No.
“No,” Ra answered before Seti could. He echoed the thought that each of them had following her statement. “No. Crawlers are often the worst of the worst of humanity. That wouldn’t happen to you.”
She chewed on her lip for a moment. “I don’t know if that’s better, because that would mean that vampires are good people who become bad. Like the man who attacked me.”
“Some things can’t be explained logically,” Seti said. “Hudson is better at explaining this stuff than I am.” The other vampire made everything sound so reasonable. This happened because of that. “Every being has a choice—good or evil. Being a vampire doesn’t turn someone evil.”
“I don’t like thinking of her as a vampire,” Horus said. “If anyone tried to turn her…”
“We won’t let that happen.” Ra’s answer resounded in his head, making Seti wince in pain. “Rose has a long life ahead of her. A long human life.”
“Not long enough, though,” he said without thinking.
Both of his brothers were silent, but he felt them turning over his statement in their heads.
“We don’t need to be worrying about this now,” Ra said. And then out-loud, “You’re good, Rose. No matter what you are, you could never be anything but good.”
30
Rose
Ra spoke with utter confidence, and she had no response.
It struck her, as they walked, how often they spent their time together in silence. She was used to it. Silence. Alone for much of her work life and personal life, Rose was good at having conversations with herself. A few times she caught herself talking aloud, but mostly she was content with quiet.
Inevitably, as soon as she recognized that she felt comfortable with the silence, she started to overthink it. Growing more and more aware of the time she spent not talking to them made her feel more and more awkward.
Horus stopped at the entrance to the T station. He opened the door and then placed his hand on her lower back as a gesture for her to enter first.
The heat of his palm seemed to burn through her clothes and into her skin. It was a good feeling, equal to the warmth that she’d gotten used to in her chest, and the one that made her pain a distant memory.
They got their T passes. Ra and Seti stood on the platform, staring down the track as if willing the train to appear while she and Horus studied the T map. Rose pointed out places she’d like to take them, and Horus nodded. “I’m up for anything,” he said. “I like being a tourist.”
Rose didn’t have to look at him to know he was smiling. She could hear it in his voice, in the light tone and humor that seemed to dance around the edges of the sentence.
The familiar rumble of the train had her and Horus striding toward the platform to stand next to his two brothers.
“What did you decide?” Ra asked.
Their hearing was unbelievably good. She wondered if she’d ever get used to them overhearing her conversations with other people. She sort of liked the way it kept them on the same page.
“There are so many choices,” Horus said. “But I trust Rose will entertain us.”
“I can leave it a surprise,” she said. “You wake up every day and not know what I’ll have planned.”
The brothers all nodded. “Good luck surprising us, though,” Ra said.
She rolled her eyes. “So jaded.”
Ra opened his mouth to reply, but the rush of noise and wind from the train drowned out anything he would have said.
The rest of Rose’s day was spent entertaining the brothers, though it took little effort. They went to the Arboretum, and despite skulking about the pond and some of the more deserted trails, no creepy crawlers showed themselves.
Eventually—dragging ass—she found herself in the least likely of places with the imposing brothers: Target. They definitely don’t fit in here. She almost said her thought out loud but then realized what a shitty thing that would be to say. Especially if they didn’t understand what she meant. It was just—seeing the tall, proud bearing of Ra, Horus and Seti pushing a cart down the bedding aisle of a store was like… well… it was like finding Michelangelo’s David in the outdoor center of a Home Depot. The image didn’t match.
They’d chosen an air mattress—not the one Rose would have gone with. This one looked like it might be more comfortable than the one on her bed. They’d also chosen a couple extra towels and giant boxes of Count Chocula and Boo Berry cereals.
It took everything she had not to point out the irony of three vampiresque individuals choosing vampire-themed cereal.
Now they stood examining the sheet sets as if they’d never made a more important decision in their life.
Rose leaned her arms on the handle of the cart, waiting. She’d pointed out her choice—the cheap ones—and had instantly been brushed aside.
“Just open a tiny corner,” Seti told Ra, “if you’re so concerned about thread count.”
“It says Egyptian cotton,” Ra whisper hissed. “That has to mean something.”
“Not if the thread count is two hundred,” Seti shot back.
She lost track of their argument after that as she absentmindedly pushed the cart a ways down the aisle. Soon, she was contemplating goat bookends and glass vases she had no need for.
“This place is dangerous,” she whispered, placing the goats back on the shelf.
Nearby was a woman’s section, and she saw a few displays of winter coats. Since she was two coats down, she might as well look. Leaving the cart at the edge of the aisle, she began to flip through sizes and options.
“I like the navy,” Horus said.
“Holy shit!” She jumped into the air and grabbed her boobs like they were going to run away without her.
His gaze went immediately to her clutching hands, and he lifted his eyebrows. “Sorry.”
Dropping her hands, she pretended she wasn’t about to keel over from a shock-induced heart attack. “It’s fine. I didn’t hear you is all.” Her hands trembled when she picked up the knee-length, belted wool coat. “This one?”
He nodded. “It’s cute.”
She giggled. Horus didn’t seem like the sort of guy who’d say the word cute, or who would have opinions about fashion.
