“What if I don’t want to embrace it?” Rose asked uneasily.
“Then, maybe you’re not as brave as I thought you were,” Aaron said.
The sound of a twig snapping interrupted them.
Rose glanced around the quiet, moonlit cemetery. A blanket of thick, white snow covered the ground and the tops of the stones and buildings, and as the frigid wind blew gently through the cemetery, the snow scattered into the air like glistening, white dust. But she saw no explanation for the sound. “Did you hear that?” she asked, shifting her gaze back toward where Aaron stood.
But he wasn’t there anymore.
Rose blinked in shock. “Oh, how nice of you to just leave me standing here like an idiot,” she muttered sarcastically. She sniffed at the icy air, frowning as she noticed—beneath the scents of dirt, stone, and ice—the scent of a human.
She followed the scent. On the opposite side of the cemetery, she found Aaron, standing between two crumbling statues, staring down at a thin, young woman. The human sat in the snow, trembling at the cold, her long, blue dress soaked and sticking to her skin. A pair of handcuffs restrained her hands, and a long, metal chain linked the handcuffs to the headstone in front of her. She stared up at them with wide, blue eyes, her blonde hair drenched and disheveled.
“Help,” the woman begged Rose, tears forming in her eyes. “Please.”
“Oh my goodness,” Rose breathed, quickly stumbling forward and falling to her knees in front of the woman, the snow instantly soaking her jeans.
“Rose, don’t,” Aaron growled as Rose reached for the chains.
Rose glanced back at Aaron, her eyes narrowing. “She’s chained up,” she growled, frustrated by the lack of sympathy that she saw in his black eyes.
“We don’t know who she is,” Aaron stated, “or who put her there.”
“I don’t really care,” Rose snarled. “She’s cold and scared.”
Aaron tilted his head to the side as he continued to stare at the thin, shivering human, his unruly, black curls falling over his furrowed brows. “Have you noticed that she won’t look at me?” he asked Rose. “She only looks at you. It’s almost as if she knows that looking at me will affect her, as if she knows about the allure.” He stepped forward, growling as he saw Rose reach for the chains again. “I told you not to release her. You will follow my orders, Rose.”
Still kneeling in the snow, in front of the woman, Rose spun around to glare at him, her auburn hair falling over her shoulder. “I hate to break it to you, Aaron, but I don’t follow orders. Not even from you. I’m unchaining her.”
Aaron leaned forward and grabbed Rose’s arm, snatching her up out of the snow. He watched her with raised eyebrows as she struggled to get free. “Your audacity is entertaining, but unfortunately, my patience is wearing thin.”
Rose growled in frustration when she realized that she couldn’t pull her arm out of his grasp. “Get your hands off of me,” she snarled at him.
“No,” he said simply. He shifted his dark gaze back toward the human on the ground. “Who brought you here, human? Who chained you up like that?”
“Her name was Alana,” the woman said, still refusing to look at him.
Aaron raised a dark eyebrow. “Alana brought you here?”
Rose looked up at him. “Now, will you let me unchain her?”
“She’s lying,” Aaron said simply, as if it were obvious.
Rose’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You can’t possibly know that.”
Aaron sighed in frustration. He scowled at her, as if she were a child who had disappointed him. “As I have reminded you several times already, you are a vampire, not a human,” he said, his words harshly enunciated. “Learn to use your senses.” He shifted his gaze back toward the woman. “Listen to her heartbeat. Notice when her pulse spikes, when her breathing grows shallow…”
Rose bristled at his condescending tone. “There are plenty of things that can cause those physiological reactions. So, unless you have a real reason to…”
“Alana hasn’t been anywhere near this cemetery,” Aaron interrupted.
Rose frowned at that. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Because I know Alana’s scent,” Aaron said irritably. “If she had set even one foot in this cemetery, I would have recognized her scent immediately.”
“You know her scent,” Rose repeated. She studied him suspiciously, her eyebrows lifting as she realized something. “You mean…like Erik and Kara do?”
