Witch (The Devil's Roses #4)

Witch (The Devil's Roses #4) Page 39

Ophelia felt her face getting red, "Oh. Cool."

Aimee put her fingers to her face and smiled. She was remembering the night before. Ophelia felt awkward.

"I asked Oliver to save Giselle."

Aimee's face dropped, "What?"

Ophelia nodded, "Yeah. I did. I think he might."

Aimee frowned, "What did Jonathan say he made again?"

"Succubus."

"What is that?"

Ophelia tried to remember, "I saw it on Charmed I think they suck your life force and you die. Like a vampire."

Aimee nodded, "Oh okay then we should be fine. As long as Giselle gets to suck something she should be fine. Wait die? Can she suck only a little at a time?"

Ophelia shook her head, "I don’t know. On Charmed they sucked you dry."

"Sweet fuck. Lets hurry."

She grabbed Ophelia's hand and flashed them into the room. Oliver was bent over in an embrace with Giselle. His hands slid up into her dark hair. Her hands rubbed the back of him.

Ophelia stopped herself from leaping forward and ripping them apart. Watching them make out was killing her slowly.

Her heartbeat quickened. She looked down at the floor. She turned away from the scene.

Aimee cleared her throat.

Ophelia walked out quickly. She ran down the hall.

"Ophelia wait."

She pushed her legs hard when she heard his name. She shot the glass in front of her with a fireball. She dove out the window.

The air rushed across her. She screamed seeing the ground flying at her but she knew. Her instincts felt it. She blew hard at the ground and slowed her decent. She floated to the ground. Her legs hit the pavement running.

"O."

She looked up to see him standing on the sidewalk in front of her. She stopped.

"Running from someone like me is a bit pointless."

She screamed. A fireball ripped from her fingers. He flashed and it hit a black SUV, exploding it on contact. She watched the vehicle burn.

"That’s how we change them…"

Her eyes shot behind her where he stood. A fireball was soaring at him before he could finish his sentence. It hit a corner of a small building and exploded it into shards of wood and glass.

"O. The humans. Stop."

She swung both her arms at once and fireballs shot from both hands going in a circle as she spun. She fired like a Tommy gun.

She looked around her to see a wall of fire around her. She saw a figure on the other side of the flames. She walked through. She knew it wouldn’t burn her. Oliver stood on the lawn of the hospital with his arms crossed. His arm muscles bulged in his rolled up white dress shirt. She tried not to notice. She felt the fire rising inside of her. She felt something bite into her arms and suddenly she was standing in the garden at Marcus's. She turned to see Aleks. He held her out to assess the damage, "You okay?"

She shook her head, "He, was, he, her." Her face fell into her hands.

He pulled her in, "You can’t light a whole neighborhood on fire honey."

She smelled him and memories flooded in. He sat in her window. Memories of him and Sam melded. She knew him. She knew him well. She hated that she was attracted to him.

His huge arms wrapped around her.

"Tell me what happened."

She sniffed, "I asked Oliver to save Giselle. I caught them making out in the hospital room."

He hugged her tighter, "O that's how we make a demon."

She looked up into his blue eyes, "What?"

He nodded, "You ever hear of the kiss of death?"

She nodded.

"That’s where that came from. Angels give humans the kiss of death. Mix their blood with human blood and swallow."

She wiped her face, "Well that’s gross. You guys are disgusting."

He laughed.

She understood how Aimee loved him so much. He was the sweetest guy in the world. Not like Oliver. She didn’t care how it was done. He had said he loved her. Her skin crawled seeing it play over in her mind.

"We need to get you back." She nodded. He flashed her. The air filled with warm wind and suddenly she was back at Lydia's and he was gone.

She looked up to see Ari going over an old book on the table. She looked up and smiled, "Hey. You okay?"

Ophelia shook her head, "No. I think I just destroyed a parking lot."

Ari laughed, "Oh well at least it wasn’t everyone's lives."

Ophelia sat beside her, "You know it wasn’t your fault. Aimee was dying. I would have done the same thing."

Ari looked at her and smiled, "Thank you."

"Hanna told me that this has happened to you lots, the change thing."

Ari sighed, "Yeah."

"How did you deal with the old memories and feelings?"

Ari shrugged and drank from the mug in front of her, "Still haven’t."

