Deadly Beasts (The Curse of the Rose Book 1)

by T. M. Watkins

  The other hand cupped my jaw, it was warm and soft and I ached to fold into it, to give into the pain that was killing me. I couldn't take it any more, I just wanted the suffering to end. So when he leaned in to kiss me, I let him. Just like James was, it was sweet. Soft and unhurried, he pulled my hand to his chest and then wrapped it around my waist to pull me closer to him.

  Chapter Seventy

  The ruler snapped onto the table and frightened the life out of me. I looked up at the menacing stare that the horrible woman was giving me. This was my life now, I was being educated in the elven world. I had to learn the language, that was first on the list. It was a long one and I didn't really care for any of it. This woman, Giliam was a hard task master and expected me to learn quickly. And as for staring out the window and daydreaming about the previous night? No, that was not ideal. That would earn you a glowering that could melt steel. I apologised and told her I wasn't feeling well, which got me a clucking of the tongue as she continued to circle the dining room table. She was reciting the alphabet and it was as interesting as watching the dust gathering on the table. Which of course didn't last long because Willa came in with her furniture polish and started cleaning. Giliam frowned at her and the two of them started arguing in their own language, none of which I could understand. But it was certainly fun to watch. I always thought that Willa was a bit of a mouse, she was quiet and kept to herself but now that she was having a run in with Giliam, I could see she was a fireball. Fingers were being pointed as both of them became more and more hurried in their arguing. Out of nowhere Willa sprayed the furniture polish in the air, directed at Giliam. She started sneezing and as the smell wafted through the room, I realised what was causing my upset stomach. That damned furniture polish, it had to have a bayalan scent to it. My hand slapped to my mouth as I pushed the chair back. It screeched across the floor as I jumped up and bolted for the nearest bathroom. Which of course was mine.

  As I puked my guts up into the toilet bowl, I could hear Willa knocking on my bathroom door, saying something in her own language. Then I heard Giliam calling out to me and also arguing with Willa in their language.

  'What is going on ladies?'

  Great, now my mother is here. The two of them started talking loudly to her, which was great considering I was having a dry heaving session. My stomach was done, there was nothing left in there. A soft rap on the door as it creaked open, the sounds of Willa and Giliam was getting more and more feint.

  “Eliria?” My mother spoke softly through the crack in the door. “Are you okay now darling?”

  I groaned as I got up from the floor, flushing the toilet and moving to the vanity slowly. The world was swaying and dancing around me and I had to hold the wall to ensure I would make it. As I rinsed my mouth out my mother rubbed my back.

  “I have asked Willa to change her cleaning products. No more bayalan flower.”

  “Is this normal? How can I go to your world with this flower around?”

  She shrugged with a smile, helping me out of the bathroom. “The bayalan flower is primarily located in your father's land in a province that is in the southern section. They mass grow it there for use in many products, just like the furniture polish. Where your father lives, it's far too hot for it. Your father and grandfather live in an almost tropical land and it is sunny quite a lot which the flower does not like. It grows in swampy conditions and likes heavy rainfall with minimal sunlight. So I would think that you would be fine provided you stay in your father's province. As for my land, it is far too cold for it. And allergies to plants are normal, it's a pretty potent little flower and it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that you have had such a reaction to it. You weren't raised around it, it's understandable. Now, rest on the lounge and read the book that Giliam has left for you.” She grinned with a wink. “Such a mean old crank, isn't she?”

  I snorted as I laughed, taking the book off the table as I sat down.

  “Well, she won't be back until tomorrow, lucky you. Now, what about the lunch that you planned to have with James? Would you like to invite him here instead?”

  I shrugged and made the mistake of looking at her, she wasn't impressed. “Fine.” I sighed. “It's not as if I've just puked my guts up or anything.”

  “So clean your teeth darling.”

  She smiled wickedly at me as she passed my phone over. It was the kind of smile that said I know you totally kissed him last night, so don't be giving me any of your crap today missy. My mother sauntered out of the room and left me to my book and my phone, wondering if the kiss last night was the right thing to do.

  I was a fool to think it wasn't. It was perfect, it made me feel wanted and it left me in a seriously good mood. After typing the text, I waited the few seconds knowing that he always responded far too quickly. He agreed to come here for lunch but was more concerned that I was ill rather than having lunch. I smiled as I laid on the lounge, resting my eyes for a brief moment to remember last night. He was right about William and even though I didn't want to, I agreed with him. William knew I meant something to him and he refused to acknowledge it. Like the fool that I was, I was holding hope that he would change his mind. But that kiss had changed everything. James pulled me tight to his body as I put my hands on his chest, slowly moving them up to his firm shoulders. His skin was warm, far warmer than Williams even after he had fed. James was restrained and well behaved, one hand on the small of my back, the other moved from my jaw and down my back, resting half way down. It left me breathless and in desperate need of more than just one kiss but he stopped and smiled at me. Our faces were still so close together, our lips pressed together delicately as he murmured that I needed to eat my dinner. My lips were probably red and swollen from the kiss, it was likely that it would have been the tell tale sign that gave me away to my mother when we entered the dining room. Or maybe it was the fact that James was holding my hand. To my parents utter delight, James was the perfect gentleman and pulled the chair out for me. I wanted to roll my eyes and state that at nearly twenty years of age, I was quite capable of grasping the concept of how to use a chair but I didn't. He was playing it up for my parents. Win them over and its smooth sailing for James.

