The Divine Roses (Jake & Dean Investigations Book 3)

by Richard Amos

  “What’s to know? She was their daughter. Found out how to live a long life.”

  “Terrible magic involving the blood of young fae over the centuries to stay alive, to help her grow into the girl you knew, then into the woman you encountered.”

  Deep breaths. “Did you know who she was when we were younger?”

  “No. Only recently.” He shook his head and took an imploring step forward. “Son, I’m so, so sorry. Deeper than you can imagine. I was a fool, desperate. The money had dried up, and I was losing my social standing. Those things were all I had, all I’d ever achieved. I know that is a terrible thing to say, but my life was crumbling. Selfish, yes. But I couldn’t lose my life. Orla threw me a lifeline, and it spun out of control.” He shook his head again. “I’ve acted so terribly. I never wanted to hurt anyone.”

  I’d had enough. “Don’t insult me with your pathetic excuses, you piece of shit. You went along with this, and that’s all I need to know about you now. Had me thinking we could be something else, that we could have a relationship. The only thing stopping me from killing you is this.” I gestured to the snow, to Jake and Louise. “You came good in the end when you could’ve run away. I’m grateful for that and always will be.”

  “Dean…”

  “But I never want to see your face again.”

  I meant every word of it. The gratitude would be eternal. This was because of him, and he’d helped me escape the palace.

  “Dean. Please. I—”

  “Goodbye, Dad.”

  “Son. Let me make it up to you. Let me…” He fell to his knees. “Let me beg your forgiveness. Please. I can’t stand this. I have to be in her life.”

  I had to give it to him that, despite being a total bastard, he had the ability to reach a part of me I thought I’d blocked off a long time ago. A part of me that wanted him to be my dad.

  Would I be able to forgive him?

  “I said goodbye, Dad.”

  Tears ran down his cheeks. “Son. Please. I love you. Let me make this better.”

  I turned my back.

  He didn’t say another word. I listened to him, eventually, get up and walk away.

  Thirty-Seven

  Dylan Rivers

  What a messy, tricky maneuver to get through the tunnels at Flevopark. Seph and I chained together and also chained to Andy and Pranay above.

  The tunnels were choked with water, but that water stopped at the edge of an open door—a wall of liquid unable to break through into the woodland that waited there, held back a protective magic.

  That same magic let us through. It didn’t offer much in the way of resistance to our bodies. In fact, I could sense vulnerability within it, which was pleasing in the context of our mission.

  Together we landed on grass, dripping with mud and water.

  “That was unpleasant,” I said.

  Seph chuckled. “I’ll say.”

  The woodland was beautiful, too fancy a prison for that pair of destructive brothers.

  I’m sure being stuck here together drove them to the furthest reaches of insanity, even more crazy than they already were.

  Literally trapped together, fused into one body.

  I didn’t need to know how that’d happened. It was time to destroy this place and undo them. I’d been expecting them to be waiting here for us to arrive. Over by the pond, the two of them fighting for dominance as they tried to kill us.

  Or give me poisoned chocolate again.

  “Shall we?” I said.

  We searched the trees, which went nowhere, and every inch of this place until the pond was the only thing left.

  A calm, black pool.

  “There are secrets in there,” I said.

  “Can you sense something?” Seph asked.

  “No.”

  “Oh.”

  “I was just speculating.”

  It’d seemed too obvious to look here first. That was a wrong assumption to have made. I jotted down a mental note to start from the most obvious point from now on and work backward from there.

  Hopefully, there would be no next time.

  “Let me feel around,” Seph said.

  Ooo, I liked the sound of that.

  Ahem.

  He dipped a chain into the water, just a few inches first…

  …not like him.

  Ha!

  No. I had to be serious here.

  So, he dipped his chain in and lowered it further. I waited for a while, constantly glancing back at the door where the floodwater pooled beyond. Not that those brothers would use the door, seeing as they could teleport, but it made me feel better.

