Page 93 of Roses & Ruin

“Alright, Rose. I need you to understand something right now. That guy?” Delia stabs a finger at Hayden. “That guy is a selfish. Piece. Of. Shit.”

“Wh-why?” I whisper. But I think I can guess. I think I’m starting to understand. Delia turns her eyes to me, and they’re raw. Yes, I think I might know.

“He killed Nico,” she says simply. Looking lost, she walks back to the altar, leans against it. “I told you a version of the truth. Nico and I were passing through a forest. I was thirsty. Nico hunted for me because I asked. He saw a girl, eighteen, perfect for draining.” Delia’s eyes find mine. “Little did we know she was already claimed. I watched, horrified, in the bushes while Hayden ripped Nico’s head from his body to save you.

“When Nico was dead, you both ran, and I wanted to chase after, avenge him, but I couldn’t…I couldn’t leave him.” Delia’s eyes get hard. “Do you know what happens when a vampire dies? They…revert to their human form. So, however old they are, that’s how old their corpse is. Nico was thousands of years old, Rose.” Hatred and sorrow contort her beautiful features into something ugly. “Hayden left me with a pile of ash. I didn’t have a body to hold.” Her jaw grinds together, her fangs poking from her lips. “I went to every witch and warlock I could find. Pretty quickly, it became clear that once you meet the true death, that’s it. There was no bringing Nico back.

“So then my quest changed. I was no longer interested in resurrection. I wanted revenge.” Delia sighs dreamily. “Fuck. Like I’ve said before, I love witches. I found a particularly sadistic one.” With a graceful leap, she perches back on the broken altar, crossing her legs. “Together, we came up with: What if Hayden was forced to go through what I went through, but over and over and over? The love of his life, a silly little mortal girl, would fall in love with him and die, violently, just before she turned nineteen, despite his very best efforts, and then reincarnate to do the whole song and dance over again.” Delia claps her hands, dark eyes bright. “I get a human to do the dirty work, and then, you wanna know the best part? The very best part?

“His dear, sweet, darling best friend, Delia, is always there to mourn alongside him, wipe those tears of his away…so she could eat them for dessert.”

Delia bares her fangs down at Hayden, and a clap of thunder shakes the church.

“Do you know what it’s been like, Rose? To listen to him bitch. And whine. Like a fucking mule. Because he lost you for, like, a couple of decades? And then he gets you back!” Delia’s voice is rising, shrill. Her hair is fluttering as if in some invisible wind, her eyes filling with darkness. “He had no clue. No clue how lucky he was.”

“So,” I begin in the tiniest voice, “it was you who cursed him?”

“No,” she says, “I cursed you.”

“What?” I blink, dizzy. “So…so it wasn’t…like, proximity to him wouldn’t have changed—”

“Nah, all his stupid theories were wrong.” Delia shrugs a shoulder. “As far as proximity goes, I did need you to fall in love with him. Otherwise, doesn’t hit as hard. So, yeah, when he was all emo and shit and said he was gonna stay away this time, I had to be a little more hands-on, as it were. He was surprisingly stubborn. I was so annoyed when he rescued you from the truck and then just left you there. Very not him, by the way.”

“The accident,” I croak. “That was you?”

Delia frowns at my tone. “Don’t sound so surprised. That was nothing. I mind-controlled a sleepy driver to get sleepier, no biggie.” Delia snorts all of a sudden. “And come on, you had to have been a little suspicious…like, a full ride to Payen? You actually thought you’d earned that?”

This whole time. Delia’s orchestrations are the only reason I’m here. I feel so, so stupid.

“You killed Remy to get close to me.” Something horrible occurs to me. “Did Hayden know?”

Delia throws her head back and laughs. “My god, no. That fucking hypocrite got all Buddhist after he killed Nico. He just thought I’d mind-controlled Remy to go back to New York.”

“Then why—”

“Because she was a bitch.” Delia pouts, folds her arms. “I just left out the part where I sucked her dry. She tasted terrible, by the way.” Delia cocks her head, giving me a very fangy smile. “I’ve heard your blood’s divine.” Her face morphs into annoyance. “Julian wanted to drink your blood so bad. Word to the wise? Never turn an entitled asshole. They’re so much worse when they’re vampires.”

“You…you turned Julian?” I rasp. I close my eyes, try very hard to breathe down my nausea. My finger dangles uselessly, throbbing with pain that shoots all the way up my arm to my throat.

It’s so much. Too much. I try to put it all together, track all this.

But the truth is, I’m still having a really difficult time looking at my best friend and seeing a monster.

“The tunnels…” I finally choke out, realizing. “You sent Julian after me.”

Delia shrugs. “And saved you, don’t forget that.”

I look up at her, feel the tears track down my face. “Why, Delia? Why save me?”

One of Delia’s eyes twitches. She looks away, her jaw sharpening as she folds her arms.

“Sue me,” she says airily. “A girl gets bored after a few centuries. Can you blame me for playing with my food?” Delia inspects her cuticles. I look down at my snapped finger, now purple and swollen to twice its former size.

“What about Bianca and Chris?” I ask.

Delia shrugs. “I can’t control what another vampire does in their free time. Julian turned them.”

I have to suck in several deep breaths. “How’d you know where to send them?” I ask quietly. “How’d you know about Crimson Bluff?”