  I had slept the entire morning away, what time it was I had no clue. I could feel the soft touch of his fingers as they drew a line over my temple and behind my ear.

  “Eliria?” James whispered softly.

  My eyes fluttered open and saw him squatting in front of me with a big grin on his face.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Terrible.” I groaned.

  He helped me sit up, resting against the back of the chaise. I tucked my legs up so he could sit down with me, Willa came into the room with a tray. She set it on the low line table and offered me a bowl, saying the same word over and over again.

  “Ola.” She grinned and nodded.

  “I think she means soup.” James whispered.

  “Ola!” She grinned again and gestured to her stomach. “Ola ce alou aceintou sila.”

  James frowned at her and then looked at me with a grin.

  “Uh maybe soup for an upset stomach?”

  Willa nodded madly with a grin as she patted her stomach.

  “Eloi aceintou.”

  He looked at me with a grin, still unable to understand her. “Yeah sure, eloee axceentu.”

  Her face became serious as she looked at him, her hand flicked gently toward him. “Du mas alou gelt?”

  “She said aloo again, what do you reckon that means?” He whispered with a frown.

  I shrugged as I ate a mouthful of the delicious chicken soup. “Maybe she asked if you were sick too.”

  “Oh.” He nodded slowly and then turned to her, shaking his head. “No, not sick.”

  “Aah…” She passed a bowl to him. “Gelt et meralt imprasio, Willa non eal.”

  James narrowed his eyes as he took it from her, turning back to me.“Gelt, what do you think that is?”

  “Tu, elon H
emoi imprasio!”

  Willa beamed a huge smile at me and scuttled out of the room, leaving us rather confused. Now I knew why she never spoke to me, she knew I would never understand her.

  “She said your father's name. What's he got to do with your sickness?”

  “He was the first to spray that bloody bayalan flower around the room. She was probably blaming him for my sickness rather than the stupid polish.”

  James nodded and quietly ate his soup, stopping to pass some pieces of crusty bread to me. I was getting used to this soup business, it was mighty fine for settling my queasy stomach.

  When it was time for James to leave, he took the bowls out to Willa in the kitchen, returning with a crazy grin on his face.

  “She keeps talking to me as if I understand her.”

  He held out a thin blanket, unfolding it and laying it over me. “But this I could understand. Eliria, she said as she passed it to me. I wish we had a translator here, I would love to know what she was saying.”

  “You do.” I grinned. “She was taking about my sickness and the soup.”

  James nodded and sat on the edge of the lounge beside me, leaning one arm over to the other side of me. “Now young lady, you should remain here unless you are in desperate need to use the bathroom.”

  “Yes boss.” I cheekily saluted him.

  He grinned as he leaned in and kissed me softly. Again it left me breathless and craving more from him. When he left I laid back down, watching the sun glinting off the glass towers across from our building.

  I woke at dusk, hearing the sounds of familiar voices. Willa scuttled into the room as I sleepily lifted my body from the lounge.

  “Eloi Eliria, wampiria du fal el cu mas.”

  Her face was filled with worry, she was trying to get me off the lounge as she whispered wampiria over and over again. I frowned at the word, hearing the chatter in the lounge. The voice was soft and sweet and pulled at my heart.

  “Vampire.” I gasped. “You're trying to tell me that a vampire is here.”

  “Tu! Wampiria.”

  I got off the lounge and walked to the door, much to Willa's protests. Marty was in the lounge, chatting and laughing with my parents.

  “Willa.” I softly chided. “That's Marty, she's my friend.”

  She frowned unable to understand me. I took her hand with a smile and pulled her out of my room.

  “It's okay, friend.” I held my hand to my heart, hoping she would understand.

  “Eliria!” Marty shrieked happily.

  “Wampiria!” Willa tried to push me behind her.

  Marty stopped and pursed her lips together, narrowing her eyes at Willa. “You need to educate your maid Alvarie.”

  “I know.” She sighed.

  I stepped out from behind her, even though she had tried to protect me, it was pointless. She was such a tiny framed woman that a gust of wind would knock her over.

  “Willa, this is Marty.”

  She watched with wide eyes as I walked to Marty and stood beside her. “Friends.” I gestured to the two of us.

  “Wampiria!” She shrieked again, her hand wobbled as she pointed to the kitchen.

  “Nick!” I wrapped my arms around him as he planted a big kiss on my cheek.

  “Du mas alou gelt?”

  “What?” My father said a little loud.

  Willa gasped, her eyes widened further. “Willa non eal.” She called out as she scuttled off down the hall.

  “What on earth was that about?” Nick grumbled.

  I shrugged and hoped that a third wampiria might appear but I was out of luck. It was only the terrible two-some tonight.

  “We stopped by to see how you were doing. Also found some of your things, thought you might want them.”

  Marty passed a bag to me, I opened it to see my calendar, the headphones which really belonged to Porter and a folded piece of paper. My eyes darted to Marty who was trying to act casual.

