Hyde (21 page)

"No Hanna, you don’t understand my love. Marcus
made an elixir that stopped any Siren's magic from working on
anyone who drank it. He thought he was saving your father from the
clutches of a Siren. However when the elixir went into his system
he fell more in love with her. The love was real."

Hanna put her face into her hands, "Marcus,
again Marcus. Do you think he knows he's under my spell? Maybe he
should take the elixir as well."

Roland laughed, "He may not think you possess
her charms since you are much like your father and it's all so
new."

"I need some of that for them all. I can't have
them loving me against their will. Think of poor Andy. He's
completely in the dark about it all."

"You could ask Marcus to make you some."

She groaned, "I need a bunch of it. God how
pathetic am I, no one loves me for me. They love me because I
forced them to." She thought about having sex with Marcus. Her skin
crawled imagining what he really thought about her.

Roland put his hand on hers, "Hanna at least you
see it for what it is. I have been trying to help you be more
cavalier about love. I would hate for you to develop feelings for
one of them, only to find out they don’t love you the same
way."

"How long have you known I was like this?"

He sighed, "The day Aleksander came to the house
and you refused to get out of bed. I sent him up there to lecture
you but when you came down the stairs I knew. I could sense
something was different. I never would have guessed it was this
until you stared to have so many men in your life."

"I'm a menace." She got up from the table and
walked out of the kitchen, "I'm going to see a man about a
potion."

She walked out the door and climbed into the
small car her aunt had convinced her to buy when she had turned
sixteen, a shitty old civic.

The drive to the castle made her uneasy, but
seeing it as she pulled up made her out right nauseous.

Henry stood at the front door smiling at her.
She got out of the car and walked up to the mansion, trying to
ignore the clenching in her chest.

Henry opened the door not speaking but smiling
like a fool. She wondered if she needed seven batches of the
cure.

"Is he inside?" She asked as she walked in.

Henry nodded and pointed.

She walked toward the lab knowing he would most
likely be there. Her flats made a slapping noise along the hard
floors. She knew he would hear her coming.

She walked up to the lab door and knocked
softly. The metal door felt painful against her knuckles.

She waited but heard nothing.

Suddenly the huge metal door slid into the wall
revealing the stark white lab. The light from it hurt her eyes.

He stood inside in jeans and a charcoal grey
turtleneck. It showed every muscle along his body. She felt her
pulse quicken at the sight of him. His dark crystal blue eyes
looked pained. "To what do I owe the honor?" His voice sounded
wounded.

She took a deep breath, "Why do you love
me?"

He laughed bitterly, "Oh Hanna can we play these
games later? I am quite busy today."

She watched his expressions.

"In your blood tests did you ever test it
against my mothers?"

He looked up sharply, "What?"

"I'm a lot like my father but it seems I've
inherited a few of her, charms."

Her heart hurt watching him take it all in.

"A red haired Siren. I'm pretty sure that's
never actually happened before."

"Yay I'm special. I was wondering when I would
get to be special?"

He laughed, as he walked to the far side of the
lab and opened one of the huge white cupboards. As he opened it,
steam blew out into the lab. She frowned wondering what kind of
cupboard it was.

"I need a six doses, well unless you think Henry
could possibly fall under my spell."

With his back to her he spoke softly, "It's
better if Henry is smitten with you. You will always be safer with
him on your side."

He gripped a silver tube. It looked like a
toothbrush holder.

He closed the cupboard she was becoming
convinced was a fridge.

He walked to the table and grabbed several
vials. He poured a bright pink liquid into the vials, the same
amount for each.

"Give them these. It will take it away
instantly. For you to prevent it from happening again you need to
get Lydia to make you a charm. It will put a wall up around you
that stops the manipulation."

He put the vials into a dark purple bag and
passed her the bag.

She took it, feeling the soft satin of the
bag.

She sighed, "You need to drink one too."

"I drank one years ago my dear. When I met your
mother."

She felt ill.

"You loved her?"

