Rose

by Ripley Proserpina

  “Ra.” He’d forgotten all about Sylvain, and that the other vampire had accompanied him this night to finish off the few crawlers left in the city.

  The ambulance had stopped, and it was time for him to go. But he didn’t want to. There was a thread connecting him to this girl, and he hated to leave her alone, in pain, on the cold ground.

  Noisy human feet slid over the slick sidewalk.

  “Back here,” he told them.

  A gate creaked as the first responders followed his directions. They would think they were listening to their gut and the instinct that something was wrong, but it was Ra.

  Forcing himself to his feet, he gave the girl one last glance before he ran into the darkness. Sylvain was waiting for him, eyes on the paramedics who’d located the girl and now worked over her body frantically.

  “Will she live?”

  “Yes,” Ra answered. His words had to be followed when he imparted them with his will.

  And he willed the girl to live.

  The world seemed to spin as Ra pushed Horus and Seti out of his memory. He came back to himself and saw Rose at the foot of the stairs.

  Now Horus could see the child she was. Her eyes hadn’t changed, and her hair was still a cloud of black curls.

  She lifted her eyebrows as she studied him. “Are you okay?”

  How was it that Ra’s memory of her affected him more than the wars he’d fought? He’d seen entire villages slaughtered, but Rose’s dark innocent eyes… they gutted him.

  He cleared his throat. “Yes.”

  “We bring her to Hudson, and then I think we should go,” he said to his brothers. Rose was under his skin and that was dangerous.

  She was human, no matter what characteristics of immortality she seemed to demonstrate.

  13

  Rose

  Rose had definitely caught Horus, Seti, and Ra up to something. “Hi,” she said slowly when no one answered her.

  Seti was the first one to move. “Ready?” His voice sounded funny. Too tight.

  “Yes,” she replied. “I just want to leave Valen my number so he can call me if there’s anything I need to pay for.”

  Heavy feet stomped across the kitchen, and the door swung open. “You don’t need to pay for anything. It was a misunderstanding.”

  Rose studied the room. Two shelves were missing from the bookcase, but the rest of the evidence of things she’d broken was gone. “Let me text you, so you have my number. Your wife might feel differently.”

  “I can assure you,” he said, crossing huge arms over a huge chest, “she won’t.”

  “Mom’s used to it!” Lindy called from the kitchen. The kid had bat hearing because Valen wasn’t speaking loudly at all.

  It felt rude to keep arguing, so she decided to grab a card from her camera bag and give it to the brothers. Let them pass it on. Surely, it’d be much more difficult to say no to them than to her.

  “Okay, so…”

  Seti stuck his hands in his pockets.

  “Why don’t I just go? You can tell your friends thank you for the opportunity, but maybe it’s for the best if…”

  “No,” Ra said. He strode toward her so quickly she stumbled back a step. Slowing immediately, he gestured to the door with one hand. “Hudson, Marcus, and Briar are expecting you.”

  “At least they’ll be able to draw blood today,” she said, fixing a sunny, if false, smile on her lips.

  Ra brushed past her to open the door. She gave a wave to Valen, and called out, “Nice to meet you, Lindy!”

  “You too!” she answered. It sounded like her mouth was full. “Wait!”

  In an instant, Lindy appeared with a plastic bag. “For your wet clothes. You can throw them in the garbage bin outside.”

  “How—?” Rose didn’t know what to question first. The speed with which the girl had run or the fact that she knew Rose held her clothes. “Thank you,” she finally decided on. She tied the bag closed. “Bye.”

  Lindy waved and hurried back into the kitchen. As she turned her attention back to the door, she happened to catch Valen’s stare. He was watching her with narrowed, thoughtful eyes. “Goodbye,” she said.

  He dipped his chin and followed his daughter into the kitchen.

  “Did I offend him?” she asked Ra, who still held the door.

  “No,” Ra replied. “Come on.”

