Blood of a Red Rose (15 page)

* * * * *

CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE

Puzzle

(Evie)

"I think we have something else to consider here. We know that once the demon blood works it
s
way out of your system, you'll drift bac
k to normal, just like Terrance
. And
until then
,
we c
an
just keep you locked up
so you won't
be a risk
."

I was trying to explain to Christian that the risk m
ight
be minimal if we planned ahead. If our only hope of destroying a demon was to create a hybrid, then that was exactly what we needed to do. Was it going to be trick
y? Y
es.
Bu
t what other choice did we have?
Balam had explained that since the old demon
god
s were no longer present in our world, this was our best chance.

"I understand that you
'
r
e
nervous
,
and of course, it's not going to be easy. But at least now we have a group of demons to choose from. We
'll
just follow Renard back to where Meredith conducted her meeting
,
and then abscond with one of her little members. By the time she miss
es anyone, it will be too late.
"

"Evie, it's not that simple. W
hether it's my clairsentient ability or something else, I just
know
that it won
't work. There's something we're missing
,
and until I get a clear picture of what that something is...I'm not going to be biting anyone." Christian's statement held the slightest hint of his Sire's command.

As frustrating as all of this was, I was extremely proud of how well
he was adjusting,
and how powerful a new Sire he was quickly
becoming.

"You're right, Christian. We can't rush into anything. The sun is almost up
,
so let's plan to continue this conversation tomorrow. When you wake
,
I'd like you to meet me at the cell. We need to see if you can gather any more information from Kennedy
, and
find out
if he's started to drift back yet."

"You think th
e
demon blood has already left his system?" Dax asked.

"Yes, I do. Terrance
was
feeding from Meredith repeatedly for months, but Kennedy had only a small taste, so if the timing prove
s
accurate, he should be drifting back by tomorrow night."

"Alright, Evie. I'll meet you there. Goodnight."

I watched Christian exit my office and then turned to face Dax. He was still sitting in the chair, gnawing on a plastic toothpick as his hair drifted from dark blonde to the deepest brown. "I don't like this, Evie. None of it seems right. How can creating a hybrid demon really help us? Seems to me, we'd be playing into our own demise."

"I've considered that too, but I have to trust Balam. If he and the elders think
this is our
best shot, I
really don't see any other option. Meredith may not have started anything yet, but it sure as hell seems like she's getting ready to.
I
won't
let her
and her
army start infecting th
e vampires in the area. I'll do whatever it takes to protect our clan and our race
."

Dax removed the toothpick from his mouth and slowly stood up from the chair. "I know you want to protect us all, but Evie, it's really not up to you anymore. It's Christ
ian's job now, and like he said, he
's not going to bite anyone until
he
figures things out. All we can do now is just support him, okay?"

I leaned into his embrace and rested my head on his shoulder. He was right of course. I still held the status of Sire within my clan, but Christian was the true leader now. I just hoped that with all of his abilities
,
he was able to figure out what piece of the puzzle we were missing, and soon.

* * * * *

(Rose)

I woke up just after 9 a.m., slid out from under Christian's arm, and proceeded to get dressed. I didn't have to worry about waking anyone up, as they were all comatose and would remain so until the sun went down.

As I showered and did my makeup
,
the butterflies in my stomach started doing flip-flops. I knew I'd need to make the
call soon, or I'd risk missing D
ad. If he still worked his same schedule
,
he was usually in the office by 10
a.m.

Even though I knew there was no risk of being interrupted
,
I decided to head upstairs into
the
club so I could truly be alone. I was nervous but excited to finally be reaching out to my dad. I glanced at the red numbers of the digital clock hanging above the bar...9:36 a.m. I flipped open my cell and dialed.

"Hello. This is Jeremy."

Tears immediately started streaming down my cheeks at the sound of his voice. I couldn't say anything due to the huge lump presently taking up residence in the middle of my throat.

"Hello?"
he repeated.
"Hello?
Is anyone there
?"

I f
inally g
ot
my emotions under control
,
swallowed
,
and said,
"Dad. It's me
...
Rose."