He nodded, "For a moment but it wasn’t real. I
took the cure and it faded instantly."

"Did she love you?"

He shook his head.

Hanna nodded, "Well thanks for this." She felt a
small burst of excitement that his feelings for her had been
genuine.

His face was stoic.

She stepped toward him, "Marcus I'm so sorry. I
assumed the worst of you at every turn and you didn’t deserve
it."

He smiled, "I deserve it in every way Hanna." He
took a step toward her, taking her small hand in his, "I am
unworthy of you."

She shook her head feeling her eyes mist over,
"No you're exactly the man I need. I think I could really love you
Marcus."

He pulled her hand, crushing her against his
chest. She felt his hard body against her.

He squeezed her, "Hanna I swear I will do
everything in my power to protect this, what we have."

"From what?"

"Myself." He whispered.

The smell of him filled her, making her light
headed.

His face came down on hers, kissing her
intensely.

Her phone started to ring. She pulled it out and
answered.

"Roland?"

"Annabelle has had word sent. The house was
attacked."

Hanna frowned, "How is that possible? Lydia has
the guards. Nothing can get through there."

"Something has. I believe they were humans. The
guards don’t keep out humans."

"Roland humans can't defeat Aleks and Sam and
Lucas and Ari and all those weird little kids. Not to mention the
powerful witch that live there."

She looked up at Marcus, his reaction spoke
volumes.

"I will go there directly." She closed the phone
looking at Marcus. "Oh my god, what have you done?"

He looked stunned, "I, well, I didn’t think he
had it done yet. I thought we had more time."

She stepped back, "What did you do?"

He shook his head, "We had more time." His voice
changed, he wasn’t the confident vampire she always saw him
for.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Her heart was bursting. She
needed to know where Sam was.

He grabbed her arm, "We need to go now."

He dragged her down the hall, she could hear the
lab door closing.

"Henry, Henry if you please, get the car. Henry
the car." He dragged her down the hall.

His long legs taking steps she couldn’t match at
a run.

By the time they reached the front door, Henry
was sitting in the car waiting for them.

Marcus opened the door, threw her inside and
jumped in.

Her head bounced off the other door, "Ouch.
Marcus what is going on?" She shouted.

"The chemist I told you about. He must have
completed the experiments he was doing with your blood. He has made
the humans like the beast." His jaw flexed.

"How could you let that happen?" The word spun
as her anger increased.

He turned to her, "You are my number one
priority. If everyone else dies but you live then so be it."

She started to feel dizzy, the change gripped
her, "How could you? I could never live with that."

"Well I can."

Chapter Thirty-Three: Hanna Hyde

Aleksander

Voices filled the smoky air, he couldn't
understand them but they rattled around in his fuzzy thoughts. He
recalled the hoards of people over running them. He recalled the
children screaming. Everyone panicked.

He lifted his head realizing he was on the
ground. His vision cleared, it had been a long time since anything
had been able to debilitate him.

He looked down at the blood staining his hands.
His eyes glanced at the wounds in his stomach. They seeped blood
slowly, matching his heartbeat.

He shivered.

He knew he had been drugged by something.
Something he hadn’t known existed.

"What the hell Aleks? What happened?"

He turned pushing himself to a standing position
to see Lorri. She looked livid.

"I don’t know. They were humans, the guards
couldn’t keep them out. I couldn’t kill them. I wounded them over
and over but I couldn’t kill them. It was as if they felt
nothing."

She screamed, "FUCK!"

She stormed past him through the kitchen to the
sitting room.

He followed, to where Lydia lay unconscious on
the ground. Her heartbeat was barely there.

"Is she dying?" Lorri asked savagely.

Aleks nodded, "It feels that way."

"Son of a bitch I am going to rip his limbs off
and eat them slowly in front of him." She seethed leaving the
sitting room.

She returned with a small glass of red
liquid.

He shook his head, "You know Lydia's opinions on
such things. She wouldn’t want this."