  Seph pulled the chain back out. “It’s deep. Really deep.”

  “It isn’t that deep, actually.”

  I spun, Seph at the same time. Elijah/Parker was standing there.

  Presenting as Elijah.

  A broken man.

  “We’re ending you now,” I seethed.

  “Please do. The plug is in there waiting. That’s how this prison magic breaks. Always there, always untouchable. A torture device that is now my salvation. End this.”

  “By literally pulling the plug?” Seph questioned.

  “My daughter is dead. This madness needs to end.”

  “A change of heart?” I said. “Why?”

  “My daughter is dead.”

  “Right. And how does Parker feel about this?”

  “I’m holding him back. You must hurry.”

  His face flickered, trying to change.

  “Why should we trust you?”

  “Because there is nothing left. I don’t want to live while my daughter doesn’t.” He grunted. “No! You will no come out! I will fight you with every ounce of strength I have left!”

  Scary. “You don’t deserve salvation.”

  “Are you God?” he asked.

  “You seemed to think you were.”

  “No, Oisin! Stay back! This ends now!” He wasn’t going to talk anymore, too busy battling the other occupant of that body.

  I turned to Seph. “How deep did you say it was?”

  “Not deep!” Elijah cried. “A trick. Reach in…reach in and grab.”

  The ideal situation was to leave them suffering, tormenting one another, crippled by guilt at losing Orla. Locked in here again for the next three centuries.

  The problem was, there was no guarantee they would stay put.

  Death it was.

  I went to reach into the pond, but Seph beat me to it. He always had to be the gentleman.

  I’d reward him later.

  It really was as simple as pulling a plug. He felt around, elbow deep, grunted, and pulled out a rubber stopper the size of a football.

  Elijah broke into laughter as the water became a whirlpool that expanded, sucking the woodland down into a vortex as if it were liquid paint, everything melting and dragged to oblivion. Including that body of brothers.

  Elijah laughing, Parker screaming.

  Thankfully, we were burped back into the floodwater, the door slamming closed behind us and vanishing, nothing left there but the muddy wall of the tunnel.

  We swam back up to the surface, greeting the fae and the werewolf in victory.

  “That was it?” Pranay said. “A fucking stopper in a pond?”

  “Funny, isn’t it?” I replied. “But the most important thing is they’re gone. The world can breathe a sigh of relief in that respect.” I shivered. “I take that back. The most important thing is a hot bath and a hot chocolate.”

  Andy’s left eyebrow cocked. “Hot chocolate? Since when did you drink that?”

  “When we went to visit Jake and Dean’s home, Jake offered it to us, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “I’ve been in the mood for some ever since. With cream and marshmallows.”

  Pranay threw an arm around me. “Sounds like heaven to me.”

  THREE MONTHS LATER

  Epilogue

  Jake

  After three m
onths, I’d sat up again.

  All that guff about the world changing had been spot on. Big change.

  The pods were gone.

  That snow Lou had brought on had frozen everything pod, including the pod-born (like me). For three months, the snow had stayed, and the city waited. No, the flippin’ world had waited. During the wait, Amsterdam had been locked down, and still was. No way in, no way out. Bit scary, but it was needed.

  When the snow had vanished, the pods were gone. I was alive and pod-free. Sonny was too. The pair of us had sat up together in that shop in Amsterdam Centraal, held in stasis until we came to. Untouched because we couldn’t be moved until the moment we were…

  …cured.

  I’d never forget Dean’s tears. Mine. Lou’s. We huddled tight for a long, long time in that shop, not wanting to let go.

  We’d made it. Safe. The Rós brothers gone. Apocalypse averted. Well, at least that one. Who knew what was down the road?

  Dean told me off for thinking like that. He was so right. No more being grim.

  Lou had been tested after the whole freezing thing. There wasn’t a trace of magic left in her. A one-shot thing in Amsterdam. Which got people wondering if there were more kids out there, or not even kids, who could do the same. With that whole environment influencing magic thing, which made my brain hurt, the chances were high of others having the same power. So the hunt was on at finding those who might be able to cure other places across the world of the pods.

