Death (2 page)

"You home for the weekend?" Shane asks me, even though his eyes
don’t meet mine. It's like he doesn’t want to look at me. I can't imagine what
Dorian has said to him.

I nod and swallow my feelings. Pushing them down is hard. I want to join
the group and go out and be normal. I've never been normal. Somehow I always
miss the boat. Or got run over by the friggen thing.

Damned Dorian.

Shane nods and knits his brow, still looking at his feet. "That's
awesome. Try to catch up with us all. Jeeze Aimes, feels like it's been
forever." His face blushes and I want so badly to read into it. I have to
tell myself it is the right choice.

Blake laughs again. I want to throw something at him.

Alise gives me her fake smile. "Having a nerd weekend with
dad?"

I laugh.

I wish.

"Yeah. Something like that." I glance at Blake who crosses his
arms.

"Yeah, we'll be playing some serious video games at my place, hey
Aimes? Pew pew pew." His eyes glisten. He knows there will be pew pew pew
but it'll be real. He loves it.

I nod again. I feel lost but Blake is still my beacon.

Shane pulls on Jessica's hand. "It was nice seeing you Aimes, but we
gotta go. See ya 'round."

He drags her down the sidewalk and kisses her hand.

He used to kiss my hand. We used to do normal things, like watch TV or
shop for food and kiss in the aisles. It was short lived but I remember every
detail.

Blake flashes me a smile. He knows how much it all hurts. "See ya
Aimes. I will call you later k? A little pew pew pew will make you feel
better."

I nod. "It will if you stop saying that."

He laughs. I want to. They leave me, alone again.

It's painful. No matter what happens or the people he dates, it's
painful. The panic in my heart is real. The love I felt for him once is real.
His memories of me are not. Dorian's mind tricks have worked. Shane doesn’t
even register me.

They all walk down the sidewalk and inside I cringe when he hugs Jessica
and laughs. He is free from me. I know it's better and I know I asked Dorian to
do it, but it still hurts.

The warm wind is there suddenly, lifting my hair into the air. My skin
prickles. My heart remembers where it's meant to be.

My panic and fear and pain are gone instantly. He soothes the raw nerves
and fills the gaps where I wish my life were normal.

His arms wrap around me and pull me in. I melt into him.

"I'm sorry. He kissed me."

He growls. "I know."

"Can't you beat him up or something?"

"No. He's an archangel. Impossible to actually beat up. But I can
get him very drunk and humiliate him, again."

I laugh. "Wanna meet my dad?" I ask. I forget everything else.

He nods against my face and kisses my cheek.

I turn and am lost when I see him. His blue eyes melt my heart. Nothing
else matters. Giselle is a ravenous psycho. Shane doesn’t recall the smallest
of details. Lorri wants to eat Giselle. O and Trist have to kill their mom and
I have to kill their dad. But none of it matters.

Aleks squints. "Hurts still, huh?"

I nod. I don’t mean to still love Shane. I know it was never the way I
love Aleks. It never was true love, but it was love all the same.

He kisses my forehead. "It'll get better. Be grateful he's
safe."

I nod again. I bite my lip watching his half smile. I stand on my tiptoes
and kiss the uneven part of his lips. He watches me.

"You look sad."

I look to where my sister and the crowd are walking on the sidewalk.

"It's not him I want. It's never been him. It's what he represents.
I want us to be like them. I want you to be my boyfriend and take me to a party
and be my date and hang with my sister and her friends. I want us to be normal.
I want to pay bills and have a house and shop for food and get a cat. It's not
fair. I already have a name for the cat, Shakespeare." I know that's what
I loved about Shane in the end. It was never that I loved him more than Aleks,
that wasn't possible. Not then and definitely not now. But I loved that he was
real. A real man in the real world. It made me a real girl. Even before I was
part of the underworld, he was always part of the life I wanted. He was popular
and his life was normal and easy.

I look at Aleks again and smirk. The fire his crooked lips create in my
belly is a feeling Shane has never been able to create. Once Aleks arrived the
competition for my heart only ever had one real outcome.

He kisses my cheek. "In twenty years when they are starting to age
and their lives are stale, they will be the ones saying it isn’t fair. Trust
me. I've been here before."

I look at him and watch his eyes in the orange glow from the
streetlights. "It doesn’t feel like enough right now. I want us to be
normal."

He lifts my hand in his and kisses the back of it. "It has to be
enough. We can't ever be those things. You're different and I'm dead, for the
second time."

I laugh. It still hurts, but he makes everything hurt less.

I step away from him and pull hard on his hand, to get him walking to the
front door with me.

"You still need to meet him."

"Can't we just get the cat? I like the name Shakespeare."

I laugh and drag him in the front door, "Dad, I'm home."

Ophelia

His fingers trace their way up and down my arm. I want to be somewhere
alone with him, ripping his clothes off. Instead we are on babysitting duty.

She looks feral.

It's weird. She is the most beautiful girl in the world and yet she is
completely taken by her hunger. She could be seducing every guy in the world
and living it large. Instead her dark eyes dart around the small room like a
nervous crackhead.

