Chapter Twelve

"Nooo!" Darren screams like his heart was ripped from his chest.

He runs over and opens the pouch further, exposing the decapitated head within. Whimpering, he pulls the head out and caresses the face with a mournful howl while the evil bitch cackles with glee.

I run over to Darren and wrap my arms around him as he begs this to be a nightmare. The head he"s cradling is that of a woman. Through the gore I can see she was lovely with ginger hair.

Darren kisses the woman"s forehead and whispers his love before laying her down on the grass. He uses the elements to open the ground and swallow his lover"s head before standing up and facing the wicked old bitch.

"I will kill you, Merelda. I will do everything in my power to end your selfish life. Today you made an enemy out of the Fairies." Darren"s fires burn brightly and his eyes drip liquid flames. I"ve never seen this emotion from him. We never got to meet this woman. She took his heart and loved him and this bitch killed her.

"You"re a foolish fairy if you think you can do anything to me." Her voice makes the ground tremble but Darren is not moved at all.

"We shall see, Merelda," Darren hisses with dual voices of rage.

The witch"s gaze darkens at Darren"s promise but she can"t hide the fear written in her features and the man"s threats.

Trying to brush off Darren with false bravado, she turns to Drug and his brothers, "Stupid boys think you can protect these little Crows? They will die just as their parents have. And their parent"s parents and all the generations of the True Bloods before them!" She raises her hands to the sky and with every word her voice mounts higher.

"Uh, lady, can you like... shut the fuck up for a moment?" I say with exasperation.

"For real, right? Her theatrics are lacking," Roxy says with a giggle.

"More like her voice is fucking annoying," Rory says while rubbing her ears, "Did you ever think to use magic on those vocal chords? I"m pretty sure you could at least make them match the Botox in your face."

"Silence!" Merelda yells like the entitled Elder she is.

Drug shifts and stands beside me, "No, my mate is right. Shut the fuck up. You sound like a cat that gargled rocks and glass, then drowned itself but survived. It"s truly annoying. So how about I speak and you turn on your hearing aid." Drug steps closer to the gate and it makes me fucking nervous as hell.

Smoke pours from his nose as he stares at the sneering old bitch, "You forget one thing. We are the keepers of Hell and soon I will watch your skin burn from your bones while I dance amongst the flames to the melody of your screams."

Okay, that was pretty fucking dark and it totally turned me on.

I"m watching Drug"s back flex with the way he rolls his head and I"m practically drooling. He"s walking sex no matter the situation. I just want to reach around him and dip my hands into those jeans that hug his ass so good…

Stop it, Black Bird. This is not the time for a boner.

I should just keep going with my dirty thoughts but I don"t.

"The day you were born is a day I loathe, your sister is the only one who is worthy to breathe." She screeches at Drug before looking at me. "You think that because you"ve somehow gotten your talons into my grandsons that you are safe?" Ensue her fucking cackling again.

Will she ever get to the point?

"You aren"t safe, just as your mother wasn"t safe. Do you know how she begged, how her bones snapped with each word from my mouth? You will have the same fate and your sisters will watch helpless as I carve out your abomination of a heart."

Just before her voice is done renting the air, I teleport myself behind her and bring my short sword down in an arch. Her screams pierce the air as my right sword slams hilt deep into her shoulder, cutting through the bone and tendons with brutality. Holding onto the sword"s grip, I pull her back as I swing my left sword over her chest, aiming for her heart.

Before the point touches her skin, she bursts into hundreds of black moths the size of my palm.

"Get out of there, Ronny!" Drug screams as he runs for the gate.

I"m not hearing him though because I"m swinging my swords through the air at the cloud of moths. Their disgusting little wings flapping around my face and hears giving me the fucking creepy crawlies. Their fat bodies fall to the ground and turn to dust.

Drug is ten feet from the iron gate entrance when the moths all form together again creating Merelda. Even though she"s bleeding from her shoulder, she has no problem cackling and moving.

She lifts her hand and weaves her fingers and suddenly I can"t move. My body is trapped like a cartoon character who has been frozen by ice, only much scarier.

Drug begins to pass the threshold of the gate when suddenly he"s airborne. He lands with a bone breaking thud on the ground fifty feet back while I scream his name.

"Your puppy can"t save you, little oracle." She grips her fist tighter and the invisible rope around me squeezes harder. I shift into my cobra but the ropes are still coiled around me so I shift back.

If I"m going to die like this, I"m going to curse this motherfucker before I go.

"Such a shame to have to kill you. Your parents were worthless but you and your sisters could have been magnificent under my tutelage. I can smell the magic laying latent in your veins..."

She continues to circle me as she mocks me but my mind focuses on one word, magic. I have new abilities, granted they"re not very consistent but they"re there nonetheless.

I see everyone trying to break out of whatever barrier Merelda threw up but it must be something crazy because they haven"t been able to break through.