His jaw tightened. “Yes, Rose,” he growled. “Perhaps, instead of trying to figure out details about my past that are none of your business, you could put your mind to better use and help me figure out how this human knows about Alana.”
“Unchain her, and maybe she’ll tell you,” Rose suggested.
The woman looked up, watching Rose with hooded, grayish-blue eyes.
“I’m not unchaining her until I know she’s not a threat,” Aaron snarled.
“She’s a human!” Rose objected. “She’s chained up in the snow. She’s probably cold and frightened. You can’t just leave her like that. It’s inhumane.”
Aaron scowled at her. “If you’re expecting me to feel sympathy for her, you might as well give up,” he said simply. “I don’t feel sympathy for anyone.”
“Not even Alana?” Rose challenged.
His eyes narrowed. “Especially not Alana,” he growled.
“I don’t believe you,” Rose stated.
Aaron rolled his eyes. He let go of Rose’s arm, releasing her so abruptly that she fell into the snow. He walked over to the human woman and crouched in front of her. “Are you cold, human?” he asked in a cold, emotionless voice. When the woman nodded, he said, “If you answer my questions, I’ll release you.”
“O-okay,” the woman stammered, her lips trembling.
Rose climbed to her feet, dusting the snow off of her clothes. “Aaron, she’s going to freeze to death before you finish interrogating her,” she scolded.
Aaron shrugged. “If she does, I’ll have someone dispose of the body.”
Rose glared at him. “I’m starting to understand why Kallias hates you.”
“Who brought you here?” Aaron asked the human woman.
“I told you,” the woman said, shivering. “She said her name was Alana.”
“If you keep lying to me, I’ll kill you myself,” Aaron warned.
“No, you won’t!” Rose said angrily. “You’re not killing anyone.”
Aaron smiled at the human. “Don’t let the crazy woman fool you. She can’t stop me from killing you. I could rip you in half before she even blinks.”
“Did you just call me crazy?” Rose growled, her eyes narrowing.
The metal cuffs clanged together as the woman shivered violently. The sound drew Rose’s attention. “Please,” the woman pleaded. “Just let me go.”
Rose’s eyes widened in alarm as she realized how loosely the handcuffs hung around the woman’s wrists. “Aaron,” she hissed, “get away from her.”
As soon as Aaron turned to frown at Rose, the human shook off her handcuffs and jabbed something into his arm. “What the hell?” he muttered as he turned his gaze back toward the human. He looked down at his arm. “Ow.”
Aaron suddenly fell forward, collapsing, unconscious, into the snow.
Rose blinked in shock and stepped back. “What just happened to him?”
The human scrambled to her feet, the thin, wet fabric of her blue dress clinging to her skin. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and screamed.
Rose cringed as the shrill scream caused pain to erupt in her ears.
Within moments, Rose found herself surrounded by a group of five armed humans. Three men and two women joined the small, shivering woman, surrounding Rose. Rose frowned at them. “What is going on?” she mumbled.
“Is she a vampire?” one of the women asked the others.
“Yes,” a tall, brunette man snarled. “Kill her.”
&nbs
p; Rose didn’t know how to react. She had no idea who the humans were or why they would want to kill her. And she definitely didn’t want to kill them.
The sound of a gunshot brought her out of her thoughts.
The bullet froze midair, hovering between her and the tall, brunette man, as she stopped it with her mind. With her concentration on the bullet, she didn’t notice the other four humans attacking her until it was too late. Moving much faster than a human could, Rose managed to knock each one of them off of her, but before she did, one of them managed to stab her in the stomach.
Rose covered her stomach with her hand, feeling the warm blood spill over her hand. “Why are all of you attacking me? Just run. I won’t hurt you.”
One of the women climbed to her feet and rushed toward Rose with a knife in her hand. Rose swept her arm out, knocking the woman away from her.
The other humans came after her again. When two of them tried to stab Rose at once, she reacted instinctually. Without thinking, she stepped out of their path, and the humans, not seeing her move, collided. One of the women screamed out as the blade of the other woman’s knife slid into her stomach.
