Scent of a White Rose (10 page)

As I reached the top of the stairs and emerged
out from under the stage, I saw everyone sitting at one of the
tables talking casually. Obviously, they hadn't noticed that Dax
and Evie were huddled just inside Evie's office.

The two must have used the passage that lead
from the pit to her office to enter the club, and by the look of
things they weren't quite ready to get this meeting started. Dax
was frowning and Evie was shaking her head back and forth. I didn't
think they were arguing, but it was pretty obvious that they didn't
agree about something.

"What did Terrance want?" Tori asked, pulling my
attention away from the office.

"Nothing really, he was just being an asshole.
He asked if we could tell him what happens in this meeting." I
wasn't going to tell them about Terrance's ludicrous comment about
me becoming Sire...what was the point?

"Yeah, right. Like that's going to happen. No
way will Evie keep him updated on what's going on. Especially when
what happened to her was his fucking fault." It was clear that
Bobby was having a hard time controlling his anger; his hair kept
drifting from blonde to brown and back again.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I told him," I
said.

Evie and Dax must have approached the table
while Bobby was talking, because just then I heard Dax say, "I
think we should deal with one thing at a time is all. Let's get to
the bottom of what's happening with Terrance first, and then you
can question Christian."

I turned around to ask what they would need to
question me about, only to find that they were still inside Evie's
office. Evie looked up and met my eyes just as Dax started out the
door.

Something strange was definitely happening here.
All vampires had the ability to hone-in and hear things from a
distance, but you usually had to make a conscious effort to do so.
And right now...my hearing had just zoomed in on something without
my control. By the look on Evie's face, she knew what had just
happened and she was concerned about it.

Dax and Evie made their way over to the table
and all the chatter quieted down. "I'll start by saying that I
probably don't have the answers that you want, but I'll tell you
everything I can remember," Evie stated. "First of all, I want you
all to know that when I went down to talk to Terrance, I had no
intention of delivering the true death, but when it became clear
that he wasn't going to willingly give me the answers I was looking
for, I decided to let him think that his time was at an end. At the
last moment, I felt his mental shields give way, and that's when I
struck. I tried to make him sing, and as you are all aware, that
didn't work out very good for either of us." Evie looked around,
making eye contact with everyone. "I want you to know that I had no
idea that it would be so painful for Terrance. The last time I had
to "make someone sing," they were weakened mentally and physically
afterwards, but there was no evidence of actual pain. With Terrance
however, you could tell by his screams that this was not the
case."

I could tell this was upsetting for her. She
sounded guilty and almost apologetic, even though she had nothing
to be sorry for. Terrance had brought this on himself as far as I
was concerned.

"The moment I penetrated his mind, I caught the
image of him feeding off a woman in the dark. She was tall, thin,
and had long, blonde hair from what I could tell. The moment that I
locked on and tried to expand the image, Terrance's shield snapped
into place, causing me a lot of pain, and then our connection was
severed."

We all sat there in silence, none of us really
knowing what to say. I had never heard of anything like this and
from the quiver in Evie's voice, neither had she.

Bobby broke the silence by asking, "Did you
recognize the woman?"

"No. I didn't. I was hoping that I could have
picked up on a name or something more specific, but as soon as the
image started to sharpen, it was over and I was being knocked
out."

"Terrance says that whenever he thinks of that
woman his thoughts go all fuzzy. Do you think that's the reason you
were unable to wake up? Because of whatever weird effect this woman
has on Terrance?" I asked.

"I've been thinking a lot about that, and it
definitely seems like the most logical answer. But I just can't
figure out how the woman could be affecting Terrance or me." Evie
looked up at Dax and smiled sweetly. "I thought that Terrance had
started reveling in the kill and had figured out a way to hide
things from us, but now I'm not so sure. I almost think that he may
be just as much a victim in this situation as the girl in the
woods. I hope everyone can understand that I feel we need to keep
Terrance around until we can figure all of this out."

Whether I was as convinced of Terrance's
innocence or not, I knew it would make Dax feel better if Terrance
ended up not being the bad guy we all thought he had become, and
that made me happy. "Is there anyone that you can contact to see if
something like this has ever happened before?" I asked.

"Dax and I have discussed it, and we've decided
that I should contact my Sire to see if he has ever heard of
anything like this before. If something like this has ever been
recorded, then I'm sure Balam will have heard about it. Now, let's
go feed and get this club open. I know that this situation has
everyone on edge, but I'm fine now, so there's no need to
worry."

I wasn't as convinced by Evie's pep talk as
everyone else was, but that was because of what I had accidentally
heard her and Dax discussing. I was going to approach her about it,
but then she and Dax started heading towards her office. I could
only assume she was going to make the call to her Sire now and I
certainly didn't want to delay that. We needed to get some answers
as soon as possible. So instead, I headed out to feed along with
Bobby, Dom and Tori.

We usually were able to charm a few people in
the park nearby, taking only our fill and then making them forget.
No harm, no foul. I, for one, couldn't stand the idea of hurting
anyone, and it wasn't my fault that I required blood to survive. So
like most vampires, we fed only out of necessity and didn't hurt
anyone in the process. We were almost complete opposites to the
vampires of legend, but I wouldn't change a single thing. I was
happy in this life, and I knew everyone else in our clan, Terrance
notwithstanding, felt the same way.

If Rose was eventually changed, I would be the
happiest vampire alive...what a contradiction.

* * * * *

(Evie)

"Dammit, Dax! I know Christian heard us talking
from inside the office. I'm telling you, he is displaying signs
that he's the one being triggered. I need to talk to him about
it."

