Devils Roses 05 - Death

her?"
    I glance at Dorian and lower my gaze. Lucas leaps up the stairs at me. His fingers bite into my skin, "Where is she Aimes?"
    I flinch, holding back my powers. "I don’t know. There was no one here. It should have been full of drugged blood bags."
    Lorri paces on the stairs. I look at them all. The worried looks change depending on the faces I glance at.
    Dorian looks savagely at me, "How could you let them take her?"
    I fight tears, "I didn’t even see them. I didn’t hear them. I-we separated. We always do. She has the holding thing." I clearly have no excuses.
    Giselle steps forward and grabs my arms from Lucas who looks like he might eat me.
    "You guys suck." She takes my hands and smiles, "Everyone knows Ari is badass and can kick anyone's ass."
    Ben grabs his brother's arms, "I agree. This isn’t Aimee's fault. We need to stop blaming and start looking."
    Aleks shakes his head, "We don’t need to. We know where they took her. Ophelia's at Lydia's safe and sound. They took what they could. She's in Alaska."
    My heart sinks. I remember the details of the last time.
    Lorri is already gone. Dorian points at me, "Lydia's now. We need to talk." He flashes him and Ben away but Lucas breaks free before he's also taken home. He grabs my hands, "I didn’t mean it. It's just, she's not been herself lately."
    His face is breaking my heart.
    "I know. She told me." The tears win over. I lose control. "I'm so sorry. I should have made us go home when she told me."
    He shakes his head, "She wouldn’t have let you."
    I snort through the tears and put my hands out. Giselle and Lucas take them and we are in Lydia's kitchen.
    Sam glances at me, "Leaving now then I guess huh?" He knows already.
    "Yup." I wipe my face and sit down.
    "Miss Aimee, you's been a bad girl. Lord suffering Jesus, you and that Miss Ari always been so naughty." Annabelle hands me a cup of cocoa. I sip it and smile. I can't help it. She makes me feel loved.
    "I know Annabelle."
    Lydia storms into the kitchen, "This isn’t so bad. They have Ari, now we have a reason to go there and attack and get the ball rolling the way it was before."
    Sam shakes his head, "No. Ari is in a situation."
    "Sam." I say before I can stop myself.
    He shakes his head, "Everyone needs to know Aimes."
    "How do you know?"
    He ignores me, "Ari is pregnant."
    Lydia gasps. Dorian chokes his cocoa down, spraying a bit of it across the room. He flashes and grabs Lucas by the throat. I see the spark. I leap across the room, knocking my cocoa across the kitchen too. When I grip Dorian's hand, I wink. I'm lying on top of him in the forest close to home. I don’t know why I flashed there but I did.
    He screams in rage.
    I hold him. I wrap my legs and arms around him and hold him tightly.
    When he's done, he closes his eyes and sighs, "You knew? You knew and you took her there?"
    I shake my head against him, "I never knew. I never knew until we were in the desert. Too late to turn back."
    He sighs, "Fuck me. Fuck. FUCKKKKKK!"
    His slow heart is beating harder than I could imagine it would go.
    I whisper, "She'll be fine."
    He grabs my arms and throws me off of him. He throws me with such force I don’t have time to wink. I slam into a tree with a thud. I gurgle from the broken ribs I'm sure I have and searing pain in my spine. His black eyes burn and his nostrils flare with every breath. He looks savage but I can't get my breath to talk him down.
    I lie limp in the soft moss and ferns.
He looks at me and covers his face. He winks and leaves me alone in the woods. I wink to Lydia's, broken and bleeding. I land on the back grass and whisper, "Aleks."
    He's there within seconds. He somehow always knows when I need him.
    "Hey, what happened?"
    I cough as the rib pulls away from my lungs and starts to heal, "Dorian. Pissed." I whisper.
    He picks me up and flashes us to my bed. He lays me down and lies beside me.
    Ophelia walks into the room. "You okay?"
    I shake my head. Aleks stands up and shrugs, "She'll be fine. Her kind heals fast."
    "What happened?"
    He shakes his head, "Dorian did something to her."
    I'm struggling to get my breath, still winded. "Slammed me into a tree." I say breathlessly.
    Ophelia looks disgusted, "You don’t want to defend her?"
    He frowns, "I don’t like getting involved in Roses business."
    She growls, "I've had just about enough of this. She snaps her fingers and grabs his face before he can move away. She holds his head. His eyes roll back inside his