Death (The Devil's Roses #5)

I growl. I wink us to the hall and grab Aleks and wink us to Dr. Jekyll's office.

He's at his desk. He smiles at me and then looks at Blake and frowns, "Odd, but welcome nonetheless. How may I help Miss James?"

I take a deep breath and try to say it all so he and Blake get some details. "We know about your daughter's raging monster condition, obviously. Anyway, you had notes. Last time you had notes. It was on the timeline they made. You gave me notes and Marcus made a cure from them. Well this time Marcus just has the notes. He knows how to make the cure. It's the cure he has made for you."

"Aimee I was there for it all." He says impatiently.

I point to Blake, "He wasn't. Anyway, you know how it's short term? Well, I was wondering if you could make it long term and make some fast? Like now?"

His eyes brighten, "Do you have any of the notes Marcus worked on? Without them I can't get past where I am. He won't give them to me."

I slap down Marcus's papers and push the still robed and completely confused Blake at the doctor, "Totally ahead of you doc. Make Blake here understand what's going on. I don’t have time to help you or explain further. Hanna died today. It's just like last time. She's raging around Lydia's house as we speak and Marcus is trying to take her."

The doctor's face drops.

"Sensitivity never has been a big thing for you." Aleks steps forward. "We can get her back. Aimee can wink her. And I have something that will solve the Marcus issue."

I look back at him, "You're going to Henry?"

He nods. I feel sick.

The doctor grabs something from inside of his desk and passes it to me, "It's a single round. You can't miss. It'll drop her like a dead deer. You'll need to bring her home after that. Roland and I can keep her safe, until the potion is ready."

I look at Blake and smirk, "This is the thing you've always dreamt about. It's real. All of it. The science fiction isn’t fiction in my world. It's just science and fantasy meeting. You want in?"

He grins from ear to ear, "Hell yes. This is probably a dream, but I'm so excited I don’t care." He chuckles, "So this is the science grant you're working on?"

I grin, "Something like that. This is my boyfriend Aleks."

He puts a hand out, "It's nice to meet you." Aleks shakes his hand and looks weird. I can't imagine how messed up it is, remembering everything from so many different times. Especially with Blake and I remembering nothing.

I grin at the doc, "So I can leave him here?"

The doctor shrugs, "I don’t really see how much use another person will be, but I might be able to use him."

I laugh out loud. "He goes to MIT. He was at home visiting my sister. He's a genius."

Blake's face turns red like he's going to argue but he doesn’t. He laughs and nods.

The doctor beams at him, "A lad after my own heart. Fabulous. Yes, go and save my girl and bring her home. We have this. How ever did you get the notes?"

"I've been in the lab before. I knew how to wink in there. He never thought about letting me in there. I know he doesn’t let anyone else in."

Aleks shakes his head, "No one. I think he assumes with your memory loss you won't think about the lab, beyond it being a geek thing."

I grin, "It worked." I grab the gun and Aleks's hand. Before I can wink us, he flashes. I don’t know the place.

He lifts my chin, "If things work out the way they did last time, I just want you to know it's real. It always was. For me."

I smile, "It's real for me. Henry said the curse is broken. You don’t smell delicious and tempting to other women. But you smell that way for me."

His face lightens up, "Really? He truly said that?"

I nod, "He did." His eyes sparkle and he presses his lips into mine. He holds me to him.

He pulls back and laughs, "Finally. You just see me. Of course this has to be the moment Henry will kill me."

I kiss him once more and then let go of him. "I love you Aleks. I know I do. So, don't you even think about letting Henry kill you." I wink before he can say anything else.

I hear the screams before I see the mess and chaos. Hanna.

I wink and run to where she is ripping the boathouse to pieces. Ophelia is shooting things at her and shaking her head. They cut Hanna, but the beast doesn’t stop. She is disgusting looking. I hold up the gun and shoot. She turns and screams a high pitch shriek at me. She starts to run towards me, but she only gets half way before she drops with a ground-rumbling landing. Her body shrinks back to her normal form. Her clothes are tattered and destroyed.

Lorri looks at me "Don’t go off like that again."

I nod. Everyone is out of breath and bleeding from somewhere. Marcus is pacing the line like a cat in a cage.

I wave back at him, "Screw you Marcus." I shout.

"Don't taunt him." Lydia puts her bleeding hands on her old round hips. "He can still summon Henry."

