Cursed (The Devil's Roses #1)

But mostly, I just felt betrayed and disappointed that he didn’t offer me immortality. He didn’t even try to save me. He was accepting my illness and possible death instead of bearing the thought of me with him for the rest of his life. I didn’t know what to say. I sat on my bed alone and frustrated, when Jaime walked in. She looked amazing. Her face was healthy again, not sallow and gaunt like mine was. She smiled brightly at me.

“Jaime.” I felt hopeful, if she looked that good from the dialysis, maybe I would be on the mend too. Then I could go back to Shane and forget all about Aleks.

Her eyes looked a little funny, too sparkly maybe. “Hey, Aimee. How are you feeling?”

I shook my head. “Not so good. You look good though.”

She nodded and sat on my bed. “Yeah, I finally feel great. I think that last bit of meds really just did me in. I’m finally better.”

I smiled. “They caught him. It was Mr. Mac.”

“No way. Him?”

I nodded. “I know, right. He was always so nice to me.”

She frowned. “Not me. He was a dick to me. Once he kicked me out of class, and when we were in the hall, he yelled at me. He told me to stop dressing like a slut unless I wanted to be treated like one. He said I deserved to be treated like a slut.” Her face grew sad for a moment.

I shook my head. “Don’t believe anything he said. He’s a criminal and a pervert. Have you seen Giselle?”

She nodded. “Yeah, she got her liver transplant notification. It's on, as soon as they get the organ here. She’s looking pretty bad right now.”

I smiled. “At least she's getting the transplant. That’s fantastic news.”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Aleks unexpectedly walked through the doorway, he looked nervously at Jaime. Jaime smiled at him. “Are you him?”

My heart skipped a beat as Aleks's face stayed very calm, but his eyes were screaming at me. “No. I’m not.”

She sighed. “Okay, well I guess I better go back to my room, so he knows where to find me.”

Confusion had me spinning in circles. “You can see him?” I asked Jaime.

She laughed and nodded. “Yeah, Aimee, I’m surprised you can, though. I don’t think that’s a very good sign.”

I looked at Aleks and waited for some kind of answer, but he offered nothing. As usual.

The dark-haired man walked back in the doorway. He smiled at Jaime briefly, but then focused his eyes on me. I felt uncomfortable with his eyes on me. It was like he was undressing me, even in my weak and dying state. He stood behind Aleks, who was also watching me intently. Jaime walked from the room, squeezing past them both.

She turned and looked back at me. “I hope you make it, Aimes. Say goodbye to your sister for me.” She walked out of the room, leaving me with the two men and no clue what was going on. I had a guess, but it was not realistic. “Is. She. Dead?” The words left my lips, sounding empty.

Aleks nodded. He looked as if he wanted to speak, but never did.

I started to cry. “She died.” My statement made me feel worse. “If she died then I—” I stopped myself, before I could say it.

Aleks was across the room in one long step. “No, you won’t die like her. The dialysis is already helping and there is hope of a liver. Giselle is getting hers as soon as it gets here.” His eyes were trying to hypnotize me, but I was too scared to buy into it.

I shook my head. “The odds of two livers showing up are slim to none. Who are you?” I asked the guy standing in the doorway, still watching me intently.

He grinned at me. “I am Aleks’s brother.”

“You're cursed to help people, too?” I whispered.

He laughed. “Not so much, love. I am sort of the opposite of that.”

I frowned at Aleks, who sighed. “He is like a dark angel.”

“Like a demon?”

He nodded and Aleks looked back at him. "I like to think of him that way."

“Is everything true? Is there a tooth fairy and goblins, as well?” I felt overwhelmed, as tears streamed down my cheeks.

The demon shook his head. “Pretty sure the tooth fairy is a fairy tale. Goblins are fairly hard to find nowadays.”

I snorted and grabbed a tissue to wipe my face. “This is bullshit. I am sick and dying. My friend has just died. My other friend is waiting for a transplant, and you are an immortal not-quite-angel and an immortal demon. You immortals really feel the need to hang out in my room and rub your immortality in my face. Piss off.” I didn’t look at either of them. When Aleks tried to touch me, I pulled away. I winced, as the arm I jerked had my I.V. in it. The stabbing pain of the I.V. caused me to shake, as I pulled it into my chest to protect it.

The pain was more than I could take.

