Page 106 of Tangled Fates

I started packing bags with various things I thought we would need. I went upstairs to pack clothes and then headed down to the basement to grab a supply of blood. My mouth watered when I remembered the taste of Oria. She tasted like sunshine or something citrusy like lemonade or decadent, like lemon macarons.

She demanded that she be able to feed me, but I was worried about how taxing that could be for her. I packed as many pouches that I could fit in the small insulated bag. We would figure out what to do when we got to our destination.

I left the bag by the door when Ryder finished his food.

“I need to head back to the castle. I promised Serena I would go back on Beltane.” he said, leaning against the counter. “Let’s figure out where you guys are going to take her so I can meet you there afterwards.”

“No,” Oria said quickly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea that we separate.”

I wanted to immediately agree with Sunshine, but if this was Serena’s wish, I didn’t think we could convince him not to go. “Is it imperative you go back to the castle?”

“I told her I would. She made me promise because if Katarina broke the spell, then she would need me,” he said with conviction.

“Then we have to go,” Oria said, standing up. “If Serena said her sister needed help, then I say we all go.”

“No, absolutely not.” Soren stood up, shaking his head. “You can stay here and we’ll go.”

I felt her anger before she spoke. “I will not stay here. You can’t make me stay.”

“Tay is looking for you. Do you think it would be wise to have you somewhere unprotected?” Soren raised his voice.

“If it means helping Serena’s sister, yes!”

We all stared at her in disbelief. I glanced at Ryder expecting him to look upset, but he looked at her in awe.

“We don’t deserve you, Oria,” Ryder said softly. “We go in and then we leave as soon as possible, but you stay in the car.”

She clenched her jaw. “I don’t?—”

“No, that’s my condition; you either take it or leave it,” Ryder said, crossing his arms.

She pursed her lips looking at Soren and me.

“Fine, I'll stay in the car.”

35

ORIA

In theory I knew what a car was, but actually driving in one felt unreal. Loki was sitting in my lap, restless, like he detested the car ride. It was a weird feeling to be moving, but you were sitting down and able to relax and enjoy the scenery.

The sun was setting, and the beautiful trees were turning different shades of the sun. It was absolutely gorgeous. The guys didn’t let me sit by the window, but I leaned over to take a look at anything that caught my eye. We were driving up a winding road into the mountains.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We are in the mountains in Colorado,” Soren said, still looking grumpy that I was going with them.

I had no idea where Colorado was, but I guess I had a lot of things to learn about.

“A lot has changed since you’ve been in hiding,” Gray said, grabbing my hand to kiss it. “Do you remember where you were from?”

I shook my head. “I don’t remember much of my childhood or my younger years. Mother said we were hunted for years before she was able to get us a safe place to live.”

Loki growled, looking at me as I tried to remember anything from that time.

“Sounds like he didn’t like those years,” Gray chuckled.

“I don’t even remember when we first got him, just that one day, I remember him being there,” I said, still trying to remember anything, but like usual, nothing came.

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