Devils Roses 04 - Witch

smirked, “I’m Sam.”
    He nodded, “Oliver. So you’re the entertainment are you Sam?”
    He shook his head, “I’m the tattletale. If you escape I rat you out. I have this weird gift with my flashes, I can track another persons flash. Like you leave a scent for me to follow.”
    Oliver laughed, “You really are the perfect man to watch me then.”
    “I guess.”
    Oliver raised an eyebrow at him and nodded toward the door, “What’s with you and the Siren? She has no effect on you at all?”
    Sam shook his head, “Nope. Used to. Used to be my match.”
    Oliver scowled, “Oh that was a mistake son. No one can live through the darkness that comes to eat your soul when there is no love in it.”
    Sam shrugged, “Hope it doesn’t come before I’m done watching you, then you’d get away.”
    The man’s face looked proud and sad simultaneously, “My son would have loved you. Same dry sense of humor.”
    Sam noticed the way he said son and would have, “Is he dead?”
    “Yes.”
    “How?”
    “You really have no emotions anymore do you?”
    “No. How did he die? Was he Nephilim?”
    Oliver ran his hands over his face and sighed, “Yes. He was murdered.”
    Sam new the appropriate response, “I’m sorry.”
    Oliver turned his bright blue eyes up to him, “Are you?”
    “No, but it’s the right thing to say.”
    “I dare say it is and before you ask, it was Jonathan. He is a man I have known longer than mankind has existed and he murdered my son. My son took a bite of the forbidden fruit.”
    “The fruit the snake warned about?”
    “The fruit the snake held captive to torture and force unwanted sex upon.”
    Sam nodded, “Yeah sleeping with another mans sex slave will anger him.”
    “Tis too true lad, too true.”
    “How old was he?”
    Oliver looked at him, “You really are a chatty thing for an unfeeling monster, and why do you smell so good? Are you a Siren?”
    Sam nodded, “Half Siren.”
    Oliver’s eyes grew wide, “You are not Anthony’s son?”
    Sam nodded again, “I am.”
    His eyes grew hardened again, “I was so sorry to hear about your father. He was a truly great man. What Lorri did to him was a crime. I know you feel nothing but you don’t even have an ounce of loyalty to your old man?”
    Sam frowned, “He was with the dark ones. She doesn’t discriminate on that one.”
    Oliver’s mouth curled into a grin, an evil grin. “Sam my boy have I got a story for you.”
    Sam frowned at him, “You know you can’t make me angry. What’s the point in trying to provoke me?”
    Oliver shook his head, “When you hear this you’ll find the witch who cast that spell and have it reversed.”
    “It can't be reversed. Can it?”
    “Just as your father was never an evil one, your spell can be reversed. Though I doubt you’ll hear the truth of either thing from the people you call friends. They don’t dabble in dark magic.”
    “You’re a traitor and a liar why should I believe you?”
    Oliver put a hand out on the bed next to Sam’s thigh, “I loved your father like a brother. I would have died for him. I wish I had died for him. He never had an evil bone in his body. He was guilty of the one thing I have never felt, love.”

Chapter Twenty-Five
    Ophelia

    The alley was dark and yet somehow the eyes of the wolf next to her glistened.
    She patted the fur on his back, earning her a snarl. She pulled her hands back, “I just thought maybe you would like being patted or something.” She whispered.
    Ari laughed, “Oh my god that was awesome. He only likes to be patted by me and even then I feel like I’m pushing my luck.”
    “Why are we here?”
    Ari pointed to the apartment above them, “We need to see if the man who lives there is alive or not. This is an area where the dark ones live, nice and close together.”
    "What city is this?"
    "Rome."
    She couldn’t hide her feelings of excitement. She had never left her state before, let alone the country. She was in Rome. She sniffed the air and let the excitement build. She wished she could see more than just the balconies in an old alley.
    "My sister is going to freak when she hears I came here. We have this plan for when we are both graduated. Back pack Europe for the summer."
    Ari looked sad when she smiled, "I'm sorry. I know how it feels for all of this to hit you. It' not fair. Not even a little."
    Ophelia dismissed the tears in her eyes and turned her face up to watch Lorri again. She flashed onto the small