Nate laughed. “That was NOT what I was going to say. I was going to tell you that they are shopping for baby things, but I guess we can all see where your mind is.”
Luke kept his mouth shut.
He knew better.
Instead he simply looked around.
“That’s worse, Lucas. Don’t make me hurt you,” she warned.
He couldn’t win.
“Well, shopping. I never saw that coming,” Maura teased. “Mr. Stone-Cold Marine is now a happy daddy, who is shopping for baby things. Cute. I can’t wait to bust his ass.”
They knew she wouldn’t.
Luke knew about the box of baby things Maura had begun gathering for his baby. She was a big puddle of mush when it came to the people she loved—and despite what came out of her mouth, she adored Jagger.
They were close, and as thick as gun-wielding, knife-toting thieves.
Who was she kidding?
“He’ll show up once he’s done romancing his new wife. He won’t stay away from his family for long,” Nate offered, recalling how worked up Jagger had been when he realized his team was going to leave him behind because he’d gotten married.
He was their brother.
That would never happen.
They were in this together.
“He’s actually on his way,” said Avalon from the doorway. “He’ll be here in a day or so. He and Roxy are upside down kissing some rock as we speak.”
They all looked over to find Avalon standing there. She was dressed, and groomed.
“That’s the Blarney stone,” Lucian offered. “I’ve yet to get there to see it. I hear it’s fun to do that.”
“That’s not hygienic,” she stated. “I wouldn’t put my lips on it.”
Yeah, Maura wouldn’t either.
“Are you worried about him or sneaking a peak?” Nate asked, as he struggled not to rush to her. Avalon would get to him in her own time.
He was trying to give her independence.
“I was doing my thing, and I heard him before in my head. I check in on him,” she said, using her hands to feel her way into the room.
Nate stood in case she tripped or fell.
Old habits die hard.
“May I?” she asked Lucian, asking to borrow his sight once she realized from his aura that he was there.
“Absolutely.”
She used his vision, and she was able to see again. While Lucian had told her she was free to slip into his mind and use his sight, she always asked.
It just seemed…polite.
The world around her shimmered into view. Then she focused on him. There was the man of her dreams.
Literally.
Immediately, she went into Nate’s body.
He hugged her.
“I missed you, baby,” he stated. “You slept in. Were you up late doing your Oracle-y things?”
She laughed. “Yes, I was, and I missed you too.”
And she had.
Avalon liked waking with him. The cuddling always made her so happy. There was nothing better than being safely in someone’s arms.
It made her day.
She knew he was thinking the same thing. Nate’s aura changed the second she was against him. This was her proof that he was the one.
They synced.
She nuzzled against him, taking in the scent of his cologne. It was cathartic.
“How about a kiss?” he asked.
Oh, she could do that. Slowly, she found his mouth and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.
All was well in her world on the relationship front, and that made it easier to focus on what was coming in the way of a case.
They broke apart, and Nate was all smiles. “Coffee?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
Luke hopped over a seat so Avalon could sit beside Nate. Maura got her a cup of coffee, and slid the creamer toward her.
“Can I have the sugar?” she asked.
Maura stared at her, unrelentingly. “NO.”
Avalon’s laughter filled the room. “But Mom…I promise to be good.”
She gave in and slid her the bowl with cubes in it.
“I’m counting.”
Avalon didn’t doubt it.
“You look calm,” Bishop offered. They weren’t accustomed to that. Avalon was always in a state of flux. She was like a giant lightning rod, conducting a current.
Plus, add in the energy of Graymoor two-point-oh, and that was beyond odd. She looked like she was reveling in the way everything was off kilter.
Normally, when she was hunting a case, or trying to help a psychic, she was amped up.
Now she looked like she’d returned from a day at the spa.
“Nothing new on the case?”
She shook her head as she sipped her coffee. “I’m working on it.”
They knew she rarely talked about a case until it was absolutely go time. Nate would stress it, and then he’d try to take over.
Maura would go over the top with planning, implementing strategy, and going over the edge.
Avalon liked to have some control in the family. This was really her only way with two type A personalities on her team.
“I think I like her calm,” Bishop offered.
“Yeah, me too,” Avalon said, laughing at how predictable they were. “I am very calm. Everything is coming together. I’m just waiting on one last thing.”
“And that is?” Nate asked.
“Do you really want to know?”
Did he?
Nate wasn’t absolutely sure.
“No,” he stated, offering his fiancée half of his toast. “I think I’ll pass. The less I know, the better off I am.”
That made her, and everyone else laugh.
It was the truth.
They sat there, eating breakfast and reading the paper. The conversation was light, easy, and not aimed at anything in particular. From anyone watching them, it looked like a normal family sharing a meal.
