Page 68 of Twisted

“Sanguis sanguinis mei, ad te clamo.Te ipsum revela et mihi videam.”I stumble over the words, only recognizing a few.

“Hey, whatcha doing?”Devon asks, coming down the path.I was concentrating so much on the words I didn’t hear him coming.

“Magic,” I reply, blinking in the bright light as I look up.I really should have brought out my sunglasses.

“What kind of magic?”

“I’m trying to find my parents.”

Devon joins me at the little round table.“I thought they were dead.”

“I did too, but…” I shake my head.“What if they’re alive.Clearly, they weren’t attacked like I thought they were.Maybe they’ve been looking for me this whole time.My family is from Italy and I’ve been here in the US ever since.The Order is good at hiding people so I don’t even know if I have a real record here.”

“Maybe Florence isn’t really your name.”

I look up from the book and stare at him.“Holy shit, what if it’s not?”

“Please tell me you weren’t found in Florence, Italy.”

“I don’t actually know where I was found.They’ve never gone into detail.”

Devon raises his eyebrows.“For a reason, I’m sure.”

“Oh yeah.”I put my head in my hands and let out a breath.

Devon’s hand lands on my shoulder, skin warm against the small area of exposed skin between the strap of my top and my zip up sweater.

“You don’t have to do this, Wren.You can accept that whatever happened before was messed up and you decided to move on from it.”

“I know,” I tell him.“And I actually considered that.But I know myself and I will obsess over this until the day I die if I don’t find out.”

“Okay.”He nods.“What do you need to do?”

“I need a map, these herbs,” I say and tap the list I made in my notebook.“There are bay leaves in the kitchen, and I’m positive I’ll find rosemary.But not yarrow.And I need four hematite stones and a lodestone, which I don’t have.”I pick up the pen and tap it against the notebook.“Is Nina around?I never know who’s working or if it’s like okay to ask the staff to take me somewhere.Man, that’s weird to say.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“There are new age stores all over the place.Not run by real witches, but the general idea is there and pretty much anyone can tap into the natural powers of crystals and herbs if they know what they’re doing.”

“You don’t think Xavier would have an issue with that?”

“No,” I tell him honestly.“He wants me to use my powers.”I can’t help but smile when I say it and it’s all I can do to keep the memory of his hand between my legs at bay.

“And you think it’s smart to trust him?”

“You don’t?”I question.“You’re like his number one fan.”

“That’s when I didn’t think I had a second choice.”

“And you do now?”

He nods.“I don’t have to stay here and become a vampire and partake in whatever the hell it is they do.I’ve been looking into things, Wren, like I said I would.”

“And?”

“And something isn’t adding up.You’re right.There are a lot more drug related deaths.But maybe they’re not drug related.”

“I talked to Kristina Davis.”