Blood of a Red Rose (7 page)

* * * * *

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Falling Apart

(
Christian
)

After Rose's and my fight, I left our room once more, slamming the door in my wake.
I was so m
ad at the way Rose was acting. It had been
really
hard to he
a
r she was feeling like a pr
isoner here
. How could being with the person you love feel like a prison
?
And
I loved her beyond
measure
. S
o much so,
that I had recently gotten a tattoo to demonstrat
e the very fact.

It was thr
ee words done in Slavic
runes: Truly, Madly, Deeply
. It
was located on my upper right shoulder-blade
and was meant to describe
how I lived and loved.
I loved Rose
with all my heart, but
I
was
starting to question if
she
still
felt
the same.

I
understood
finding out
Meredith
was
alive
change
d
the situation for
her...for all of us. It had been good news that Rose wasn't a wanted criminal, but I knew
,
once again
,
she
feared for her father's safety
.
What I didn't understand was
why t
his had changed things between us.

"Hey. Can I talk to you?"

I hadn't realized
I was in front of
Terrance's cell until he'd called out.

"What do you want to talk about?" I leaned against the opening of his cell and watched as
he
paced what little distance he could while still chained
to the wall
.

"Have you found out where that demon bitch is yet?"

"Evie has
Renard and Loni checking it out
. T
hey're suppose
d
to be back tomorrow night."

"I'm going to kill her
,
Christian. Just find out where she is and let me out of here and all our problems will be over. I'll make her pay for what she did to Loraine and me."

I remembered Terrance expressing his feelings for Loraine when Rose and I had questioned him months ago, but none of us had talked about it since.

"Did you really love her?"

"Yes." Exhaling, he stopped his angry pacing and leaned
his back against the cell's gra
y c
inderblock wall.
"She was honestly the first
person
I loved since I'd been turned and lost my family." As his shoulders sagged and his head dropped
,
I realized that I finally felt sorry for him.

"Well, as soon as we learn how to kill her, I'll let you know. But
honestly
, I'm not sure Evie will let you out
even though you're obviously
drifting back
. S
he won't risk that Meredith
may
still
have the ability to control you. This may be a fight you
're just going to
have to sit out."

His chains rattled as he started drifting and pacing again. "She killed Loraine and messed with my mind
!
Made me lie to everyone I cared about and to Rose.
She has to be stopped, and I
want
revenge for
Loraine. I loved her, Christian. I really did.
"

"Then you and Rose have a common goal."

It was in that moment I
r
ealized
I wouldn't be biting a human to guard Rose during the day. She n
eeded to meet with her dad and
start planning revenge for her mother. She hadn't killed Meredith the first time, but with all of our help...she wouldn't fail again.

"Hang in there
,
Terrance. I'll let you know what we find out."

* * * * *

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Merry Little Men

(
Meredith
)

"I'm
impressed." The logging site Damien had scouted really was ideal. Merry little men hustled around doing their manly work, yet in the last designated area
of the site
there were only two workers, far removed from the rest of the crew.
"Let's go check out the hunting shack and get everything set up
,
and then we'll head back down here just before quitting time."

"Ok, boss. Sounds good. Let me grab the stuff from my
truck
."

I watched Damien gather
his supplies
as I did the same. We were parked far enough from the work site, along a lone dirt road
,
that i
f anyone happen
ed
to stumble upon
our
vehicles
they would most likely think they belonged to
a couple of
hikers exploring the woods.

"Do you have everything?" I asked.

"Si. Do you need me to carry anything for you?"

"No. Let's just get this over with. I want to have everything
set up before sundown, so when the final horn of the day blows we can just grab them and go."

The excitement on his face was clear. He couldn't wait to kill these men and get another taste of fresh blood.

"
Do you think if we moved this week's meeting up
to
tonight
all of your cousins would be able to attend?"

"I think so. But why do you want to move
it
up? So the blood will be fresh
er
?"

"Actually, it's because I saw a strange car outside my house this after
noon before I left. I think
the vampires have found me and I need to get our people ready to fight
as soon as possible.
"

"Are you sure it's the vampires?"

