Camulas and Arinai were stunned into silence for a moment. Neither one of them understood what he was saying.
"I was going to send out a group message to forget me, to ignore me forever," he said, and when they offered him blank expressions he decided to explain his thinking. "I keep telling you I'm not a man of action. I don't want to die, or take sides, or get involved in any way whatsoever. I don't want a fight—I just want to be left alone. So I figured if I could gather as many of you in one location as I could, then I could send out a mass ignore request. If that worked, then your memory of me would be gone and there would be no one to even whisper about my presence."
"And you were going to do this with Camulas and myself there as well?"
"It would hardly be effective if someone escaped and remained in my life," he said simply.
Arinai looked away. She felt like she had been punched, and James could see her hurt. In one sense Camulas was right—they had been betrayed. Oddly, Camulas didn't see it that way. He laughed out loud and continued to chuckle as he shook his head. When he stopped, he asked a simple question.
"Would it have worked?"
"I have no idea. It was a Hail Mary, but I've been practicing the technique for the last several days. It might have worked very well."
Camulas nodded his head.
"A very bold and ingenious move, Oracle," he said. "I will commend you on the thinking. I now understand the reason to get everyone so close and in such a confined area. I see that I underestimated your tactical mind. It was as if you wanted to deploy a bomb, and it was so obvious I'm amazed I missed it. I now have only myself to blame for falling for such a ruse." He laughed again and appeared genuinely amused, slapping James on the shoulder and leading him away.
Arinai watched them go. She wasn’t so amused, and she glared at the men as they walked. She had believed that she was much more important to her oracle than she now perceived herself to be. As they left the area, she hid her feelings from James. She felt betrayed and was angered by it. But more revealing to her psyche was how upset she was at the realization that she meant so little to him; that he could make her forget him; that he wanted her to forget. That realization saddened her, but she hid it well, and James, for as wise and powerful as he was becoming, didn't sense it.
Chapter 25
It rained softly, and several of the mourners opened umbrellas to protect themselves. Vera didn't. Instead, she watched the casket of her mother as the bearers moved it past her, but she didn't follow it as it continued on. Her parents were gone, and for that matter, so was her sister; she had been found, of course, unconscious and relegated the status of a Jane Doe in a hospital bed.
Vera looked down at her hands and the stuffed animal that she held. She tugged at an ear and concentrated on nothing but the feel of the material, ignoring the rain much as it ignored her.
Across the field, she was watched and cared for.
"Will she be alright?" James asked.
Arinai wished she could comfort him, but she didn't know how to answer the question.
"She is strong. She will be just fine," Camulas stated as they observed the grieving woman.
They were all fascinated by her—for the demon that she was, for enduring the pain of the funeral, and especially for the courage it had taken to walk into that garage.
Like she owned it, Arinai thought.
"Well, it may not be the best solution," Camulas said. "But you were certainly right. It was a solution. I'm curious to know how you predicted such a positive outcome."
"Positive?" James asked skeptically. "Vera still hates me. Badir is dead. And the others are afraid of me. How can you call that positive?"
Camulas chuckled and slapped James on the shoulder. The shorter man flinched from the pain.
"It achieved your desired result to be left alone," he said. "In the last several days, not a single creature has dared to be near you. They believe that you and Vera represent a new power base, and no one wants to test that assumption. Like you said before—it’s a solution."
"Well, it may not go down in history as the best prediction of an oracle, but it’s sure to go recalled as a memorable one," James replied, before turning more serious. "Not that I'm admitting to being an oracle."
Camulas laughed to himself before replying, "Gonna go down swinging, I see. That’s fine."
Arinai changed the subject.
"We’ve more important things to worry about," she said. "Our actions, small as they may be, are attracting attention. The police have their murderer of the Monroes, but now they have to explain his death. The government for some reason knows about Dearg venom, and I would be willing to bet that the Italian company involved with that detail has ties to Rome; the Bishop will be coming. In fact, he's already being dispatched and will be here in the next few months, once he makes his preparations."
"Dispatched?" asked James, before closing his eyes and concentrating. "I'm not powerful enough to sense this man. Maybe it’s because he's from Rome. How is it that you know about his coming?"
Arinai looked slightly confused, and then waved her cell phone for him to see. James turned red with embarrassment and shook his head.
"I'm very old and have friends around the world," Arinai said. "I can assure you that he is being sent. He will take time to gather what he needs. The Vatican will not rush this operation, but they will come, and when they do they will spread their dogma without prejudice."
"It will be war," said Camulas.
"I don’t want war. I've already told you that."
"You may have no option, Oracle," Arinai said. "The Bishop is a man of his God, and that God has been known to be vengeful. The Bishop will come here, and if he finds you, he will do whatever he can to kill you or capture you. And trust me, he is very good at it. Like none I have ever seen."
James bent his head and considered the news. It didn't make him happy, that was obvious. After contemplating the issue, he refocused his gaze onto the funeral before him, and Arinai followed his line of sight. Vera was staring straight, with her head cocked at an angle.
"She is very pretty today," he said. "Sad, but very pretty."
Arinai smiled slightly.
"Yes, she is," she said.
Vera's hair moved imperceptibly as her ear retracted. She didn't care to hear anymore; she had learned enough for now. This Bishop, whoever he was, was someone that she was very interested in meeting, and as she considered her options, her hand went to her chest and the crucifix that lay upon it. She felt the irregularities of the metal and the small figure of her savior that was affixed to it. Bending her head, she shed a tear for her life that was now in shambles.
Here ends book one
Book Two
Celtics Rising
Rise of the Ver'lin
Celtics Rising: Birth of an Oracle Page 22