Rose froze as the scent of the woman’s blood filled the air. She spun toward the injured woman, her eyes widening as she saw the blood pouring out of the human’s stomach. “Oh my goodness,” she gasped. “Are you okay?”
The tall, brunette man took advantage of her moment of distraction. Intense pain tore through Rose’s body as he shoved something into her chest.
Rose gasped and stumbled backward, blinking as she saw the wooden stake in her chest. The world suddenly seemed to tip, and before she realized what was happening, she fell onto the ground, hitting her head on a tombstone.
“What are you doing?” one of the women yelled. Rose thought the voice sounded like the first woman’s voice—the one they’d found chained up in the snow. “Stop worrying about her! We came to kill Aaron, remember? Kill him!”
Rose blinked slowly as her vision blurred. She noticed the vague outline of the blonde woman in the blue dress in front of her. She felt something warm spilling over her body, and for a moment, it felt nice—warming her as the icy wind beat at her wounded body—but then, the sweet, powerful scent hit her.
It was her own blood. And there was so much of it.
“He’s not here! Where is he?” one of the men yelled.
“He was right there,” the blonde woman said, her voice rising in fear.
Rose thought she heard footsteps. Quick, uneven footsteps. Running. Then, she saw someone encircle his arms around the blonde woman, jerking her back against his dark form. She heard the woman gasp, and then, she smelled more blood. Human blood. The woman’s blood. Everything seemed to fade in and out as Rose blinked slowly, barely able to stay conscious. After a few moments, filled with the sounds of soft, intermittent moans, Rose noticed the woman’s body collapse in front of her, dark red blood spilling into the snow. She looked up at the dark form behind her, watching as he stepped over the woman’s corpse.
Aaron crouched in front of her, his black eyes widening in horror. Blood coated his face, dripping onto his white T-shirt. “You let them stake you?”
Rose would have rolled her eyes, if she had any strength left. “Oh, yeah,” she said sarcastically, her words slurring, “I let them. I said, ‘Hey, why don’t you shove a big piece of wood in my chest? I think that would be fun. Don’t you?’”
He scowled at her sarcasm. “You’re dying. You realize that, right?”
“Yeah,” she said weakly. “I’ve done this before.”
Aaron growled at her, “Would you stop making jokes?”
“No. I’ll be spouting off sarcastic remarks on my deathbed. Or death-stone. Get it? Death stone?” she slurred. “Because I’m lying against a stone?”
He stared blankly at her. “I get it. I just don’t think it’s funny.”
“Everything feels fuzzy,” Rose sighed. “How long do I have left?”
Aaron stared at the stake. “I need to get that out of you.”
“If you remove it, I’ll bleed out faster,” Rose told him.
“You’re dying anyway,” he told her. “That stake is in your heart.”
“With the size of the thing, I doubt there’s anything left of my heart,” Rose commented tiredly. “Hearts aren’t that big, you know. About the size of a fist.”
“Anatomy? That’s what you want to talk about as you die?” Aaron asked.
She sighed, “Tell Kallias that I…”
“You can tell him yourself,” Aaron growled. He leaned forward and wrapped his hands around the wooden stake. His dark gaze shifted up to meet hers. “You need to brace yourself. This is going to be extremely painful.”
“Go ahead,” Rose said weakly. “Pain doesn’t scare me anymore.”
Her scream echoed throughout the cemetery as he ripped out the stake.
Aaron tossed the blood-and-flesh-covered stake aside and bit into his own wrist. “Feed! Now!” he growled, pressing his wrist against her mouth.
Aaron felt his stomach sink with dread as he waited for her to react. Her body slumped back against the tombstone behind her, and her eyes slid closed. He waited, listening for her heartbeat, watching for even a hint of movement, but there was nothing. He sighed, thinking that she must have died already, but then, he felt her cold lips close around the holes in his wrist, and she began to feed.
Aaron tilted his head back, breathing out, his breath fogging in the air, like white smoke, as Rose swallowed her first mouthful of his blood. His mind whirled as the endorphins began to take effect. It had been so long since he allowed someone to feed from him. He’d almost forgotten how it actually felt.