The line was silent for a moment as I heard what sounded like a car slowing down then he said,
"Rose? Honey, is that really you?"

"Yeah, Dad. It's me. Are you alone?"

"Oh
,
baby, it's so good to hear your voice. And yes, I'm alone. I'm in my car. Where are you? I'm actually headed back to Seela today."

"That's great.
I'm s
till in Seela. Is there any way you could meet me somewhere today?"

"Just tell me when and where."

"How about the park around the corner from that steak house
on E
lm and 3rd?" That was the park
w
h
ere Christian and I had watched a screening of Dracula on the night of our first date.
I
hadn't thought about that night in so long but it still made me giggle.

"That sounds great. I need to make a couple calls to cancel some meetings today
, but I can be there in an hour
."

"Wait. You can't call anyone! Dad, no one can know about this...especially M
eredith."

The line went
dead
once again, and I was worried I'd made a mistake by bringing her up. But I couldn't risk any of her little peons knowing where I was. "Dad, I'm serious. If you don't promise not to call anyone and come alone, you can forget it. I won't come unless
you keep it a secret.
"

After a heavy sigh
,
he said, "Alright
. I'll head straight there and not call anyone. But Rose, I hope you're planning to explain all of this odd behavior."

"I am, Dad. But whether you'll believe me or not is a whole
different
story."

An hour later I wiped my sweaty palms on
my jeans for the umpteenth time
as
I
stood nervously behind a large maple tree watching for my dad's car. I'd driven Christian's car
and
parked it around t
he corner. I didn't want my Dad
or anyone else seeing it and linking me back to The Rising Pit. As far as he knew, Evie still hadn't seen Christian or me since the accident, and that's e
xactly how I wanted to leave it in
case this meeting didn't go as
I hoped.

The second I saw his car
,
I wanted to run. Run away or run into his arms, I wasn't sure. I was so nervous because
deep down
I didn't think
he'd be listening
to a single thing I
had to say, which
could
prove
to be a problem
,
since he'd probably want to
grab
me and head to the nearest insane asylum.

As he approached the bench
,
I stepped out from behind the tree. He froze in place, tilted his head
,
and then opened his arms to me. I went running.

"Dad
!
"

"Rose
, m
y baby girl. Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine." I pulled out of our embrace and took his hand, then led him over to take a seat on the bench.

He sat there quietly for a few moments just staring at me. "Rose, I've been so worried about you." He hugged me again and this time I didn't pull away. He stroked my hair and rocked
me
back and forth like I was a baby in his arms. I felt precious to him once again.

"Where have you been? I looked for you
everywhere
but didn't have
any
luck."

"Dad
, I
'm not going to tell you that. I love you and I just need you to know that I really am okay."

He leaned back
,
and
the
red sparks that flashed through his eyes were enough to send me into a full blown panic attack.
Holy shit!
What i
f
my dad
was
being controlled by Meredith
?
What i
f
she'd started
to
feed him human blood to trigger his demon DNA
?
Shit, this could be really bad. What the hell had I been thinking?

"Rose
, a
s angry as that makes me, I'm trying to respect th
e
fact that you're a grown woman and don't need my protection. But I just don't understand why you can't tell me where you're staying
. W
hat's wi
th
all the secrecy?"

The red
sparks
left his eyes and he seemed to be relaxed once again. As much as I wanted to head for the hills, I kn
ew that now m
ight
be my only chanc
e to try to explain everything and maybe get some answers.

"Okay, Dad. I'll explain everything
,
but you have to promise to keep an open mind. I'm not crazy
,
and if you push me, I can prove everything I'm saying, but I'd rather you not force me to."

There. I thought that was a pretty good way to start the conversation. Dad settled into his seat, getting as comfortable as you could on a park bench, and then began to listen to my wild tale of vampires and demons.

* * * * *

CHAPTER
THIRTY

Bombshells

(Lo
raine)

The moment I materialized and found both Rose and Jeremy sitting in a park
,
my heart
started to b
reak. Seei
ng my family together had
tears running down my
ghostly
cheeks. I w
ould have given anything to
be
able to communicate with them, but as usual I couldn't. Christian was
still
the only
one
who could see
and
hear me.

