by Cali Mann
“Crazy, right?” He leaped to his feet, his eyes shining. “But I feel great!”
“You do?” I asked. Had I looked like this before I bonded Sciro? Or was this just the aftereffects of a mate’s death? It must have hit him hard.
“Yes!” He almost danced with energy.
I frowned. It didn’t make any sense. I had four mates and I didn’t have that much energy. In fact, I felt calmer, more relaxed, in balance. I could almost feel the guys. They felt closer than they’d ever been. Had they returned to Thornbriar? I shook myself. I needed to be here, now, and try to understand what my father was up to. “What is this all about?”
He grinned. It was as if a paintbrush had swiped his face. It was so big and wide and unnatural. I shivered.
“I need control over the Council and you two are going to help me get it.”
“No.” The Oracle pushed herself to her feet. It was painful to watch how much she’d worn herself out. “I will not help you destroy them.”
“I don’t want to destroy them, silly girl,” he said. “I want to own them.”
We both stared at him in confusion.
“You’re going to name Hailey your successor.” He turned in a circle, swinging his arms. “And invest her as the next Oracle, right here and now.”
“Me? The next Oracle?” My jaw dropped. Surprise and horror swirled through me. I didn’t want to be the next Oracle. Locked up for the rest of my life. “How exactly does that work?”
“Well,” he said, jerking a thumb toward the trembling woman behind him. “She has to do a spell.”
“What kind of spell?” I looked over at her. “Will it harm her?”
“Hailey, Hailey, we really need to beat this kindness out of you.” He rubbed his chin. “I was sure that Mr. Hastings would have done that at least.”
I glared at him, fire roaring through me. He’d really meant it. Somehow, he had hired Mr. Hastings to . . . what? Kidnap me? Hold me captive? It didn’t matter. I had to stop him.
“These people have been killing us for generations! Murdering our kind,” he said. His eyes darkened. “Time for some payback.”
“I won’t do it,” the Oracle said.
A knife appeared in Kaiden’s hand, and he pressed it to her neck. “You will do whatever I tell you to.”
“I don’t care if you kill me,” she said.
“Even if your mates die?” he asked, and her eyes flashed. “Because they will without you to support them.”
“They’re strong,” she tried to argue.
He leaned in closer, stroking the bloodied knife over her cheek. “They’ll die. I’ll make sure of it. And it won’t be easy and kind.”
“You can’t. They’re protected.”
Kaiden chuckled. “Like you’re safe here at Thornbriar?”
I swallowed. He’d gotten in here, through the walls that were supposedly secure against spirit shifters, by the guards, the students, and all the other people on the campus. He could get into anywhere.
Glancing around at the dead guards and the quaking Oracle, I knew he could hurt anybody. My mates. The Council. Anybody. Unless I stopped him. I might be the only one who could.
29
Terrin
We headed down the halls toward the chapel wing. The halls were still mostly empty, though many of the students had already passed their tests. Guards were posted at regular intervals throughout the campus, and I suppose their constant presence put a damper on socializing. Classes hadn’t resumed yet either. Keeping our heads high, we passed them confidently and no one stopped us.
At the chapel, the corridor turned, and two pews had been lined up on either side of it. Two guards leaned against the wall there. Were they asleep? I reached out toward one and when I touched his shoulder, his head dislodged, falling to the ground. I swore under my breath, and I heard quiet gasps from the other guys.
I backed toward the edge of the hall.
Sciro slipped over to the chapel doors and leaned his ear against them. He scowled, then he darted back over to us. “Kaiden Hartsman,” he hissed. “Hailey’s father.”
“We know he’s her father,” Adrian whispered. “Why is he here?”
“He wants the Oracle to do some kind of spell.”
“She’s stronger than he is, right? Especially since he’s without one mate. Why doesn’t she just kick him out?” Brenton asked.
“Shit,” I said. “She’s worn out. Days of spells have wiped her.”
“Hailey’s not, though,” Adrian said, meeting each of our eyes in turn. “And she’s got four mates to support her. We can take him.”
“I don’t know,” Sciro said. “He demolished Professor Ward and he had bear form.”
“We have a siren, a jaguar, a dragon, and a vampire, plus all the things Hailey can do. We just need to wear him down.”
“So, we can all get arrested?” Brenton asked, gesturing to the dead men. “Or killed? He’s just murdered armed guards, who knows how many.”
“You don’t want to save her?” I asked.
“Of course I do,” he growled. “I’m just not sure a frontal attack is the right way.”
“Hmm,” I murmured, thinking through the possibilities.
“The chapel has a back entrance,” Sciro said. “Behind the altar. We could enter without being seen.”
“That’s a good idea,” Adrian said. “I’d forgotten that was there.”
We’d never had much use for the chapel. They sometimes used it for school assemblies, but, before the Oracle had come, there wasn’t much call for them.
“We need to remember that Kaiden can take any form,” Sciro said.
“He doesn’t have phases like Hailey?” Brenton asked.
Sciro shook his head. “And spirit form can’t be seen by our eyes. We can feel it, though.”
“How?” I asked.