  Interesting times ahead. Really interesting. The best part was that for the first time since the pods had come, there was some real hope they’d piss off.

  Actual, real hope.

  Until that day came, Amsterdam was locked down. For safety, to keep pod infections out, and to protect the residents from a mob descending upon it. Lou had become even more famous than Dylan Rivers, who’d managed to leave the city before lockdown.

  Because of the unwanted fame, we’d been moved to a secret location on the coast in North Holland, our closest neighbors miles away. We were protected, hidden from everyone. No one knew where we were. Internet and phones were magically cloaked from outside interference. A proper sealing away for our own safety. No one was getting to us, though the sting in the tail was no physical contact with loved ones. Thank God for the internet.

  The Conclave had run out of steam fast, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still a danger. One consolation was Izzie’s body had been found floating in a canal. Not fun for the person who found her in three pieces, but always brilliant news.

  Good riddance.

  Also, the Ricci Twins had gone up in flames under the spell of Dylan’s siren song.

  Again, good fucking riddance.

  We even found out that Giles McGregor, the once head of the Conclave, had been dead since Christmas. I’d just thought Elijah had taken over, McGregor ousted, as happened a lot with those bastards. They seemed to change leaders like hot dinners. Nope, the rotting corpses of him and his wife were found a couple of days after Elijah and Parker were no more.

  One more good riddance for those arseholes.

  Despite the circumstances and my near-death experience, I was pretty at ease with life.

  Apart from now, right at this moment. My nerves were in a right state as I waited in my bedroom, the whole of our new house done up in wedding garb.

  Today was the day I was marrying the love of my life.

  Blimey!

  In honor of Lou, we went for white roses, white suits for us, and a cute white dress for her.

  Mila was marrying us because she was ordained to apparently. Her place hadn’t been touched by the pod chaos, still the same treasure trove of alchemy it always was.

  Getting married virtually. It was just us and Lou in the flesh, everyone else would be on screens.

  It was gonna be weird.

  “You look amazing babe,” Naomi (Nay) said from the laptop screen—one of many screens set up around the house.

  Right now, there was one pointed at me as I finished knotting my tie in the bedroom, Dean downstairs sorting himself out. We were leaving what we looked like in our suits as a surprise to each other. You know, for the cuteness factor. It was a little slice of not seeing your soon-to-be husband before the big day.

  “You so do, mate.” That was Greg agreeing. The pair of them had linked up in Brussels, had been heading to Amsterdam to surprise me and Dean with a visit before all the shit went down. Gutted I couldn’t give my besties some big, squishy hugs again. It’d been so long, and I missed them so bloody much.

  Even though our lives had taken us in different directions, they were my people. We were forever bonded by our past experiences.

  I loved them so hard.

  I smiled at their faces. Naomi’s hair was currently long and sleek, and newly bleached blonde. And she had the best tan ever. Lucky!

  Greg’s hair was cut and faded to perfection, sunlight shimmering across his dark skin on the beautiful day they were having over in the capital city of Belgium.

  Today was a beautiful day all round.

  “Thanks, you two.”

  “How’s Dean feeling?” Nay asked.

  “Didn’t break a sweat this morning when he went off to hide from me.”

  “Typical Dean,” Greg said.

  “I think this whole thing is too damn cute,” Nay added. “I really do.”

  “Thanks. You’re both looking proper dapper yourselves, by the way.”

  Suited and booted in navy: Greg. Amazing baby blue gown and fascinator: Nay.

  “Ah, ya charmer,” Greg said.

  We chatted about various things like food and nice stuff, a little bit about world events. Anything outside the bubble I was living in didn’t touch me now. And this was a proper bubble, even if we were cut off from things and it hurt sometimes. Really couldn’t deny the hurt. Still, it was what it was.