Then the energy shifted around Lucian and Avalon.
It was palpable.
Suddenly, out of the blue, Lucian stopped moving. His coffee cup, which had been heading toward his mouth, paused midway.
“He’s on the move, Avalon. I can feel him, and he’s confused.”
That sounded ominous, and exactly like she expected. This was going to be a tough one. Most psychics knew they had a gift. This one…he was still closed off. She had to get to him, open his third eye, and hope he could handle what was coming.
“Track him,” she said, doing her thing.
They all looked over at the pair. There was a hum around them as they stared into each other’s eyes.
“The killer?” Nate asked, going alert.
Avalon shook her head, trying to bend the threads of fate enough to give him a shot.
“No, not the killer,” she whispered. “The man we need to help.”
They didn’t get that.
The aura in the room shifted as she reached across the table for Lucian’s hand. The second they touched, everyone felt the energy explode out.
Oracle’s gift was definitely growing.
She was becoming stronger.
“I can feel him,” she said.
Lucian’s fingers twined with her, and they went deathly still.
No one spoke.
They knew that they had to let Lucian and Avalon do their thing. They were locked onto something they couldn’t see, hear, or feel.
It was odd, but it was them.
This was their part of the job.
“I have him,” she whispered. “I have him and I can get him there.”
The team knew what that meant. Oracle was now in control, and Avalon would have to take a back seat to the psychic half of her persona.
It was about to begin.
While they were silent, their minds were working, processing, and seeking.
No one spoke, afraid they’d break their connection with idle chitchat.
“Or
acle,” Lucian whispered, hearing the static.
They waited.
Together, they took a deep breath and broke apart from each other. The static went silent.
“We have our case,” Avalon stated. “It’s time to get ready to help.”
Maura was glad.
It was about damn time.
Honestly, she hated sitting around waiting for something to go down. She was a woman of action.
“What are we up against?” she asked, getting ready to work on a plan to protect them. That was her thing.
Nate was also curious. While they were down Jagger, he would be sticking close to Avalon.
“Witches,” she stated.
“What?” they all said at the same time.
No one had expected that answer.
Well, no one but Lucian. It was written on his face that he was NOT surprised.
The team stared at her, then at Lucian, and then at each other. That one word, ‘witches’ set the mood.
They couldn’t help but think about what Lucian had told them.
Had he been warning them?
Was it a coincidence?
No.
There was no way.
Something was coming, and they were now going to stand in its way.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Across Adare
Basement
Standing over the altar in the privacy of the home, the heart was held in a bowl. A few words were muttered, and the spell was complete.
This was a good one.
A strong one.
In it, the soul could be felt. As the bowl was placed over the fire, the organ sizzled and danced against the flames.
It was macabre.
It was hideous.
It was perfect.
As the time passed, and the heart was cooked in the flames and its own bloody juices, it was time to do what their ancestors had done.
This wasn’t about the present.
This was about the past, and a ritual so old, it dated back to the Celts and the ones who came before them.
It was time to bring it back to life.
It was time to be strong.
It was time to consume the flesh.
For her.
For Ireland.
For all that was to come.
With that one action, another one would be taken, and they would be stronger.
The circle was formed. It had broken apart many years ago as they hid in plain sight.
Now it was a time of rebirth.
Of renewal.
They would be one.
The heart was skewered and hacked into pieces on a plate.
One by one, each morsel was eaten.
Each bite consumed.
When it was done, the energy hummed around the room.
“It is done. It has begun. For Carman!”
As the chant rang out, the bloody taste would be remembered until the next one.
And the next.
And the next.
The rebirth had begun, and no one could stop it. It had been written.
Blood was coming.
It was coming soon.
It was coming for her.
Chapter Two
Graymoor II
N o one liked the sound of that. The idea that they were in Ireland, and they were going to be playing with witches? That was something they never saw coming. Only, Avalon had been dead serious. She wasn’t kidding or yanking their chains, and that had them worried.
What the hell?
“You have to be shitting me,” Maura said, pulling no punches as usual. “There is no such thing as witches, and you can’t believe this case has anything to do with them.”
Avalon opened her mouth, but Maura wasn’t done.
“That’s the hoodoo crap that people buy into when they have a little too much time on their hands.”
Avalon glanced over at her. She loved this woman, but her mind was generally closed to anything that seemed out of the ordinary.
Then again…
“Like psychics?” Avalon asked, crossing her arms as she waited for an answer.
“You know what I mean. Being psychic is a gift of the mind. Practicing witchcraft is a made-up religion founded by people who wanted to dance naked in the moonlight.”
Luke snorted.