She moans and curls into a ball.

I look at him but he shakes his head.

I look up and whisper, "Why is it so bad for her? Are all succubus
this brutal?"

He shakes his head. "No. She has the blood lust from being a
vampire. She remembers what it was like to eat blood. She's been biting the
people she's been sucking dry. So she is still getting blood from them and
their essence. Being a succubus is intense enough on its own."

I raise an eyebrow, "Do you share the feelings and talents with her
the way Dorian and Aimee are the same sort of thing?"

He nods, but doesn’t remove his eyes from her. He is so beautiful, even
in the dark. I can't help but think about the shower we had yesterday. The way
the water would bead on his skin or the way he looked with just the towel
wrapped around his waist. I'd never showered with anyone before.

He looks at me. "I can sense you’re thinking something not good
right now."

I blush. I think of my mom. Not my real mom but my mom, mom. I push the
thoughts of him away. I wonder where Abbey and my parents are.

His fingers start to knead my arm, instead of trace lines up and down. He
sinks his fingers deeper into my flesh and massages.

Giselle is finally asleep. She looks peaceful.

Oliver takes my hand and suddenly we are in his room at Marcus's house.

He pushes me back lightly. My legs hit the bed and I fall back on it. He
climbs onto the bed and on top of me. His weight presses me into the mattress.
I moan as his lips trace along my throat.

"Oliver, we have a situation."

We both lift our heads and glare at Marcus standing in the light of the
open door. He's watching us, with his dark eyes glowing in the dim light. My
stomach twists when I see his eyes. Sometimes when I look at him I can hear his
thoughts. Thoughts of draining every drop of blood from my body, but in a
naughty way. He makes me blush and cringe at the same time.

Oliver looks back at me and kisses my nose. He stands and offers me his
hand. I sigh and let him drag me, unwillingly, off the bed.

I follow them down the hall of the huge creepy old castle. It's weird
there is a castle in Portland that no one ever puts on the tourist stops. The
hall is wide and filled with old pictures. Old paintings. I'm pretty sure I've
seen a few that look like Marcus and Dorian and Aleks but in costumes.

I can't help but wonder if in two hundred years I'll be walking through
my own castle with Oliver and the walls will be lined with paintings of me in
jean jackets and skinny jeans.

"Look, she called a meeting. That’s all that matters."

Oliver glances back at me and winks. I melt.

Lost in the paintings and the smile, I almost don’t hear the muffled
noise off to the right when we pass one of the corridors. Marcus's back
straightens as we pass it. The moan fills the hall again.

I turn right and start running. I know that sound.

"Ophelia leave it." Marcus barks after me.

I run faster. "It's Hanna."

I hear a struggle followed by a scream.

The door at the end of the corridor is black and thick. When I touch it
my hand sparkles. I turn the knob but it doesn’t budge. Down the hall Oliver
and Marcus are fighting and suddenly they're gone. Oliver has flashed him away.

My stomach stops feeling like it's sunk into my bowels.

"Hanna?"

The moan is muffled.

I kick the door but nothing. I stand back and roll my shoulders. A wind
starts to pick up in the hallway. I point my fingers and a blast of lightning
hits the door. It ricochets off and shoots down the hall. It hits a painting of
a house and starts a small fire.

I giggle nervously. He's going to kill me when he gets back.

I shoot a bolt of frost down the hall and freeze the flames.

The cold of the frost lingers on my fingertips. I brush them against the
door and it freezes solid. White frost covers the door in an intricate frozen
design.

I stand back and fire another bolt of lightning. The door shatters into a
million black sparkly pieces. I cover my mouth and close my eyes and step
through the black dust with my other hand out.

The room is padded and creepy. A single light shines down from above.
Hanna is tied to the wall. She is wearing only a long shirt and the shackles
holding her arms and legs to the wall.

"What a pervert," I mutter and walk to her. She is moaning and
having trouble keeping her eyes open.

I know she has turned him down everyday since he came back from the dead,
but damn. Her bracelet is gone. I notice it because of the instant contempt I
feel for her.

I plant my feet and take her hand in mine. Her skin is burning. I close
my eyes and envision it the way Lydia taught me to. The field of flowers and
the shore of shells meet in my mind and start weaving. The flowers are the base
of the bracelet and the shells are the bling. My mind weaves and as I think it,
I feel it form on her wrist. As the white shells hit her skin I can feel the
energy blasting off them.

She sighs and I can feel the struggle inside of her ending.

My hate for her dissipates with her fever. I am exhausted. I still
haven’t learned to replace the energy I use.

Her eyes open and she smiles weakly, "Thanks. You make them so fast
now."

I nod and snap my fingers at the lock of each shackle.

She raises an eyebrow, "You're getting better at this."

"Yeah. I've been practicing a lot. I only have a few days until I'm
supposed to kill her and him." I don’t say their names. It burns inside of
me. We need a solution and I don’t know how to fix it.