As I moved to hover around the back of the bench, I saw Jeremy
's
eyes flare red at what
ever
Rose had just said. I let my hand mist through his shoulder and sensed him immediately relax. I knew my calming energy was going to
be
in high demand here today, because Rose was about to drop some major bombshells.
I listened as
she
relayed the story of the vampires and demons to
her dad.

She proceeded to tell him that his new girlfriend was in fact
the
demon
who killed me,
and that both
he and Rose
we
re
demons
too
.
Despite the skeptical looks
that continually swept across
Jeremy's face, he kept quiet and allowed Rose to finish her explanation.
I was so thankful my calming ability still worked even from beyond the grave.

Rose continued to
explain
w
hat happened the night she attacked
Meredith
,
and how
the bitch was now tryi
ng to build an army to fight against the vampires.

* * * * *

(Rose)

"I don't know what to say. I'm trying
to wrap my head around this, b
ut demons and vampires
–
it's just so unbelievable."

"Dad, I told you I could prove it if you need me to, but I
had
hoped that you'd just trust
me instead. Meredith is a demon
and so are we.
She killed mom and wants me dead too so she can have you all to herself.
Did you really never have a clue about what you are?"

"What I am? What I am is your father and someone who goes to work
every day to
provide a good life for his family. I'm just a normal guy
!
"

"A normal guy? Is that why just minutes ago you had red sparks shooting through your eyes?"

That must have been the perfect thing to say, because in the next second he scooted closer and grabbed both of my hands. "You noticed my eyes flaring red?"

"Yes. When you got mad. It's a typical demon trait."

"Oh my god. I thought I'd been imaging things. I've been noticing lately that I seem to get angry a lot easier and that when I am mad, my eyes flare red
and my temperature starts to rise
."

He sagged
further onto the
bench. I was worried t
hat he was close to passing out
.
I knew this was a lot for him to take in
, n
ot only learning that vampires and demon
s were real, but learning that his
daughter who'd been missing for months, was
smack
in the middle of it. Yeah, I think I was close to passing out too.

"Dad. You have to get away from her. If she hasn't started slipping you blood yet, I'm sure it's only going to be a matter of time. I don't want you to end up under her control and a part of her stupid demon army. The vampires will
have no choice but to
destroy you if you do."

"I assume the vampires you're talking about are Christian and his
'
family.
'
I'm not stupid
,
and I know that's where you've been stayin
g. I suppose I should be grateful to the owner
for
keeping you safe."

"Yes. I'm staying with Christian and his clan. We
are
in
the process of figuring out how to fight the demons. I
want you to come back with me, Dad. I know E
vie
would let you hide with us.
You
don't even have to go back to Masen. We could
just go back to the club r
ight now."

We sat in silence for what seemed like m
inutes. I didn't have anything else to say and I knew Dad needed some time to let
this
all
sink in. I hated
that our
first conversation
,
after being apart for months
,
was about demons and vampires instead of
how much I missed him and how happy I was to see him
. But with the situation escalating like it was,
it was something that couldn't be avoided.

"Rose. I love you, and
I'm trying here
,
I really am. But I can't
just
walk away from Meredith without at least
confronting he
r about
all this. I want to believe you,
but at the same time I don't. I can't stand the thought that I've soiled your mother's memory by falling in love with the woman who killed her
. And
if what you
'
r
e saying really is true, then I
need
to face Meredith and put things to an end once
and
for all.

"No! Dad
,
you can't. If she finds out you know about her and that you're aware of your heritage
,
she could hurt you, or
even kill you
. Especially when
you tell her
you're leaving. No. Please just come with me."
I frantically grabbed a hold of his arms, but
he
shook me off.

"I can't
,
baby girl. Facing her is a risk I have to take
.
I know you said you can prove everything to me, but I need this...I need to prove it to myself.
I'll call you tonight."

I sat with tears running down my face as my dad kissed the top of my head and headed back to
wards
his car.
What have I done?
I thought that by telling him everything
,
I could convince him to come with me so he'd be safe. But instead,
here I sat watching him
walk off to meet his death.