They’d ‘danced’ naked in the moonlight a few times. Maybe he’d been right about her being a witch.
She elbowed him.
“Be serious.”
Avalon had seen this coming.
It wasn’t like she was shocked by the woman’s response. Maura always was the skeptical one. It’s what made her who she was. The Major was tough, and she believed in tangible things that she could touch, see, and smell.
Magick…that was a hard pill to swallow.
“If I can exist, why can’t other things?” Avalon asked, letting her get it out of her system. Once she vented, Maura would come around.
She always did.
Maura stared at her. “I’m aware psychics exist. I know what you can do, and I believe in it. You can’t tell me witches are real.”
Avalon cocked her head, trying to understand. “Then why can’t witches be real? They worship nature based religion, deal in energy, and work their craft.”
Where to even start?
Maura sputtered in frustration.
“Jesus. I remember when all I had to do was keep you hidden. Now I have to protect you from witches. Where did we go off the path on this one?” she asked. “What’s next? The Boogey Man?”
Avalon and Lucian laughed.
They knew the truth.
They always did.
What made it even more amusing for them was this was the cleaned up, simplified version of what was really happening around there.
The less they knew for now, the better.
“What’s so damn funny?” Maura asked.
“Okay, I’ll be honest. The killer isn’t a real witch. It’s some sicko killing people. Witches do exist just not in this case. You can calm down, Major Mom.”
Well, that helped a little.
“Nate always says we have to get into the mind of the madman, and I’m telling you that this person is killing under the guise of being a witch.”
They weren’t sure if this was a good thing, or a bad thing. This was a crapshoot.
“So, we aren’t hunting witches?” Nate asked. “But we have to pretend we are?”
“Exactly. To understand what’s happening, we have to play along. We’re hunting a killer, and this one isn’t psychic.”
They all stared at her.
That did NOT sound like what they normally did at all. When Avalon had begun helping people, her intent was to give back to psychics who were being harmed, and to stop the ones who had gone off the rails.
This was the opposite.
How was she even going to work that? Without the psychic link, how were they supposed to hunt anything down?
What was she thinking?
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, reading their minds. Well, more their faces.
“What?”
“How am I going to pull this off.”
She was right.
It was odd not to have Avalon latched onto a killer who was raising hell in the static, and they then kicked his or her ass.
That’s what they did.
Normally.
“Well, I’ll tell you how. This case might be more up your alley than mine,” she said to Nate and Luke.
They stared at her.
“What?”
She broke it down.
“You used to chase killers, and our maniac isn’t psychic at all. I can’t read the person. I’m not focused on the perp, so you’re going to have to use your skills to track him. That’s not my job on this one.”
Then what exactly was her job?
She looked over at Nate. “Did I use that lingo right or was there a better word?”
He kissed her
on the tip of the nose. “Yes, baby, you did. Perp is correct, but I don’t understand where this is heading. I need a little more. This doesn’t sound all Phoenix Files-like at all.”
She smiled.
Avalon was aware.
What made her love this man was his overwhelming faith in her when she found someone to help.
He didn’t question it, even if it was crazy.
“Anyway, since the killer isn’t the psychic, that doesn’t mean we aren’t working to help people like me.”
What?
Was there a psychic or not?
That was the big question.
“What do you mean?” Luke asked.
Lucian took over. “We have two people with extraordinary gifts, and we need to get to them.”
They didn’t get it.
“Two?” Nate asked.
“They are both like us,” she admitted, referring to Lucian and herself. “The woman knows she’s a psychic, but the male, not so much. He’s closed off, and until I can get to him, he will remain that way. I have to open that third eye.”
This made no sense to any of them.
And it sounded painful.
“So, we need two more psychics? Why?” Nate asked. “We have two and our team works well with each other.”
“He’s a cop, and he’s handling the cases here in Adare. He’s going to need us.”
Lucian corrected her. “Garda. That’s what they call them here.”
She made a mental note. “Thank you,” she offered, returning to her point. “He needs her help to solve it, and we need both of their help in tracking the killer. This is a million times harder for me,” Avalon admitted. “That’s why I picked them out of the static. I like a challenge.”
Maura laughed. “If you think back to the last challenge, we nearly had Jagger die, Roxy was almost a victim, and we barely escaped the United States. Maybe we can take a piece of cake case, and run with that for a while.”
“There’s cake?” Avalon asked, looking around. “Does it have frosting?” She loved cake.
Maura shook her head. “No sugar! Focus.”
Luke got up and went to the pantry. He came back with a huge muffin that they’d picked up from the bakery specifically for her.
Oracle Haunting (The Phoenix Files Book 4) Page 5
