by T K Eldridge
I turned to Drake. “We need to get Sid. Where is she?”
“At the shelter center,” Drake said.
“Can you fly low enough to get us there? We can use the truck once we get there,” I said.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
We got to the center and I pulled Sid aside to fill her and Drake in on what Sir Cedric had told me.
“You think this is what Orion was talking about?” Sid asked.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then, let’s go,” Sid said and grabbed a bag off the table, pulled on her coat and gloves, then kissed Drake.
“Oh, hell no, I’m coming with you,” he said. “I can watch your backs.”
We piled into Dad’s beast of a truck – the only vehicle that could make it through this mess, and headed to the old school. The closer we got to the school, the wilder the weather became until suddenly, it was calm and clear.
“The eye of the storm,” Sid said as Drake pulled us into the parking lot.
We got out, the three of us headed towards the one door in the low, brick building that didn’t have boards over it. I opened it and peered inside, where lanterns hung from busted locker doors, lighting a debris-strewn path.
“Gee, this couldn’t be any creepier,” Sid whispered and I had to stifle a laugh. We were all so on edge, dark humor was our friend.
“At least you’re not in lingerie,” Drake whispered back to her and I choked on a snort of laughter. Standard horror movie trope of the pretty girl in lingerie, running from the monster? Nope, not here.
A few paces inside and we could hear the chanting – but we didn’t need to hear it. Each of us could feel the pressure of the magic that surged like the waves on an incoming tide.
Sid pressed a piece of hematite into my hand and curled her fingers around it. Something to help absorb the negativity and keep us grounded made it a little easier to breathe. Holding hands, we instinctively opened up to each other, using telepathy for the first time in years.
“Disruption, shield, then implode?” I asked.
“You shield us, I’ll disrupt. If it implodes, it’s because they didn’t protect their circle,” Sid replied.
Drake went on alert as our lips moved but we stayed as silent as possible. The shield I cast encased all three of us, while Sid drew on the power of all four of our species and slammed the disruption spell down into the middle of their circle like a fist on a tabletop.
Everything seemed to pause for a handful of heartbeats. The magic and nature balanced on the edge of a knife…then we felt the explosion of power more than heard it – and it all went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sid
The shield Sin had cast had kept us safe, but we couldn’t say as much for the Marius siblings. Caleb, Conor, and Colleen all died, while Cassandra and Camille suffered magic shock and would never be able to touch their powers again. The old school had collapsed around us, but the shield bubble made a pocket that the rescuers found us in. All three of us were unconscious for nearly twenty hours – a reasonable amount of time considering we were at the epicenter of a magical nuke explosion. The power the siblings had collected over a matter of weeks had all been held in that space so they wouldn’t drain themselves while they manipulated the storm. My dropping the disruption spell into the middle of that? Uh, yeah. Probably not the wisest move – but it stopped the enhancement of the storm and turned it into a regular Nor’easter instead of the super storm we had been fighting.
One of the nice things we learned when we all came back around was that Glenda and Grizzell were the proud parents of a perfect little girl. Pruma had been born at the height of the thunder snow – the first thunderbird to be born on the mountain during thunder in years. Pruma meant thunder in some language – I think they said it was Icelandic – but we were all just happy everything went well, and Grizz was totally enamored of his daughter. She was his princess and Sin teased Grizz every chance he could for how in love he was with the baby. It was only fair – Grizz had given him a ration of teasing over Sin’s behavior with his own daughters.
Sin and Mira had joined Drake and me at our mountain house for a meal and some socializing. We sat in the living room, the two story high windows showing a normal snowy landscape while the wood stove blazed and quiet music played in the background. We had been talking about the holidays and putting up a tree when there was a pop and Orion found himself seated on our coffee table.
Drake and Mira made sounds of surprise while Sin simply made a fist and swung at the Creator.
Orion popped again and reappeared a few feet away. “Hey, now. None of that. I come with good news.”
“We’re done with your news,” I told him.
“Yeah, Orion. Your idea of good and ours are dramatically different,” Sin said.
“Well, you’ve both successfully completed the prophecy. Congratulations, you can now continue with your normal lives,” Orion said.
“Gee, thanks,” I muttered. “Does that mean we never have to see you again?”
“That’s what it means. For now. But I do have something to leave with you both.”
A scroll floated from mid-air and landed on the table, then Orion started to speak.
“Of prophecy, they were foretold
a life as rich as finest gold
Wealth in all those things of value
Love and health, so much shall you
hold in this world or the next.
Do not let yourself be vexed.
Of the two who are all magic,
Let there naught be said that’s tragic.
Descendants of these will heed the call
And be the salvation of us all.”
Another pop and Orion was gone. I stared at Sin, then reached for the scroll. “It’s a copy of what he just said.”
“Another fucking prophecy?” Sin asked.
“Sounds like it. For our descendants. Yeah, I think I’ll just lock this in the library safe,” I said.
“I think that’s best,” Mira replied.
“I’m getting more wine,” Drake said and got to his feet.
Two days later, I copied the new prophecy into the Fortin Grimoire. Someone, someday, may need to read these words. I just hoped I was long gone before that happened.
The End
Looking for more?
Dead & Buried (A Partners in Crime Supernatural Mystery)
Detectives Kennedy and Donovan were partners for years. Then one of them died.
And yet, they’re still partners.
Kennedy has to solve Donovan’s death while his partner’s ghost helps him. Sort of.
How do you explain where you got the tips?
How do you hide that you’re speaking to thin air and no, you haven’t lost your mind?
Kennedy has to hide how he’s figuring it all out so he can keep his badge and solve the murder - before he ends up dead and buried too.
Check out Partners in Crime - a new supernatural mystery series by T.K. Eldridge.
https://tkeldridge.com/partners-in-crime-supernatural-mysteries/
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About the Author
T.K. Eldridge retired from a career in Intelligence for the US Gov’t to write. The experiences from then are now being used to feed the muse for paranormal romance, thrillers, supernatural, and urban fantasy stories. When they’re not writing, they are enjoying life in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina. Two dogs, two cats, a garden, a craft hobby and a love of Celtic Traditional music keep them from spending too much time at the computer.
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T.K. Eldridge, Mythic Mysteries