“But is it warm?” Ra asked. A slim brown wrist and hand shot past her nose to grab the garment. “It’s not even wool. The wind is going to go right through it. She needs something with down.”
Back when puffy coats were all the rage, Rose had begged her mother for one. She’d looked like an exploded biscuit can, but she’d been hella warm.
“I’ll have to go somewhere else for that,” she said. And they’d probably be out of her price range.
Ra put the coat back on the rack and began to walk among the other options. In a second, Seti appeared at her elbow, and when he saw what Ra and Horus were up to, joined in the search. In the meantime, Rose picked the navy coat back off the rack. She could wear a sweater under it. The price was right, and it was professional. It would do for now.
Heading back to the cart, she narrowed her eyes at the amount of stuff that had found its way in there since she’d snuck off. Three sheet sets, throw blankets, two pillows. Towels. Cereal. And… were those the goat bookends?
“Guys,” she called over her shoulder, “you know we have to carry all this stuff, don’t you…” Her voice trailed off as her gaze landed on the blond, blue-eyed man who was watching her with a narrow-eyed stare. “Dr. Stone.”
“Rose,” he said, “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you.”
Had he? “Why?”
“I expected to hear from you,” he said. “I thought we’d come to an understanding about our work together.” The man’s accent was thick, and his gaze darted around the store as if expecting someone to be watching.
Someone was. A certain tall, dark-haired someone with two equally tall, dark-haired brothers sidled up to her. Ra crossed his arms and stared at Dr. Stone. “Hello.”
Taking a quic
k step backward, Dr. Stone regained his composure and straightened. He wasn’t as tall as the brothers, but he was broad-shouldered. And confident. He glared at Ra without answering.
“Rose?” Ra asked, clearly angling for an introduction.
“This is Dr. Stone,” she said, wondering what he’d remember, or how much he even knew, about her doctor.
From the way Ra dropped his arms to his sides, and Seti and Horus seemed to swell with anger, all three of them remembered him.
A surge of gratitude welled up inside her. It wasn’t cool, or particularly nice, to like the way the brothers had taken up for her, but oh well. Rose didn’t have people who got angry on her account. It made her feel… worth something.
With a stronger voice, she introduced the brothers. “Dr. Stone, these are my friends Rodney, Seth, and Horatio.”
The doctor lifted a dark eyebrow, but apparently he’d had manners drilled into him because he held out his hand. “Hello.”
After a moment, one that left the doctor looking a little ridiculous with his hand sticking out in the air, Ra took his hand. He shook it once and then stepped back. Horus and Seti followed suit.
“I expect you to call my office to set up an appointment,” Dr. Stone said when he got his hand back. Was it her imagination or did he flex his fingers like they ached?
“Why would she need to do that?” Ra asked. “My understanding is that you’ve not gleaned any useful—or publishable—information about Rose’s condition in years.”
A teenage girl happened to walk by and must have overheard the word condition. She glanced at Rose, gaze scanning her from head to toe before she went on. That was awkward.
“I’m not talking about Rose with a stranger,” Dr. Stone said. “Especially not one who manages to both insult me and my work.”
“Rose has another doctor now,” Seti said, easing closer to the blonde man. “Dr. Hudson Nors. There’s no reason for her to make an appointment with you.”
“And Dr. Marcus Filipelli,” Horus added. “From Harvard.”
Face flushed, Dr. Stone glared at each of the brothers before rounding on her. “Is this true?”
Not exactly. But she recognized what the brothers were doing for her by insulting Dr. Stone—they were giving her an out. It was obvious that her doctor’s pride had been wounded.
She took a breath to answer, but Ra suddenly cut in. His question was asked smoothly and seemed innocent, but it was weighed down with power. It was a question he couldn’t refuse to answer. “What do you need Rose for?”
Turning her gaze to her doctor, she watched him struggle to not answer. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, and he clenched his teeth. Normally, Dr. Stone kept a year-round tan, but now his skin flushed red and began to deepen to purple.
Blue-eyes nearly bulging from his head, the doctor did his best to remain silent.
But Ra couldn’t be denied. Rose had a moment of sympathy for the other man. She knew how it had hurt—physically hurt—to do as Ra had commanded her to do ten years ago. All her sympathy drained away, however, when he spoke.
“For her blood. It has properties never seen before. As hard as I try, I can’t replicate them in human blood. I need hers, and I need a steady supply of it.”
She couldn’t wrap her brain around what she was hearing. Words poked out of his statement like whack-a-moles. Human. Supply. Blood.
“Ask him why he needs it,” Horus said. His voice was low, dangerous. If she’d been Dr. Stone, she’d have been wetting her pants right now.
Ra obliged. “Tell me why you need her blood.”
Dr. Stone shook his head. His face had drained of blood when he answered, but now it flushed again. Red to purple, darkening progressively until she worried he’d have a stroke. He staggered, going to a knee.
“Tell me,” Ra commanded mercilessly.
“This man is having a heart attack!” someone yelled.
In the bubble of their discussion, Rose had forgotten they stood in the middle of a busy store.
People rushed past them to Dr. Stone whose mouth gaped open like a fish.
