Chapter Thirteen

Teleporting with Ronny"s hand in mine is an odd sensation. It"s like we"re on a spinning top with our vertigo off balance and our sight blinded for the duration of the travel. When we land, however, there"s no lasting effects and the time it took to get here was mere seconds.

Looking around the area in which we landed, I see there are hikers and joggers. Not many but enough that they should be panicking at the six people who just popped into existence.

"Do they not see us standing here?" My question is answered by a female jogger running through our bodies without a second glance.

"I have us cloaked because this place has been a public park for ages. No mortal can see or feel us."

Once the humans leave the area, Ronny and her sisters drop the cloaks.

We make our way to the scattered picnic tables and sit at one to figure out where to go next.

Everything looks so different here. In our time there were far less people and the land was wilder. The late seventeenth century was such a new beginning for the people of what was then called Louisiane. We lived in simple homes made of flat stones, logs and mud.

Looking at the visitor"s building I see even that looks modern to what I grew up in.

I follow the trails with my eyes and in my mind I can picture chasing my hound as he ran through the trees after rabbits. The trees look bigger and much older but I can still see young Drac and Draven racing up the trees to see who can reach the highest.

"Drug? You okay?" Ronny asks quietly as her sisters separate items in their bags.

Her eyes are bright blue and concerned. Why?

"You were growling like a weirdo, dude." Roxy says without looking up from the pages I know she can"t read. I swear, that little pink monster is Drac"s doppelganger.

Ignoring her, I answer Ronny, "Yeah, I"m good. This place just brings back a shit ton of memories, things I haven"t thought of for centuries."

A hiker passes by and stares at us as he passes. He stumbles when Drac barks like a rabid dog and Roxy falls into a peal of laughter. Yeah, and I"m the weirdo.

"Things certainly have changed around here but as I look around, memories start to come back to me." Draven says as he looks up at the treetops, probably remembering how many hours we spent in them waiting for small prey to wander close enough for our bows.

"Remember when we planned to hang Merelda from a branch?" Drac asks with a laugh. The memory comes back to me like a flash.

Merelda was jealous that Father helped Drac carve a bird for our mother. She took the bird and threw it into the flames of the hearth and slapped our mother.

While mother cried, Merelda screamed, "Your worthless runts should be learning magic, not playing with toys for their craftless mother."

Father threw her out of the house for it but it was as if a spell kept him from completely disowning her. Merelda always came back.

We planned to hang her from the tree used to carve the bird from.

"Too bad you didn"t. I"d take not existing than having that horrible woman alive." Ronny"s voice cuts through the dark memory.

As much as I hate Merelda and her wickedness, looking at Ronny and knowing her more and more, I can"t picture life without her now. I can easily see Drac and Draven have yet to reach the same conclusion for Roxy and Rory. More so Draven.

He"s never been one to want love or a partner. He took the brunt of Merelda"s cruelty and perhaps it has made him the hard hearted man he is. Rory has a long road, if any, ahead of her with him.

"Were you guys born here?" Rory questions Dray.

"Yes. I can"t remember the dates but it was during the French Colonial Empire in the seventeenth century. A very different time."

"Hmm, that"s where the sexy accent comes from." Ronny says with an elbow to my ribs.

I chuckle at that and throw my arm over her shoulder, grabbing the book she was looking at. It feels so natural to banter with her. I can see what kind of human couple we would have made had we met long ago. Although, I can"t quite picture this gothic girl in colonial clothing washing linens on a washboard. Still, she feels right by my side.

"The writer of these books was French." I bring the topic back to more important matters.

"Have you any idea what the talisman could be?"

I look through the pages and reread what Darren told us earlier but it all seems like a riddle. No real starting point aside from the fact that the items will be in a place that meant something to Merelda.

"The only passion Merelda showed was her hatred of our mother and us. She loved Elsie... or at least she was in love with the power Elsie possessed." Dray says while going over the book in his hands. His knuckles are white as he grips the old leather and I"m pretty sure he"s going to destroy it. He must hear my thoughts because he loosens his fingers and passes the book to Rory.

"You"re right. The places have to be significant to Elsie. Merelda midwifed for mother, perhaps that is the place we should look first." I look between everyone and see their agreement.