Darren has ripped up the ground around it but so far he's been unable to find an opening.

Brothers get your girls back and let"s throw hellfire at it as one.Drug"s orders come through our mental link.

No! Stop, she can easily kill me. I"m going to throw hellfire at her from here. As soon as I"m free we port back to the house, grab the books and teleport out of here. Got it?I mentally shout my orders to Drug who I"m certain passes the message onto his brothers because they all nod.

Hold on to Darren and your men, sisters. I have an idea. When I"m free, get them to the house quickly.

I don"t wait for them to reply, I keep my focus on Merelda"s magically youthful face as she continues to mock how weak my mother and father were.

I bite back my anger as best I can and focus on how her eyes are the same shade of green as Drug"s. Of course, his are much more captivating.

The way he watches me, even now, with admiration and appreciation. They burn bright when he"s in throes of passion and battle. The way his body moves as he fights and the fierce protectiveness he has for his brothers.

I focus on him and the way he controls his Hellfire with ease. I picture it running through my veins like slow moving lava until I feel the heat in my hand. When Merelda gets closer to me, snarling in my face, I smile.

"You talk too much." I wiggle my fingers and feel the heat of Drug"s flames dance along the tips. She notices the black flames and her eyes widen with unfiltered fear. She jumps back just as I flick one tiny flame in her direction with a mocking cackle of my own.

In her hast to escape the deadly element, her hold on me slips and I immediately teleport inside our barrier.

My sisters grab their men and Darren and vanish to the house while Merelda screams like a child throwing a tantrum.

Drug grabs me and slams his lips to mine for a quick but punishing kiss before turning to his grandmother, "We"re far from over, old hag. Soon it'll be your head in a bag."

Then we"re gone.

Once we"re standing in the house, I"m bombarded with everyone yelling at me at once.

"What the hell were you thinking, Ron?"

"You could have been killed!"

"What do you think would happen to my brother if you had died?"

"You risked yourself needlessly."

"Crow soup, Black." Drug rumbles next to me.

Everyone screams and tosses their hands around in exasperation as I stand there and wait for them to chill out. I mean, yeah I could have died but the bitch threatened my sisters, I was going to let that go. Plus, I proved the bitch could be hurt with weapons and she"s terrified of Hellfire! Those are useful things to know, right?

"Did she smell like onions?" Roxy"s yell is last and she screams it just as everyone quiets down so it was the only thing everyone heard clearly.

We all look at her and she shrugs, "I thought we were just yelling our thoughts."

With the chaos and adrenaline still running through our systems, we all bust up laughing at the sheer craziness of it all. Roxy and Rory wrap me in hugs and toss more threats but quickly go back to whatever it was they were doing before.

"I"ll keep watch, you guys pack or whatever the fuck you"re going to do. We need to get the hell out of here now," Draven says stoically before passing by Rory without a second glance. She watches him for a moment before turning away and grabbing three duffels out of the hall closet.

I want to use our sister-speak and ask her but I don"t know if she has built a block strong enough to keep Draven from hearing her reply to my nosy ass questions. We can block each other perfectly but I can"t seem to completely block Drug, it might be the same with her and Draven.

Rory goes into mother hen mode, ordering her little chicks around, "Grab the books, Ronny. Roxy, go get every potion already made. Darren, where do we start looking for the talismans? Roxy says they"re located in three separate places?"

"Yes, they are separately hidden. I don"t know what they could be. You will need to split up and cover as much ground as possible. Brothers, you three will know what the talisman is when you see it and if you dig deep enough into your memories, I"m sure you can find the locations. It"s your past, you will succeed."

Darren reaches into his bag and pulls out three twine necklaces. Each of the necklaces are braided like tribal bands and they have a moonstone in the center.

"Wear these at all times. If you guys get lost while separated and can"t teleport to one another, rub the stone and say this chant, "If you get lost, rub the moon. Close your eyes and I"ll find you.""

Roxy comes back in the room with a full duffle and we all hug Darren.

"We"ll make her pay, Dare Bear. She will suffer for her crimes against you," Roxy says with tears in her eyes.

"I"m sorry, Darren. I wish we could have met her." Rory"s whisper is heartfelt and makes Darren rub at his eyes.

I hate seeing him broken like this. He"s been our father for so long and he"s been so good to us, loving us like we"re his blood.

"I"m going to find a Necromancer, Dar. You"ll have your love back."

My sisters look at me with furrowed brows. Maybe I seem like I"m handing out false hope because Necromancers have become somewhat of a myth but they"re not. I will find one and I will heal Darren"s heart.

Darren nods like a parent would to a child, like he doesn"t want to tell me I"m dreaming of what can never be but I vow it.

With a kiss to Darren"s cheek, I turn to Drug and grab his hand.

"Where to first?"

Drug looks to his brothers and nods before answering.

"Driskill Mountain."