"No, but I won't risk it. I'm going to check the car out tonight when I return home, but I think it's better to be safe than sorry. Call your cousins and tell them the meeting's tonight."

"You got it."

* * * * *

(Jeremy)

As the squawk of my morning alarm penetrated m
y
ears, I slowly started to wake. But suddenly, the alarm wasn't the only noise piercing the silence. A
car door
slammed outside my bedroom window
,
followed by the chirp of its alarm being set.

This was usually a very quiet neighborhood, and not many people w
ere out the door before me. So,
I
sluggishly made my way to t
he window to take a look.
The moment I noticed the young couple walking down the sidewalk
,
my
weary eyes popped open and my
paranoia
revved into high gear.
The car they just left parked across the street looked like the one
from las
t night
–
the one that
had been f
ollowing me.

The young man glance
d
back at the car and then met my eyes for a split second. He wasn't anyone I recognized
,
and
neither
h
e nor
his girlfriend looked menacing, just out of place. They resembled what I'd describe as a couple of European grunge
pop stars
. At least that's how Rose described some of the bands she use
d
to watch on MTV.

Rose
.
I missed my girl so much, and now having this couple show up here
, a
couple that I was sure had followed me from The Rising
Pit...I had to get back there and
continue my search.

Maybe this weekend I would take Meredith out for a night on the town. A night that would include da
ncing
...
at The Rising Pit. When I'd
been there looking for Rose it seemed like a really nice club, and
hopefully
,
if I could spend a little
time inside
,
I might just discover
the clue I needed to find my daughter.

D
inner, dancing, and some detective work sounded like the perfect weekend
to me.

* * * * *

(
Damien)

I was so happy Meredith was pleased with my plan. I
'd
remembered this logging site
from when my cousin had been one of the
ir
part-time
workers
a few months back.
It was notorious for always having different
workers constantly coming and going
. O
nce I'd scouted the area
I figured
the far back parcel
would be t
he perfect
place to
snag some blood donors
.

I gathered my supplies: some drugs, needles, pipes, etc., and the tubs we were going to be draining the blood into, and then headed over to Meredith.

She was so
beautiful. Her long blonde hair and
that tight little ass
.
I
'd
blamed my reaction in the alley on the blood high I
'd been
experiencing, but really, it
was
because I'd wanted her from the moment we met.

I worked on the east side of town as a construction manager,
and very rarely had
a need
to travel into the city,
but
on th
at
particular day
I was
headed
downtown
to drop off some
building
permits
.
That's where I
'
d first laid eyes on Meredith.

She and Jeremy were having lunch at one of the outdoor caf
é
s that litte
red
the downtown area. The moment I
laid eyes on her
my body reacted. Desire flowed through my veins like hot lava
. N
ot only was she sexy,
but the red flare in her eyes had me assuming
both she and Jeremy were demons.
Finally, another female demon that wasn't related to me.

After g
aining control,
I'd walked past the lovebirds and went about my business, but
on my way back out
she'd been sitting alone and waved me over.

We started talking and she explained that she re
alized I was a
demon when my eyes flared as I walked by the table earlier.
I guess I hadn't hidden my reaction to her as well as I thought I had.
She
told me
that Jeremy was still in the dark about his heritage, but that she was planning to set up
a group w
here demons could get together and discuss their
ancestry.
She
was h
appy to hear I had a large extended family that
I thought would like to a
ttend.

"Do
you have everything?" she asked
, p
ulling my attention back to the present.

"
Yes
. Do you need me to carry anything for you?"

"No. Let's just get this over with. I want to have everything set up before
sundown, so when the final horn of the day blows we can just grab them and go."

She was so strong and in control, and that was fucking sexy. I couldn't wait to see how she handled herself tonight. How she would use her demon strength and
speed to take care of business.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to control my lust for her a second time.

* * * * *

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

Shocked

(
Rose
)

I felt the tears soaking my face before I even realized I was crying again. I'd been so shocked when Christian
stormed out of our room after our second fight of the day
.

