Scent of a White Rose (19 page)

At the time I had thought that Terrance would of
course be the one to do it. It could've easily been a "side-effect"
of his drifting dark. He would just happen to lose control while
feeding from her, but with his emotions so deeply involved, I
wasn't completely sure that my mind bond would be strong enough to
actually force him to kill the woman that he loved. Plus, there was
the problem of dealing with Rose. My initial thought had been for
Terrance to just bite her and use his sedative to make her forget,
but then I had remembered she was half-demon. I had no idea if
Rose's blood contained enough poison to give her control over
Terrance and I wasn't willing to risk it. No, it had turned out
that I would have to be the one to take care of things myself.

* * * * *

(Rose)

After digging for the first three hours, I had
found nothing incriminating on Meredith Karver. I had at least
found out what her last name was. It had been easy enough as I knew
she worked for a company in Masen that was one of my dad's
clients.

Since my initial discovery however, I hadn't run
across anything else of use. I traced her family back to the
southern area of New Mexico, but if what Evie had told me held
true, the demon families would have scattered across the world
throughout history, so knowing where she came from really wasn't
going to make much of a difference.

Now that I was completely out of ideas as to
what the hell I should be looking for, combined with the fact that
I'd been up for over twenty-four hours straight, exhaustion was
really starting to set in.

I didn't want to risk seeing my dad yet, so I
decided to head back to the club like Evie had suggested and get
some sleep. I figured that way I would be there when the clan woke
up and I could inform them that my little research trip had been a
complete waste of time.

I gathered up my books and headed down the hall
just as the bell rang. The halls filled up with commotion, so I
didn't really notice when Jillian had slid up next to me.

"Hi!" She certainly sounded like she had gotten
enough sleep last night. Lucky bitch.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm okay. Last night was fun, huh?" The look
she was giving me was freaking me out. I knew that Justin had given
them some kind of cover story, but I hadn't exactly gotten all the
details.

"Um, yeah...it was great!" I decided that
sticking to vague answers was the way to go.

"We should road trip more often. Then that
delicious dinner we had with our friends...YUM! We are so going
back to that restaurant. Actually, remember Mom said that we could
probably go back this weekend when you spend the night again.
Anyway, I can't wait. Catch ya later!" She bounded off in a flurry
of ponytail swishes and tennis shoe squeaks. I assumed that Justin
had removed himself from the story last night which was fine by me.
I really didn't want to have to start explaining things to Jillian
too. So right now, I was utterly happy to leave her in her bubble
of ignorance.

* * * * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Follow My Gut

(Rose)

When I arrived back at the club, I used the key
that Evie had given me to let myself in. It was so odd being here
during the day, knowing that everyone was below sleeping in the
pit, including Christian.

It only took me a few seconds to find the button
that he had used before to open the bookcase in Evie's office. I
figured if I was here and was going to be getting some sleep, I
wanted to be doing it in my boyfriend's bed.

Thankfully, finding Christian's room had only
taken me opening one wrong door. I had found Bobby sprawled across
his bed, fully clothed, thank God. The next door I opened revealed
Christian. He was lying on his back in only a pair of snug fitting
boxers and no shirt. The sight of him took my breath away.

I wasn't exactly sure how this would go, but
since I assumed that he really did mean
dead to the world,
I
didn't think I would disturb him as I climbed into bed.

He wasn't cold or stiff...ahem. I maneuvered him
out of the way as I made room for myself and curled up next to
him.

It felt so perfect to finally be resting in the
arms of my boyfriend, that at this point it truly didn't even
register that he was a vampire. Christian, and everyone in his clan
for that matter, had always been completely nice to me, Terrance
notwithstanding. They had never once made fun of me or showered me
with pity because of what had happened. In truth, these vampires
were nicer than most of the humans that I knew, and I couldn't wait
to become part of their clan.

I let these thoughts fill my head as I started
to drift off to sleep. What better way to spend my dreaming hours
than imagining myself as part of Christian's life forever.

* * * * *

(Christian)

The moment I started to rise from being
comatose, I knew something was different. As usual, the image that
formed in my head was of Rose, since she was the last thing I had
thought of before lying down. But this was different. It was like I
could actually smell her.

The moment that I broke through into
consciousness, I realized that Rose was actually here in my bed,
snuggled up against me, sleeping softly.
My God, what did I do
to deserve such a reward?

This was how I wanted to wake for the rest of my
existence: Rose's beautiful blonde hair, pouring over her shoulders
and onto my arms. Her sweet scent filling my nose, her sexy body
pressed into me just right. Damn, I had never wanted anything more
than I wanted her in that moment.

I decided to follow my gut and reached around to
smooth her hair away from her face. She started to stir as I kissed
my way down her neck. "Good evening, angel."

"Mmmm. Good evening indeed." Her voice was
sultry and smooth as honey as she started to wake. The way her body
moved and curved as she twisted around to face me sent delicious
shocks racing along my nerves. I was ready for her in an
instant.

She must have felt my growing need. "Mmmm...this
is exactly what I was just dreaming about," she said.

I was so on fire that I couldn't even reply. I
continued to kiss and caress my way down Rose's body, making sure
to soak up every single inch as we peeled each other out of our
remaining clothes.

"Are you sure we have time for this?" Rose
asked.

As I looked up and met her heavy-lidded eyes,
she must have taken in my darkened appearance, because a sexy smile
spread across her mouth. One that made me ache to kiss her until we
were both left breathless.

"And here I thought it was a bad thing when you
drifted dark." She giggled between kisses, while continuing to run
her hands down my back.

With the level of emotion that I was feeling
right now, I was probably as dark as Terrance. But this kind of
drifting had nothing to do with demons, or poison, but instead an
intense desire and passion that stemmed from the love I felt for
Rose.