Her mouth felt cold against his skin. Too cold, Aaron realized, his brows creasing in concern. As a matter of fact, even as she fed, she grew colder, and she sucked slower and slower, most of the blood spilling out over her lips and face. He glanced at her, noticing the ashen tint of her skin. She was dying still.
“You’re not getting blood fast enough,” he said, even though he wasn’t sure if she could hear him or not. He leaned forward and pulled the silver dagger from her belt. Then, he lifted the blade and, with one swift motion, sliced open his neck. The blood poured out rapidly over his skin, soaking into his white shirt. He gathered her into his arms and pulled her into his lap. “Feed from my neck.”
She slumped weakly against him, her eyes still closed, and for a moment, he worried that it was too late for even her instincts to save her. But then, she shifted her head, pressing her face against the blood, inhaling. Then, finally she pulled back and sank her fangs into his neck, ripping a larger wound in his skin.
Aaron growled at the pain. But soon, those pleasant sensations returned, replacing the pain, overriding his conscious thoughts, the pain forgotten. He felt the soft, gentle vibration of her moans against his neck. He groaned and sank his fingers into her hair, clutching her to him, as she drank his blood mercilessly, draining him much faster than any vampire should. He couldn’t quite remember why he needed to stop her, as she grew stronger and he grew weaker. He felt her shifting in his lap, straddling his hips, moving sensually against him, and he realized that she was much less restrained as she fed, much wilder, much more animalistic, much more like a vampire. A wave of drowsiness washed over him.
He opened his eyes. “You’re draining me,” he grunted, jerking back on her hair to pull her mouth away from his neck. He lifted his eyebrows at her when she growled and tried to fight her way back to his neck. “That’s enough.”
Her violently flashing, crimson gaze shifted toward him.
He froze, his eyes widening in shock, as he watched the red haze swirl and dance within her eyes. “You’re her,” he gasped. “The one from the legends.”
Rose tilted her head to the side, blood dripping from her mouth, as she watched him with her inhuman gaze. “What legends?” she said in an eerie tone.
“Nothing,” he muttered, standing and putt
ing space between them.
As the adrenaline rush began to fade, and her animalistic instincts began to recede in her mind, Rose collapsed against the tombstone again, the pain and weakness rushing back into her body, all at once. “I’m still dying, aren’t I?”
Aaron stared down at her, at the gaping hole in her chest and the blood still oozing from it. “Probably. You’re lucky that you’re even alive right now.”
She tilted her head back, blinking up at the black, cloud-covered sky, and she growled—the agonized growl of a wounded animal. “I’m so hungry!”
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Aaron said dryly. “I don’t have any more to give.”
Rose shifted her gaze back toward him, considering how he looked, standing several feet away from her, his hand braced against a tall cross statue. His usually dark skin looked pale now, grayish, and a layer of cold sweat gleamed on his skin as the moonlight reflected off of it. His white T-shirt looked nearly black from all of the blood that had soaked into it—both hers and his. She licked her lips, tasting the blood that still coated her mouth. “Thank you,” she said weakly.
His dark gaze shifted toward her. “For what?”
“Trying to save me,” she sighed, leaning her head back against the stone.
Aaron watched her for a moment, his brows furrowed, as if he were intrigued by her reaction. “You’re still alive,” he muttered. “That’s a good sign.”
“Are you saying that you think I might survive?” Rose asked.
“I’m saying that I hope you do,” Aaron corrected.
Rose heard the rush of movement through the cemetery less than a second before Kallias appeared before her, his brown eyes wide with horror.
“Rose,” Kallias breathed. He knelt in front of her, the bottom of his leather jacket scraping the snow. His golden skin turned several shades paler as he gaped at the gruesome wound in her chest. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Yeah,” Rose said, drawing out the word. “Do you remember when I told you that nothing would happen to me tonight? It turns out…I was wrong.”
The Tomb of Blood Page 41
