Blood of a Red Rose
Read Blood of a Red Rose Online
Authors: Tish Thawer
Tags: #Fiction, #Fantasy, #Paranormal, #Romance, #New Adult
Blood
of a
Red
Rose
by
Tish Thawer
* * * * *
Blood of a Red Rose
ISBN: 978-0-9849886-
9-3
Published by Amber Leaf Publishing
Copyright 2011
-
2012 by Tish Thawer
All rights reserved
Cover design by Regina Wamba of Mae I Design and Photography
Free stock photo of woman courtesy of
Marcus Ranum/ranum.com
Edited by Kara Malinczak
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any use of name brands
herein
is done so under the Fair Use A
ct.
Licensing Note: This
Nook
eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only, and may not be resold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter Elev
e
n: Make This Work
Chapter Thi
r
teen: Merry Little Men
Chapter Ninet
e
en: New Prisoner
Chapter Tw
e
nty-One: Anger Issues
Chapter Twent
y
-Two:
Panic at the Disco
Chapter Tw
e
nty-Three: The Voices
Chapter
Twenty-Four: Perfectly Perfect
Chapter Twe
n
ty-Five: Reactions
Chapter Thirty-O
n
e: Questions and Confessions
Chapter Thirt
y
-Three: Blood Bond
A
cknowledgements
To my wonderful family whose support
means the world to me
:
I love you.
To Cortney, my friend and confidant: thank you for always listening to my ideas, shooting down the crappy ones, and shaking your pom-poms for the good ones.
T
o my
amazing
cover artist
and friend,
Regina Rasmussen Wamba
: t
hank y
ou for all you do, and for sharing
my need for perfection.
To my
fantastic
editor Kara Malinczak
:
thank
s for being tough! *wink*
* * * * *
PROLOGUE
Our New Life
(Rose)
By the time we reached The Rising Pit, my eyes were dry. I literally couldn't cry anymore. Just a few hours ago, everything had been so perfect. My dad had broken up with that demon bitch, I had finally gained back my freedom, and we were going to go buy me a new car the following day.
But in a flash, everything had changed. I found out my mom had been murdered by a demon who was after my father
,
because apparently he was a demon, too. And not only was I a demon as well, but now...I was also a murderer.
I hadn't thought twice about killing Meredith when Christian told me to do it. Not only had I wanted revenge for my mother, but also I had to keep her from telling Christian that I was a demon.
I had no idea how I knew it, but when Meredith had admitted to killing my mo
m
, I felt the rage inside of me rise to the point
where
something physically changed within me. It was like I felt my DNA shifting. So when she told me that my father and I were demons, I knew she was telling the truth. I also knew she was telling the truth about Christian's clan wanting to kill me if they found out.
I
wasn't sure
how I was going to keep this secret, but then again, I had always been able to keep my thoughts hidden.
My God, that was it!
After learning about the effects of Meredith's blood on Terrance and how it kept his thoughts protected and
fuzzy
, it all made sense. No wonder I never had a problem hiding my thoughts from Evie...it was because of my demon blood.
"Rose? Are you going to be okay?" Christian's question startled me out of my inner turmoil. With everything racing around in my head, all I could do was nod in response.
"I know what happened is something that
's
going to take some time to process. But you have to realize
,
you didn't have a choice. She killed your mom and could have hurt you or your dad. She infected Terrance and there was no way I could let her threaten anyone else in my family. Killing her was the right thing to do."
He shifted in his seat and took both of my hands in his. "We need to get you inside and tell Evie everything that happened, but first I need to ask you a question. You know you can no longer go back to your old life, right? I'm sorry, but I won't let you be placed in a situation where you could be taken from me. I love you and I never want to live without you." He swallowed hard and cupped my cheek in his palm. "I will soon become the new Sire, and when I am I want you to be my consort. If you agree, I'm sure Evie will let you stay here with us from now on. We can start our new life together right away."
Oh my God. This was what I had been dreaming of for so long, but how was this going to work? I was a demon and Christian wanted me to become his consort. It was going to kill me to have to tell him I couldn't become a vampire anymore
...t
hat I could never be his consort.
I was so scared and I knew I would never be able to go home again. Staying with the clan seemed like the best way to stay protected. They could bite an
d use their sedative on anyone who ca
me looking for me. It was the obvious choice, even if it wasn't for the same reasons as Christian thought. "Yes. I would love to stay with you and the clan. Thank you, Christian. You are truly saving my life."
"You are my life Rose, and I'll gladly spend an eternity proving that to you." He leaned over and kissed me. It was soft, tender, and filled with emotion.
The pain in my heart left me feeling like I was the one with a poker through my chest. How could I live with the man I loved while planning to lie to him every single day?
I guess I was about to learn
exactly
how to break a vampire's heart...
