Quinn's Undying Rose

Samson grinned. He had better things to do too. Delilah was waiting for him at home. Isabelle was finally asleep, and he hoped would remain that way for a few hours to give him and Delilah some time alone together.

He caught a flash of sadness in Thomas’s eyes before he hid it again, reminding him that his friend hadn’t had a steady partner in a long time. For a moment he wondered whether it was all that good for Thomas to have the object of his affections living with him, yet unattainable. Maybe it would be better for Eddie to move out. But Samson would be the last man to suggest such a thing. If the two of them liked this arrangement, it wasn’t for him to question it.

“Well, anyway,” he started, and filled them in about the happenings at the B&B. When he finished, he laid out what he needed the two to do for him.

“Is there a way of sweeping an area for this flash drive?”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “I’m assuming you don’t want anybody to know you’re looking for it?”

“You could say that.”

“And when we’ve found it, what then?” There was something akin to suspicion in his tone now.

Samson shook his head and chuckled to himself. “Thomas, how long have we known each other?”

“Do you ever truly know anybody, even after a hundred years?” Thomas replied with another question.

“Sometimes it’s a matter of trust, don’t you think?” Then he looked at Eddie. “Has Thomas ever told you how we met?”

Eddie looked at him with keen interest in his eyes. “Thomas doesn’t like to talk about his past.”

“Well, I’m not one to spill the beans. Maybe one day you can coax it out of him.” Then he trained his look back on Thomas who’d been quiet the entire time. “So what do you say, considering our history, do you trust me to do the right thing?”

Their gazes locked.

“There’s a device I tinkered with. Considering that a flash drive has no power of its own, none of the conventional bug sweepers would work. But I’ve been working on a programmable device that allows me to search for any combination of metals. So if I enter the components in some of the most common flash drives into it, theoretically, it should be able to search for it. But it’s only a prototype.”

Samson smiled. “Then let’s put it to the test. Start at the B&B. And if it’s not there, you and Eddie will go and visit all of Rose’s brothels from here to Chicago and find that damn flash drive.”

“Brothels?” Thomas repeated. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Quinn’s wife is a Madame? I’m sure there’s a story there.”

***

London 1814

Rose knew she had to get away. Sooner or later, Quinn would return and do unspeakable things to her. She was certain of that. Because he wasn’t her sweet Quinn anymore, he was a monster now, a vampire! A bloodthirsty animal. The red glare in his eyes had chilled her to the bone, but when she’d seen his fangs, the weapons with which he could kill her in an instant, her heart had stopped only to restart moments later at triple the pace.

She’d never felt so frightened in her entire life. And not just for herself. If he ever found out about his daughter, he would take her too. His possessive words before he’d left her chamber still echoed in her ears.

You’re mine, Rose.

A cold shiver ran down her spine. No, she didn’t belong to a monster, and neither did her daughter. She would go to the country, and later, when she’d calmed down, she would plead with her father to let her stay at the estate closest to where he’d placed her child. She knew now, since a marriage with Quinn was impossible, that she had no chance of ever getting her daughter back.

A sob tore from her chest at the terrible thought. She could never be her child’s mother now. But maybe, if she begged her father long enough, he would relent and let her stay close to Charlotte so she could at least watch how her daughter grew up to be a young woman. She would never have the kind of privileged upbringing that Rose had enjoyed, but at least she could make sure that the girl lacked nothing.

With her parents having just left for a soiree, Rose summoned her maid and ordered her to alert the coachman to ready the carriage. She would be hours away before her parents even knew she was gone. She would deal with their wrath later. Leaving London during the height of the season was an affront they would not take lightly. It mattered not. If they knew what she was running from, they would understand, but she couldn’t tell them. They would never believe her.

But she’d seen what she’d seen: Quinn was a vampire.