"No."

He grins, "Just checking."

The air warms. The sensation is familiar.

"There you are." The blond man smiles at me. Behind him is the dark haired girl. She's with a redhead I've never seen before.

"Blake, stay back. They're weird like us." I speak in a warning tone.

The redhead cocks her head at me and grins, "Aimee, we need you and Giselle to come with us."

"How do you know me?"

She shakes her head, "Long story." She looks past me and waves, "Hey Blake."

I look back at him. He shakes his head, "This is awesome." He almost chuckles. "It's like Doctor Who."

"What are you?"

The dark haired girl with the black eyes looks like she might cry, "We're the Devil's Roses. We need you to come with us."

I know that name, although I've never heard it before. I take a step toward them and look back at Blake. "Make something up. Tell them Giselle took me prom dress shopping so my parents don’t worry."

The others laugh.

I look back confused, "What?"

The redhead shakes her head, "Prom dress shopping."

Blake points, "They know you for sure."

I scowl.

He puts a hand up, "Just saying."

"Dorian has gone to speak to both your parents and told them stories. Giselle you're going to be filming a movie and getting paid a lot of money and Aimee you are part of a research grant."

Blake nods crossing his arms, "That actually sounds good."

The redhead smiles at him, "We've gotten good at this." She shoots a look at the dark haired girl.

A dark haired man, more beautiful than anything I have ever seen, is in the room suddenly. He grins at me like he might devour me, "Aimee love, you look well." He has an English accent. It makes his dark hair and eyes even more attractive. He claps his hands together, "Well, parents are all done."

My face splits into a smile. I swallow and have a hard time focusing.

Blake crosses the room, "Who are these people?" He whispers into the side of my face.

I shake my head, "I don’t know. But I know them, somehow."

"I know. Me too. I totally believe all this and I never believe anything."

The sad face of the dark haired girl is torturing me.

I know her, I know I love her. Like a sister.

The dark haired man saunters toward me. He bends his face and plants a soft warm kiss on my cheek, "I've missed you." My stomach twists. The smell of him is amazing, like incense and lust.

My breath gets lost in my lungs. He walks past me to Giselle and scoops her up. He winks at me and he's gone. Panic fills me. I turn.

"Where did he take her?"

The redhead looks annoyed, "Home." The blond grabs my hand. The air is warm as I see the redhead walking toward Blake.

"NOOOO!" I shout but it's too late.

Cool damp air and squishy grass are the first things I notice.

"Aimes!" A cute guy with green eyes and dark hair runs at me. He scoops me up and kisses my cheek.

I struggle, "What are you doing? Who are you?"

His face drops. He raises an eyebrow and looks past me to the blond guy, "Damn. Both of you?"

The blond guy shrugs and walks up to the house, "I'm out. My father is nearby." He speaks to an old woman standing on the front porch of an old mansion.

My feet touch the ground again as green eyes puts a hand out, "Ben."

I scowl, "How do you know me?"

He puts his hand that’s lingering, waiting for me to shake it, up to my face. "You are one of my best friends."

"How?"

"Aimee, come inside. We need to debrief you. Giselle is already inside." The old lady on the porch speaks impatiently.

My feet move, even though my brain argues with them. I trust her. Her old face and white grey hair reminds me of someone I love.

My cell rings. I ignore it and walk up the creaky old steps. The old woman takes my hand in hers and pulls me inside.

The house smells familiar. "I've been here before."

She looks back at me and nods, "You have. Many times."

She pulls me to a huge room with many couches and fireplace.

She sits and begins speaking, "Two years ago, in two thousand and ten, I met you. Dorian, the man who changed you into what you are, was given a task. He was asked by the leader of the Devil's Roses to create one like him. A soul sucker, death deity, angel of death, death dealer, whatever you want to call it. He needed one like himself to end the battle between good and evil on earth."

I frown, "It's two thousand and ten now. You know that right?"

She frowns and puts a hand up, "Let me finish my story."

