Of Witches and Warlocks: The Complete Series

Chapter 5

"No problem." He smiled.

We went to the motorcycle and I noticed he'd found the other helmet he used to have me wear.

"I hope this is okay," he said, picking the gear up off the seat and offering it to me. "I found this on the shelf. I thought it might be a little less obvious than yours," he added, nodding toward my purple helmet with its bright green daisies.

"Trust me, that helmet and scooter was not my choice," I said shaking my head.

"I know." He chuckled, and I flashed a questioning glance at him. "The memories." He pointed to his head.

"Oh, yeah." I sighed.

I needed to quit getting so excited whenever he happened to mention something from the past. He did have my memories now.

Vance straddled the bike, and I waited for him to kick-start the engine before I climbed on. He seemed completely at ease with me when I wrapped my arms around him this time, and I laid my helmeted head against him.

He backed out of the driveway and took off down the road. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed being next to him. When I opened them a few minutes later, I recognized the direction we were headed immediately. We were driving into Oak Creek Canyon.

"Where are we going?" I asked into his head and he jerked suddenly at the intrusion.

"Sorry," he answered back. "I'm not used to communicating like this."

"It's okay. I didn't mean to startle you. If you prefer I don't talk to you this way I'll stop," I replied in apology.

"No. It's fine. Just takes some getting used to," he added through our link. "I was going to take you to the place we use to go. Is that alright?"

"Yes," I answered, a bit excited at his choice. That spot held a lot of good memories for us. His magic was strong there, so maybe he would feel it too.

We soon made the turn and crossed over the bridge, parking at the dead end on the other side. Climbing off the motorcycle, we removed our helmets before walking through the green foliage until we reached the flat stone on top.

"Wow! It's great up here!" he said. "Check out that view!" He lifted a hand to shade his eyes from the sun and he looked out over the landscape.

"It's beautiful!" I agreed, never taking my eyes off of him, thinking he was the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen.

Moving to the edge of the stone, he sat, dangling his legs over the ledge, much like he had on the first night he'd brought me here.

"Have a seat." He patted the stone next to him.

Joining him, I let my feet hang over the edge too. We remained in silence for several minutes, staring out over the tops of the trees and listening to the river that ran below us.

"So do you care if we just talk for a while?" He casually looked over at me.

"Sure. What do you want to talk about?" I replied my curiosity piqued.

"Well, I'd like to learn a little about you if you don't mind."

"Okay, what would you like to know?"

"Tell me about your life before you met me. I have all the particulars from the after part, but I want to know who you were before we got together."

"Hmm." His question caught me off guard and I drifted back over my past. He waited patiently while I searched for a place to start.

"I don't know, Vance. To be honest with you, I think I was a typical teenage girl. I grew up in a good, stable home with parents who showered me with love. I never felt wanting or lacking for things. It wasn't like they spoiled me or anything, we were just happy. Normal, I thought, though now that I've been exposed to other people I wonder if perhaps we might be the exception instead of the norm."