“It’s like a disturbance in the energy around you. And you can still hear footfalls or breathing or whatever. It doesn’t make him silent.”
“Then, we all need to be careful and quiet,” I said. They all nodded in agreement.
Sciro led us around to the back entrance of the chapel. The headmaster had posted a guard there—not assuming the access was secret—and this one was living.
“Hey,” Adrian said, stepping forward into the light. “Have you seen a girl pass by here?”
The guard laughed, and while his attention was on Adrian, I approached from behind him. I pressed a specific point on his neck, and he slumped to the floor.
We propped him against the wall and moved toward the door.
30
Hailey
The Oracle began the spell to invest me with her powers. It started as the other had: with a calling of the elements to the circle. Though she was young, she moved as if she was hundreds of years old. The constant spell casting of the last week had taken its toll on her, and she was far from her mates.
Mine were in the building. I could feel them, so close that I could almost reach out and touch them. But every attack I tried on my father was easily pushed back. Was it because my bond with my mates was new? Or because, even in his craziness, he had years of practice and skill on me?
I didn’t want to be the Oracle, but I didn’t have any choice.
She beckoned me to the center of the circle, we stood facing one another, and she raised the palms of her hands to face me. “Now, you do the same.”
I nodded. Our palms remained just inches from each other, and she began to chant. The elements swirled around us as the spell gained speed. I could feel spirit wrapping us together into a cocoon.
“You’ll stop him?” she asked under her breath.
“I will,” I said.
She gave a small smile. “I shouldn’t trust you.”
“I don’t think we have much choice.”
“Less talking, more chanting,” Kaiden said, pacing around the circle. He didn’t seem at all worried by our conversation.
“Now, this part we say
together,” the Oracle said and I nodded. “Sah tea, sah tea . . .”
I started to chant the sounds with her, but she stumbled, falling against me. Automatically my arms came around her to support her and I stared down at the knife protruding from her calf. My eyes snapped to my father at the edge of the circle.
He grinned. “That wasn’t the right spell, Oracle.”
She gave a grunt as she forced herself back to standing.
“Just because I can’t enter the circle,” he said, spinning another throwing knife in the air. “Doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you. Now do the right spell.”
Shit. I took a breath.
The Oracle began chanting again, and instead of swirling around us, the elements blasted through me. Not one at a time as they had during the shifter discovery spell, but all at once as if they were hollowing out my insides. It didn’t hurt, but the pressure was intense, bringing tears to my eyes. I gasped.
I could only move my eyes; everything else was frozen in place like the spell before. My gaze caught on a movement near the altar, and I tried to frown. What was that? Then I saw a tuft of blond hair. Adrian. I blinked, and it was gone.
Had my father seen? I peered at him out of the corner of my eye. He continued to pace around the circle, hands behind his back. If my mates were all here, could they get the jump on him? But they didn’t know about the knives. How could I warn them? I growled in frustration.
The Oracle studied my face, her brows raised in a question.
I tried to speak, hoping I could distract Kaiden, but my lips wouldn’t move. The guys appeared from behind the altar one by one, and my heart squeezed. I’d thought I’d never see them again. They all charged toward Kaiden, and there was nothing I could do but watch.
Kaiden must have felt them coming, because he looked up with a wide smile. “Finally, some distraction.”
The oracle turned to see what was coming. Her lips didn’t stop moving, but her eyes scanned the scene.
Sciro darted forward to attack first, and his fist slammed into my father.
Kaiden laughed. “That was a freebie.” Then he plowed into Sciro, pushing him across the chapel.
The others rushed toward me and the Oracle, but Kaiden appeared between the circle and them. They pulled up short. He wagged a finger at them. “Tsk, tsk. No interrupting the spell. You’ll only kill them both.”
Adrian started to sing. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard; I could only stare at him. The rest of the world faded away.
Then it stopped. I couldn’t hear it anymore, and I looked around. I could still see him singing, but there was some kind of padding around my ears blocking the sound. I glanced at the Oracle, and she smiled. Oh. She’d done something so we couldn’t hear it.
My father stared at Adrian, bewitched. Terrin, in cat form, snuck behind him. Terrin swiped a long claw down Kaiden’s back and my father barely winced, entranced.
Brenton took the opportunity to transform, his long dragon body taking up a huge amount of space. Hailey, are you okay? his dragon voice boomed in my ears. What is this spell?
I’m becoming an Oracle, I said back, hoping he could understand me.
Then Kaiden spun, his knives flying for Brenton’s broad flank. Brenton roared when they struck, spitting fire, but my father was too close to our spell circle. Instead, several of the pews that had been shoved to the sides of the room exploded into flame.
You need to go back. You’re too big a target. My father must have been pretending to be caught in the siren’s song, or he made his way out of it, because he was grappling with Terrin, vampire claw to jaguar.
I can’t talk to you except in this form. The pain made even his dragon voice gruff.
I’m fine. I’m not hurt, only entrapped in the spell. Brenton let go of dragon form, stumbling to the ground. Adrian ran to him, checking his injuries.
Sciro, having caught his breath, charged into the fight, and my father laughed, his hands moving so fast they were barely visible.
“I don’t want to hurt you boys,” Kaiden said with a wild laugh. “But I might.”
