by Abby Blake
“Dex,” Emmallina said with tears in her eyes, “they were all amazing. Not one of them hesitated to say yes. Even knowing that they would need to be reduced to ashes to enable the transfer of organic material, not one of them complained.” The tears rolled down her face freely as she gave him a watery smile. “We are truly blessed to have such an amazing family.”
“That we are,” Dex said, vowing to never lose sight of that truth ever again.
* * * *
“Is the shield down?” Benjamin asked urgently as he checked the panels that controlled the magical wards. Angus knew the Oracle’s receptacles’ shield didn’t show up on what was essentially the electronic version of a magical enchantment, but if they couldn’t tell, they needed to assume it was down. “Nathan, give me three seconds and then shut off the wards. Everyone be prepared to travel by whatever means possible the moment they’re down.” Dyson moved closer to Jennifer, Thomas, and Adam in a clear indication that he would take them through his slip path as well. Darian and Brody also moved closer to the people in the room unable to travel unaided via slip path, bounce tunnel, or vortex jump.
Benjamin, Samuel, and their wife, Skye, moved from the room at vampiric speed, hopefully going to warn Cassandra, Dex, Emmallina, and the rest of the pixies in the building of the imminent threat.
Nathan counted to three out loud and then hit the release code to switch off the protection wards. The moment they were down a witch’s bounce tunnel opened into the room.
“Go!” Angus yelled at Dyson and the rest of the people in the room. Dyson nodded and immediately stepped through a slip path carrying their unconscious woman away from danger. Relieved to see them escape, Angus turned his attention back to the woman who’d stepped into the room. She watched as two bounce tunnels and a dragon vortex closed behind the others.
“Well, that’s not exactly the welcome I was expecting.”
“What do you want?” Angus asked aggressively. She seemed surprised by his anger, but took a deep breath and managed to remain polite in spite of his hostility.
“I was hoping you could tell me where Cassandra is. She went missing from the Ruling Body’s headquarters sometime last night. There is evidence of a slip path into and out of her office, but since she doesn’t have that particular skill, we’re working on the theory that she’s been abducted.”
Angus shook his head and tried to think clearly. The longer he could distract the woman, the more time Dyson and the others had of masking their travel signatures. “So who am I dealing with? Tory or Victoria?” he asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.
“I don’t understand,” the witch said with a bewildered look on her face. “They’re both my name. I mean, most people know me as Tory, but my full name is Victoria.” She glanced around the empty room, the disarray proving that many people had left here in a hurry. “Forgive me—it’s been a long night—but I don’t understand your hostility. I’m trying to find the administrative supervisor for PUP Squad Alpha. I figured this would be the best place to start.”
“We won’t let you hurt her.”
“Hurt her?” the woman exclaimed in an affronted-sounding voice. “Why would you think I’d hurt the woman?”
Angus shrugged. “Probably because you tried to kill the pixie king less than an hour ago.”
“I what? I did nothing of the sort. I’ve been going through Cassandra’s office for the past several hours trying to figure out what happened to the woman.”
“Can anybody prove that? Got any witnesses?”
Tory rolled her eyes. “I have an entire office full of witnesses. Three of the Judiciaries are still in the building.”
“And you’d have no objections to me verifying that?” he asked as Lilly’s words came back to replay in his mind. They are the same person, but they’re not. I’m not sure how to explain it.
* * * *
Dyson carried Kristen as he led Jennifer, Thomas, and Adam into the home Jed had once lived in. Despite their obvious nausea, Thomas and Adam immediately moved to check that the rooms were free of unexpected surprises. They gave the all clear, and then Adam stepped outside.
“He’ll just do a quick perimeter sweep, but it seems to be undisturbed since the last time we were here,” Thomas said as he came back into the main area of the cabin and pressed a quick kiss to his mate’s lips.
“What happened?” Jennifer asked as she grabbed a cloth from the cupboard, wet it down with cool water, and handed it to Dyson.
“I don’t know,” he said, watching the woman in his arms. She seemed simply asleep. There was no sign of a fever or illness, nothing to indicate why she would be unconscious. If the Oracle’s receptacles hadn’t collapsed at the same time, he would just have thought Kristen had been overwhelmed with fear. It wasn’t every day that warlocks arrived with stolen nuclear weapons to try and kill a handful of humans. It certainly had him shaking with dread.
He silently prayed that the warlocks hadn’t been stupid enough to fire the damn things. Such exposure could very well herald the beginning of the end for paranormals everywhere. Once humans knew of their existence, it would become a kill-or-be-killed scenario. It wasn’t a future Dyson wanted to contemplate.
Kristen woke suddenly, jolting so hard in his arms that he nearly dropped her.
She glanced around the unfamiliar room, her manner agitated, uptight, upset. She stared at him and said the last words he wanted to hear.
“We have to go back.”
* * * *
Angus stepped through his slip path directly into Cassandra’s office. The three people inside turned hostile looks his way until Tory stepped through her bounce tunnel and introduced him.
“Ah, the ice demon from Deeks Security,” one of the women said with an arrogant sniff. “Any idea what happened to the silly twit who used to sit at this desk?”