“You have to release him,” Horus said quietly, but Ra shook his head.
“I won’t.”
As much as Rose wanted answers, it was too risky now. “We’ll get answers later,” she said. “This isn’t the end.” Not now that she knew he had known there was something different about her all along. And he’d lied.
Dr. Stone owed her an explanation, and she’d get it.
31
Ra
It physically pained him to release Dr. Stone from his grasp, but he would honor Rose’s request. After all, she was right. This wasn’t the end.
He’d get his answers from Dr. Stone one way or another.
The man wasn’t what he seemed—the portrait he’d displayed to the world. He wasn’t some poor doctor who lost his reputation helping out a crazy girl.
He was a manipulative jerk with a hidden agenda.
“So, do we pay for the stuff we want?” Seti asked.
Rose had grabbed the cart, and Seti’s sleeve, and tugged them in the opposite direction of Dr. Stone. They’d remained only long enough for it not to look suspicious by darting off.
Rose even threw a can of chips in the cart. “La di da,” she said under her breath and he had to smile.
She didn’t have a manipulative bone in her body. It would take one person to look at her and know she was working her damnedest to fly under the radar.
Rose took the decision away from them. She pushed the cart right to a cashier and started unloading.
But her hands trembled.
“It’s okay,” Ra whispered under his breath to her as he lifted the heavy air mattress onto the belt before she could. “We’ll figure this out.”
She blinked at him. “I know,” she replied, guilelessly.
While the cashier tried to check them out and rubberneck, Horus and Seti stuffed their purchases into bags. Rose fumbled with her bag, and he placed his hand on hers. The heat of her body warmed him, and he smiled—hopefully reassuringly—at her. “I’ll pay.”
Because her honesty was only equaled by her stubbornness, she argued. “You’re my guests.”
“I got her,” Seti said. He reached over and entwined his fingers with hers, dragging her against him. “Come on, we’ll meet him outside.”
“But—”
“No buts,” his brother countered.
It took him seconds to pay for their stuff and then he was out the door. It was dark now, and significantly chillier without the sun. Rose, Seti, and Horus strode ahead, but she was staring over her shoulder. The relief that flashed across her face when she saw him shouldn’t have warmed him as much as it did, but there it was.
He was coming to care about her.
And hell if that wasn’t going to turn out to be a huge mistake.
32
Rose
Rose held onto the shopping bag as if her life depended on it. Questions swirled through her mind, and when she couldn’t stand it anymore, she spoke. “Hudson and Briar said there were obvious things that were different about my blood but also strange properties that a human wouldn’t notice.”
“I know,” Ra answered. His mouth was a firm line. “Apparently they were wrong.”
“Why would he need my blood?” she asked. “It’s poison.”
“I don’t know. I plan on asking them that question—and since they’ll only be able to guess at the answer, I’ll have another talk with Dr. Stone.”
Rose hugged the bag to her chest and stared out the window. Lights flashed by as the T passed streets and buildings. Their car was empty, except for the four of them, but Seti and Horus hung onto the poles and loomed over her and Ra.
What purpose could her blood serve besides paralyzing someone? Because the whole thing was so fantastical, she considered what she knew about super villains. Maybe Dr. Stone wanted an untraceable paralytic to give to security guards so he could rob banks�
� or… or… places where diamonds were sold. You mean jewelry stores, dumdum? Her inner voice could be such a bitch sometimes.
So those were some super villain possibilities, but what about like—medical ones. Maybe he wanted to sell her blood to gangs—no—that was a super villain thing again.
Medical…
Medical…
Medical…
“Keep people still during surgery maybe?” she said aloud and then shook her head. “No. It’s painful. You wouldn’t want someone to be in pain while you operated on them.”
The train shuddered and pulled to a squealing, grinding halt. They’d reached their stop. The four of them got off the train and walked the few blocks to Rose’s apartment. It could have been her imagination, but it seemed as if the brothers surrounded her. Two behind her and one next to her.
When they got to her apartment, Horus held out his hand for her key. “I’ll make you one tomorrow,” she said. “That way you can come and go as you please.”
He shot her a strange look over his shoulder before he pushed the key inside the lock and turned it. Once they were inside, and the bags were on the floor, Horus put his hands on his hips and sighed.
“I thought of something,” he said quietly, staring at the ground.
His brothers looked surprised, and Rose realized whatever he was about to say, he hadn’t shared with them yet. They might not have told her that they communicated at a level she couldn’t register, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know they did it. From Seti’s wide-eyes and Ra’s deep frown, they didn’t like that Horus was revealing his thoughts to them without prior warning.
“What is it?” Rose asked when it became clear the other two wouldn’t.
“I thought if I tasted your blood, I might know what it is Dr. Stone is looking for, and maybe I’d learn what leaves you in such pain.”
“You could learn all that from my blood?” she asked. “With just a taste?” The thought didn’t freak her out as much as it should have—the taking her blood part, anyway. The brothers were something other, and there was never really a moment when she forgot that. It was hard to, anyway, when they moved at such fast speeds, had incredible strength, and at times, spoke in antiquated, formal ways.
Rose Page 17