Damn it. I wished I was free. I turned my eyes back to the Oracle, willing her to move faster. She was already swaying on her feet, exhausted. The spell loosened its grip as she weakened. My mouth freed, and I spoke. “Are you okay?”
She smiled. “No, Hailey, I’m not but the spell is almost done.”
“I don’t feel any different.” A strong current of energies pushed through me and my vision changed. I blinked. The room was now a cascade of colors, and not just from the stained-glass windows. The flow of the elements was constant through me and to each of my mates.
The Oracle stumbled, falling to her knees.
I reached out for her. “Oracle!”
“Not the Oracle anymore,” she said with a dry chuckle that turned into a cough. “Only Mary.”
“Mary, we need to get you to a doctor.”
“No, there’s no time. You must stop our father before he kills your mates.”
Shock echoed through me. “Our father?”
Mary groaned. “I was his first attempt at controlling an Oracle. But I was raised in the Oracle palace and I didn’t go according to plan.”
“I have so many questions,” I said, holding her in my arms.
“I’m afraid I don’t have time,” she said. Her cough brought up blood, spraying it down her robes. “The sisters will care—” She sagged against me, eyes closing.
I brushed back her golden hair. Then I lay Mary on the wooden floor. Standing, I surveyed the battlefield. Kaiden danced between Sciro and Terrin, and then went invisible, appearing next to Brenton and Adrian and sparring with them. My new eyes let me see his form, no matter what shape he took. But I didn’t have much time, before he noticed the spell was done.
Without thinking, I raised my hands. I tugged at the energies and pulled up a length of spirit. The power just flowed out of me although I’d never used it before. I tossed it toward my father, trapping him during his shift between battles. The spirit cage descended over him, unfolding like a rope. He solidified and yanked on the bars, but he was well and truly captive.
“Let me go, Hailey,” he said.
I walked toward him, my men falling in line behind me. Cocking my head, I watched him. “Why? What do you have to threaten me with?”
“I’ll kill them all. I have people everywhere. Even in the Oracle palace.” He grinned. “Let me go or every one of your mates will die.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
Sending out a string of fire, I pulled Brenton to me. He was wide-eyed at the power trickling off me. Good, they could feel it too. I swept my hand over him, healing all of his wounds. Then I stared at my own hands and the power dripping off them. Was it going to be like this all the time? Or was this some mad push Mary had given me before she died? I didn’t know, but I was going to use it for all it was worth.
Turning to Adrian, I said, “Bring me the Council.”
31
Hailey
Adrian had just turned to the door when it was flung open and guards charged in, guns up. A muscled man with a buzzcut led them, and at the sight of the dead guards, the dead oracle, and Kaiden in his invisible spirit cage, he raised a hand. “Fire!”
The bullets cascaded toward us and dropped from the air to the floor a few feet away. The guards stared at us. I stepped forward.
“I am the new Oracle,” I announced.
Adrian’s mother entered behind the guards, frightened Council members following her. Back straight and eyes considering, she surveyed the room. “A cage of spirit has not been used in a long time.”
“A monster such as Kaiden Hartsman has not existed in recent memory,” I said. I could feel the long lines of Oracle’s memory pushing against me. I knew it all without effort, but if I let it in right now I’d be overwhelmed, so I pushed it back. It was as if they’d given me the powers and the knowledge at the same time.
She
nodded. “These deaths and those in the hall—I assume they are his doing?”
“Yes,” Adrian said.
Her eyes saddened as she gazed at her son. “You are a mate?”
Standing tall beside me, he inclined his head.
“Then, I have no son. Adrian Hightower is stricken from the records.”
I gasped and looked at Adrian, but he didn’t flinch. I reached over and slid my hand in his. Tears brimmed at his eyes, but they didn’t fall.
“It is so,” echoed the Council members trickling into the room.
“He is henceforth mate of the Oracle.”
“It is so,” they repeated.
“And the others?” Councilwoman Hightower gestured to the rest of the guys.
I nodded and then glanced at Sciro, questioning. I knew he was a mate. The energy between us didn’t lie, but it had not yet been acknowledged. He inclined his head.
“Yes,” I said. “I have four mates.”
The Council repeated the stripping of names for each of my mates. They would be removed from shifter history and from this day forth would be known only as an Oracle mate.
When they finished with Brenton, the air came out of him with a sigh. I could feel his grief humming along our link.
The guards stood impassively as if they didn’t hear or see anything that was occurring—so well trained to ignore what happened in Council.
“I assume you are the spirit shifter Professor Ward spoke of,” Councilwoman Hightower said.
“Yes.”
She nodded. “Then, we should deliver you to the Oracle’s palace with some haste. Along with the former Oracle’s body.”
“And what will I be expected to do there?”
“Take up the duties of the Oracle, of course.”
“I will not condemn any more babies to die.”
“But you know how dangerous uncontrolled spirit shifters can be,” Councilman Gray said gesturing to Kaiden.
“I do,” I said. “But we also know the cure.”
“We will not sacrifice generations of young men and women to keep spirit shifters balanced,” a gray-haired Councilwoman said.