Scent of a White Rose (15 page)

I nodded and then tilted my head to the side,
exposing my neck to him. He smirked and casually licked the tip of
one of his fangs. Jillian was completely oblivious. She was
actually flagging down the waiter with a huge smile on her
face.

Justin turned towards Jillian and took her hand.
I thought it was just a sweet gesture until he lifted her wrist to
his mouth and bit down. I couldn't believe that he was doing this
in the middle of a fucking restaurant, but suddenly he released her
hand and I watched as the tiny holes closed immediately, leaving no
trace of a puncture behind. Jillian stood up and announced that she
needed to use the restroom. It was obvious that he had used his
powers to
suggest
that she leave us alone.

Once she was gone, Justin turned towards me.
"How do you know about me?" He didn't exactly sound mad, but he
definitely sounded concerned.

"I met someone like you who taught me all about
vampires. But don't even think about feeding on me or I'll tell
Christian and he'll kill you." I wasn't sure I was safe with Justin
like I'd been with Terrance, and he didn't know that I hadn't told
Christian that I knew his secret yet. Hopefully he wouldn't call my
bluff.

"Not that I was planning on feeding on you, but
what are you talking about? Christian can't kill me."

"I know that if a human tells anyone they are
aware of vampires, it puts them and the vampire at risk of being
killed." I wasn't sure why I had to explain this to him, and
honestly, I didn't have time for this. There was only one question
that I needed to ask him. "I want to know if you'd be willing to
change me. I'm completely in love with Christian and I want to
surprise him by becoming a vampire so that we can spend eternity
together, and the vampire that was going to change me has
disappeared."

Justin sat there staring at me like I was
completely crazy. I knew that throwing this out there was a bit of
a shock but we were going to be out of time soon and I needed an
answer. "Well? Will you change me or not?" I demanded.

The severe frown on his face and the slow shake
of his head was the first indication that I wasn't going to like
his answer. "I don't understand. If a vampire has taught you all
about us, then you should know that I
can't
change you. Only
a Sire can inflict the change."

I sat there dazed, because I didn't understand
what he was saying. Terrance had never mentioned anything about a
Sire, or that they were the only ones with the ability to create
new vampires. Justin must be using that as an excuse to not change
me and that pissed me off. He could have easily just said no. "Why
are you making shit up? You could just tell me no. I could always
ask one of the other members of Christian's clan to do it."

"Rose, you don't understand. I'm not making shit
up. I'm telling you the truth. Whoever taught you about us has fed
you a line of bullshit. Was this person feeding off of you,
too?"

"Fuck no. I found him feeding from my mom, and
he liked the taste of her blood, so he agreed to teach me about
your kind as long as he could continue to feed from her." I was so
fucking confused right now, and I couldn't sit still. "Let's get
out of here." I flew out of my chair and headed back to the
car.

Justin climbed in the driver's seat after
depositing Jill in the backseat. He had decided it would be easier
for us to talk openly if he used his sedative to knock her out. I
gave him the keys and settled into the passenger seat. "Okay, so
you're going to have to explain why you think I've been fed a line
of bull. My friend has always been honest with me, so I don't
understand why he'd lie about that."

"I'm not sure either, but I'll tell you anything
you want to know. If some vampire has been manipulating you then
there is definitely something seriously wrong. And Rose, I think
you need to tell Christian everything."

* * * * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Serious Problem

(Christian)

The moment I woke from my comatose sleep, I knew
there was a serious problem within the clan. But I didn't expect it
to be between Terrance and Tori.

Apparently Evie's idea for me to concentrate on
my developing powers while I slept had worked, because when I woke
the first thing I saw was a vision of Terrance sinking his fangs
into Tori's neck.

I headed straight for Terrance's cell expecting
the worst, but when I rounded the corner what I saw instead
surprised me. Tori was actually walking towards Terrance's cell but
she hadn't reached it yet. I guess my vision had been more like a
premonition. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?" I asked
her.

"I'm going to ask Terrance a few questions of my
own." The tone in her voice indicated that she was not happy. "I
want to know who this demon bitch is, and I plan to find out even
if it takes a bit of
coercion.
" The bat she produced from
behind her back totally caught me off guard.

I guess she was planning to beat the truth of
out Terrance. But thinking back to my "premonition," I knew it
wasn't going to work and would end with Terrance's fangs buried in
her neck. "Tori, you can't do this. Evie commanded us to stay away
from Terrance. I don't even know how you've made it this far, but
there's no way I'm letting you put yourself at risk by entering
that cell, so just forget it."

Seeing her tiny frame holding that bat was
almost comical, but I knew better than to underestimate her. All
vampires had preternatural speed and strength, and I knew that if
it came to me fighting her off I would win, but I was sure she
would put up a damn good fight.

Just as Tori stepped towards me, Evie and Dax
turned the corner at the end of the hall. "Tori, stop right there."
Evie's command rang in my ears. Tori stopped midstride and remained
frozen until Evie reached her.

"I commanded you to stay away from Terrance, so
why did you think you'd actually get close enough to him to use
that bat?" Evie didn't sound angry, but I could tell it wouldn't
take much to push her in that direction.

"When I walked past his cell tonight on my way
to Dom's room I noticed that I was able to get really close despite
Evie's command. So I went back to my room and grabbed my bat and
was just coming back to see if I could make him talk. Someone has
to figure out what's going on." Tori's voice was rising and her
hair and eyes had begun to drift.

She sounded so upset and I couldn't blame her. I
knew she and Terrance had previously been involved, but I think
what was really upsetting her had more to do with the fact that she
really didn't want to be trapped inside the club, feeding from the
same people over and over.