  “Sure, thanks for this. Come and see my room.”

  Marty clapped excitedly as mister oh-so-sure-of-himself strutted past my parents.

  “Don't worry, we'll keep the door open.” He nodded once and then continued to strut his way down the hall.

  Marty rolled her eyes and linked her arm into mine, following after him.

  Chapter Seventy-one

  We sat on the lounge, I had tossed the bag of things under the lounge I was sitting on because I knew that they weren't really what I was supposed to look at. Just the odd piece of paper. It was a little confusing, it was a sequence of numbers that made no sense. On the other side was a copy of a page from a book but I couldn't understand it because it was in another language. I looked up at Marty and Nick who were sitting on the lounge beside me.

  “We aren't going to tell you what you can do with those things Eliria but we will tell you three things. One, the numbers are an access code, you can use it to gain access to a place where you have been recently. Two, you don't have to be a witch to recite a spell and three, we are leaving for the masters meeting after your birthday celebration and we will only be gone for a day.”

  “Uh, okay… thanks?”

  Marty grinned broadly at me, her eyes narrowing as her cheeks rose. “Think about it, we cannot help you any further otherwise it will be deemed treasonous but the clues are there.”

  She gripped my hand hard as she begged me to figure it out. I nodded and folded the note into my hand, taking a deep breath to steely myself for the mountain of questions that I was dying to ask. I had to be strong for this, I wanted to know but I feared the answers.

  “What has he been doing? Be honest, please don't feed me lies because you think it will be better for me.”

  Marty nodded, her face was sad as her hand slipped away from mine. “Sitting around the house, arguing with Augustus. The others have left to follow a lead about Cameron and his followers. Nick had to drag him out to feed last night, he hadn't taken blood since he was in the pool.”

  “Even then he fed on animals.” Nick grumbled “Refused to go anywhere near the humans and when I asked him why, he had no answer.”

  “Because his mind knows that he made a promise to me.”

  Marty nodded at my statement. William's refusal to get back into the memory pool was creating havoc in more than one place in his life. Now his feeding was suffering and he can't understand why.

  “And what of the statue?”

  “The chant is broken, he seems to be more at ease with Carmella not returning. He spoke to Anton yesterday about it, agreeing that her placement would remain even though there was no chance that Anton could free her. William has finally seen the light about it and it's because the chant is no longer hovering over his life. He was also happier because the statue has returned but that happiness didn't last too long. It was crazy wasn't it?”

  Marty nodded at her brother, quietly trying to restrain the emotions.

  “One minute he was talking about the statue as he took it into the parlour, back to its place next to the fire place and then he went crazy over a vase full of flowers that was in its spot.”

  “Roses.” Marty whispered.

  I huffed, trying not to laugh. “Of course. He remembers the roses he left for me in my bitch week, the rose scented bath soap when he invaded my privacy and of course, the flowers from when I was in the memory pool.”

  “Well, since then he hasn't said a word. Locked himself in the parlour this morning, wouldn't even let us clean up the broken vase.”

  “He broke it?” I gasped.

  Marty nodded as she rolled her eyes. “We have to go, there's only so many hours in the night that we can use as an excuse for feeding.”

  Marty hugged me, I stood to Nicks bear hug and lots of kisses which despite the sadness made me giggle. His scruffy beard prickled against the skin of my cheeks. “Got to get lots in before you go back to him, then there'll be no more for ol' Nick.”

  I smiled as best I could, not wanting to let on about last night. Bein
g tugged in every direction was draining. Maybe I might reinstate that plan for the camper van. Or maybe I might go to my parents world and forget about William and James.

  I was feeling better now that Willa had stopped spraying the furniture polish around the place, no longer feeling lethargic or throwing up the contents of my stomach. With a lot of hesitation, I went to dinner with James. Lonna was never far behind and James seemed to be more relaxed because of it. He always had a nervous disposition about him, I wondered if it was because he feared the vampires or rather, one vampire. William might not remember me but his mind would be constantly reminding him that I was important to him. And as for the human that was taking me out to dinner? Well that might just upset the confused vampire.

  The more I talked to James, the more I found to like about him. His father was a cop, shot in the line of duty when he was a child. It had been him and his mother for a few years until she met another man and married him. Now James had two younger sisters, the youngest being the same age as me. She was the reason he changed from became a part of Porters department. His sister had seen her best friend attacked by a lycan and had to be housed with a vampire family, one that was reasonable in his opinion. After watching what Tim did for his sister, James asked him if it was possible to transfer to his department. He wanted to help others like his sister, like me.

  We were in a restaurant that was far too upper class for me, though it wasn't too far out of our price range. James was insistent that he was paying for it all and didn't care that this once broke girl now had a hefty bank account thanks to her parents. It was a pre-birthday celebration between the two of us that was being watched over by one beefy chaperone. The restaurant had accommodated Lonna, providing a table and chair in the corner of the room that was just behind us. We were sitting by the window that over looked the darkened street and I couldn't feel more anxious about it. I felt like I was on show to the lycans, I could not escape the sneaking suspicion that we were being watched.