My eyes must have given something away, because her face drops when she sees my look. "What have you done child?" She asks in a hushed whisper.

I shake my head, "Not me." I look uneasily at Lorri. Her ears perk up. She turns and gives me a glare worthy of a death sentence.

"Where is he?" She asks though her teeth.

"It's done Lorri." She scares me more than most things on the planet, so my voice cracks and lacks confidence.

She is gone. She doesn't wait to see if it works or if anything else happens. She just leaves. I know that’s for my benefit. She wanted me dead. I saw it. I've seen the look before.

I glance back at Hanna and see Sam scooping her up. He gives me a look. I know he blames me. I frown, "Take her home. To her dad. He and Blake are working on some shit. I'm going to go and find Ari with Luke and Ben. And I guess O, that isn’t really O."

"Okay." He's curt.

"This is a frigging shit storm of doom. Anyone seen Giselle?" I turn around. I don’t get an answer. I get a scream. I think it's Hanna but she's gone with Sam. I spin to see Henry holding Marcus in the air.

I wink closer.

Lydia runs over waving her arms, "Henry wait. Don't do it. It'll taint you. I suspect this was Jonathan's plan all along."

Henry's hand twitches. He thinks about what she's saying. He puts Marcus down, but holds him with his power. He looks at her and back at Marcus, who is clutching his chest. I don't see Aleks. I know he told Henry, but where did he go?

"Make him a new one, Henry." Her voice is desperate. "Don't taint your soul. You'll be playing right into Jonathan's hands. I suspect he always wanted you to kill Marcus from the beginning. That’s why he told him about the heart. That’s why he told him if he took it he could control you."

Marcus is coughing and dropped to one knee, but still squeaks out a word. "Truth."

Henry's eyes flare bright red.

Lydia is gasping for air when she makes it to the street from the backyard. "Make him a new one. You can do it. You have to. I know you must take back the heart but don’t murder him. Make him suffer for all eternity."

Henry looks sad. He nods once.

Lydia looks at me, "You take care of them child. Don’t let them kill each other. Take care of each other and love each other. I'll be watching."

"What?"

She pulls open her blouse, flashing her old lady bra at Henry. I wince, "What are you doing old woman. Put that back on, do those buttons up. Jesus." I grab at her. She swats at me. It's then I see the tears streaming down her cheeks and Henry's. He's about to do something he doesn’t want to.

My mouth drops, but even as I try to wink and move forward, I'm throw into one of the huge old oak trees. "NOOOOOOOOO!" I scream. Lydia shakes her head and looks at me, "He has to stay pure. He has to. If the evil gets into him Jonathan can corrupt his magic. He's been counting on this moment from the beginning."

I'm sobbing and struggling but my back doesn't budge from the old oak.

"Ophelia, Ophelia help me. " I scream.

O walks over. Her body is shifty and weird. Her eyes are magical all the time now. She tilts a head and asks with the voices of the sisters, "Why do you need help? What is happening?"

I point, "Stop them." I'm panicked and breathless. "Stop him."

She shakes her head, "The witch is right. The Fae king cannot kill or his soul will be tainted." She turns and walks away.

"He killed Aleks's dad. Lydia his soul is already dark."

Lydia shakes her head, "He removed the curse that gave Jon his long life. He never murdered him."

I slump, "Aleks, ALEKSSSSS!" I can't flash. I can't move. Henry pulls back. Lydia looks at me and smiles, "Look away my love."

I can't see her clearly. My eyes are so full of tears. "SAM. BEN. LUKE. ANNABELLE. SOMEONE!" Annabelle comes through the door as Henry's hand breaks flesh, but it's too late. Lydia drops to the ground in a heap. Her heart glows like a red ball of flames in Henry's hand. Henry lifts it to the sky and shouts something I don’t understand. Annabelle screams. Her ghostly body is pinned by the guards. She cannot get out of them. She screams and pounds. I shake and sob, but can't move either.

Henry grabs Marcus and lifts him off the ground. He shoves the fist into the vampire and comes out with another heart. I see the light of it but it's too bright. I turn away. He does something I can't see and then the light is gone. Henry smiles at me.

"She wanted you to know she lived an amazing life." He walks towards me and puts his hand on my face, "She wanted you to have these."

The pictures come flooding in. They stretch everything in my mind. I sob and scream and laugh like a madwoman, as everything finds its way back to its proper place.