  She went outside, dropping the wet clothes into the garbage container on the way to the car. “I should really go.” Standing on the sidewalk, she squinted down the street to see if she could make out a bus stop. The wind blew and with it came the scent of salt water and exhaust. She shivered and crossed her arms.

  “Just get in,” Horus grumbled. He walked around the front of the car and got into the front seat. Okay. So, he was in a bad mood now, too. Great.

  Where was she? She hadn’t been to Back Bay in a long time. The Charles River was that way…she was pretty sure.

  Ra opened the back door as two hands went around her waist, lifting her.

  “It’s too cold,” Seti said, “to argue out here. Argue on the way to BC.”

  “Wait—”

  “You want us to bring you home?” Horus asked. “If that’s what you truly want—to live with your pain and all your questions—we’ll do that.”

  “Horus…” Seti slid into the driver’s seat at the same time Ra slid in next to her. Rose made room for him, immediately self-conscious and aware of the few inches that separated their bodies.

  “Buckle up,” he told her before facing front.

  None of them said another word. Seti started the car and pulled out onto the street. It was cold in the car and the leather seats chilled her through her clothes.

  Ra reached forward, adjusting the heating vents until they were directed at her and then leaned back again.

  “Thanks,” she said. Her voice sounded too loud for the car.

  “You’re welcome.”

  They traveled that way for a bit, awkward silence getting heavier and heavier until she could barely breathe under it. “You don’t have to do this.”

  Silence.

  It was very hard to argue with people who wouldn’t speak. She turned her head to the window to watch the traffic and surreptitiously touched her hand to her chest. The warmth had settled into something comfortable. The pain, her constant companion, was completely gone, and she could imagine a time when it wouldn’t even be a memory.

  But what happened later? They’d leave and the pain would return, like Horus said. If these doctors were a shot at having a normal life, then she should take it.

  They arrived at BC just as the sun was starting to go down. In a few weeks, it’d be dark by early afternoon and then it would be winter again.

  She got out of the car and crossed her arms over her chest again. “Why aren’t you wearing a coat?” Horus asked, like he’d just noticed it. He opened the trunk of the SUV and grabbed her camera bag from the back.

  Her coat was back in the garbage at Valen’s house. “I can take that.” She reached for the bag, but Horus merely slung it over his shoulder. He lifted both eyebrows, waiting for her answer. “It was ruined,” she replied.

  The wind was constant now, and though he put his hands in his pockets, his sleeves were still pushed up to reveal his muscular forearms.

  Ra wore only a long-sleeve crew neck, like the cold didn’t bother him at all.

  “Here.” Seti shrugged out of the leather coat he wore and settled it over her shoulders.

  “Thanks.” He smiled at her, a flash of teeth that was gone quickly. Great. Another awkward smile. She almost preferred Ra’s glares over this.

  She was done in from today. Healing took a lot out of her, and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Wait. Had she even had breakfast?

  Her belly growled, and she dropped her arms to cover it. Hopefully they hadn’t noticed. Except… Horus frowned, so he had.

  Rose mashed her lips together and let out a breath through her nose. When they br
ought her to the doctors, she’d say thank you, and release them from whatever commitment they seemed to think they’d made to her.

  The brothers walked confidently through the campus, unaware of the interested looks they got from other students or the way some people moved off the sidewalk completely as they approached.

  Students noticed her, too. She intercepted a few questioning glances and quick perusals that had her thinking they might be wondering what she was doing with three guys.

  She wasn’t blind. She knew they were good looking, and not to sound like a stuck-up bitch, but she certainly didn’t merit the wide-eyed, what-the-fuck look she just got from that girl. She let a little of her Boston out, narrowing her eyes, and the girl quickly looked away.

  Ra opened the side door to a building and waited for her and his brothers. They entered at a staircase and Horus led the way downstairs.

  “I thought BC was a liberal arts school.”

  “They have a biology department,” Seti said. “Did you go to college?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “MassArt.”

  “Cool,” he answered, which meant he had no idea what she was talking about.

