Death (23 page)

She shakes her head, "You can't. It'll kill me too."

I shake my head. My heart hurts with the words that are about
to leave my lips. "I lied when I said I starved on the streets in the
beginning when I crawled out of the harbor. I didn’t starve. Not
completely."

She looks confused.

I want to look away but her black eyes hold me hostage.
"A girl fell on me. I was lying, cold and alone, in some garbage. She was
young, maybe fifteen or sixteen. She fell on me in the middle of my hunger. Her
belly landed on my hands. When I finished pulling she was still alive."

Ari's face looks like she gets where this is going. In fact
she looks horrified. "You know Aimes, sometimes friends share shit they
could have kept to themselves."

A broken laugh bursts from me.

She grips my hand, "I want this baby. I want to try. I
want it to heal me and make me comfortable around kids."

I wrinkle my nose, involuntarily.

She laughs again. Her eyes water, "I just want to feel
something so big that no one can ever take it away from me. Not even me."

I hug her so hard I tremble. "You saved my whole family
Ari. My entire family."

She shakes, "It cost us Lydia."

I pull back, "Didn’t they tell you about Dorian?"

Her face crumples, "No."

I can't fight the tears, "I am so sorry. It was my
fault."

She looks disgusted, "You killed him? Why?"

I shake my head, "I didn’t kill him." I stroke her
head and tell her all about Momma Holt in Blackwater Bayou.

Hanna

I smile, thinking about him. The way it felt for him to wash
my hair when we were at Roses training together. The way his eyes looked when
he saw me again, for the first time this time. He had to pretend he didn’t know
me and love me. I tilt my head back and scrub the conditioner out. I open my
eyes to his smile.

"You owe me something that I feel you have owed me for
some time." He speaks like he's discussing the weather.

A naughty look crosses my face, "Would it be wrong if I
undid the bracelet and took advantage of you."

His look matches mine. He nods pleasantly, "Please
do."

I raise an eyebrow and hold the wrist with the bright glowing
bracelet up. I fake like I'm going to, making him take a deep breath. I frown,
"You look nervous."

He nods, "I don’t want to hurt you."

I laugh.

He continues, "Because then you'll become the beast and
hurt me."

I laugh harder. I run my hands over my body once more to
ensure the soap is all gone and click the clasp. He jumps me. His cock is
instantly hard. I giggle as the heat and frenzy fills us both. The sound of my
giggle frightens me. I'm scared of becoming the beast too.

He lifts me in the air. The cold-water handle water gets
bumped making the water freezing. I cry out. He walks out of the running shower
and carries me to the bathroom counter. Still holding me, he swipes everything
off and sits me down on the cold hard counter. I squeeze him with my thighs and
pull him into me. His body against mine, drives my feverish Siren rage.

His mouth crashes on my nipple. I gasp and reach down,
grabbing for his cock. He's already thrusting when I touch it. I laugh again. I
guide him to me, opening my legs more. When he pushes himself inside of me, I
cry out, orgasming with a few strokes. He is bucking wildly. The mirror behind
me crashes. He's slamming me into the wall. My legs are probably crushing him
I'm squeezing so hard. I orgasm a second time. His teeth sink into my nipple. I
scream as my hands rake his back. He cries out and lifts me off the counter. He
spins and slams my back into the wall. I moan, but his lips muffle it. I bite
down on his lip. I'm resting on his thighs almost and arching my back. It’s the
weirdest position, but it's amazing. He is rocking in and out of me so hard,
when I come, I lose control of my arms and almost can't hang on anymore. He
rams into me savagely, lifting me back up in the air. My back, dragging up the
wall, stings. His hard body against mine is rough and brutal. He pumps harder,
moaning and breathing into my hair. I feel his legs twitching and buckling. He
adjusts his grip and flashes us. He throws me down on the bed and plunks down
next to me. I snap the bracelet back on and laugh. I'm lucky I never crushed
the shells while I was holding it.

He winces, "Did I hurt you?"

I nod, panting and gasping for air "Yup."

He takes my hand and kisses my bloody knuckle, "You
bloody well hurt me too. That was brutal. When you came, I feared you might rip
my cock off."

I laugh and kiss his lips, "Bracelet on from now
on?"

"Yeah. Your back is bleeding." He points to the
blood stained sheets behind me. I roll over. He looks horrified, "Oh my
god, it's covered in blood. I think this is why Siren's don’t mate other Sirens
often."

I whimper a bit when he pulls out the first shard.

"You did amazing with Jonathan." He says.

I look back, "You did too. Lorri was right. Without you
we never could have finished him off. You tracked him."

He smirks. I stare at his lips and pray I have at least one
full lifetime of him.