"I love you Rose. I love you with everything
that I am, which may not be much, but it's all yours." I knew that
sounded stupid and sappy the moment it left my lips, but it was the
truth. In that instant I knew that I'd give her everything and
anything she ever wanted. I refused to live without her.

"I love you too, Christian. And I'm yours, now,
and soon to be forever. Will you please make love to me?"

* * * * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

New Life

(Jeremy/Dad)

After spending the rest of the afternoon car
shopping for Rose, I decided that it just wouldn't be right for me
to pick out her first car for her or to use it to try to smooth
things over between us. I've never had to buy my daughters
affection in the past, and I certainly wasn't going to start
now.

So after a quick shower, I made myself a
sandwich and waited for Rose to come home from school.

I thought things would go pretty smoothly after
I had the chance to tell her that I had broken things off with
Meredith, but I wasn't stupid. I knew she felt betrayed that I had
kept my relationship a secret in the first place. And the even
bigger hurdle was that I was sure she was feeling very protective
of her mother's memory. Who could blame her?

I had never truly expected to start dating
Meredith after Loraine's death but while dealing with my grief she
listened, consoled, made me laugh, and encouraged me to focus on
Rose. I was truly grateful to her for helping me deal with the
pain.

Then one night, during my overnight meeting in
Masen, she had expressed her feelings for me. I remember being a
little surprised, but not really. She always seemed to have that
glint in her eye; the one that makes it pretty clear to any man
when a woman is interested in him. She had told me that listening
to me talk about Loraine and Rose had made her realize what a
wonderful man I was, and that she couldn't deny that she was
developing feelings for me. She also said that if I felt she was
being disrespectful of Loraine's memory that she would understand
if I wanted to end things.

But I should have been stronger. The truth was,
as much as I liked Meredith as a person, it was because she
reminded me of Loraine that I fell into her bed.

Thinking back now, it had been wonderful and
just what I needed at that time. I know that made me sound like a
terrible person, but the truth was, if I hadn't had Meredith to
turn to during these past months, I probably would have just
withered away, or even worse, been more obsessive about Rose's life
than I already had been.

I knew Rose humored me by letting my driver take
her and pick her up from school. And she was always such a sweet
girl about following my insane rules when it came to her safety. If
I was being honest with myself, I knew it was only a matter of time
before she snapped. I'm actually pretty surprised it took this
long.

But now we could clear the slate and have a
fresh start. I realized that my overprotectiveness was only going
to push her away, so it was time I let my little girl grow up. I
needed to start a new life, too. I couldn't continue to fake my way
through a relationship with a woman who looked like Loraine. It was
time to move on.

* * * * *

(Meredith)

I had to figure out a way to get Jeremy back.
Not only to continue my pure demon bloodline, but because I had
truly fallen in love with him. I had never met anyone so dedicated
to his family. He was the perfect man: tall, dark,
handsome...smart, sophisticated, and sexy. I absolutely refused to
let him go. But how? How was I supposed to get around the fact that
he was now focused on his daughter and her feelings about our
relationship? What a bunch of bullshit. The girl was almost
twenty-one and would very soon be staying twenty-one forever. I had
to get back into Jeremy's life, because when Rose turned into a
vampire, he was going to be devastated all over again, and just
like last time...I'd be there to pick up the pieces.

But who knew how long it would take for Rose to
actually get accepted into the clan and changed, or what effect the
change would have on her? Word on the street was that Evangeline
couldn't sire any more new vamps and their new Sire hadn't been
triggered yet. I supposed I could get rid of her the same way I did
her mom. It hadn't really been all that hard when the time had come
to finally do it.

Since I knew where Terrance met Rose and
Loraine, I had waited in the parking lot of the swim complex until
he'd finished feeding and then I had used my mind bond with him to
instruct Loraine to leave her bedroom at 2 a.m. Once everyone had
gone their separate ways, I followed Loraine and Rose back to their
house.

I only had to wait a few hours, and then right
before 2 a.m., I broke in. She was coming out of her room just as
instructed. I figured that I would use the recently closed puncture
wounds that Terrance had left to make it look like a vampire
draining. Demons don't have fangs like vampires, but our incisors
are sharp enough that if we want to drink blood like our ancestors
had, we definitely had the ability. I remember when my grandmother
had first told me that drinking human blood was not only the way of
our demon ancestors, but that they'd believed it filled them with
the essence of the person from whom they drank. I figured in this
case, since I already looked enough like Loraine, it could only
help me to actually ingest her essence while I eliminated her.

Once she had been drained, I remembered leaving
with the feeling that I had just come home. Whether it was her
essence already flowing through me or the fact that I now knew that
Jeremy and I would be building a life together, it had been
euphoric. Getting rid of Loraine had been the best idea I had ever
had.

But getting rid of Rose was a different story. I
couldn't risk biting her in order to kill her like I had her mom.
Since she was a half-demon, there was a possibility that her blood
would actually allow her control over me if I were to ingest it. I
wasn't going to be able to control her in any way since she wasn't
a vampire yet, so I had no way to infect her with my poison like I
had with Terrance. I had no idea how this was going to work.

I knew she wouldn't willingly help me get back
on Jeremy's good side, so I was going to have to come up with a
different plan all together: one that would put me back in Jeremy's
life and eliminate Rose's hold over him.

I'd already decided that infecting another
vampire was too much trouble at this point, so the only option I
had left was to threaten Rose and turn her father against her. I
had thought about simply killing her in a more modern way, like
shooting her, or a random stabbing at her college, but as much as I
wanted her gone so I could build a life with Jeremy, I didn't want
to risk starting a war with the vampires. I knew that Rose's death
would put them on the hunt, and with Terrance still alive, it would
only be a matter of time before they found me out.