His hands gripped her shoulders, as if to push her away but they followed instinct over orders. They slid up her arms and ran along her back instead. He felt himself sliding her body against his, her flimsy tank top riding up as they kissed.

He pulled himself away, flashing across the room.

She looked confused, "How did you…how did you do that?"

"Please excuse me." He left the room suddenly, leaving behind nothing but the warm wind.

He gasped for air standing outside Lydia's house. He hadn’t felt anything like that before. How had the girl made him feel desire that strong?

He paced, looking up at the house ashamed of himself, he walked up to the front door.

He pushed away the feeling of her warm skin against his, her soft luscious warm skin. He shivered and went into the kitchen.

"Mister Aleks, you be needing something to drink I think. You look all hot and bothered about something."

He frowned at Annabelle, the ghostly maid at Lydia's, "I'm fine."

She shook her head, passing him a cold tall glass of lemonade, "Nuh uh, I seen it before. Someone has got you inside out. Annabelle's lemonade be fixing that."

He growled taking the glass and looked at Lydia who was smirking at him from the other side of the kitchen, "Oh my Aleks. Talk about the wrong girl and the wrong time."

He lifted the glass into the air toasting her, "I'd hate to go against tradition."

Lydia burst into laughter, just as Aimee walked into the kitchen smiling.

"Hey guys."

Aleks raised his eyebrows taking a long cold drink, "Speak of the devil."

Aimee smirked, "Nice. You look weird."

He nodded, "Thanks."

She blushed, "Not like that, just you look. Uhm Different." She looked at Lydia, "You rang masta?"

Lydia rolled her eyes, "Yes. I need you to go and get the Jekyll girl. Her name is Hanna."

Aleks choked on his lemonade, feeling his face flush, "She's staying here?"

Lydia nodded, "What did I say about timing? Yes she is staying for a few weeks. Marcus Dragomir has been trying to help her."

Aimee sighed, "Oh great, not only is she possibly going to turn into a monster who I will no doubt have to kill, but she has Marcus Dragomir after her? Great! Lydia I was mid dungeon when you called."

Lydia frowned, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that Aimee. You've got Danny addicted to World of Warcraft. Yesterday I went in his room and he looked as if he hadn’t blinked in a day."

Aleks felt heat fill him as he jumped to Hanna's defense, "She's no different than you or Ari. Why shouldn’t she be allowed to come here and get helped? You were allowed even after you murdered that girl." He felt sickening regret as he said it.

Aimee's face turned ashen, "I-I d-didn't mean t-to." She winked away quickly, but Aleks saw the first of the tears rolling down her cheeks.

He slumped, "That was an asshole thing to say." He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He didn’t love being near Aimee, but he had tried not to be rude to her.

Lydia sighed, "It certainly was Aleks. My word, what's gotten into you? You will have to apologize to her."

He nodded, "Yes mother." He left his glass on the counter and flashed away, feeling the warm wind filling the air around him.

His heart still hurt when he saw Aimee, there was no fixing that sad fact. Suddenly however, he desired Hanna. He had only been with her minutes but his heart craved her over Aimee. After two years of watching Aimee pine over the human it was a refreshing change, alarming and refreshing.

He looked, realizing where he was, the beach. He walked along kicking the sand where he'd brought Aimee, the night he'd explained everything. Well nearly everything.

He put his hands on his face rubbing them back and forth. He wondered how things could have gotten so out of control. It was as if his curse had worsened when Dorian had it broken. He thought about the medicine man and shivered, his soulless black eyes bearing down on him and his red lips speaking the words. The words that ruined everything.

He had never wanted to be a Rose. He'd never fought against them but he never planned on joining. The curse had been his out with them.

Lorri had let him live out his existence in peace because of it. He was no use to the Roses when the only bad guy he followed was his father. Not to mention that the only time he showed up was after the deed was done.

He didn’t blame Dorian for having his curse broken in a trade to save Aimee. At least with no curse he was able to hunt everyone equally. It even benefited his hunt for his father. He had nearly tracked him twice in six months, which was more than he had ever done in six hundred years.

Chapter Nine: Secret Agent Man

Hanna

The shower had felt amazing. She needed to find out who he was. She blushed thinking about the way she'd attacked him. Something about him had bewitched her. She blushed thinking about his fingers touching her, his lips caressing hers and their bodies sliding against each other. She felt her skin lighting on fire again. She wondered about how he'd crossed the room in the second it didn’t even appear to take him?