Hell, he wanted to grab the arrogant fire demon and shake her. Obviously, she considered her species superior to all others. No wonder the Ruling Body struggled to make even the most simple of decisions. If they all had attitudes like that, it was a miracle anything had ever gotten done.
“We believe she was abducted,” Angus said, using the line Tory had given him. “Have you been able to learn anything else?”
“Only that she seems to have read through almost every report filed over the past two months. Her computer logs suggest she was searching for something, but we haven’t been able to determine what.”
“The only thing we know so far is that the slip path belonged to a pixie. We have no idea where it went or who it belonged to, but the trail is most definitely cold.”
Angus turned his attention to the fire demon female who seemed to dislike everybody.
“When was Cassandra Lipton promoted?” He glanced around the room and tried to gauge everyone’s reactions. “Every member of PUP Squad Alpha took six months’ leave after Higgins’s death. There was no need for a supervisor until we were recalled three months early to track down the human women believed to be the Oracle’s receptacles.”
“That sounds about right,” the fire demon said with a sarcastic laugh. “Put off hiring somebody to fill Higgins’s shoes long enough that we had to drag the little twit out of the secretarial pool.”
“Gordanna, please,” Tory said tiredly. “I didn’t agree with her promotion either, but Cassandra is a sweet woman who was trying her best.”
“But you were the one who pushed for her promotion,” the bear-shifter said from his position at the computer. “I distinctly remember you talking her up just before we voted on her promotion. Since she ended up being the only applicant, the meeting was pretty much a waste of time.”
“Cassandra applied for the position?” Angus asked, trying to hide his incredulity. From everything Dyson had told him, Cassandra was definitely not the type to reach for responsibility when someone else was willing to shoulder it for her. He turned to Tory, his suspicions from earlier returning in a rush. “Why would you recommend her?�
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“I wasn’t even here the day they voted. I assure you I did nothing of the sort,” Tory said, sounding genuinely shocked. Angus tried to ignore her tone. Anyone who could pull off the kind of double life it seemed Victoria had been living would be a very convincing actress.
“Then why did the pixie king identify you as his attacker earlier today?”
“I’ve already told you I wasn’t anywhere near the pixie king. I’ve never even stepped foot in his realm. I wouldn’t even know where to find him.”
“But it would be easy for the Oracle of pixies and demons to find him any time she wanted.”
“Oracle? What on Earth? You’re accusing me of attempted murder and being an Oracle?”
“When was the pixie king attacked?” Gordanna asked with a malicious smile on her face. Clearly, the woman wasn’t interested in making friends.
“Less than two hours ago,” Angus said, checking the time on the computer’s clock.
Gordanna looked disappointed. The bear-shifter explained with a relieved-sounding noise. “Tory has been in this office with me and Gordanna for the past four hours searching for clues on Cassandra’s whereabouts. The only time she was out of my sight is less than twenty minutes ago when she left to visit PUP Squad Alpha headquarters.”
Gordanna scowled at the news but begrudgingly nodded her agreement.
“Okay,” Angus said, wondering what the hell to do now, “so we have a killer wearing your face and using your name, one who is most likely an Oracle. Any suggestions on who she might be or where we might find her?”
* * * *
Dyson started to shake his head in denial, but almost lost his balance when he realized they were back in the meeting room at their headquarters in Sugarvale. He glanced around and realized all five of the Oracle’s receptacles had returned as well.
“How?” he started to ask as Kristen indicated for him to put her down.
“I’ll explain later,” she said quietly. She looked disturbed, but it didn’t stop her from stepping into the circle the other five women had created.
“Can we separate the parts of the bomb without it exploding?”
“I don’t think so,” Kali said with a quick shake of her head.
“We can hide it,” Ava said. “Will that be enough for now?”
“It’ll have to be,” Hannah said grimly. “But it won’t stop them attacking. They’re still going to hit us with everything else they’ve got.”
“Can we hide all of it?”
“Probably,” Kali said, “but maybe we shouldn’t. As long as they think we’re alive, they’re going to keep coming after us.”
“Okay, we hide the nukes and let the witches and warlocks destroy the town,” Hannah said decisively. “Jed, are you and Darian able to create the illusion of a destroyed town and our dead bodies?”
“How many bodies?”
“Everyone.” Kristen’s voice was quiet voice. “They need to believe they killed everyone or they’ll never stop.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Jed said in his usual cocky tone, but the confidence didn’t quite reach his eyes. “What will you lovely ladies be doing in the meantime?”
“We have a hole to dig.”
Chapter Fourteen
Angus paced the small office, trying to figure out theories in his head. “Tory, do you have a sister? A cousin? Someone who looks like you in the family?”
“I’m an only child,” she said with a shake of her head. “No female cousins that I know of.”
“Maybe an enemy using a glamor to look like you?”
“You don’t get to be a Judiciary without making a few enemies, but it seems a rather inefficient way to discredit me.”
“It does seem rather personal,” the bear-shifter said in agreement, “but this woman has gone to a lot of trouble to make you look like a killer.”
