Devils Roses 05 - Death

is in effect to help him. To end father."
    " Will you free us soon?"
    I shake my head, "I don’t know. I hope so. I'm glad you guys are here. I missed you. Tell Trist the Roses have a plan."
    "We love you sister." The ghostly voices still creep me out a bit, but it it's awesome to have them with me again. They vanish.
    I lie back on the bed and wait for everything to catch up. My cell phone starts going nuts in my pocket. I pull it out and glance at it.
    A message from the twin's stares back at me. I sigh and shove it back into my pocket.
    I don’t know how to live in both worlds and I am dreading seeing my dad. The first time was easy. I thought he was my brother. This time I won't be fooled. I'll have to act like I don’t know him. A knock interrupts my dread and self-pity.
    "Come in."
    Ari walks in. She smiles with only her lips. Her eyes are filled with dread.
    "Hey."
    She rushes at me, wrapping herself around me. "Oh my god, I'm so glad you're back. It's been brutal."
    I hug her, we never were crazy close. I'm stunned and bothered. She must be starting to lose it a bit with all the changes that keep happening.
    "Has it been bad?" I ask.
    She shakes her head, "No. It's refreshing having Aimee just focus on work and not Shane and Aleks and Aleks and Shane and so on. It's been awesome having Aleks and Sam back at the same time and all the kids. It's been kind of nice not having Hanna around to make such a mess but at the same time Sam is bummed and I'm pretty sure stalking her like a crazed man. It's just been stressful. Ben doesn’t remember shit either. Thankfully the time resets back to where we were, in around the same week. So it's not like I had to relive the entire two years. I just was worried. I'm glad you're here."
    I frown, "Me too?"
    She laughs and pulls me back, "It's just weird okay. Everything is different this time."
    "Why doesn’t Aleks remember anything?"
    "Aleks was dead when we got Giselle to make the memories stay. We reversed it and forgot to make his memories stick."
    "Yikes."
    She nods, "Yeah."
    "Ari, O, you in here?" The door is swung open even more and Lucas comes in. He grins, "How's our favorite witch?"
    I leap into his arms. I inhale the woodsy smell of him and snuggle in, "I missed you guys. I mean I didn’t know I did, but I did."
    He grins and glances at Ari, "Hey baby."
    She blushes. I roll my eyes and point, "Take it out of my room."
    He grabs her hand and kisses the back of it.
    "So we storming the alley tonight?"
    I frown, "Where is Ben?"
    Ari laughs, "He doesn’t remember you. He was dead with Aleks when we did the memory thing."
    Lucas flinches at her laughing and the weird harshness, "She's starting to lose it. She laughs at weird stuff now." He's kidding but his eyes don’t look like they got the joke.
    Ari rolls her eyes and walks toward the door, "I'm just glad we're out of Alaska. I hate cold. I wanna go back to New Mexico and see my uncle and bask in the glorious sunshine." She walks out of the room, dragging Lucas with her, "Ben is downstairs. If you want to go meet him. He knows who you are."
    My stomach feels funny. Ari is emotional and lost. I sit back on the bed when Lucas comes running back in, "I need to talk to you." He whispers.
    I frown, "Is she okay?"
    He swallows hard and shakes his head, "No. She's pregnant. She isn’t saying anything to anyone."
    My eyes widen, "What? Congrats."
    He shakes his head, "It's not good. Her kind doesn't do well with kids. They don’t even usually have babies, most can't. I'm scared. If something happens to her I need you there. I need her to live." His eyes look glassy.
    I nod and press my lips together, "Okay. I'll do what I can to help her."
    He grabs my arms hard, "No matter what. You save her."
    I nod. I don’t even know how I would come close to it, but I nod.
    He looks lost, "Thanks, O." He bends and kisses my cheeks and leaves the room. I stare at the floor and ponder it all.

Chapter Thirteen

    Aimee

    "Do you think you'll ever be in love with me again?" His lips look soft. I remember the feel of them.
    I shake my head and look down at the concrete. I can sense the others. I know they line the rooftops of the alley I'm in. Just like last time.
    He steps toward me, "Are we strangers now? We were friends once Aimes." My nickname hurts now.
    I hate that I've lured him here in an attempt to get Jonathan to snatch O.
    I don’t want to talk to him. I shake my head, "We'll always be friends."
    He reaches forward and