly, I didn't care
. It
wasn't
like he or any of his clan could stop me if I really wanted to go. I would just wait until they were all comatose during the day, and head out on my own.

I
wasn't sure what I would say to my dad or
how I would breach the demon subject, but I had to try. I needed to know why no one ever came after me for killing Meredith. Not that I wasn't happy about th
e
fact, just confused. I needed to
know once and for all if
I was going to have to
stay
hid
d
e
n
forever.

I
emerged from the bathroom in
my
terrycloth robe, towel drying
my
long blonde hair
and found Christian pacing
. "I've been thinking about
it
, and I want to go see my Dad."
There
. I'd said it. He stopped in his tracks and stared at me, then his hair and eyes started to drift.

"Did you hear me? I said I want to go see my dad."

"I heard you. But I have something
I need to tell you
."

"I don't care if you
think it's a bad
idea. He's my dad
,
and it's been four months since everything happened. If the cops haven't showed up yet, then I doubt they will. I need to know what he told them and I need
to
know
if he's
okay." I stomped back into the bathroom
,
threw
my wet towel
over the shower door
,
and
then took a seat
and started do
in
g
my makeup.

Chr
istian entered the bathroom and stood behind me,
plac
ing
his hands
gently
on my shoulders
. I stopped applying my mascara and looked at him through our reflection in the mirror.
"I didn't say it was a bad idea, but I have something to tell you
which
pertains to your dad that I th
ink you need to hear first."

I pushed out of the seat and spun around to balance myself on the edge of the dressing table. "
What? What
do you need
to tell me about my dad?"
My grip tightened on the table, turning my knuckles white.

"Rose, your dad has moved. He sold the house and moved away."