Deanna Kinney: Raven's Rose

He finally stopped, calmed himself—and listened. He picked up on it right away—a rustling in the forest. It was her. He ran with speed and stealth, making no sound as he moved in and around the trees.

“Stop crying! No one is coming to save you! If you would have stayed with me none of this would be happening—and breaking my nose was a bad idea and one you’ll regret.”

Kyle was dragging Rose by the arm through the forest. She tried to use her strength to break free, but it only angered him more. He’d shown up after school, pressing what she thought was a gun to her back and demanding she come with him. No one seemed to notice or even care, which puzzled her. She was a new student after all, but everyone was either on their cell phones or iPods, not giving her the least amount of concern, or maybe they really didn’t notice. Either way it didn’t matter anymore, she may die soon, and she’d not even had a chance to really live. She didn’t know Kyle’s plans, but it couldn’t be good. After all, besides being mean, she knew he was also reckless and impulsive.

“Kyle, let me go. Please let me go,” she pleaded, fear shaking her to her core.

“After how you treated me—I don’t think so. You’re coming back to Atlanta with me.”

Her eyes widened in alarm. “Kyle, no!”

She struggled and fought until he pushed her down and pointed the gun at her.

“Are you gonna make me do this?” he shouted, his eyes were wild, and his hand shook slightly as he held the gun to her face.

“No!” she screamed, squeezing her eyes shut, too scared to even move for fear of angering him further.

Suddenly, she thought she picked up a sound but before she could make sense of it something that resembled a brick wall slammed into Kyle with great force, sending him sailing ten feet into the air and then crashing hard to the ground. Raven stood there, teeth clenched, this time picking him up and slamming his body into the closest tree and letting him fall to the ground again where he lay unmoving.

For a moment she lost herself, staring at the beautiful man in awe with his black hair and blacker eyes. He was magnificent. Her eyes trailed down to his rock hard arms and then she remembered the women wrapped around those arms just yesterday. As his eyes finally met hers, her anger returned.

“Sophia!” He rushed to her side and began helping her to her feet. “Are you all right?” he asked, pulling her to him.

She let him take her in his arms, snuggling her face against his chest as she breathed in his amazing scent. But, remembering her previous irritation with him, she jerked away from his touch. “I’m fine.” She knew she should forgive him, but her pride was damaged. And she was nothing if not stubborn.

Eli, Levi, and Charity burst onto the scene.

“Rose! Are you all right?” Eli asked, taking his little sister in his arms. She clung to him and cried. He ushered her immediately away.

Charity watched as Hector came up from behind them and grabbed the little twerp, Kyle, and carried him away without a word. They would have Raven remove Kyle’s memories of Rose later.

Raven stood there motionless and numb—right before he collapsed.

“Levi!” Charity called.

Levi collected Raven’s limp body in his arms and carried him all the way back to the Drake House.

Levi laid Raven on his bed and Charity covered him with the blanket. “We need to get someone to feed him so he can begin to heal,” Charity said to Levi. “Where is Doc?”

“He’s on his way. I’ll call Irena and get her to handle getting someone to feed him.”

“There’s no time. I’ll do it.” She sat on the bed and began rolling up her sleeve.

“I don’t think so!” Levi snapped, pulling her from the bed. “We’ll get someone else!”

“Fine!” she snapped back, “But we better hurry. He looks bad.”

Raven’s head turned as his eyes opened slightly. “No feeding,” he mumbled.

“What?” Charity asked. “You have to feed in order to heal.”

“No feeding,” he said again, this time weaker.

“Tell me why,” she demanded, leaning in closer.

His voice was just a whisper, but with her new keen hearing, thanks to her growing babies, she managed to hear his feeble word. “Rose.”

Charity stood tall—her crystal blue eyes boiling with rage.

Charity burst into Rose’s bedroom without so much as a knock. “What have you done?!” she demanded, her face red with restrained anger.

“What?” Rose asked in confusion, her head still a blur from her ordeal in the forest.

“Do you even understand what you’ve done? Raven could die!”

“What?” She stood in alarm. “Raven—die? But how?”

“The sun hurts vampires—zaps their strength, sending pain shooting through their limbs. Direct sunlight, in particular, can burn them; even dry them to the bone. Raven said it feels like lightning passing through their veins—and yet he gave no thought to that the moment he heard you were missing from school. He shot out of here without a single thought to his own safety. And what do you do? Shun him! Now he won’t even feed in order to heal himself. He said “no feeding!” and then mumbled your name. What’s that all about anyway?”

Rose rubbed her temples, seemingly shocked at Charity’s anger, or maybe it was over this new information. From Rose’s frantic expression, her emotions were in overload.

“After our date the other night,” Rose began, “I offered myself to him to feed. He refused. I got angry, but later I felt bad about that, so I went to find him to apologize. I found him feeding on a pretty woman in the hall. And you know the rest. I didn’t understand how he could do that. I still don’t.”

Charity sighed, her anger dissipating instantly. After all, she knew all too well the emotion of jealousy. She was the last one to judge such a response. She remembered how it felt when she thought Serena was trying to seduce Levi. It seemed so long ago, but she still remembered how painful such thoughts could be. She sighed, taking a seat on the bed next to Rose. “Well, let me explain. We have donors assigned to Raven. These are pack members who’ve volunteered to feed him. It’s too dangerous for him to leave the safety of the facility to find his own source of food. The vampires may be looking for him. We set up a schedule and, unless requested sooner, one will show up to feed him every seven days or so. That girl he was feeding from was assigned to him—a donor. That’s all. He has no other relationship with any of them beyond that. He’s been incapable of love since the loss of his Rose—that is until you showed up. Now do you understand?”

Rose lowered her head, seemingly ashamed of her actions. “I have been such a witch. I should’ve known.”

Charity took her hand in hers, compassion filling her as she studied Rose. “How could you have known? You two still barely know each other, but it’s not too late to make it right.”

“Charity, really? Do you think he can forgive me?”

She flashed a devilish smile. “I think he’s dying to forgive you—pun intended. Now here’s what you should do.”

Rose opened the door slowly and crept into Raven’s living quarters. It was dark, and until her eyes adjusted, she had to feel her way through the rooms. Once her eyes did adjust, however, she could see quite well, and had no trouble finding Raven’s bedroom. She stepped in slowly, cautiously approaching the dark figure lying unmoving in his bed. She sat down on the edge of the bed and took his hand in hers; it was slightly cool to the touch. He still didn’t move.