What had he meant
when he said
I was wrong if I thought he couldn't stop me? He better not be thinking of bit
ing me and using
his sedative
on me or el
s
e
this
whole charade would be over
in
a
heartbeat.

As things stood right now, it wouldn't
be
too far
of
a stretch for people to think I'd walked away after finding out Christian had been keeping things from me. That was a
"typical"
reason people broke up all the time. The problem
was...I loved him and I wished
I didn't have to leave, not to mention I had nowhere to go.

I
couldn't go back to my house
and
I couldn't go after my dad since Meredith was there waiting for me.
I
didn't think
she was controlling him, even though I couldn't tell Christian and
his
clan that. They'd won
der how I knew or what made me so sure.
T
he fact that he
was
a demon would be the first clue,
but
I wasn't even sure that was an accurate assumption.
God, this was such a mess.

A knock at the door startled me. I wiped the tears from my face as I crossed t
he room.

I opened the door
to see Evie's
smiling
face.
"May I come in?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. Do you mind if we sit and talk for a moment?"

"Sure." I sounded like a broken record. I wasn't sure what Evie would
have
to talk
to me
about
,
and I really wasn't in the mood for another speech about how much Christian loved me. I knew he loved me,
but
unfortunately
that didn't matter anymore.

"I wanted to talk to you about Terrance." Evie sat on the edge of the bed and
I
slowly eased down beside her.

That was a shock.
"Okay. What about him?"

"I
'd l
ike to talk about the time you spen
t
with him while your mother was alive."

Oh hell no
. T
his was not something I wanted to get int
o with Evie. When I explained all those months ago that T
errance
had been the first vampire I'd
met,
I
told them t
hat while everything he
said
had been a lie, he'
d
never hurt my mom. What else could she
possibly
want to know?

"
Specifically,
I want to talk about Terrance's relationship with your mother. You said he was always very gentle with her, but do you t
ruly believe that he loved her?
"

"
Um
...I'm not sure. Like I said before, he never hurt her and always treated her like she was
special
t
o him, but in love with her? I...I just
don't know.
Why does it matter? My mom's gone and even if he did love her, she loved my dad...not Terrance."

"
I know that, Rose. Please understand, I'm not trying to insinuate they were having an affair, but Terrance has claimed he wants vengeance on Meredith for killing your mom...the woman he loved."

I was suddenly on my feet. "What? He wants to go after Meredith to avenge my mom?"

"Yes, that's what he said
.
"

"Well, isn't that a good thing
?
That he's remembering and wanting to go after her?"

"Yes, I'm
very happy
he's showing signs of drifting back and that his memories are returning. But
what I'm concerned about is
that he may be using his feelings for your mother as an excuse to get released, when instead he could be following Meredith's commands without our knowledge. That's why I'm asking your opinion. Looking back, do you think he was
truly
in love with your mother?"

I thought about my response and knew what I'd say could make a difference in Terrance's release or not. But if he was willing to go after the person who killed my mom, I thought the risk was worth it. "Yes. Thinking back to their interactions, I could definitely see that he was in love with her."

"Alright. Thank you, Rose. I have a lot to think about, but just know that as soon as I hear from Balam I'll call a meeting to discuss
our plans to go after Meredith. I
want to make sure you'll be there. No more secrets, I promise."

"Thank you, Evie. That means a lot to me."

I watched as she gracefully made her way out the door and thought to myself...
n
o
more secrets? Yeah
,
right.

* * * * *

(Christian)

As I
rounded the corner
at the end of the
hall
,
I saw Evie knock
ing
on
Rose's and my
door. She rarely entered
our private rooms
,
so I was more than curious about her presence here.

I watched as Rose answered the door and
then
Evie disappear
ed
inside.
I thought now was as good a time as any to practice my newly developing skills
, so I eased up to the door and flattened myself
against
the outside wall.

I
'd
never
tried to use
my
super-hearing
on purpose
before, s
o I was unsure of how to
even
begin
.
But
remembering the advic
e
Evie
had once given me, I began to relax and concentrate
d
on exactly what I wanted to do.

