Devils Roses 05 - Death

slowly, "I do. But we were different people then."
    Giselle slaps him hard across the face, drawing dark blood from his mouth, "Answer the question."
    "France. The south of France."
    I instantly recall Phillip's request.
    "Is Phillip in on this?"
    He laughs and looks away.
    Aleks looks confused, "Why?"
    "No reason. I need to get out of here." I turn and leave. Being around him is harder than I imagined it would be.
    "We need to go to the docs and talk to Sam and Hanna and Lorri."
    Aleks follows me out, "Giselle you got this?"
    She nods, "I do. Hurry up though cause for reals it's boring. And Dank. I finally understand what dank is. This shit ass cellar is dank." She kisses Shane on the lips, knocking him out. I wince. She chains him to the wall and leaves the cellar. She is so strong. So much stronger than before.
    "Love you Giselle." I say softly
    She grins, "Me too Aimes. Hurry up. I wanna go to Cuba."
    Aleks puts a hand out, "Yeah. Me too." I touch him and we're at the front door of the Tudor.
    Aleks lifts a hand to knock but the door opens. Lorri grins at us, "About time."
    "Hey."
    She opens the door wide. We walk in and look around, "Where is everyone?"
    "Office. They got it. Blake and the doc got it. Hanna is super Hanna minus the freak show changes and the weird blackouts."
    "No way."
    She looks at me all excited, "Way."
    I frown, "You are such a bitch sometimes."
    She laughs, "It's all the time. Now, I left Abbey with Marcus so let's make this snappy."
    I click down the hall and smile.
    Hanna walks toward me. Sam is behind her. I can smell the Siren in her so strongly now. The shell bracelet she wears is bright red.
    "Where did you get that?"
    She looks at it and shakes her head, "The Ophelia girl who is really weird gave it to me. She made me like five and said they were for when she was gone. Bizarre chick."
    Sam snorts, "You have no idea."
    Lorri cuts past us and stomps into the doctors office, "I need you to hurry up." She says as she enters it.
    We all turn and walk in. She is the last of the fallen. Her and Jonathan.
    She lays out a map, "I think they're in the south of France." I say.
    She turns, "Shane?"
    I nod once. I don’t want to but I say it anyway, "Phillip came to me as I killed his father. He didn’t even seem to care about it all. He told me he was looking at condos in the south of France and he wanted me to bring Tristan there when the condo was ready, as a surprise for him. Just me and Trist."
    She wriggles her lips, "Odd. I will say it's odd. It's possible Marcus wiped him too."
    "Or Shane. Shane is almost as strong as Marcus."
    She scratches her face, "Okay, where is Tristan?"
    Sam gulps, "He's at Marcus's. He's been watching TV since it all went down. Not really eating or anything."
    "The wolves?"
    Sam's voice lowers, "Non stop tracking. They made me bring them to Alaska again, every hide out we've been to yet, and Italy twice. They phase and text and then change back. Ben is even texting with his wolf toes I think. Swear to god."
    I chuckle and glance at Hanna. I can't help but notice her sliding a hand into Sam's. She squeezes it.
    "We need to go to France. We need to see. I know where they'll be." She glances back at the doc who nods, "Most likely. Lillith will be able to get great strength there."
    "Lillith?"
    He nods, "He will use her if he can."
    "We bring the kids then?" Sam asks.
    Lorri shakes her head, "Just the one who makes herself disappear. The rest stay with Marcus."

Chapter Twenty-Two

    Hanna

    I glance at him and wonder if he can sense it. I can't stop touching his fingers. Gripping them. My tears are sitting in the back of my throat. I couldn’t talk if I wanted to.
    The change brought them all back.
My beast knew the truth. Nothing Ari did could change the way my beast remembered it all. I see it differently, almost extreme versions of everything.
    But I remember everything.
    I glance at him sideways and remember how I broke his heart.
    Every emotion is extreme. My beast is savage and hateful about her feelings. Now that she is fused with me and our minds are one, I can feel the basic survival skills she thinks with. She loves him. She always has. She saw things clearly. She saw Marcus as fun but she loves Sam.
    His lips move. I can't hear the words. I'm lost in the memories.
    He glances at me and I try to look like a spaced out head case. He frowns but continues talking to Lorri and Aimee. Ugh Aimee. She hates me so much and my memory of her killing my father