Devils Roses 05 - Death

Marcus."
    Dorian looks at me, "Go where the doctor showed you. Oliver is there already. This lug and me are going to go guard O's body. Lorri is with Sam chasing down Jonathan and Giselle is with the wolves and Phillip and Tristan at Lydia's. We are meeting back there."
    Aleks cups my face and turns it to his, "Be safe." He looks like he's going to kiss me but he doesn’t. He steps away with Dorian and then they're gone. Marcus watches me for a moment. "You know he's only attractive because of the curse. The curse makes you love him."
    Henry shakes his bowler hat covered head, "Curse broken."
    I furrow my brow, "Broken? No more magic smell and weird aphrodisiac on his skin? No more angel irresistible weirdness?"
    The bowler hat shakes again, "Curse broken."
    I'm stunned, "But I smelled. I smelled it just there. He was going to kiss me and I felt that same feeling." I touch my lips with my finger and wink before Marcus can mock me.

Chapter Eighteen

    Hanna

    I watch her leave through my eyelashes and continue to pretend to be asleep. The whole thing is freaking me out. My body won't react but my brain is.
    The dark haired man I am left with turns to face me. His face softens when he sees me. He walks over and scoops me up. Instantly I smell it. I smell the thing Aimee was talking about.
    The man carries me down the hallway. He stops and turns at a door. He closes the door when we're inside of a room. I can't see it through my lashes but I feel the bed when he lays me down in it. It's soft with thick blankets and pillows.
    His breath is over my face, driving me crazy, "Pretending to sleep won't stop what I'm about to do to you."
    My eyes are open and I'm scooting away from him instantly.
    He chuckles, "Oh Hanna. I've missed you."
    I frown, "Who are you?"
    He shrugs, "Friend of your father's." His smile turns wicked, "And I guess your mother's as well."
    My heart skips a beat. "You knew her?" he looks too young to have known them well. He's not much older than I am.
    He lays on his side and smiles, "I did. How are you feeling? Still scared?"
    I nod slowly, "I just don’t understand any of this."
    He pats the pillow beside him, "I won't bite you. I swear." His eyes sparkle with delight and promises. And not the one's he is saying out loud.
    I lie on the bed too, facing him but not close. Luckily the bed is massive.
    "Are you afraid of me?"
    I almost shake my head, but I nod.
    "Why?"
    "I don’t know you at all. The ghosts in the other room and the people who are there one minute and gone the next. The man bowler hat killed is still dead on the carpet. The list is pretty long." I can't fight the smile at the end of it.
    He looks disinterested in my fears, "But me, are you afraid of me?"
    I almost nod but something in his eyes is so familiar I can't. I shake my head, "No. I know you from somewhere."
    He grins, "Excellent." He leans toward me, "Are you hungry?"
    I think for a second, "Yes. I guess I am." I don’t know what to think or say. I feel lost inside of myself.
    He climbs off the bed, "Be right back."
    He leaves the room, which gives me a chance to look around at it all. It's huge. Dark blue walls and huge fabric curtains made the room eerie. The limited light coming in seems odd. Like Marcus is hiding in the dark. I noticed it about the front room. It's the size of a basketball court but the light is limited.
    I climb off the bed and walk to the window. The glass is old, the home must be hundreds of years old.
    "I brought you some root beer and cook is making you waffles."
    I look back and laugh, "So do you run this as an inn or house hundreds of orphans?"
    He sighs, "Look, we've had this conversation many a time. I know you think I'm ostentatious and live beyond my means."
    I'm lost, "What?" I have to admit I think that but I never said it.
    He sits on the bed after he puts the root beer on the table, "We have met before. It was a different world maybe or just a different time and I don’t want to explain it."
    I cross my arms, "Are you supposed to be taking some kind of meds? I have this friend who is supposed to be on some kind of antipsychotic medicine and when she feels really good on the meds, she stops taking them."
    He laughs bitterly, "You make me psychotic, trust me."
    I frown.
    He lies back on the bed again and the look in his eyes pulls me across the room. I sit on the bed, I can't break the stare. He has me trapped in it. I see it suddenly and whisper, "What are you?"
    He grabs my hand and pulls