Devils Roses 05 - Death

love for Aleks is his spell?" His grin tells me he knows the answer to the question.
    I sip the wine and watch him.
    He drinks a large sip and nods. "I want you, Aimee. There is no denying it. I wanted you from the minute I frightened you in the elevator. I had to make certain you were good and scared of me." His eyes flash to my hands. "Didn’t want you thinking you could do anything with what I had given you."
    I sip, taking it all in. "You hurt me and scared me on purpose?"
    He laughs. "You’re smarter than that. You know I did. Now, if I can't have you the way I want you." He adjusts himself and smirks at my disgusted face. "Then I want to know the answer to the question of who? If the little bobby were immortal, would you choose him or Aleks? Or would you rather I start taking my pants off?"
    I laugh, "I don't have an answer to that question, but keep your pants on in case one comes."
    "I'm going to ask for something else in a minute and I'm certain you won't want to give it to me." He leans in. The smell of him makes my mouth water.
    "I wouldn’t take his humanity from him." I say it matter of fact.
    He rolls his eyes. "Humanity shimanity."
    "I need you to take his memories again. He saw me eating today in an alley."
    His eyes widen. "Tsk tsk tsk. Although, for all the things I had rolling around in my naughty mind, that really is sort of lame. I imagined you had been unfaithful or something delicious like that." He looks at his fat leather watch. "There is still plenty of time you know. To be unfaithful."
    My phone vibrates, just in the nick of time.
    His phone is already in his hands. "Oh dear."
    I pull out my phone and see what he's talking about. "Frig," I whisper.
    "My sentiments exactly." He puts a hand out. "Shall we travel together?"
    I'm gone before he has the chance to touch me again.
    My heels click against the cold cement. The rainwater makes the sound echo between the narrow buildings. The cover of dark hides her from me, but really nothing can hide from me. Not her. Not anyone. Not even me.
    The cold air helps me shake off the feeling of Dorian all over me. I need to kill him. I feel sick knowing I let him kiss me. I didn’t fight him the way I could have. I never do.
    I force my thoughts back to the task at hand. I don’t know if it's another trap. I don’t even care anymore. I don't watch my back, ever. I don’t look around me. I've become the same as the cocky immortal I mocked only an hour before.
    Death means so little to me. Some days it means freedom and others it means food and if I'm really lucky, sometimes it means revenge. Either way, I can't seem to care for the deaths that surround me. The only death I seem to care about is the one I can't have. My own.
    I round a corner and the smell of it is the first thing that hits me in the face. It's sex and raw lust mixed with a little blood.
    She's here. She's in the alley with me. She's feeding.
    I swallow and play with the platinum ring around my finger. I twirl it with my thumb. I don’t want to kill her but I don’t know what to do about her.
    I don't change the way I walk. I let my heels click against the cold cement. I let the sound of me fill the alley. She won't hear me. I know this. We feed the same. In the beginning I saw nothing but the meal. In the beginning I was obsessed with the meal. I never think on that time. I can't let myself. It destroys the last few good things inside of me to let the bad ones take over.
    Wind blows past me, warm wind. My skin shivers. "Aleks," I whisper. The feeling of him in the alley is all I need. I forget about Dorian and Shane and remember where my heart is, and who it belongs to.
    I know he is with the others, lining the rooftop above. I can only hope they will stay away and let me handle it.
    She is mine. Mine in fault and responsibility.
    My fingers spark flashes of light that reveal the things I wouldn’t normally be able to see. A ladder against an old brick wall. The glint of a silver garbage can. A pair of men's leather dress shoes, twitching on the ground.
    In the flashes of light I can see her face. It's more beautiful than anything in the world. She snarls at me like a wild animal. Her fingers pull at him. He is well dressed. He will be missed by someone. A family perhaps.
    She has done it again. Blood coats her beautiful lips.
    "Oliver." I barely finish whispering his name and he is beside me. His warm arm brushes against mine.
    "He is dying, Aimee. Just do it." His voice is