Her dark eyes filled with sadness, "I killed every one of those little kids. Sarah, Dawn, Danny. Their faces float in my mind. Sam was like a brother to me. He and Lucas were brothers. Lucas cries every day. He can't even be grateful that his real brother is alive because his heart is broken."

Ophelia felt like her heart was on fire. She wrapped her arms around herself, "I'm sorry Ari. I'm sorry for it all. My family is the cause of it all."

Ari shook her head, "Ophelia my dad is nightmare. He's my nightmare but somehow he has a way of screwing with everyone's lives. It's insane. Lorri is no treat. I've known her now for a while, just found out she likes chicks. Totally thought she was straight. She doesn’t let any of us in. She's all about the plan you know? Lydia is so busy worrying about everything that she misses a lot of things." She puts her arms out, "One day this will be ours to run and you know what, we'll be no different from them. We'll think it's for the greater good or see the bigger picture and forget about the small details. They have too much at stake."

Ophelia sighed, "We need the next Nephilim to be able to freeze time so we can take a year and live in Barbados."

Ari pointed at her, "Now that’s the spirit. Make it a witch wish and make it happen."

Ophelia laughed.

Lydia walked into the kitchen and smiled, "Good to see you girls coming around."

Ari shook her head, "It just gets easier to live in constant disappointment."

Lydia sat down at the table with a coconut cream pie and three spoons. She passed them out, "Yes I suppose. I think also that Sam would have wanted us to be happy. He would want us to make sure Hanna finds happiness."

Ophelia scooped a massive spoonful of pie, "He would want us to kill my father and Daniel." She shoved the sweet pie in her mouth and moaned.

Ari nodded, "Cheers to that." She clinked her spoon against Lydia's and Ophelia's and shoved it in the pie. She put a massive bite in her mouth. Her eyes softened, "Oh my god." She spoke with a full mouth.

Lydia laughed, "It is an old family recipe of Annabelle's mom."

Ophelia looked at Lydia and wondered if she was full of regrets. She married a regular man, she tried to have a baby, and she tried to seek out a normal life. It all ended when her best friend sacrificed her life for her and made the guards. Her baby died because of the darkness that was in her from trying casting dark magic. She shoved her spoon in the pie and took a bite.

"Look at you greedy women eating that pie I made for everyone. Shame on you all." Annabelle laughed floating in the kitchen. She looked at Ophelia with her creepy ghost eyes, "Now that Mr. Oliver be in the street calling for you. He been there about an hour and he be getting on my last nerve."

Ophelia glanced at Ari who smirked, "Yikes. That’s a bad situation."

Lydia shook her head, "No you stay in the house. He's trouble. I think we all learned that the hard way."

She took a bite of pie and looked at Annabelle who crossed her arms, "You all can't hear him but I can. Now somebody best be getting rid of him."

Ophelia stood licking her spoon, "Don’t eat it all. I'll be back in a minute."

Lydia smiled, "Fine but you hurry. We need to talk about a certain ring of fire in the hospital parking lot when you get back."

She grimaced and turned and walked out of the kitchen that suddenly seemed cozy again. With so few people it felt half its size.

She walked through the front door and the porch door, trying to control the anger that was building.

He was over where the vampire war had been, back when the world made sense.

"I need to talk to you."

She watched his face. He seemed genuinely upset.

"Why?"

"Because I want to explain."

She shook her head and walked down on the steps, "Why did you do it?"

He threw his hands up in the air, "You asked me to, you insufferable girl."

She cocked her head, "I never asked you to do it quite so, vigorously."

He laughed, "Jesus save me. Look Ophelia that’s how it's done."

She snapped, "I'M PRETTY SURE YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO COMPLETELY CHEW ON HER FACE!"

He crossed his arms and paced in front of the guard, "Don't make me come in there. Please."

She could see the dark shadows swirling around the ground outside of the guards.

"Is that your darkness?" She pointed.

He looked around, "What? Where?"

"There. The swirling shadows. You're evil and you bring darkness with you."

He looked around, he never looked on the ground.

"I don't see it. Is it behind me?"

She raised an eyebrow, why couldn’t he see it?

"O I don’t give a shit about the swirls of evil. I need you to hear me. I never would have done it if you hadn't asked me to. Please listen to me."

She walked across the yard, "You are honestly going to tell me I asked you to fucking make out with her like it was an Olympic sport?"

"Yes. No. Wait? What?"