Blood of a Red Rose (5 page)

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Success

(
Meredith
)

D
amien
and I were crouched around a homeless man in the alley behind the Salvation Army.
The stench of sweat and garbage was almost too much for me to handle
. B
ut, I'd been s
o happy with the success of our conversation
,
we'd decided to put our theory to the test right away.

I'd gone over the plan again and again on our way over, and
Damien
was content with letting me start the process. I sunk my teeth into the man's neck
,
and with onl
y a little pressure had my f
irst taste of warm blood
s
ince I'd killed Loraine. It was heaven. My body was filled with a rush of strength and my heart picked up its pace as the man's essence filled my soul.

"Enough
,
Meredith. My turn,"
Damien
demanded. I was so caught up in the
sensation
I didn't realize I'd fed longer than expected.

"I'm sorry, you're right. Here." I tossed him the man's body and watch
ed
as he sank his teeth in the already open wounds
o
n
his neck. I was
pleased but
surprised he didn't show any signs of hesitating.

Watching the actual process and effect th
e
human blood had on
him
was astonishing. It was almost as if
Damien
grew taller and wider right before m
e
.
The flare of red
in
his eyes signaled
just how much he was enjoying the effects of the blood
.

Breathing heavily and with crimson coating his mouth
,
Damien
pulled away from the man and dropped his dead body to the ground. "It's working. I can feel it happening just like you said."

"I told you
;
you can
trust me. Now that we know how to get stronger and extend our lives, I think it's time we started to
look for
others
who'd d
o
the same
. B
ecause
once the vampires in Seela find out I'm still alive
,
they
're
going to come after me
. T
he mor
e demons we have ready to fight
,
t
he better
our chances will be
."

"I know a handful of people in my family that may be willing to join us, but the majority will be
appalled
by what we're doing."

"What if we don't tell them
?
What if we put some blood in
the drinks at the next meeting,
and little by little feed them the essence that will make them stronger
?
On
ce they realize they are being a
ffected, they won't want to stop."

His sly smile told me he agreed with my plan. "You're brilliant. And gorgeous."
In the next second I was being s
lammed against the hard brick wall. "I want you Meredith. I want you right here, right now." I knew he was reacting to the high of the human blood in our veins, but I love
d
Jeremy and I wanted him to be the father of my baby...not
Damien
.

"
Damien
,
back the fuck off!
"
I shoved him off
of
me and straightened my shirt.
I was stronger than him and wasn't worried about
stopping
his advance.
"I'm flattered, but
there's no way in hell I'm
sleep
ing with you, and if you pull that shit again, I'll have your balls on a platter before you can blink. I
need someone I can count on as my second
, not s
omeone who
s
e
emotions and feelings
are going
be an issue. Can I count on you or should I
start
look
ing
for someone else?"

"I'm sorry. I think I'm just overwhelmed
by the blood in my system.
Please accept my apology.
Of course y
ou can count on me." He
lowered h
is head as we made our way out of the dark alley and back to the car.

"Good. I have to get home, but let's meet tomorrow night so we can gather some more 'donors' to prepare for the next meeting."

The look on
Damien
's face confirmed he was on board with my plan.
The anticipation of killing and drinking another human
's blood
as soon as tomorrow had his eyes glowing red
, and a
glut
tonous
smile
was
plastered on his face.
"
That s
ounds
p
erfect!
"

* * * * *

(Jeremy)

I wasn't sure
,
but I thought I was being followed as I headed back towards Masen. The blue SUV had been on me since I'd left The Rising Pit.

Evangeline and the rest of her crew
–
minus the guy who disappeared back inside
–
hadn't come back before I left, but as I pulled on
to
the freeway and
pointed m
y car towards home
,
this truck had been behind me.
Damn, I
'm g
etting paranoid
again
.

During the
two hour drive
from Seela to Masen, I tested my theory. I changed lanes,
sp
ed up and slowed
down,
and f
inally
began to relax when
I
no longer saw
the truck behind me
.
I pulled out my cell to give Meredith
a
heads up that I was almost home. "Hi
,
honey, I'm almost to the edge of town. Did you eat already or do I need to pick something up for us?"

"I would love some pizza if you're up for it. I can call
Giovanni's and have it ready for pickup if you'd like."

Hearing her voice
settled my nerves
.
After striking out on my stake
out, the idea of a romantic evening
with Meredith was just w
hat
I needed. "Pizza and wine
. T
hat sounds perfect, babe. I'll be there in
thirty minutes.
"

CHAPTER
NINE

Trigger

(
Evie
)

Once Renard and Loni were on their way to Masen to gather intel on Jeremy and Meredith, Dax and the others opened the club as I settled in my
office and prepared to call my S
ire once
again
.

I
asked Christian to join me so he could relay the details
of
exactly
what happened with Terrance
i
f necessary.

Balam a
nswered on the second ring
,
obviously recognizing my number from the caller id
. "Evang
e
line. What's wrong? I didn't expect to hear from you again so soon."

"I'm sorry to bother you again,
Sire,
but our situation is far from over and there have been some developments that are causing even more confusion."

"What developments,
joven
cita
?"
It was hard for him not to speak in his native tongue, but he knew that I'd stop
ped
speaking Spanish a very long time ago
.
But h
e
still
couldn't resist calling me by the nickname he'd labeled me with so long ago..."young one."

A small
burst
of laughter escaped me at the oddity of
being called "young one." Me,
a
twelve-hundred
year old vampire
. B
ut it
did
solidified
just
how ancient Balam truly was. I
hoped being one of the original Mayan people would lend
itself to him possessing s
ome valuable information once again.

