Boggy, swampy, humid, thick. The air was all of these words but to Bran it was mostly just miserable. It was so damn hot he didn't know how the Louisiana pack could stand it. How his son could live in
the south with it's 100 degree plus temperatures when Mercy left was beyond the Marrok.
"Yes, I suppose it is a little warm." A young African American woman said from a shady storefront. Bran turned to offer her a polite smile, inhaling deeply before he replied.
"Excuse me?"
Her thick French Quarter accented voice carried on, ignoring his question.
"Of course, if the heat doesn't get you the bugs will. Though the mosquitoes don't seem to be bothering you much Marrok."
Bran had finally sorted through the hot house of New Orleans to catch a whiff of old magic on the dark skinned woman. She was standing in front of a shop that proclaimed her true identity to the world, Aleshia Boudiou: Vodouisant.
In the crazy town of New Orleans you could be anything, these streets had seen it all, hopefully including the pack of women Bran was trying to track down.
The woman, Aleshia, he assumed, not that she offered her name, held out her hand for a tribute. Nothing was free, especially not in this bustling city.
Once paid she smiled wickedly and it causes his wolf to tense. He hated witches or anything closely related to them. He had a bad experience with them.
"They live in the old plantation house outside of town on your way out. You'll see an orchard, turn by it. On down that road you'll come to a crossroad, if your smart you'll keen which one to take."
As suddenly as she appeared she was gone and while she wasn't much help to him with her cryptic directions a little something was better then nothing.
Bran eased into his house, his body sore and knowing that despite his silence everyone in the house knew he was home.
"You found them?" Charles asked from the sitting room where he was watching a movie with his mate Anna.
He nodded and yawned. "We can talk tomorrow. When did Samuel get in?" His oldest son's truck was in the garage next to the old corvette.
"Just a few hours ago. We sent him to bed, he pulled a double shift at the hospital and then went to visit with Mercy and Adam to get updates on the murders."
That sounded like Samuel, sometimes the boy worked too hard.
Bran nodded on his way upstairs and to bed.