She walked into her room sad he was gone, but happy to still smell him in the air. She wondered if he was downstairs, but she blushed imagining he didn’t want to hang out. She didn’t want to have Roland realize they had never talked. She became curious about what Roland had thought he could help her with.

She changed and left her room, feeling more alive than she had in ages.

Her head was filled with millions of questions, stemming from the visit with Lydia more than a week before.

She walked down the stairs to see Roland leaning over a gadget he had pulled apart on the table in the entryway.

"What are you doing?" She asked quietly, trying not to make him suspicious.

Roland laughed, "Oh just fixing the toaster oven, so how was your visit with the ever handsome Aleksander?"

She felt her face flush, "Interesting. Anyway who is he?"

Roland looked at her raising an eyebrow, "Oh you didn’t cover that while you were up there?"

She put her hands on her hips, "I thought it was Lydia wanting to see me again. I didn’t know it was some huge blond guy. You could have let me in on that."

He laughed, "You wouldn’t leave the room. What could I do? At any rate, your nineteenth birthday party is in a week, I've arranged for a ball as it's your last birthday."

She frowned, "What?" Her stomach fell. "Am I dying now? I actually was just thinking I feel pretty good. That elixir isn’t making me feel sick anymore."

"I should have said last birthday as a human. Lets not dwell on it now. I have dresses being brought to the mansion, I want you to choose which you'll wear. It’s a masquerade."

She laughed, "Who will we invite Roland. I have no friends any more and no family left. My cell phone has over a hundred texts from my friends. Honestly I don’t know what to say to anyone. Rebecca's death is the only thing buying me time with them. Everyone thinks I'm lost in a depression."

He winked, "Leave it up to me. First things first, Lydia wants you to go see her."

She frowned, "You seem weird, why are you being all funny again and not telling me stuff?"

He sighed, "Lydia, dress, then we answer questions dear." He looked back to the toaster over he had pulled apart on the small table.

She frowned and walked out the front door, "Will you at least tell me how to get there?"

He nodded, "She'll be here any moment."

As if on queue the blond girl who murdered her father was at the front door. She looked different somehow, less distant and frightening. She looked vulnerable as if she'd been crying.

Hanna couldn’t pity her, she hated her instantly upon seeing her, "What are you doing here?" She seethed.

The girl looked at her empathetically, "I have to bring you to Lydia."

Hanna looked back at Roland who smiled and nodded, "Aimee is much faster than a car. Now go."

Hanna crossed her arms, "I want answers before I agree to anything."

"Death Dealer."

Hanna looked up to see Marcus Dragomir walking up the front step with a curious look on his face.

The girl's face twisted, "You have no right to be here."

He laughed, "I have every right to be here. How's Lorri? Last time I saw her she seemed to be under some pretty heavy fire."

Hanna gasped as the girls hand shot out gripping Marcus by the throat. He smiled wickedly as if not afraid of her.

The girl pulled her hands back, looking at it as if she were mystified.

Marcus laughed harder, "You didn’t think I brought my soul with me everywhere now did you Aimee. Tsk Tsk Tsk. Foolish girl. Now if you will excuse me." He looked at Hanna making her stomach flip, "Shall we?"

Hanna looked at Roland and the girl called Aimee and nodded. She walked away from them both taking Marcus's arm.

"Hanna go with Aimee. I need to speak with Mr. Dragomir myself."

Hanna looked back at Roland and frowned, "I won't be going any where with her. If you want me to see Lydia I'll get Marcus to drive me there. I'm sure he knows the way."

Roland looked angry but he kept his mouth shut, thankfully. Hanna felt Marcus squeeze her arm.

She looked at him and frowned, "Just because I chose to come with you doesn’t mean you aren’t going to be doing some serious explaining. I want answers and I'm done with the shit explanations."

He chuckled walking her to the large black car in the driveway with a man in a bowler hat sitting at the drivers seat.

"Is he for real?"

Marcus frowned, "Do you mean is he alive?"

She laughed, "No I mean is he seriously wearing a bowler hat? Why? Is he dead?"

He laughed, "No, not that I'm aware of. I don’t actually believe he can be killed."

She put her hands on her hips pulling her arm from his and looked back at the house.