  She followed them downstairs and along a hallway. As they walked, the temperature seemed to drop, and she shivered, even with Seti’s coat. Glancing at the ceiling, she wondered if what she felt was the chill of air conditioners, but this came from beneath her skin, pinpricks like snow.

  Horus glanced at her curiously, but she chose to ignore him and stared at her feet. If they didn’t want to talk, she wasn’t going to force conversation with questions they probably wouldn’t answer.

  Instead, she studied their surroundings. Labs and offices lined the hall. Some had windows, and she could peek inside as she walked by.

  “Here,” Horus said, pressing a button above a keypad. Huh. No other labs had keypads like this. What did these doctors study that needed this much security?

  The door opened and a woman greeted them with a smile. A cold breeze drifted over Rose’s skin, and she wondered at the sudden drop in temperature.

  “You must be Rose.” The woman smiled, one side of her lips lifting a little higher than the other. “I’m Briar. It’s nice to meet you.” Rose was no giant, but at five feet, four inches, she towered over this tiny person.

  She took her outstretched hand with the feeling she could crush Briar’s bones with a too-hearty shake. “Yes,” she replied, remembering her manners. “Thanks for seeing me.”

  Briar gestured for her to come inside. The door hid the giant lab behind it. She thought, since they were in the lower level of this building that it would feel small and claustrophobic here, but it didn’t.

  It was bright and open, and while there were no windows, the lights along the ceiling mimicked natural sunlight. Too bad it didn’t throw off some heat, too.

  Two men approached them. She recognized them from the pictures on the wall at Valen’s house. The first man, tall with tan skin and bright green eyes wore a welcoming smile. “Hi! I’m Marcus. Briar’s husband.” He held out his hand, and she took it. He covered her hand with both of his, and she caught a wink of gold around his ring finger. “Thanks for coming in.”

  The other man stood a short distance away, watching her. She could feel his eyes on her, and she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “Thanks for seeing me.” She peered at the other man who watched her with a frown and icy blue eyes. “I’m sorry if I’ve disrupted your day.”

  “Oh, no!” Briar waved her concern away. She touched Rose’s hand, pulling her toward a comfortable seating area. “We’re glad you’re here.” She followed Rose’s gaze to the other man and lifted her eyebrows. “This also is my husband, Hudson Nors.”

  “Hello,” she said. So she’d been right. They were all married. What a story that would be, and Rose was just nosy enough to want all the details.

  But she’d hold off. Because she was a grown-up.

  “Hello,” he replied, and turned around, walking through a door to another lab. Glass separated each room, and as she seated herself, Rose could see he was collecting instruments of torture—aka needle and vial—for her blood.

  Briar got her attention with a soft touch to her knee. “We’ve accessed your medical records, but I’d like to hear your story.”

  I’d like to hear yours…

  That wasn’t the point of today. Gathering her thoughts, she started, “So…” She laughed nervously and pushed her hand through her hair, tugging it free of the bun she’d managed earlier. “Do you remember the Boston Nightmare?”

  Briar’s smile melted from her face. “Yes,” she replied. Marcus sat on the arm of her chair and placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. A wave of longing hit her at the support evident in that one gesture.

  “I was attacked during the Nightmare,” she said.

  Marcus stood. On a nearby desk sat a laptop. He picked it up and walked back to the chair to sit next to Briar again. He opened it, gaze traveling over whatever he saw on the screen. “I see you were brought to the emergency room covered in unidentifiable bites and with significant blood loss.” Peering over the top of the computer, he met her gaze.

  “Yes,” she replied. “By an um…” Did she say it? If she uttered the words, they’d either help her, or recommend a psychiatrist. “I was bitten by a crawler.” She happened to glance over at the brothers, wondering if they’d back her up. They stood by the doors, arms crossed, serious gazes on her. No help there. “I didn’t know what they were called back then.”

  “Seems unlikely.” Hudson walked back through the doors, tray balanced in one hand. His words made her stomach drop.