I nod and she continues, "Dorian was also asked, at the same time, to save you. Aleksander had fallen in love with you and needed you to be spared. The only way to save you was to change you. Dorian was in need of one like himself so he agreed. He agreed on the condition that Aleksander gave up his lifetime of useless wandering and become a Rose. Aleksander agreed and you were changed. Fearing you would begin to understand your own power, Dorian used threats and cruelty to handle you. You ran from him. That is when I met you. I was walking past an alley and I sensed you. You were living on the streets, starving and cold and wet. You had forbidden yourself to kill anyone and thus you were starving. You had swam into the Portland harbor and hidden amongst the homeless. I brought you home here and cared for you. It took months to get you to stop being so crazed and ravenous. Things like you have to eat, often."

My head spins. I don’t know how to argue with the words. They feel like truths. I can almost picture every moment she has described. I glance at the floor and close my eyes to listen to her voice.

Chapter Nine

"Do you believe it all?"

I look at her and nod, "I don’t know why but I do."

She bites her plump lip, "Me too."

I lie back on the bed in our room. "It makes more sense than rocks from space or science labs."

A knock at the door interrupts us. The handle turns and a guy close to my age walks in.

"Damn." Giselle whispers. I nod in agreement.

"Hi."

He beams, "Aimee and Giselle. Back from the never lands I see. Did you miss me terribly?"

I want to say yes. My heart twinges and I have the strangest feelings for him.

"I'm Sam."

I frown and mouth the name. "I know you."

He nods, "Yup. You know us all obviously, but you and I were special to each other. Me and you and Ari."

"The dark haired girl?"

He climbs on my bed. His proximity to me is intense. I want to touch him. "What are you?" I ask. I feel like I've been saying it all day.

He grins, "Nephilim and Siren. My dad was one of the fallen, like Lorri and Dorian."

I grimace, "They can have babies?"

He laughs. I glance at Giselle who is batting her eyelashes, "So did you and I, like know each other?"

He grins, "Yes. Of course. We did Roses training together. You both are my dearest friends."

Giselle scowls, "Just friends?"

I laugh. I feel the same way.

Giselle leans forward and sniffs the air around him, "You guys are all so hot and you all make me feel, well different."

I turn to her, "Dude."

"Naughty." Giselle blurts out, ignoring me.

"Angels all make everyone feel like that. Automatic attraction. Plus I'm part Siren. So yeah, it's not going to help you out at all."

"It's the strangest feeling. So intense."

He nods and purses his lips "Aleks has it too. And Marcus."

I frown, "Who?"

"The one with the fangs. Marcus. The OG."

I laugh, "Right. Lydia mentioned him." I glance at Giselle, "When you were a vampire for a short stint."

Giselle shakes her head, "It feels like fog is in here." She rubs her head.

I laugh, "I know. Like I can't get past a wall in my mind."

"Maybe Marcus can get rid of it."

Sam shakes his head, "No. We don’t want him to. We still have some monsters to collect. Ophelia and her brother Tristan and Phillip and Oliver. We don’t have time for the whole Shane versus Aleks fight." He rolls his eyes.

I feel a stab in my guts, "What?"

His face reddens, "Oh nothing. You just dragged out the whole whoever will I pick for about two years."

I swallow hard, "I dated them both? Shane and the big blond guy who does the flashy thing and makes me feel funny?"

"Yeah, and believe me it was brutal on everyone. I've died once, Aleks has died once and Ben has died once and Marcus I think once or twice and all of it could have been avoided if you weren’t such a sucky baby."

His words cut into me.

"Dude, what the hell?" Giselle growls.

He puts his hands out, "No. I didn’t mean it like that. It's just better with you focusing on work and not boys."

I shake my head, "I've never even dated a boy. My first kiss was a near death experience for the boy I like and then some stranger on the beach." I feel sick thinking about it. My face pales, "How is Shane?" His face comes crashing back into my mind.

His eyes dart, "What? Why? What happened to him?"

I look at Giselle, "Has anyone said anything to you about him?"

She shakes her head, "No."

I climb off the bed and run down the hall and the flights of stairs.

When I get to the kitchen I see something more horrifying than anything I've ever seen. A dark skinned girl is standing in the kitchen cooking, but I can see through her. Her body is see-through.

I scream. I blink my eyes, panicking. I close my right eye and wink my left.

Instantly I'm on the beach. The secret beach. I shake.

"You okay?"