Devils Roses 05 - Death

before. Lydia told me she wasted a lot of time on helping Aimee control herself. They knew about the kids but never went for them. They were all here helping Aimee. I love her more than I love Lucas, but she is it. She needs to go back. If I can control the push, I can ensure this isn’t her future. Dorian can make a different soul sucker. It didn’t have to be Aimee. She was just a victim."
    I nod. "I can do it. Let’s just go do it."
    Ari laughs. "Guess we're driving."
    I frown. "Dude, Phillip. Isn't that how you got here from Maine?"
    Ari shakes her head. "Yeah, but no one can know. You need to put a spell on Aimee so she doesn’t remember anything and Giselle. So when they go back everything is normal."
    "Blake too," I add.
    She nods. "Let's do this. I'll text Aimes to come to the house and see Giselle. You can do the mind thingy there and then when we go do the push we can hit Blake."
    "Okay." I stand and walk to my room. I pull the book from under the bed, the book no one knows I have. I turn the old fragile pages slowly.
    "That’s dark magic O."
    I look back at my sisters and shake my head. "I'm not doing it. I'm looking for something. I need to fix things. You guys stay with Trist okay?"
    "Ophelia, dark magic pulls the darkness into you. Every piece you take in kills off some of the light."
    I frown. "I need darkness to kill my own mother anyway."
    "Not the same way. Please be safe little sister. Our freedom lies with you."
    I sigh. "I will. Everyone's freedom and happiness and everything sits with me." I look over the page once more and close the book. I push it under the bed and spell the area again. Even Tristan couldn’t find it.
    I close my eyes and walk to the room, practicing using the air around me to guide me, like Annabelle and my sisters do. Their eyes technically don’t work.
    Opening the door to Giselle's room, confirms it all for me. I am certain that we are making the right decision. She is a hot mess.
    Ari walks in behind me and stops when she sees Giselle.
    "Yikes," she whispers.
    I nod. "We need to do this fast. Did you text Aimes?"
    She nods.
    "So we driving there after this?"
    Ari smirks.
    Aimee interrupts us. "Driving where?"
    I look back and smile sweetly. "Ari doesn’t know how to drive. I learned from my dad, like my dad, dad. I was gonna teach her. You wanna come?"
    Aimee shakes her head. Her eyes never leave the tossing and turning monster on the bed. "I have to get back to Aleks. He's almost done going over the last few hundred years."
    I touch the side of her face. She turns sharply. I lock her gaze with mine and hold her arm. Her grey eyes stare blankly at me.
    "The compulsion Giselle put on you to remember everything when Ari pushes is gone. You won't remember this moment either."
    My magic burns from my fingers. It creeps into her arm. I can feel it leaving me like a vine growing out of my fingertips and flowing into her. Her eyes flutter for a moment. I don’t know for certain if it will work on her. It worked on Oliver once. I drop my hand and wait. Ari eyes me up nervously.
    Her eyes stop and she looks around the room. "So you, uhm, what?"
    I smile. "You need to get back to Maine you said."
    She nods weakly. "That was weird." Her eyes settle on Giselle. "How is she?"
    Ari shakes her head. "Bad. She tried to eat one of the girls we rescued. She just can't seem to quench the thirst."
    Aimee's eyes lower. "I better get back."
    Ari looks like she is about to cry. "See you in a bit. I'll get Phillip to bring me back in like an hour. I need to see if I can help Lydia with all the girls." Her voice breaks a couple times. Aimee looks at her. Their eyes meet, it's as if they both know it's the last time they will ever see each other.
    Aimee is gone just as Ari's eyes fill with tears.
    Ari doesn’t cry. I've noticed it before. Her tears feel like razors cutting into my heart. I walk to Giselle and do the same thing I did to Aimee. Just as I finish, Phillip opens the door.
    "What are you two doing in here?" I glance back at him.
    "Just making sure she is okay. Wanna give us a lift somewhere?"
    His eyes narrow skeptically. "Sure. But why do you look like that?"
    I shake my head. "I just can't take how this is all turning out."
    He doesn’t look convinced but Ari's tears seem to bother him enough. He puts a hand out. I grab it. Ari pulls her phone out of pocket and shows him the picture. The air moves and we are standing on a windy dock. The ocean is choppy and grey. It's