"Evie, please. Let's get to the bottom of this
thing with Terrance first. I will be just as happy as you if it is
Christian that's being triggered, but right now you have to
understand that I am a nervous wreck because of what happened to
you. You have no idea what it was like sitting there next to you
and not having a clue how to help. I thought I'd lost you." Dax
pulled me close and I could feel him trembling slightly.

Dax was right. The situation with Terrance
needed to be our first priority, but for reasons I couldn't explain
I felt a strong sense of urgency about Christian becoming our new
Sire, and I couldn't deny that it had me on edge.

* * * * *

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Good News

(Rose)

As soon as Dad heard the knock at the door he
fell straight into panic mode, and for some reason, so did I. I was
now listening for any noise that could identify our unexpected
caller from behind my cracked bedroom door. So far, all I heard
were jumbled voices.

After some deep breaths and a few thoughts to
convince myself that I was a badass, I started down the stairs when
I finally heard something...a female giggle.
What the
fuck.

As I rounded the corner, I got a good look at
the intruder. It was a woman with long blonde hair in a pencil
skirt and heels. And she had her hand on my dad's arm.

"Rose! It's okay honey. Please come here. I'd
like you to meet someone." Dad's voice had sort of a high-pitched,
panicky sound to it.

As I walked towards them, my dad took a step
back and the woman turned around to face me. She was really pretty
and had a Barbie doll smile plastered on her face. "Hi, I'm
Meredith." I shook her hand thinking,
and I should care
why?

"Honey, Meredith is one of my clients from
Masen," Dad explained.

Why would one of my dad's clients be at our
house on a Saturday night? I didn't think I liked where this was
going. "Didn't you just finish your meeting in Masen last night,
Dad?" I asked, all the while keeping my eyes plastered on
Meredith's.

"Yes, actually I did, so this is quite a
surprise." He looked at Meredith and then gestured towards the
living room with his arm outstretched. "Why don't we have a seat in
the living room and you can tell me to what do we owe this
pleasure?" Meredith led the way, Dad followed, and I slunk in
behind them.

Once we were all seated in the living room–Dad
and Meredith on the couch–I huddled in the recliner, Dad turned to
Meredith. "So, what exactly are you doing here? Is there something
wrong with the campaign we discussed?"

Okay, so maybe Dad's nervousness was coming from
the fact that he thought this woman was unhappy with his work. I
still thought it was pretty damn odd that someone would just show
up on our doorstep instead of calling to set up another
meeting.

"Actually, after you left, the partners and I
discussed your campaign and we absolutely love it. So much, in
fact, that we want to ask you to head up another campaign for a
sub-company of ours. That's why I'm here. I was so excited to tell
you the good news that I thought I'd just follow you back from
Masen and deliver it in person," Meredith explained. "I have a
friend in the area that I'll be staying with, and I thought we
could get together for lunch tomorrow to discuss the details."

She had such an excited buzz about her and her
smile was about to drive me nuts, so I took her story for what it
was. Dad took a deep breath and visibly relaxed. "Well, that is
fantastic news. I'd be honored to head up another campaign for you.
And yes, lunch tomorrow sounds great. " Dad grinned and looked in
my direction. His smile faltered slightly as he took in my
expression. I was sure I wasn't sporting the most gracious look on
my face. Whether I believed her story or not, for some reason I
just didn't like this woman very much. Maybe it was because she
looked so much like my mom.

* * * * *

CHAPTER TWENTY

Old Friend

(Evie)

After Dax and I had settled on the questions
that I needed to ask my Sire, I had requested to be left alone. I
couldn't remember the last time I had spoken to Balam. It had been
so long ago that I had been triggered and made a Sire that it truly
felt like a completely different lifetime. Even though I considered
my Sire an old friend, I was still a bit nervous to actually be
contacting him.

Usually once a new Sire left their original clan
to begin their own, there was no further contact between them. Not
that it was forbidden, but it was usually just not a necessity, and
for whatever ancient reason, that's just how things worked.

Traditionally, once a vampire was confirmed as
the triggered vampire in their current clan, they were then led
through history lessons about their kind. This included all the
different new "powers" that came with being a Sire: the poison of
true death, the sedative of eternal life, the scanning abilities,
and the importance of choosing their consort. Once they received
the guidelines on how to use each of these things, they would then
go through the "Passing of Powers" ritual. This is where their Sire
passed abilities onto them. They were then expected to leave their
current clan, set up a new home location, and begin building a
clan/family of their own.

The first vampire that they sired became their
consort and shared in their scanning abilities. This was the most
important, and the first thing a new Sire needed to do. They had to
choose wisely, because once their consort was changed, they were
eternally bound to them and if they died...so did the new Sire.

After choosing their consort, there was no limit
to how many vampires they could create. The process of the change
was pretty typical. The Sire bit the chosen person, and then
injected them with the sedative of eternal life. The sire would
then feed from the person until they were dead. Once the new
vampire had risen, the first thing they were made to do was drink
from the Sire. That sealed the bond and completed the process. Once
the bond was made, the new vampire then drifted to their "normal"
coloring. Most people rose as light vampires, but like Terrance, if
they carried sorrow and pain within them, they would mostly likely
show signs of that by drifting to a darker color.

As I sat there recalling all the lessons that
Balam had taught me, I started to feel a little more relaxed about
contacting the man who had blessed me with eternal life, even
though I hadn't spoken to him in over a thousand years.

After digging his number out of my archives, I
took a deep breath and dialed.

"Hola, habla Balam."

I smiled. His accent still carried its Mayan
heritage, and even though he could speak English, he chose to speak
modern Spanish. To this day he continued to go by his real Mayan
name, Balam. Just hearing his voice made me realize how much I'd
missed him.

"Hello Balam, this is Evangeline."

"Evangeline mi amor, no te visto mucho
tiempo."