"Henry." Her lips tremble.

I look back at the man standing in the doorway. He is solid and wearing a
bowler hat, which is weird. He nods and walks into the room. I know him.
Somehow my body knows him. I put a hand out and he takes it. He squeezes my
fingers and we speak without words.

‘You're in danger. If you must take her then you should go now. Go and
don’t come back here. Dark things can come to this castle, Ophelia. Dark things
that can corrupt your magic. Lydia's is the best place for you.’ His soft words
whisper through my mind.

I frown. ‘Oliver told me Marcus's house was guarded.’

He shakes his head. 'It can't keep them all out.' His words whisper into
my mind and I shiver from the tickle of them.

I nod and turn back to her. She collapses in my arms. I lift her arm over
my shoulders and together we walk past him.

He grins at Hanna. I know he can't help himself. None of them can.

"Don’t tell anyone okay." She mutters.

I look at her and nod. I don't understand why she would keep the secret
that Marcus has been holding her hostage and torturing her.

I take her to the front door and put her in the car parked out front.

"Where to?"

She licks her lips and seems to be struggling with sitting down.
"Roland's."

I close the door and get in the driver seat.

I'm going to kill Marcus.

She starts to fall asleep as soon as I start the car. I should be driving
the stupid car Oliver gave me. I blush when I think about him. I shake my head
and drive to Roland's. The stolen car from Marcus's feels more my speed. I
don’t like the fact Oliver got me a car. It feels weird that he's so rich and
old.

The huge Tudor mansion is the coolest house I've ever seen. It's
beautiful.

Roland is standing in the doorway when I arrive. He looks stoic, as far
as I can tell he always looks like that.

He opens the car door. "Miss Hanna, are you alright?"

She nods and winces as he pulls her from the car. He holds her tight.

He looks at me and I shake my head. "Rough night."

He looks at the flimsy t-shirt unconvincingly, but turns and carries her
to the house.

I call after them. "Hanna, Lorri called a meeting. Want me to wait
for you?"

She looks over his arm and smiles. "No, I'll just clean up and head
over right away. Where?"

I grimace. "The woods behind Marcus's."

She rolls her eyes. "K. Should have just showered there."

She must have Stockholm syndrome. I don’t want to think about what he did
to her. I already have a pretty good idea. I'm going to kill him. I turn the
car around and head back to his place.

When I drive up Marcus and Oliver are standing outside the house arguing
still.

I don’t get out of the car. Marcus shoots me a death stare. I smile. It's
not genuine, because I'm pretty much ready to pee my pants when he looks at me,
but I can't back down.

Oliver looks at me and mouths 'go away'.

I shake my head and get out of his car.

Marcus snarls at me. "You foolish little girl. Who do you think you
are?"

I shrug. "The first witch's daughter, you know, magical royalty.
Why?"

He laughs. He always laughs the same broken and bitter laugh. He is
broken.

He storms inside. Oliver walks to me and takes my hands. "That was
dumb."

I watch his eyes and wait for him to smile. He doesn’t. He still looks
pissed.

"I had to help her."

He closes his eyes and sighs. "No, Hanna was being held because the
cure Marcus made for her isn’t working. She is starting to black out. She woke
in a puddle of blood and half eaten mountain lion yesterday. Marcus brought her
here and she changed again and tore a hole in the wall of her room. He chained
her for her own safety."

I feel sick. "Oh my god, I left her with Roland."

He nods. "I know. She's coming back. She can't live with Roland
anymore. Not safe. She needs someone like Marcus who can keep her safe, well
keep everyone else safe from her."

I love Hanna. "We need to help her."

He sighs again. 'I'm pretty sure you have enough on your plate."

He takes my hand and walks into the house just as Marcus comes storming
into the front room. "GOD DAMMIT OPHELIA, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

I cringe and feel the sparks starting in my fingers.

He is pacing and looking like he's going to pull his hair out.

"Oliver, she destroyed the obsidian door and burned a fucking four
hundred year old painting and half a fucking wall." His dark eyes settle
on me and I feel naked.

Oliver looks at me. His mood hasn’t improved. He looks at Marcus and
sighs impatiently. "I know where I can get another door."

Marcus points. "I have the goddamned doors in the basement. I keep
several on hand, Olly. That’s not the point. The point is that she is a
meddling little witch and I don’t want her in my house anymore."

He charges at me but before he can get to me Oliver is in front of me.
Suddenly a sharp wind rips through the room and Oliver and Marcus are both
flung to the ceiling.

My hands are outstretched but I swear I never unleashed the magic. I look
to see Henry standing in the entrance to the room. He looks annoyed.

Oliver flashes and is standing in front of me again. Henry looks at him
fiercely and he grabs my hand. He nods at Henry and suddenly we are standing in
the grove behind the house. His hand is almost ripping the skin off of me. The
forest is silent and I don’t know what to think of anything.

"Did he call you Olly?"

If looks could kill I would have exploded seconds before I even asked the
question, which apparently never improved his mood.