Aimee

She is a sobbing mess. The pain I've caused her is killing me.
Her face hasn’t changed since the story start. She won't meet my eyes,
"Did you know?" She asks quietly.

I shake my head, "Not until he did it. Momma Holt gave me
everything. Every stolen glance, every moment he had with me in it. She showed
me the way he saw me and how he felt every time." I could throw up I'm so
sickened by it all.

"You never loved him?" It's more of a statement than
a question.

I bite my lips. I know that it's not a true statement.
"There was something. We made out all the time. I cheated on Aleks all the
time. Shane too. I couldn’t stop myself. I know there was something. He made me
feel like someone I think I might have been happy as. He was an amazing man who
sacrificed everything for everyone else."

Tears stream down her pale cheeks, "I loved him. He was
crazy and weird but he was my dad. I never got to tell him that." She
looks at me with her black eyes glistening like pools of despair, "Do you
think he knew? I never told him."

"He knew." My heart is broken. I clutch the white
feather in my hand selfishly. I never told her about it. I can't part with it.
I know I should, she has nothing from him. But I can't. I hate myself for it.

"I can't believe he's gone." I can see the sparkle
in her eyes. I know she is wondering who she can push to bring him back.

"Ari, we need to talk about something else."

She looks at me and shakes her head, "I need to be alone
Aimes."

I put my hands on her belly, "I made Dorian a promise I
have to keep."

Her black eyes grow wide. I suck before she has the chance to
stop me. I suck hard and fast. She pushes at the same time and knocks me out.

I wake to the sobs of Ari and the consoling voice of Lucas. I
don’t open my eyes. I know she is going to hate me. I just listen to the
heartbreak in her cries. I deserve to hear ever second of it. I clutch my
feather.

Lucas tries to reason with her, "Baby. Aimes is your best
friend in the whole world. She's the sister you never had. Christ she's the
sister I never had. She would never hurt you on purpose, never. If she swore to
keep you safe and alive to your da...Dorian, she just kept that promise. We
don’t know what the baby could do to you. We don’t know what happens when Fae
have a baby with Nephilim. I'm not willing to risk it."

"B-b-but I'm immortal." She sniffs.

"So was my aunt. My cousin lived and my aunt didn’t.
There is something not right in the soul of a baby that never came from
god."

She cries into him. His shirt muffles it. I open my eyes and
look at them both. I wink and end up in Sam's room. He isn’t there. The
bathroom light is on. I tap the wooden door, making it swing open slowly. In
case he's in there.

He isn’t but, I take a step back. My hand comes up to my
mouth. He's there suddenly. I see him and then I don’t and then I do. He's
holding a towel in front of himself. I point to the bathroom, missing his
nakedness. Well trying to miss it. I shake my head, "Someone has been
murdered in there."

He pauses and moans his answer, "Welllllll, no. Uhm. Me
and Hanna…"

"Oh god, stop. I don’t want to know. That’s a lot of
blood. I just wanted to talk. I'll come back." I wink. My heart does the
controlling.

I look out over the Nærøyfjord and sigh. Sam is there within
seconds.

"We tried having no bracelet sex. It wasn’t like some
filthy weird kinky thing. It was just rough."

I look back at him and scowl, "What makes you think I
want to know that, firstly. And secondly, dude, I chose this place to be
alone."

I look over and see Aleks strolling up to us, looking
confused.

Sam laughs. I sigh.

"I saw Luke."

I look at Aleks but I can’t say anything. Nothing wants to
come out. My heart is broken and having one of his lectures isn’t going improve
things for me.

"She is pissed but she'll come around."

Sam sits beside me, "What's happening?"

"Aimee took the baby out of Ari."

Sam's nose scrunches up, "Oh wow. How? Where?"

Aleks pauses with a confused look on his brow, "Well. I
guess. She did the suck thing and she ate it."

Sam gags.

I gasp and swat Aleks, who is hysterically laughing. He is
never as easy going as he is being.

"I hate you guys." I laugh too. I don’t even know
why we're laughing. It's sick and gross. "I never ate it. It was like a
spirit abortion."

Sam puts a hand out, "Stop. I'm sorry I told you about
the bracelet sex. I give, please. Stop."

I laugh again.

"She'll pass the baby. Calm down. You know you saved her
from whatever little monster Lucas put in there." Aleks says through the
tears rolling down his cheeks. He's officially lost his mind.

Sam punches Aleks in the arm. Aleks is still laughing.

"You're both sick." I shake my head in disgust.

They laugh harder.

I frown, "She hates me. I got Dorian killed and killed
her baby and you two assholes are laughing. Why are you laughing?"