Lorri sank into the chair, "I don’t have any
other choice. The children are all missing, except the chubby one
who sees the future. Annabelle is blaming herself, she thinks it's
her fault."

Aleks frowned, "How could any of this be her
fault?" He pulled Lydia up into his arms, cradling her.

Lorri sighed and put the glass down. She put her
pretty face into her hands, "Annabelle controls the guards. She's
powerful, more than Lydia. It never was Lydia's guards. How could
this happen?"

"I think I know."

Aleks looked up to see Hanna standing in the
hall. She looked ill. It hurt him to see her upset.

"Who the hell are you?"

Hanna flinched at Lorri's biting words, "I'm
Hanna."

"She's Dr. Jekyll's daughter."

Lorri laughed, "Oh Christ, no. Oh my god. You're
like him aren’t you? You smell like your mom though."

Hanna nodded slowly, "I gave my blood to Marcus
Dragomir, he was using it to make a cure for what I am. I found out
he was also using it to help the Dark Ones."

Aleks closed his eyes devastated. He knew Hanna
would be upset.

Lorri shot up from the chair, "Where is he?"

Hanna shrugged whispering, "I don’t know." Her
eyes filled with fear and sadness.

Lorri was gone, with a flash.

Hanna slumped onto the floor on her knees
sobbing, "It's all my fault."

Aleks picked Lydia up and placed her on the
couch. He walked to Hanna and picked her up. He cradled her in his
arms, holding her tight to his chest.

She sobbed in heaves, "I-I-I didn't know he made
humans like me. I-I-I swear."

He hugged her, "I know. I know you didn’t."

She wrapped her arms around him. He forgot about
everything in the world, as the warmth of her body pressed into
his.

"Aleks?"

He looked up to see Aimee's horrified look.

"Help Lydia." He spoke softly.

"What happened?"

He shook his head, he didn’t know where to
start. He knew Aimee would lose control and kill Hanna, even if it
wasn’t her fault.

Aimee rushed to the couch feeling Lydia's weak
pulse.

"Giselle. Come quick."

"No Aimee, you know her wishes."

She started to cry, "Aleks, we have to save her.
Giselle's blood can save her."

"You can't save her like that. She wouldn’t like
it."

Ari ran into the room covered in sweat with a
huge brown wolf beside her.

"What the eff?"

Aleks put Hanna on the couch and sat beside her.
He could feel her fighting her shift.

"Everyone stay calm. If she changes she could
kill you all." He continued softly still holding Hanna's small
hand, "Her blood has things in it that can make a weapon." His eyes
instantly darted to Aimee, "She wasn’t aware of this. Marcus
Dragomir tricked her and took her blood and gave it to the Dark
Ones. They used it on humans and came for the kids. Aimee
discovered it the other day. We've been trying to find out more. We
thought the formula was in the works not being used already. "

Aimee frowned, "The guards should have kept
everyone here safe."

Aleks shook his head, "They don’t keep humans
out. We never thought he would be using it on humans."

Ari looked savage, "I can push her and send her
back. It'll undo all of this."

Aleks thought for the smallest of seconds, "No.
No she could die or change and kill people."

Lucas crept along to the couch and sniffed her.
He walked away after a moment, leaving the room.

"What are we going to do?"

Aleks looked at Aimee, "Come up with a
plan."

Hanna sat up looking as if she had control, "We
need to kill the chemist. He's in Boston. Some new young chemist.
Marcus said he was smarter than anyone. He is almost done making
the cure for me."

Aleks wrapped an arm around her, "No, we have to
wait for him to finish your cure. You will die if you fight without
immortality."

Hanna smiled looking broken, "You aren’t
thinking for yourself Aleks." She lifted the small purple bag she
clutched. With trembling hands she reached in, puling out a small
vial filled with bright pink liquid.

She placed it in his hand.

"You need to drink this."

Aleks looked confused, "What?"

She nodded as more tears fell from her eyes.

"She's a Siren." Lucas walked into the room
fully dressed.