* * * * *
Rose’s eyes close, a
nd
the
darkness sets in,
How can I live with my lover as a friend?
CHAPTER ONE
Changed
(Rose)
K
illing my dad's ex-girlfriend
and
living with Ch
ristian's vampire clan had been
the best decision I
'
d ever made. I was able to spend my nights with the love of my life, and
fill my days
finishing my college courses online while they
slept. I'd
graduated on time
and had now passed my
twenty-first
birthday.
The only downfall...I
really
missed my dad.
"Rose, are you okay?"
It wasn't Christian's question that
startled me
;
it was
,
once again
,
the shock of how beautiful he was
,
and
that
I was
a
part of his everyday life
now
.
M
y
dreams had
come
true. He was
my
angel on earth.
My mouth started to water as my eyes scanned him from top to bottom. He was s
tanding there with a towel wrapped around his waist
. F
resh from the shower
,
his
l
ight blonde highlighted hair
was
wet
,
and his
caramel eyes
were
sparkl
ing
with golden rays that could
've
be
en
straight from the sun
. He was so perfect
, and damn
did he have the
most gorgeous body...one I'd become very familiar with over the past four months.
All things considered, I was a very lucky girl.
I pushed myself off our bed and wrapped my arms around him.
"I was just thinking about everything th
at
's
happened
. Terrance, Meredith, my dad. I...
I just c
an't
believe how much everything ha
s
changed.
"
He pulled out of my hug
,
kissed me on the lips,
and
then looked deep into my eyes.
"
I know, baby, but now you're living and working here full-time, and once I become the new Sire, I'll change you and then we'll truly be able to start planning our
very
long future together.
"
The smile I plastered on
my face was the best I could do
and I hope
d
Christian bought it, b
ecause
inside, I knew that
was something
I c
ould
never
let
h
appen.
I was
p
a
rt
demon and
my blood would infect him, just as Meredith's had infected Terrance
. I couldn't do that to Christian. Besides,
the
clan already
vowed to hunt and kill any demons in the area.
Suck
s
to be
me.
Over the past four months I hadn't stop
ped
thinking about Meredith's revelation that
Dad and I
were both demons
. It was the reason she had gone after my mom
. S
he'd wanted my dad for herself. I
t
was pretty
obvious
my dad didn't have a c
lu
e, and that was a p
roblem
. I
had no idea how I was going to learn anything about our heritage
since I
'
d killed the only demon I'd ever encountered.
So many
hurdles
that would make it impossible for me to become
Christian's consort
. Y
et
out of necessity to remain hidden and safe
,
I was still living
here
with the clan.
Evie
ha
d put me to work here
at
the
club, so I actually had a real job and wasn't just a burden to them. I
'
d always been really good with numbers, so now I
was in
charge of keeping
the
books. Not that books were even necessary, since they could easily bite and use their sedative to manipulate anyone who would question
them
, like the liquor board or the IRS
. B
ut it was actually easier and more in-line with the clan's morals to run this business on the up-and-up. I certainly wasn't complaining
,
I finally had a real job.
When I'd
first arrived,
Justin and Christian
had
set me straight about the vampire facts tha
t Terrance had lied to me about.
I
'd
learned vampires were actually really great people and nothing like how the history books or fables of old portrayed them. They only fed out of necessity
,
and always used the sedative that flowed from their fangs to make sure it never hurt their prey. All
a vampire
had to do was program their sedative to make their prey do and think whatever they wanted. So they always made it a pleasant experience, and then wiped their memories of
the event. It's how vampires had
been able to remain hidden from the world
for centuries
.
Almost a year ago,
w
hen I first fou
nd out vampires existed, I'd
hoped to surprise Christian by going through the change and becoming a vampire like him so we could be together forever. But
since
Terrance was the one to tell me all about vampires
and was
unfortunately
under
Meredith's in
fluence
a
t the time, everything he told me had been a lie. There
had been no
way for him to make me a vampire as promised
;
that was something only a Sire could do.
As I walked into the bathroom I called over my shoulder,
"Do you have any idea when you'll become the new Sire?"
Please let it be a long time.
"I'm not sure. My
abilities are increasing
but
I think Evie wants to wait and see what other
talents
I develop before we do the Passing of Powers ritual. Honestly, I'm not even sure I'm really the one being triggered.
It could all
just
be a
big
mistake.
"
Hope blossomed in my chest as I stared at myself in the foggy bathroom mirror.
"What happen
s
if it's not you?"
"I guess we
just wait until someone else starts
to show
signs of being triggered."
Please let it not be him.
The longer I had until
a new S
ire was triggered
,
the longer I had to f
igure out all this demon crap
. One
day very soon I was going to have to face my dad and get some answers. I
didn't
think
he knew
,
but what if I was wrong and
he
'd known
all along
?
"I'm gonna hit the shower, but when I'm done...there's something I want to talk to you about."