Sam shakes he laughs so hard, "Aimes. Babe. Come on. It's
crazy. Think about what you're saying. You sound nuts."

I pout and wink back to Marcus's. Ben is in my room. I frown,
"What's going on?"

"Giselle. She isn't into me at all. Like being serious
and shit." He sulks and sighs. I pull his huge body into mine and hug him.

I feel weird about bringing it up but it's better to clear the
air. "Aleks told me what happened."

He shakes his head, "She thought he was coming in to join
in. She actually thought we were going to have a three way." I cringe.

"I got mad and we never finished. I just left. I was so
pissed." He pulls back and grins, "You wanna help me out?"

I snort and shove him, "No. Wanna cuddle?"

"Spoon?" His grin makes me almost say yes.

I shove him again, "No."

He shrugs, "I gotta try."

We climb on my bed and he wraps his arms around me. I look up
at the ceiling, "Did you talk to Luke?"

He nods, "Yup. He's so relieved. Ari's sick still but
she's coming around. The poison was in the baby I guess. Lillith and those bad
witches did something to the baby. Ari could lose the baby and live or have the
baby and then die. You saved her. Don’t feel guilty."

"I do though. I can't help it. I feel sick. She begged me
not to."

He squeezes and kisses the top of my head, "Aimes, you
saved her."

"I got her dad killed too. Worst friend ever."

He kisses the top of my head and smells my head when he does
it. "No. You're the best friend ever. You sacrificed your friendship to
save her life. You made her more important than yourself."

Lorri bursts in, "We gotta go. That place in Ireland is
an old castle. Lillith is there with Phillip and Trist. He turns eighteen at
sunset." I jump, startled. She looks at us and shakes her head, "I
don’t even wanna know."

Ben laughs and kisses my head, "You're a good friend. You
always have been. Well maybe not so much during the whole Shane and Aleks
era."

I wink us to the living room. He gags, shooting me a fierce
look, "Dude. Warning."

Grinning, I snap my eyes at him and walk over to where Lucas
is sitting. "I'm sorry."

He shakes his shaggy dark head and stands up. "You've got
nothing to be sorry for. You made the right choice for her. She'll see it one
day." His green eyes sparkle, "I owe you big time."

"Getting fixed anytime soon? Cause I don't want to do
that again."

He grins, "Already done."

I whisper, "You got neutered?"

An offended look crosses his brow, "I'm a man, not a dog.
What the hell?"

I punch him in the arm, "You know what I mean. It's all
the same surgery. Ask the vet next time you're there."

He grabs my head and pushes it down. I back up laughing.

"What's up with you guys? Everyone is laughing and
enjoying themselves lately. Something's up?" Lorri crosses her arms and
stares me down.

I look around. The tension's cut. Even Marcus has pants on.
The kids are gaming and the house feels content.

"Jonathan is dead." Giselle says as if that is the
obvious answer. Like we are too stupid to see it. "That’s been a pretty
big deal to everyone. Aimee killed him. That’s pretty much the most important
thing to happen yet."

I narrow my eyes and look around.

Sam is beside me, "Henry." He whispers.

Marcus snaps his head around, "He's cast something on
us." He looks down at his pants and mutters, "I'll kill him."

Giselle points at the pants, "No, that’s an improvement.
I was about six seconds away from tackling you with a garden hose."

Shane laughs, "You were pretty funky man."

Ben looks around, "Where is Henry?"
 

"He left obviously. After he cast the happy cloud over
us." Lukas snorts.

"ENOUGH!" Lorri shouts.

We all snap out of it.

She froths at the bit, "We have to get out of this
house."

Everyone but Ari comes into the room one by one. Lorri looks
at Marcus, "Stay here in happy land with the kids and Ari, if you want
to."

"I'm not staying." My head swings around to see Ari
in military boots and skinny jeans.

I swallow hard. She meets my eyes and then turns away.

Lorri looks at Luke. He shakes his head, "She should
stay."

Ari shoots him a look. "You don’t get to have a say in
every aspect of my life Lucas."

Aleks steps beside Luke and puts a hand on him, "Take a
breath." He whispers.

Luke shakes his head and mutters, "Let's just go."

Lorri holds up her phone. I grab Giselle and Shane and Ben and
wink fast.

"That was awkward." Shane says. I nod,
"Super." I point up the bright green hill, "We're going this
way. If she is doing the magic now, she's outside. She's stronger
outside." I remember Henry saying that once.

Hanna and Sam wink up to us. "I sent my dad and Roland a
text. They're heading to Marcus's right now. To stay with the kids." Hanna
says quietly.

I glance at her and catch Marcus in my peripheral. He's beside
Lorri and slightly pissy looking.