“Actually, that’s not entirely true. The pixie king had an incredible amount of luck.” Angus wasn’t about to explain to the Judiciaries the extent of the Oracle’s receptacles’ power while there was still a deadly argument over how to deal with them. He turned to the bear-shifter, instinctively knowing that of the three Judiciaries in the room, he was the most reasonable. “Without that luck, Dex DeKardoin would have simply disappeared. He recently signed an assassination order against his own wife, so his political enemies would have simply written him off as having gone insane and abandoned his kingdom. Nobody would have known that Tory’s doppelganger had killed him.”
“So why kill him at all?”
“I think he got too close to something. We already knew that Victoria was the one who poisoned the pixie assassins’ DNA with a change that resembles the effects of fireweed.”
“Was that in a report?” Gordanna asked, sounding annoyed. Considering that Benjamin had been holding back a lot of information from Cassandra, Angus was walking a fine line. He had no idea how much the Judiciaries knew.
“It was in last week’s report,” the bear-shifter said, growling irritably. “If you spent more time doing your job and less time gossiping, you might know what the hell is going on.” Gordanna seemed ready to launch a scathing reply, but Tory stepped in between them, essentially refocusing their attention.
“So if she’s ‘drugging’ assassins, she must be using them for a purpose,” Tory offered, glaring at both of the Judiciaries who’d gone back to glaring at each other. “Do we know for how long?”
“At least twenty-eight years,” Angus said, watching the three of them closely, hoping to see some spark of recognition, or inspiration, or something that would help them pinpoint why Victoria was doing this. “The pixie king’s youngest daughter, Connistanterina, was the worst affected. Judging by the details of the Oracle’s assassination twenty-seven years ago, she was probably the first to be drugged.”
“All three of us were on the jury that approved that assassination. The Oracle had planned to pass her information to humans. We couldn’t let that happen,” Gordanna said with an arrogant sniff. “But none of us approved of the assassin’s method.”
“None of this is getting us any closer to figuring out why I seem to have a doppelganger stalker!” Victoria said with a growl of frustration.
“We believe this Victoria is the Oracle for pixies and demons. It is very likely that she knows everything that you are discussing with me.”
“Then why are you here?” Gordanna asked with disdain dripping from every word.
“Because everyone else is trying to protect the Oracle’s receptacles from the warlocks’ nuclear attack.”
“Nuclear?” Gordanna exclaimed. “Their actions will expose paranormals to humans like never before in our history. A nuclear strike will put everything the Ruling Body stands for in jeopardy. We have to stop them.”
“Easier said than done,” Angus said, annoyed as hell by the fire demon who seemed intent on stating the fucking obvious.
“Gordanna, contact the others,” the bear-shifter said. “I think only a personal visit from the Judiciaries will stop them now.”
Within moments, nine of the thirteen currently sitting Judiciaries entered the room. Tory nodded to Angus. “We’ll follow you.”
Angus nodded and stepped through a slip path to the outskirts of Sugarvale where he’d last seen the warlock army gathering. The camp was filled with celebrating warlocks. The Judiciaries pushed through the cheering throng.
His heart pounding with regret, Angus turned toward the middle of town and watched the building burning in the distance. At least the place had been empty. He glanced around, saw the Judiciaries berating the warlocks for their reckless behavior, and decided to try and save as much of the town as he could. He stepped through a slip path into the middle of the main street, intending to use his ice blast to put out the fires.
The charred and twisted remains of every Oracle’s receptacle and their husbands horrified and confused him, but it was the woman’s body that he lifted into his arms that brought him to his knees.
> Kristen.
Chapter Fifteen
Dyson felt Kristen stiffen in his embrace. It was already creepy enough to be hiding in a building that had somehow been swallowed by the ground. The last thing he needed was the women who’d put it here getting more bad news.
“Angus,” Kristen whispered brokenly.
“Kristen, no,” Hannah said as she came over and reached for Kristen’s hand. “If you leave now, everything will be for naught. I know how hard it is to watch him suffer, but he will understand why.”
Kristen nodded and turned her face into Dyson’s shoulder as she began to sob quietly. Dyson looked to Hannah for an explanation.
“Angus is on the surface. He can see the projection Darian and Jed are creating. He thinks he’s holding Kristen’s lifeless body.”
Dyson nodded, pulled Kristen closer, and honestly tried not cry with her. He couldn’t imagine a more horrific scenario than finding the lifeless body of the woman he loved.
“We need to wait until the warlocks disperse before we can raise the building back to ground level,” Ava said as she also came over to comfort Kristen. Considering that Kristen had believed she didn’t belong here, it seemed she’d been easily accepted.
“I don’t understand where Kristen’s powers came from,” Eric said as he stepped closer to his wife. “Until a few hours ago, she was an ordinary human.”
“There was never anything ordinary about Kristen,” Hannah said in a voice that would have soothed even the most frightened child when she’d worked as a pediatric nurse.
“She was the decoder,” Ava said with a soft smile.
“The decoder?” Dyson asked in disbelief. “The ‘decoder’ as in the code breaker? The figurative key that opens the figurative lock?”