  The PIA part of my life was over. Okay, maybe not totally over. Being so final about things would get me nowhere. Who knew where we’d end up? What I did know was that, for now, Jake & Dean Investigations was closed for business.

  Me and Dean’d had a long chat about things.

  “You holding up okay, mate?” Greg asked.

  He didn’t mean the wedding. He meant the situation, and he checked in on us pretty much every day to see we weren’t going nuts. So did Nay. Not just ‘cos they’d once been my literal former guardians, like Dean, but because they were both amazing people.

  I kept the tears back. “Yeah, I’m alright, even if I am bricking it.”

  “Totally understandable.”

  “I was a bit emosh this morning about stuff. Second guessing this whole wedding lark. I wanted you all here in person. But what if it’s ages before we can do that?”

  “Why should you wait?” Nay said. “You both deserve to be happy, and this is a first for me. Never done a virtual wedding before.” She nodded. “I knew your wedding would be different.”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Nay.”

  “Things will change, Jake. I promise.”

  I knew that. This was only for now, to protect us and Lou from nut jobs. Her safety was more important than anything else.

  “Thank God we live in the age of the internet,” I proclaimed.

  “Amen, Jakey!” Greg boomed.

  We all laughed. They sure knew how to make me feel better.

  “I’m nervous myself,” Nay announced. “Can’t stop peeing.”

  “Dylan?” I asked, knowing it was a huge yes.

  “I can’t believe you saw him in the flesh. Ugh. So not fair.”

  “You’ll see him…virtually.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Oh, shit. The bladder is calling. One moment boys!”

  “How’s Bliss?” I asked Greg. She was his werewolf girlfriend. She was signing on later, couldn’t travel with Greg for work reasons, so she was back at their home in Greece.

  Sam, Nay’s girlfriend and bad-arse troll, had popped in earlier on the screen to say hi, and was now
laughing in the background about Nay’s bladder.

  “Told you it’s a peanut!” she bellowed.

  Greg chuckled, then gave me his best nervous face. A good nervous. Kind of shy but happy.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked.

  “Jake… She’s… She’s pregnant.”

  The warm and fuzzies tickled me like crazy. “What? No way! Oh my God! Greg! No way! Congratulations. I’m so happy for you. So fucking happy! Is that why she can’t travel?”

  “Oh, no. She really needed to stick around for work. She ain’t happy about it. Work, not the baby.”

  “When is she due?”

  “10th December.”

  “Oh, Greg. Blimey. I’m gonna start blubbing.”

  “Me too, mate.” He wiped at his glistening eyes.

  “What’s all the shouting about?” Nay asked, returning.

  Greg dropped the awesome news once again.

  After Greg and Nay signed off to chat to Dean, the snowy white-haired man that was my dad was there on the screen, along with my twin sister Jessica—who had the same dark hair and blue eyes as me. Both glammed up, Jessica in a bottle green suit that really set off her eyes, and Dad a sharp black suit with a bowtie.

  Calling in from East London.

  “I’m so proud of you, Son.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “I am. Seriously. So, so proud. Every fucking day.” He covered his mouth. “My little doughnut ain’t there, is she? I can’t afford the fine.”

  Jessica laughed. “You deserve to be fined, Dad!”

  “Don’t,” I said, “I’ve lost a fortune. She’s with Dean, don’t worry.”

  “I can’t believe you’re getting married,” Jessica said.

  “What, again?”

  “Don’t be daft!” she protested. “That’s not what I mean. I just, it feels so amazing, so weird.”

  “You think my wedding’s weird?”

  “Stop putting words in my mouth!”

  “You called it weird.” I loved teasing her.

  “If only I could slap you! I meant just after everything you’ve been through, after… All that shit with you getting infected by pod, that Orla woman… Fuck. I’m not making sense. Wasn’t like I thought you were gonna die…” She released a shuddery breath. “Oh, God. I’m sorry, Jake.”