  “It’s true.” She hated how her voice was quiet and small, so she cleared her throat and met Hudson’s stare. “It was a crawler.” She infused as much confidence as she could into the words.

  He placed the tray on a desk, the items on it rattling. Dragging his hands down his face, he walked to the brothers and spoke too low for her to hear.

  Disappointment flooded her. Dr. Nors didn’t believe her, and she’d made a mistake listening to the brothers. This doctor couldn’t help her. She’d wasted her time and gotten her hopes up.

  14

  Seti

  “How much does she know?” Hudson asked in a volume Rose, with human ears, wouldn’t be able to hear.

  “She knows about crawlers,” Seti answered.

  “All of us have used the word human. She’s putting it together.” Ra didn’t look at Rose, but Seti could feel how much he wanted to, and then his brother shut down the wanting. Just like that. Like it was a door he could shut.

  “Once you know those creatures exist, anything is possible,” the doctor mused, and sighed. “Can you wipe her memory?” he asked Ra. “If we need to?”

  Ra didn’t answer, and Seti knew why. He wouldn’t display weakness to anyone other than his brothers.

  “No one believes her,” Horus answered for him, deflecting attention away from what his brother could—or couldn’t—do.

  “I remain uncertain if the humans’ disbelief of what happened during that time is a good thing.” Hudson glanced over his shoulder toward Briar and Rose. Seti followed his gaze and frowned. He didn’t like the way she shifted nervously on her seat.

  “She’s not ours to worry about,” Horus said.

  That didn’t feel true, but Horus and Ra were trying with everything inside them to believe that. He wanted to slap them on the back of the head. Or shake them.

  “It’s not like she’s important.” Horus was doing a horrible job of convincing himself, and Seti. Lie. Lie. Lie.

  “How can you pretend that? We all feel”—he visualized a glow in his chest and a similar one in his brothers and Rose—“this.”

  “So what are you going to do?” he asked Hudson.

  “I’ll draw her blood, look at her DNA.” Hudson shrugged. “Go from there.”

  “Can you bring her home?” Ra asked.

  “You want to leave her her
e?” Seti didn’t hide how much that bothered him. They were somehow responsible for this, and they all knew it.

  “Yes,” Hudson replied. “If we need to.”

  “We have no choice,” Ra argued. “She’s only a human.”

  “What about the pain?” Seti argued back. “What happens when we go and it returns?”

  Ra set his jaw in hard lines. “We don’t know if that will happen.”

  Lie. Lie. Lie. “We don’t lie to each other.”

  His brothers were silent.

  “That’s it? We just say goodbye and good luck?” he asked.

  “What else do we do?” Horus asked.

  “This is as deep a connection as we can make,” Ra said.

  Seti could barely contain his anger. “Bullshit. You saved her and told her to live. She did. If there’s any connection here, you started it.”

  “Enough, Seti.” Horus cut his gaze to him and narrowed his eyes.

  Seti was a patient warrior, and he knew when to bide his time. As much as he hated doing that, and hated how for the first time his brothers were lying to themselves and each other, he shut up. The argument was lost, but that didn’t mean he was giving up.

  “Thank you, Hudson,” Ra said. “We’ll say goodbye this evening, and we should go before…”

  “Before what?”

  But neither Ra nor Horus answered.

  Horus and Ra turned to leave but stopped when they saw Rose watching them. “What are you going to say to her?” He issued his question like a challenge.

  “Rose,” Ra said, “we’re going to leave you here.”

  She stood. “You are?”

  “Hudson will bring you home,” Horus said.

  “I’ve lived here all my life,” she said, her voice cutting. “I can get home on my own.”

  She stared at Horus a moment, and the door between Seti and his brother slammed shut. He stood frozen, at a loss for what to do. Horus had never hidden himself from them so abruptly, and completely, before.

  Rose held Horus’s stare, and to his brother’s credit, he didn’t outwardly flinch. When it was clear that no one would argue with her, she peered around him to Seti. Slowly, she took off his jacket and stepping around Horus, held it out to him. “Thank you.”