"No, we need to split up. Darren said three separate places. Your wicked grandma is no doubt standing around her cauldron burning sacred wood and conjuring the worms of hell to kill us." Ronny"s sarcasm is funny but it"s got me thinking.

"What if the talisman are the wooden carvings we did for mother? She loathed them enough. Our devotion to mother was strong enough that the wood could have absorbed the energy." I"m not sure if I"m heading in the right direction but it"s the best place to start. Nature"s materials like stones, crystals and wood soak up spiritual energy like sponges that"s why witches use them.

"Okay, you two go search at the place Elsie was born. Drac, you and princess go to the place Elsie was... killed." Dray"s hatred shows in that last word. "Pigeon and I will go search for the place Merelda cast the curse."

Ronny shoots up from her seat and jumps across the tabletop with her hand outstretched. She grips a surprised Draven by the throat and slams his back to the graveled ground.

"I don"t know what your fucking problem is with my sister but I meant what I said, I will rip your fucking throat out if you continue acting like a stubborn old mule with her."

Draven begins to snarl but I do nothing. He is acting like an asshole and I"ve seen nothing but concern and kindness coming from Rory.

"Drug, get your female before I break her."

"Try it, dickface." Ronny hisses and I smile at Dray with a shrug.

"Enough! Let"s go, we"re wasting time." Rory says passively. She"s too soft for Dray. I don"t think they"re going to ever work unless she can tame the beast in him.

I wrap my arm around Ronny"s waist and yank her back before tossing her over my shoulder. I grab the book we were reading and shove it in the bag before pulling the strap over my other shoulder.

"Check in as often as possible. If you can"t reach us telepathically use the necklaces to teleport. Any trouble during your searches, get out of there and get back to Ronny and I immediately."

Everyone nods, even the snarling Draven. He can"t see her face since her head is hanging near my ass so he"s staring at her ass with nothing but anger.

Cut the shit Dray. You may hate Rory but I don"t hate Ronny, turn your fucking eyes now or I break your pretty face.My mental words are growled out

I don"t hate Rory, shithead and your Crow"s ass means fuck-all to me. Still, Draven turns nonetheless and grabs Rory"s bag from her hand like he"s suddenly a gentleman.

My brothers and I don"t stay mad at each other long but we do fight often. Centuries together will do that. No matter what though, we"ll always have each other"s backs.

Be careful, Drac. Don"t do anything stupid and don"t let Pinky go nuts on a nun.Draven says in our heads as we all head our separate ways.

I"m not promising on that last one but we"ll be alright. Dray, if you don"t want Rory, I"ll take her.

Draven"s loud growl probably freaked out any nearby humans but at least we know he feels something for her.

"Fuck you too, dog!" Ronny shouts thinking his growl was directed at her, I guess my block is beginning to work on her.

I slap her on the ass and slide her down my body so she can walk. The sun is dropping quickly and the last thing we need is some park ranger thinking I"m dragging a helpless girl into the woods.

I look into her eyes and see the pupil is bleeding outward slowly like a deformity in her irises. I move her hair over her shoulder and see her punctures are still there loud and proud but the veins around it are blackened.

"How do you feel? Your eyes are looking a little crazy."

"I need to feed but it can wait until we get where we need to go." Ronny turns ahead and starts to walk up the trail. I shake off the worry and immediately get annoyed with myself as I walk after her. The path we"re on is uneven and the trees line the path tightly so I stay behind her.

Why the fuck do I care about her fucking health? I"m for the sex and the bond but I don"t want or need anything further than that. Emotions just fuck with your head and can easily get you killed. Why get tangled in its sticky ass web?

"Tell me more about yourself." Ronny"s voice cuts through my thoughts and I hear the slight confusion in her words. Hating her interest in me no doubt.

That"s the thing with Black and me, we"re on the same page and it"s relieving yet annoying as fuck.

What does a guy gotta do to just have a fucking relationship without the relationship? Okay, that made absolutely no sense and I"m sure Drac would even be confused by it.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, I answer her, "You need to be specific with your inquiries. What do you want to know?"

Ronny is quiet for a while, only the sounds of our feet on the gravel can be heard. Just when I think I"ve hurt her feelings with my assholery, which I don"t care if I did, Ronny looks over her shoulder as she walks.

"What was Elsie like?"