He shook his head, "I know I should be upset but I, uh, just can't seem to be."
Hanna walked into the living room in a skimpy pair of running shorts and small t-shirt. Luke made a noise low in his throat.
Sam pointed to her leg, "You have some dirt on your leg."
She drank from the water bottle in her hand and looked down at her leg, "I was running in the hills." She sat on the chair opposite him.
Aimee looked hostile but Lydia had made her swear to be nice.
Ari looked frustrated, "Anyway. I have a plan."
Hanna nodded, "I'm in." Her eyes bore down on Sam. Her cheeks flushed as she watched him. She adjusted herself in her seat. Luke made another low sound. Sam could feel her affects in the air but his body couldn’t respond to it.
Aimee snarled, "Great."
Sam let his eyes linger on Hanna's face, "We can't tell Lorri. She murdered my father on purpose."
Aimee's eyes flashed at him, "What?"
He nodded, "Yeah. She fell in love with my mother. She felt the pull of the Siren. Oliver said my dad fell in love with my mother at the same time and Lorri used the Devil's Roses to kill him. She used the excuse that he mated with a mortal."
Ari raised an eyebrow, "But Siren's aren’t human. Not really."
Sam shrugged, "Yeah. I never knew any of this. I guess she was jealous that my mom chose my dad."
"You must be pissed."
He looked at Hanna, "Nope. Can't even get angry that my father was murdered unjustly out of jealousy."
Aimee shook her head, "Lorri is a bitch, there is no doubt about that but there is no way she murdered your dad. Where did you hear that?"
"Oliver."
"He's lying. He's Jonathan's pawn. He's trying to separate us from the Roses. He wants us on the dark ones side."
Sam shrugged, "Either way we need to keep the management out of this mission. Lydia will tell Lorri. Lorri might not be on our side."
"Lorri is a lesbian?"
Ari looked at Luke and growled, "Focus."
He shrugged, "What. It just explains so many things."
Aimee rolled her eyes, "Can we keep the lesbian stereotypes to minimum and stay focused?"
Ari put her hands on her hips, "We tell no one."
Hanna nodded, "We tell no one."
"We need Ophelia's help. Her sisters and brother have to help us. Plus we need to know how to get in, we need Oliver to tell us how to get in."
Sam smirked, "He asked me about Ophelia a million times. It got annoying actually. I bet she can weasel it out of him."
Luke raised an eyebrow, "Oh shit he's like Dorian dude. You don’t want to mess around with them."
Ari frowned, "She is stronger than Annabelle and Lydia. She could probably kill him."
Aimee smiled sweetly, "Sam she has a very strong reaction to your Siren thing. You should be the one to tell her to go hang with Oliver and get the way in."
Sam noticed the way Hanna's eyes flashed. She got up and left the room. Aimee looked satisfied. Sam knew he should feel sorry for Hanna. He could recall the pain she caused him. His body remembered the pain. It didn’t register as pain, just a memory. He got up and followed her to the room.
"Hanna, wait up."
She turned wiping her face. He felt the slightest of twinges in his stomach. It was the first thing he'd felt in days.
She narrowed her eyes but sighed when she saw the blank stare on his face.
"I don’t want you to hurt."
Her shoulders slumped hollowing out her shoulder blades and throat, "Why can't you just undo it and love me again Sam."
He shook his head, "I don’t know how."
Tears streamed down her flushed cheeks. She took a step toward him placing her hand on his chest, "I will love you as long as I live. My heart will belong to you forever. Even when a thousand years has passed and you don’t remember me, every heart beat will be for you." She leaned in and brushed her soft lips against his cheek. She brushed past him and walked down the wide hallway. He knew that deep down it hurt. His stomach ached in a way he remembered being associated to pain. A tear found it's way from his eye. He dragged his hand across his face. The simplicity of the tear was lost in the abyss that had become his heart. He turned and walked along the hall in the opposite direction. He needed to find Ophelia. He needed her to fix him. He felt the black of the world swallowing him.
His feet walked, his mouth breathed, and his heart beat but nothing felt real.
The fog in his head kept him preoccupied enough that he nearly walked past Ophelia. She was curled up with a huge old book in the library. He stopped walking and backed up to the doorway. He poked his head in, "Hey can we talk?"
