Devils Roses 05 - Death

head. "Rough night."
    He looks at the flimsy t-shirt unconvincingly, but turns and carries her to the house.
    I call after them. "Hanna, Lorri called a meeting. Want me to wait for you?"
    She looks over his arm and smiles. "No, I'll just clean up and head over right away. Where?"
    I grimace. "The woods behind Marcus's."
    She rolls her eyes. "K. Should have just showered there."
    She must have Stockholm syndrome. I don’t want to think about what he did to her. I already have a pretty good idea. I'm going to kill him. I turn the car around and head back to his place.
    When I drive up Marcus and Oliver are standing outside the house arguing still.
    I don’t get out of the car. Marcus shoots me a death stare. I smile. It's not genuine, because I'm pretty much ready to pee my pants when he looks at me, but I can't back down.
    Oliver looks at me and mouths 'go away'.
    I shake my head and get out of his car.
    Marcus snarls at me. "You foolish little girl. Who do you think you are?"
    I shrug. "The first witch's daughter, you know, magical royalty. Why?"
    He laughs. He always laughs the same broken and bitter laugh. He is broken.
    He storms inside. Oliver walks to me and takes my hands. "That was dumb."
    I watch his eyes and wait for him to smile. He doesn’t. He still looks pissed.
    "I had to help her."
    He closes his eyes and sighs. "No, Hanna was being held because the cure Marcus made for her isn’t working. She is starting to black out. She woke in a puddle of blood and half eaten mountain lion yesterday. Marcus brought her here and she changed again and tore a hole in the wall of her room. He chained her for her own safety."
    I feel sick. "Oh my god, I left her with Roland."
    He nods. "I know. She's coming back. She can't live with Roland anymore. Not safe. She needs someone like Marcus who can keep her safe, well keep everyone else safe from her."
    I love Hanna. "We need to help her."
    He sighs again. 'I'm pretty sure you have enough on your plate."
    He takes my hand and walks into the house just as Marcus comes storming into the front room. "GOD DAMMIT OPHELIA, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"
    I cringe and feel the sparks starting in my fingers.
    He is pacing and looking like he's going to pull his hair out.
    "Oliver, she destroyed the obsidian door and burned a fucking four hundred year old painting and half a fucking wall." His dark eyes settle on me and I feel naked.
    Oliver looks at me. His mood hasn’t improved. He looks at Marcus and sighs impatiently. "I know where I can get another door."
    Marcus points. "I have the goddamned doors in the basement. I keep several on hand, Olly. That’s not the point. The point is that she is a meddling little witch and I don’t want her in my house anymore."
    He charges at me but before he can get to me Oliver is in front of me. Suddenly a sharp wind rips through the room and Oliver and Marcus are both flung to the ceiling.
    My hands are outstretched but I swear I never unleashed the magic. I look to see Henry standing in the entrance to the room. He looks annoyed.
    Oliver flashes and is standing in front of me again. Henry looks at him fiercely and he grabs my hand. He nods at Henry and suddenly we are standing in the grove behind the house. His hand is almost ripping the skin off of me. The forest is silent and I don’t know what to think of anything.
    "Did he call you Olly?"
    If looks could kill I would have exploded seconds before I even asked the question, which apparently never improved his mood.

Chapter Three

    Aimee

    My dad loved him. Loved isn’t even the right word. Adored. I look at myself in the mirror and feel a small measure of happiness, knowing he can rest easy that I'm in a relationship he can trust. As far as he is concerned, I'm in school and doing great and with a great guy.
    My skin shivers as warm wind fills the room. I smile before I see anything. I smile because he is the answer to my heart's call. I smile because I can see his uneven lips and his amazingly white blue eyes when I close my own. I smile because when he touches me I still forget my name.
    "Aimee, we need to go." His voice has a hint of panic. That’s about as panicked as he gets. I ignore it and walk to him.
    "My dad loved you." I kiss his cheek softly, teasingly.
    His warmth seeps into me when I touch him. My fingers bite into his broad chest. I lift on my tiptoes again and try to get a real kiss in. Instead we are sucked up into his wind and then standing on a grassy field. I look up at