Devils Roses 05 - Death

smiles and raises her hands fast. Both men are pinned against the wall. Luke sighs, "Dude, I was cool with not knowing. She cools off quickly if you don't poke the bear."
    Ari's eyes flash, "I saw you. I saw you checking her out."
    Luke looks confused. "Who?"
    Ari spits out one word, "Janine."
    Luke rolls his eyes, "Ari. She's like a hundred and eighty years old."
    I point at Aleks. "He's way older than that." Aleks frowns at me. Luke gives me a pleading look to stay out of it. I scowl, ignoring them both. "We saw you, both of you. Flirting and smiling and letting her kiss your faces."
    His cheeks flush with color. "Aimes, it's not what you guys think."
    I roll my eyes. "She looks like she could be on the Duke's of Hazard. Don't tell me I don’t know what it is."
    Lucas laughs. "She is the key to the elders council. They all listen to her. She is one of the few females in the pack who is an elder. Her husband was the alpha when he died."
    I look at Ari. She laughs. "I saw the look, Luke. She wasn't even looking at you and you were drooling on her legs."
    He struggles with the invisible hold she has over him. "Babe, it wasn’t like that."
    "You got caught."
    Aleks looks at me like he's disappointed in me. He can't flash when Ari holds him. Her power can cripple him completely.
    "I don’t really want to talk about this." Ari drops them and walks past me. I follow her up the stairs.
    She slams a door to a room. I don’t know which one to go to, so I walk to the bathroom and pour a bath. I strip my blood soaked clothes off and climb in.
    "You can't possibly think I would find that woman attractive."
    I smile at him. "Why? I find her attractive."
    He laughs and it's like my favorite song. I can't even be angry with him. He stands with his back to the door. I fight my smile. He points at me. "You on the other hand, did something dangerous."
    I look down. "It was a regular day, Aleks."
    "Lorri will tell me if it was or wasn't." His tone is edgy.
    "You're not my dad."
    "No, I'm your partner."
    "I was pissed you were checking out that trashy blonde."
    "That's a pretty big tub. I need to get one of those installed at my place."
    I smirk. "Not big enough for you and me.
    "You can sit on my lap."
    I hear his clothes drop to the floor. My face flushes as his feet cross the huge bathroom to the large two-person tub.

Chapter Six

    Ophelia

    "There are hookers everywhere. I don’t even know where else to put them." Trist shouts overtop of the shouting women all speaking different languages.
    "This one is from Monte Carlo. Her family has money. I'm going to flash her to the hospital there and wipe her mind," Phillip shouts.
    I stand there and watch it all.
    "O, honey you need to help out."
    I glance at Lydia and shrug. "I don’t know what to do."
    Trist shakes his head and shouts at a Japanese girl who is sobbing and hugging herself. "Honey you can't sit there without underwear. That couch is an antique."
    I laugh and want to cry at the same time.
    "Tristan, you ever feel like maybe we are too young for the shit we deal with?"
    He rolls his eyes. "O, this is not the time to get melodramatic."
    I laugh again and turn away from the chaos.
    I walk out the front door and out onto the street.
    Instantly he is there. "You shouldn’t be out here."
    I shake my head. "I can't be in there. They found some house my father had in Rio. It was full of young teenage girls. I can't watch it." My hands tremble.
    He grabs me and pulls me into him. His warmth and mass surround me.
    It's silent.
    I look up to see greenery everywhere.
    "Where are we?"
    "Peru."
    The air is warm and wet, rich almost. Breathing it in makes me feel high.
    "Where?"
    "The Andes. There is a village down the hill where I once hid for five years."
    I look up into his beautiful face and smile. His blue eyes almost kill me. "Why?"
    He kisses my lips softly. "To hide from your father." His words are a warm breath against my lips.
    He takes my hand and pulls me through the bright green forest. "He was crazed. His gifts were meant to pull the sickness from the blood. That’s how he was to use them. We were each given something as a gift from our father as we fell. Mine was used to pull sadness and misery from the soul. Emotional pain. When I went dark with your father, I grew to love the taste of them dying in my arms." I pull back a bit, but his huge hand envelope mine and pull me along the hillside. I am afraid of him. I feel the natural magic inside of me brewing.
    "I