I took
four deep breaths as I imagined my ears opening up to let the outside thoughts around me filter in and then I heard Evie asking Rose, "...but do you truly believe that he loved her?"

I
remained calm and listened as Evie continued to talk to Rose about Terrance and his feelings about her mother.
But i
t didn't take long
for me
to realize that
I couldn't hear anything
Rose was thinking in response.
T
he
thoughts
rapidly
drifted away and I was left
with nothing but my irritation.

Why did Rose still feel like she had to hide her thoughts around us
?
I knew t
hat
was
exactly
what she was doing because she'd explained Terrance had
once
informed her
i
t was necessary
.
At the time
though,
she didn't
know
that only Evie and Dax were capable of
scanning
, and they could only see the thoughts of what
you
were im
mediately thinking.
We explained all of this to her
,
and
I thought
she trusted us enough to no longer feel it
was
neces
sary.
G
uess I was wrong.

I supposed I couldn't blame
her
for not wanting
Evie
to
know what she was
thinking
at the moment
. I'm sure her head was spinning, having to contemplate another man besides her father being in love with her mom.
Under those circumstances,
I would
probably
want to keep
those thoughts
private too.

I let
go of my frustration
and
waited for Evie
to
emerge from
our
room. I wanted to ask her why she thought questioning Rose about this was necessary.

She didn't seem surprised to find me waiting outside. "I heard you approach and was scanning you as you tried to use your new ability. I take it you couldn't hear any of Rose's thoughts either?"

"No. But I'm sure it's just a habit
of hers
at this point. I was thinking about trying with her again later. I'm hoping if I can get my ability to work around her it might give me a clue
as to what she's planning and give me an
idea of how to s
mooth thing
s
over between us.
"

"Alright. Just let me know if you're successful. And to answer your
internal
question, I'm debating releasing Terrance against Balam's judgment. I have a theory I want to put to the test
,
and Rose
's
thought
s
about his
feelings for her mother may prove important
."

"What's your theory?"

"I'm not ready to discuss
it
yet, but once I have all the puzzle pieces in place, you'll be one of the first to know. Now why don't you give Rose some time alone and accompany me upstairs. There's something else I'd like to talk to you about."

As much as I wanted to enter our room and apologize to Rose
yet
again, I didn't think it would help at the moment. So following Evie's suggestion, I left Rose alone and trailed behind her as we made our way back up to her office through her private entrance from the pit.

"Have a seat," Evie said, extending an arm in the direction of the couch along the far wall of her office.

Her formality suddenly had me nervous.

"What's up, Evie? What else did you want to talk about?"

"I'
d like to discuss
you becoming the next Sire. I know
I
said
I'd like to
wait to see what other power
s
you developed first, but honestly, with the situation we're facing, I'd like to perform the Passing of Powers ritual soon. I want to make you
a
Sire right away."

My gut tightened and I knew I'd begun to drift at her statement. This was such a huge step. For Evie, for me, and especially for Rose. It meant we wouldn't have to wait any longer for her to become a vampire and my consort. I was immediately overjoyed at the thought.

"There's one more thing," Evie continued. "I know it's traditional for a new Sire to take his consort and relocate, beginning their new life somewhere else, but in this case...I'd like you to remain with our clan."

I'd always assumed
i
t was mandatory
th
at the new Sire leave their old clan
, so
I was
thrilled
to receive Evie's offer
. Leaving my family had always been the one th
ing I considered a downfall to becoming the next Sire.

"I'd love for me and Rose to stay here with the clan, but
isn't that against the rules?"

"I've thought about
it
, and while leaving your old clan is
traditional
for a new Sire, I don't think it's ever truly been mandatory. I believe it was just a tradition that'd been passed down from Sire to Sire
, clan to clan
. Regardless, I think it's time we test
ed
the theory, because the real reason I want to speed up this process
,
is
so
that
when we finally
face t
he demons, we'll have two Sires here instead of just one.
We'll deal with whatever conflicts arise after this situation is resolved. Agreed?"