Devils Roses 05 - Death

smells funny.
    "Dude."
    He glances at me and looks around the hallway we are in, "Where are we?" His voice is missing the feisty passion and sarcasm it had before.
    "Hanna's. You okay? You look like shit."
    He nods, "I know. I just feel so empty without it. The magic was more than I knew it would be."
    I spin him and plant a huge kiss on his lips. He shoves, "What the heck Aimes. I didn’t switch teams. Gross. You got lip-gloss on my teeth. Gah." He coughs and wrinkles his face.
    I grin, "Okay. Now that you're awake, let's do this." I drag him into the office. Everyone gives him a slanted look. He doesn’t look right.
    "Didn’t realize I was missing a team meeting."
    Lorri rolls her eyes, "You're missing lots of things these days."
    "Is it possible Philip has switched to the bad guys?" I ask the question I don’t want to.
    He looks at me and then crumples to the floor in a sobbing heap. I look at Lorri. She mouths several swear words.
    Hanna drops to her knees and holds him to her.
    "It's okay Trist. It's okay."
    He shakes his head, "No it's not. Shane and Marcus wiped him. He's a nasty fucker now. Hateful bitch. He doesn’t love me anymore." His words are wet squeals. I feel sick for him.
    "He made me give him my blood. He took it and left. He hasn’t come back. He's gone to them. He's one of team Darth Vader and I am Princess Leia." He laughs at his own joke. I laugh too.
    "Honey, you need to help us end this. Your eighteenth birthday is in like two days. We are out of time and out of allies." Lorri pats the top of his head.
    He sighs and slumps.
    "Hanna, go shower and clean him and get him pretty. He looks like shit. The rest of us need to come up with some sort of a plan."
    Hanna lifts him off the ground and carries him princess style from the office.
    Blake crosses his arms and sighs, "What if he killed the O monster and took back his magic. It's just like Highlander right? He kills and takes the magic?"
    I laugh.
    Lorri nods, "We could do that. But the prophecy states that Lillith cannot be killed by a man."
    I point, "He's her son. He isn’t just a man. He's a witch."
    "What if the prophecy is made up or wrong? What if Jonathan wrote it? How do we know any of it is true? Lillith could be just as strong today as she was a thousand years ago."
    I cross my arms, "I say we try. We can't control O monster and besides, she won't do anything to help us. We get her here and let Trist cut her head off."
    Lorri rolls her eyes, "He doesn’t cut her head off. It isn’t actually Highlander. Jesus save me from this. No. He just needs to reason with them. Make them believe it is the greater good." Blake snaps his fingers, "Chaotic good. Of course, they are the chaotic good. If they think it's for the best they'll do it. We tell them he is still in with the baddies. He has an in. He has been invited to go meet up with the bad ones. They give him the magic and we go as a group and kick ass."
    Lorri nods, "All that but you stay here. You're delicate."
    Blake looks annoyed.
    Dr. Jekyll looks at Roland, "We can help."
    Roland looks grave but nods, "As you wish sir."
    Lorri claps, "Excellent. Let's get Tristan back to being Tristan and get the magic back."

Chapter Twenty-Three

    Aimee

    Tristan smiles and nods politely. He isn’t lying. He just isn’t telling the whole truth. Only Lorri and I are allowed to be apart of it all. No one else can hold their thoughts.
    "You will kill our mother, brother?" The voice still freaks me out.
    He nods, "Of course. You ladies know how I feel about it all. I want Jonathan dead. I want him to pay for what he's done to us all."
    The sparkly dead glow in her eyes make my skin crawl. She looks at Lorri and I and then nods. "Take my hand."
    Tristan takes a breath and puts his hand into hers. She looks up into the sky. The clouds hovering above us clear, except for one dark cloud. A bolt of lightning strikes their hands. They both lift off the ground, shaking and convulsing. Tristan drops to the ground on his knees, as O drops in a heap.
    "They're gone." He whispers. He moves his hands making the magic sparkle through them. He grins, "Guess I'm ready then."
His eyes are sinister.
    I have a bad feeling.
    We flash back to the mansion and gather the forces. We wink in groups to the forest in Florida, where the wolves wait. I drop to my knees and let them maul me when I see them.
    "I missed you guys." I whisper. Luke whines and stomps his wolf feet.
    "I know. We're going now."
    Lorri leads us