I felt hatred burn my eyes as I glared at Aleks. “I will never have children to tell about my mom. She will never live on in their memory. I will never go to university. I will never fall into a love so deep that can't be cured. I will never get married and have someone believe in me so truly that they are willing to bet their future on me. I’m dying, because you didn’t do a very good job as my guardian angel. This is your fault. You could have told me about Mr. Mac and spared Jaime her fate. Everything is your fault. I hate you and I want you to go away and never come back.” Tears streamed down my cheeks, as pain ripped me apart. The heart monitors started to go wild, making all kinds of noise.

Aleks' beautiful blue eyes filled with tears and heartbreak as he left my side. He walked out the doorway.

Nurses came running past him with needles and stethoscopes. I blacked out, seeing the demon still standing in the doorway. The look in his eyes bothered me. It was smug, as if he enjoyed what he’d seen.

But then everything went black.

A dark voice taunted me from my drug coma. “Aimee, Aimee.”

I struggled to get my eyes open, hearing my name. It felt like a crust had closed them up tight. I managed to get one open and focused it on the young face of the stranger.

“Ah, there you are. Right, first thing’s first. Your family is nearly here, which will be bad timing, I’m afraid. You see, I have something I could give you. It would help you through this illness. But it needs to happen before you die, or it won't work.” His English accent made me happy. He sounded like Wallace from Wallace and Grommit. I didn’t know what he was talking about. I struggled with the other eye and finally got it open as well. I blinked, focusing on him.

“You’re very young; you look my age but you seem older,” I whispered, not sure if it had been out loud or not.

He nodded shamelessly. “Yes, I am. Now do you understand?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He pointed to the doorway. “In about thirty minutes your family is going to walk through that door, and then it will be too late.”

Still confused, I shook my head and closed my eyes again, I was so tired. “I don’t care.”

“Do you want to live, Aimee?” His words burned through me, and my mind screamed yes.

I opened my eyes again, fighting to stay awake. “Yes.”

He nodded. “You need to do something. It’s going to hurt a lot. Not right away, but eventually it will.”

I shook my head. “It can’t hurt more than it does now. What’s your name?”

He smiled at me. “Dorian. Now the important parts of this moment are as follows. You need to bite the inside of your mouth and make it bleed, I will do the same. We will then kiss and my blood will mix with yours in your mouth and you will swallow it.”

I grimaced. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

He glanced at the doorway. “Look before Aleks changes his mind and comes back to stop this, you need to do it.”

I thought for a moment. “Will I die?”

He nodded. “It’s a death of sorts. You’ll be just like Aleks, live forever and that sort of nonsense. One day you will forgive him for his part in all of this. For now, you need to do as I say. The window is passing rapidly.”

I panicked, not sure what I was getting myself into. Everything hurt; I didn’t know what else to do. I nodded and bit down on my lip as hard as I could. It didn’t bleed at first, only stung.

I cringed in pain and took a deep breath. I bit the other side, gasping as blood started to stream into my mouth. He did the same without even flinching. He smiled wickedly and bent his beautiful face down into mine. I saw the trace of a dark liquid on the crease of his closed lips. It looked like molasses and made me want to throw up. Instead I let him kiss me.

The kiss was intense, his lips moving quickly and hungrily into mine. His tongue flicked into my mouth, driving itself in. He grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into the kiss.

I wanted to be repulsed but something about him was drawing me in. I let myself be taken by the kiss. Our mouths moved like wild animals. It was as if we couldn’t get enough of each other. He grabbed my hair at the back of my head and pulled my face from his. His lips were covered in a mixture of his black blood and my red. His mouth had tasted of the rust from my blood and a sweet musk from his.

I exhaled as he held my face back from his. He was still pulling my hair, and oddly enough, I didn’t mind.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “You’re a very naughty girl, aren’t you, Aimee? I wish we had a little more time. I think that there is something of yours I would like very much to have. Unfortunately, your dad will be here in about twenty-eight minutes. I will be back, and maybe you can give me the other thing I want.”

I wanted to play dumb and pretend I had no clue what he wanted, but my body was responding to him. I wanted to give him the thing he sought out, and the idea of it made me blush. I imagined the weight of him on top of me, pressing me into the hospital bed. I shook off the thought and frowned at him. He was enjoying the effect he had on me.

“Dorian, would I have died by the time my dad got here? Is that why you rushed this?” I asked not sure about anything that had happened.