-Theirs- A Reverse Harem -Book One-

Chapter 20: History

Celene

      I clean up the house a little and, as I gather clothes to wash, I step into Marcus's room. I pick up some socks and shirts. I look up and scan the bookshelves. I stand and run my fingertips over the books until I reach the end. I turn to leave, but something catches my eye.

      I turn back toward the books and knit my brows together. Something in the shelves is beckoning me toward it. I grab a large, leather bound book from the bottom shelf. It's cover is well worn and aged with a symbol on it that appears to be glowing. I trace over it with the tip of my index finger, curiously.

      My chest starts to burn slightly. I barely notice it until I start to wince and place my palm between my breasts. The pain worsens and intensifies, so I run to the bathroom and tear my shirt in half to see what was happening. The book hits the floor as I look at my chest in the mirror. Green, blue, orange, white and purple form a tribal spiral.

      I pant and sweat as the pain increases and I grip the edge of the sink harder, cracking the sides. I scream and pant until the pain lessens and subsides all together. I look down at the book near my feet, splayed open. I stare at the pages and my eyes widen with shock. I pick it up, throw my torn shirt in the trash and retrieve another from my room.

      I pull it on as I read the passage below a portrait of a man and a woman.

      Elizabeth Pearl Tate, she and her husband, Daniel William Tate III, were the first Elementals born in Ireland in 1772. They had four sons who also possessed elemental powers. One controlled fire, another earth, another wind and the last controlled water. Elizabeth could conjure purple lightning.

I walk down the stairs and sit on the bottom step as I continue reading.

      The Tate family hid themselves from the world until they reappeared in England in 1807. Elizabeth and Daniel bought a church where they, and their four sixteen year old sons, worked. Daniel was the priest and Elizabeth ran the reading of their bible, The Particularum Dis or The Elemental Gods. They taught those who chose to believe about the elemental gods we know today as De Deorum Quattuor or The Four Gods. Akoni, the God of water. Bahar, the Goddess of earth. Maarku, the God of fire. Quadira, the Goddess of air.

I turn the page and see a portrait of the whole Tate family. I look closer at Daniel Tate seeing something familiar in his face.

      He looks exactly like Damien!

My eyes go wide and I read the next caption out loud.

      "The Tate family six months before Elizabeth and Daniel's deaths. The boys (from left to right) Mathius, Oscar, Bacchus, and Josiah. The family's church burned down in 1810 after a mob burns Elizabeth at the stake as a witch in the middle of the church. Daniel's throat was slit and left to burn with his wife. Their bodies were the only ones found inside. The four boys were thought to have escaped before the church went up in flames. Their whereabouts were discovered at a burial site in Peru in 1924. The burial site housed eight sets of remains. The four boys and four women presumably their wives. No children were found buried anywhere nearby. They were suspected to have been sent away as the females' remains showed signs of giving birth not long before death. The bones were blackened from fire and a few of them were broken or missing, showing that they had been tortured before killed," I finish and blink away tears as I cover my mouth.

      "Jesus," I whisper and close the book.

      I walk into the kitchen and set the book on the island. I grab a glass and fill it with water from the sink. The front door opens as I gulp down half of the glass and dump the rest in the sink. I turn around to look at Leo. He closes the door and looks at me with my hand on the book.

      "I can explain."

      I open it up and point to the family portrait.

      "Okay. I can't explain, but Marcus can. He knows more about this than any of us," he says and takes my hand.

I feel the heat and electricity I have grown so use to over the last couple of weeks. I let it fill me before I say anything.

      "Okay. We'll wait for your brothers to get home and then we'll discuss this."

I think for a second and look down at the floor.

      "Does Marcus have a copy of Particularum Dis?"

Leo looks at me quizzically.

      "I think so. Why?"

      I head for the stairs and take them two at a time. I rush into Marcus's room and search the shelves. I look for a tattered book that had to be over 200 years old. I find it almost immediately, like it wanted me to find it. I pull it from the shelf and look over the blank cover.

      I lay my palm, flat on it and my body starts to tingle. My back starts to burn a little and I wince as a symbol starts to appear on the book's cover. I double over on the floor, sweating from the pain and increased heat. Leo walks in and sees me panting on the floor, my teeth clenched. I cry out as the pain becomes unbearable like when the symbol first appeared.

      He holds me up as my knees buckle. The pain ebbs as the cover nears completion. Sweat runs down my forehead as I gasp for breath.

      "I'm okay Leo," I say softly and sit on the bed.

I rub the back of my neck and look at him as I knit my brows, thinking.

      "Leo? You saw the symbol on my back. Does it look like this?" I ask as I show him the book.

He takes it and traces over the symbol's grooves and curves.

      "Yeah. I think it does. Let me look," he says and I turn.

      I move my hair out of the way and he traces the symbol on my back.

      "It's exactly the same. Why is this symbol on your back and the cover of a 200 year old book?"

His fingertips feel so good on my back that I get goosebumps. I stand up and walk toward the door.

      "We need to call your brothers," I say and walk out of the room.

I quickly pad down the stairs with the book in my hand. I stop when I see Damien and Marcus standing in the living room, panting like they'd ran home.