Tori had been raised in a very strict household,
and while Dominique had enjoyed the life of a '20s flapper, Tori
had been stuck at home, caring for their parents and doing most of
the chores. Once their parents had passed away, they had lost their
home and Evie found the girls wandering the streets together. Once
Tori had awakened from the change, the freedom that came with being
a vampire had set her heart to flight. She loved being outside, and
I knew that was what she would miss the most.

"Honey, give me the bat. I know you want some
answers and obviously think this is a good way to get them, but I
promise you...you're wrong. Please don't risk yourself by doing
something like this. Terrance will bite you, and then you'll be
infected and will drift permanently dark. You know what I'll be
forced to do if that happens." Evie held out her hand to take the
bat from Tori.

Tori handed Evie the bat, then took a couple
steps forward to stare at Terrance as he sat in his cell just
glaring at us. "Terrance, can't you tell us anything about this
woman? We just want to help you. Please, just tell us." Tori
pleaded with him, but I knew it wasn't going to do any good.

He sat there silently just like I knew he would.
Evie reached out and placed a hand on Tori's shoulder, and Tori
turned and melted into Evie's embrace. As the two women walked off,
Dax and I stood outside the cell staring at Terrance.

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but why were you here
trying to stop Tori?" Dax asked.

"When I woke this evening, the first thing I saw
was an image of Terrance sinking his fangs into Tori's neck." I
shrugged my shoulders and started to make my way towards the
stairs.

"So, I guess that Evie's right after all. You
are the one being triggered. How do you feel about that?"

I wasn't sure how I felt about it, and I didn't
really know what to say to Dax, but the stress of discussing it was
immediately postponed as we reached the top of the stairs. As I
emerged from the rising pit, I looked up and found Rose standing in
the club...right next to Justin.

* * * * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Time for the Truth

(Rose)

After riding around with Justin, I learned that
not only had Terrance lied to me, but that I had absolutely no way
of becoming a vampire anytime soon. Apparently it was common
knowledge between the clans that Evangeline had lost her ability to
inflict the change. They were waiting on the next Sire to be
triggered, but until then there was no way that I could be made a
vampire.

Justin had also informed me that we would not be
killed if we told Christian's clan that I was aware that vampires
existed. He had explained that the only time a vampire is killed is
if they drifted completely dark.

My brain was fuzzy from information overload,
but once I had cleared my head I told Justin about Terrance coming
out of the woods, Christian's reaction to him, and how he'd had
really black hair and dark eyes.

He convinced me to go with him to the club so
that we could tell Evangeline about what Terrance had been up to.
Since my plan to surprise Christian was ruined and it didn't look
like there was going to be a way around it anytime soon, I decided
that Justin was right; it was time for the truth.

I was completely petrified about coming clean
about what I knew, but for reasons that I couldn't explain, I truly
felt that it was the right thing to do.

We arrived at The Rising Pit just before 8 p.m.
The door was locked, but Justin knocked once, and Evie opened it
with a surprised look on her face and escorted us inside.

"This is a surprise, Rose. I hadn't realized
that you knew Justin. And how in the world did you get away to come
visit us on a Sunday night? I know your father is quite strict
regarding your schedule."

She was probably wondering if Justin had bit me
and brought me to the club so I quickly answered, "Actually
Evangeline, Justin brought me here because I have something
important that I need to discuss with you and Christian." I tried
to keep my voice level and my thoughts blank. I still wasn't going
to let Evie poke around in my head, even if I was planning on
telling her everything.

As Evie started to lead us to her office,
Christian and Dax appeared from under the stage. The look on his
face was one I'd never seen before. I couldn't tell if he was happy
or angry at seeing me, but from the rapid drifting of his hair from
blonde to brown and back again, I could tell that he wasn't exactly
in control of his emotions.

I stared at him with my mouth gaping open, as I
had only learned about drifting during my car ride with Justin. It
was obvious why Terrance hadn't wanted to touch on that subject
since it would have been apparent that he was one of the bad
ones.

"Rose, what on earth are you doing here with
him?" Christian didn't sound mad, but he continued to drift as he
made his way over to me.

"I have something that I need to talk to you and
Evangeline about. Can we please go into her office?" If I waited
much longer to get this off my chest, I didn't think I was going to
be able to do it.

Evangeline had already moved to hold the door to
her office open. Christian grabbed my hand and brought it to his
lips. It felt so good to be near him. It was a devastating blow to
realize that my plans to become his eternal love had been
completely crushed within the last two hours.

"Rose, I'm going to wait in the car with Jillian
if that's okay." Justin gave me a tight smile as he eased his way
back outside.

The way Christian was looking at me was starting
to freak me out. "Christian, don't worry. There is nothing going on
between me and Justin. Just come on...I'll explain everything."

He closed the door as we entered Evangeline's
office. Instead of her usual, casual demeanor, Evangeline had her
hip propped on the corner of her desk and a bleak look on her face.
"Rose, I'd be happy to hear what this is about, so please, without
further delay, would you be so kind as to put Christian and my
anxiety to rest?"

"I don't really know how to start, so I guess
I'll just state the obvious. I know that you are all vampires." I
paused and hoped that Justin was right in his assumption that
Evangeline wouldn't kill me for knowing their secret.

Christian and Evangeline stared at each other
for a few seconds before Christian collapsed into the chair next to
me. It took him another moment to turn his head and glare at me.
"How? How do you know? And how long have you been lying to me?"

That was definitely a surprise, and not how I'd
expected this conversation to go. His words hit me in the chest
like a blow from a prizefighter. "I didn't lie to you. I just
didn't tell you that I knew what you were." I had hoped that my
confession would be a relief to him, but obviously it was not. "How
and when I found out is the reason that I'm here."

Christian looked at me like I was a complete
stranger. I had hoped that by me sharing Terrance's deception he
would see this as a good thing in the end.