"The demon is still alive and my vampire son, Terrance
,
has shown signs of drifting back
to normal
.
I was hoping
you might have an idea as to how
that's even possible. I know the rule is to deliver the true death to any vampire
who's
drifted permanently dark, but if he's drifting back, I think we need to make an exception to the rule."
The speed of my explanation was apparently enough of a trigger for Balam to understand how panicked I truly was.

"Evangeline, calm down. After we
last
spoke I contacted the other elders and
we've discussed your situation at
length.
I think you're right
;
ending Terrance w
ould
be a mistake
. He's the first vampire to ever go through something like this and come out of it alive. Our
lack of information
in the past has led to some unfortunate deaths
,
but now that we know demons are responsible
for the few cases in which vampires drifted permanently dark,
this is the perfect opportunity to study Terrance and his reactions and maybe find a solution to the problem through his experience.
"

Relieved, I closed my eyes and t
ook a deep breath
as I sunk into my
leather chair
. I was so happy Terrance would be allowed to live.
Christian remained seated o
n
the opposite side of my desk,
watchi
ng me intently as he listen
ed
with his heightened hearing
as Balam continued
.

"I think one of the reasons Terrance has started drifting back is
due to
the lack of demon blood being introduced
into his system.
He hasn't fed from the demon in months
,
so it would make sense that her blood would work
its
way out of his system.
Ou
r rule of delivering the true
death
was something that
Yum Camil
established before my time and
has always prompt
ed us to end our
a
ffected brethren before they ever had a chance to
re
cover
.
"

I hoped Balam was right, as this would mean that Terrance would soon drift back to normal and
fully
become part
of our clan once more. My hopes
were quickly dashed as Balam
spoke again.

"You are not going to be able t
o let Terrance free
because even though the demo
n blood no longer poisons his system
, we are not sure how the mind bond that was forged will be
a
ffected. Just because he's not feeding from her doesn't mean she couldn't still have the ability to control him."

Damn!
That was really bad news.
Christian
's
eyes and hair were almost black as he
shook his
head.
I knew
how upset he was and
exactly what he was thinking. Killing her and every other demon we could find was going to be our only choice.

"
Balam, do you and the elders have any ideas on how we actually kill a demon?"

"Let me
contact
the elders once more and I will
call you in a couple of days. The stories of our origins and the
ancient
demon culture are scarce, but I'm sure through our combined knowledge we'll be able to pinpoint the detail
s
you'll
need to put an end to this nightmare."

I thanked
my S
ire and hung up the phone. This was going to be a long couple of days.

"Do you think they have a chance
of
uncovering the information we need to destroy her?" The skepticism in Christian's voice proved he didn't think so.

"I'm not sure. We're
facing something
new
for the first ti
me in all of vampire history, and that means there
are
a lot of unknowns. Even Balam has never been through something like this. But I trust him to do everything he can to
help us
find the answer
.
"
With that
,
I pushed out of my chair and headed to find Dax.
I knew m
y consort would want to know
everything
I'd
just
learned.
Christian
's
hand on my shoulder stopped me just as I reached the door.

"Rose and I had a fight. She's mad
at me for not telling her about
her dad moving when we first found out. And now, with Meredith being alive, I think she's
even more
determined to contact her dad to find out what's going on. She's lost faith that we
'
ll be able to control the situation and I think she's losing faith in our relationship too. I don't know what to do."

The crestfallen look on his face had my heart breaking. This was Christian's first serious relationship in six-hundred years. "I'm
so sorry, Christian
, b
ut
try
to
understand
.
Rose has lost her entire family, and is now being forced to live
w
ith a bunch of vampires who
can only interact with her at
night
. She must be feeling pretty alone, and then to find out
w
e've
been keeping
things from her...you must see h
ow that could be very upsetting
."

"I do. And I'm sorry I didn't tell her sooner. You said that you wanted to gain more information
first
, and at the time I agreed with you, but I think
we made
a mistake. We're going to have to trust Rose more. Especially since once I become the new Sire, she'll be my consort forever. I don't want any animosity between
us
right from the start."

"You're right. We do need to trust her more, but keep in mind
, Christian,
she's still human.
Their
emotions can make them do irrational things."

"Like run straight into the waiting arms of a demon because she misses her dad?" Christian asked.

"Exactly. And honestly, you
do
realize we have no way of stopping her from leaving
during the day, don't you? U
n
less you
plan to
bit
e
a
nd
use your sedative on a
human
,
there's no other way to keep
tabs on her
while we sleep
."

"I thought about
that
,
and even though it will push her further away if she ever finds out, I feel like she's leaving me no choice. I'm so terrified of what Meredith will do to her if she gets the chance. And Rose's fear for her father's safety is likely to push her straight into Meredith's grasp."

"Take tonight and think things over. If you want to use a human to guard her during the day, I know the perfect one. Just let me know what you decide.
"

* * * * *

(Christian)

I left Evie's office and took a trip around the club
, for once doing my job instead of
focusing on Rose. Well, almost.
I needed time to think on how best to approach Rose with my apology...and my demands.

There was no way I could risk her running to her father, only to fall prey to Meredith's scheme
,
whatever
it
was.
I knew before I even reached the upper level of the club that I was going to take Evie up on her offer. I had to have someone
who'd
be able to watch over Rose while I was comatose. I would bite this human, and program my sed
ative to turn him into her body
g
uard. He would keep tabs on her
,
and if necessary
,
do anything and everything to protect her. I didn't
think it
was something
Rose would be upset about
–
people get body guards all the time.
..right?