She looked up, but her brain took a moment to register him. The book had pulled her in.
Seeing him, her cheeks flushed, "Oh hey Sam."
"I need your help."
She looked lost when she looked at him. His Siren call was worse since he lost his feelings for Hanna.
He walked in and sat in the huge over stuffed leather chair across from her. He didn’t understand why she was staying at Giselle's too. Everyone had basically left Lydia's in protest of Giselle's banishment.
In the dim light of the library she looked young. Her dark hair and one dark eye made her look the way he'd imagine a witch to look. Her light eye looked sick, like a cataract.
"I need you to get close with Oliver. Get some answers from him. We are going on a rescue mission. We aren’t telling Lydia or Lorri. Their agenda has nothing to do with your sister or Aimee's sister. They just want the plan they have hatched to work, even at the expense of Alise and Abbey."
She blinked, "Abbey." She spoke the words like she had forgotten about her.
"Yeah. So we were hoping you'd get the way into the Alaska fortress for us. Oliver knows it. We can't trust him so you have to be sneaky. Can you do that?"
She nodded.
He forced a smile across his lips, "You can keep the secret for us?"
She nodded again. She looked like a robot around him. He couldn’t understand it. She would do anything he said.
He watched her eyes, trying hard not to focus on only one, "I need another favor."
She nodded.
"I need you to find out about changing me back and fixing my heart."
"Okay."
"Oliver said it was possible but you have to find some dark witches to do it."
"I'll do whatever you want Sam."
He sighed. He knew it would be driving him insane if he could feel anything. He was grateful for a moment that he was numb."
He got up from the chair, "Okay. Thanks Ophelia."
She put the book down and got up from the chair. She walked to the room, almost like following his orders. She turned and walked down the hall in the direction of Hanna's old room.
He flashed into the kitchen. Giselle was sucking the neck of a man against the counter.
Sam frowned.
She pulled away, "Derek I'd like you to meet Tham. Tham thith ith Derek."
"Why are you eating your date?"
"It's my kitchen. I'll eat whoever I want." She laughed.
Her blood stained fangs popped back, leaving her with normal straight teeth covered in blood.
"Dude he has a blood disorder. He used to get bled or leached. Like barf. Anyway Jeeves knew about him because of Marcus. Marcus always had a few of them he kept around."
"Hamish told you he has a blood disorder."
The man spoke, "I do. I have hemochromatosis. I have to lose a half liter of blood every week."
Sam nodded, "Sounds legit. Nice one Giselle. No more bags for you then huh?"
She smiled her blood grin, "Dude there are millions of these people. It's like the most common shit wrong with people."
"How did Hamish find you?"
The man shrugged, "My doctor. He was a friend of that Marcus guy."
Sam nodded, "So you are part of the blood kept on tap?"
"I wasn’t before. Marcus liked girls."
Giselle looped her arm in the man's, "Come on I'll get Jeeves to take you home."
Sam sat at the table. He didn’t know why he was in the kitchen. He couldn’t remember why he had come down there.
His phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket.
"Hello."
"Sam my boy Hanna has told me what you've done. Come to the mansion right away."
Sam nodded, "Okay Roland." He flashed from the chair before he even pressed end on the call.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ophelia
The bedroom was dark with candles and a fire lit. The air was always damp on the west coast. She didn’t like it. The east coast was damp but at least it was warm. She couldn’t recall why she listened to Sam. Something about him made her want to smell him and cuddle against him. She wanted to make him happy.
In the firelight she caught a glimpse of Oliver. He smiled at her from the reading chair next to the hearth.
"I was wondering when you were going to come and see me."
She frowned, "I don't really like the way you creep around in my head."
He laughed and closed the book in his lap. He tilted his head, "I don’t really creep around. It's no different than talking. You just have the ability to read minds. All the strongest witches do."
She raised an eyebrow and sat in the chair across from him, "Why can't I hear everyone?"
"You haven’t hit your power yet. At eighteen you'll, well blossom so to speak. Everything will come into you."
"How do you know so much about me?"
"I've been around for a long time."
"So you're really old?" She felt her lips twist into a grin.
He laughed. His laugh made her happy.
"Tell me why you're here young lady."
She shrugged, "I just wanted to see you."