The Oracle Series: Vols. 4, 5, & Grave Endowments

by Cynthia D. Witherspoon

  Yours is just departed spirits. Decay. Tragedies best left forgotten to time and the grave.”

  I did not respond to her as the scene before me progressed. I tried to block the images. I tried to build up a wall around my heart to protect myself from the pain threatening to take my breath away. It wasn’t working.

  “Take a look, mortal. Your Cyrus is not truly your own. In his most secret of hearts, he dreams of another. A woman of which you are only a pale reminder.”

  Hera then spoke with a whisper, but she may as well have shouted her next words. I heard them loud and clear.

  “You are alone, little Sibyl. Your love? False. Your god? Helpless. You are mine to destroy whenever I choose to do so. You cannot remain in existence. You are too much of a threat to all I hold dear.”

  Her cold smile gave way to an expression of pure, undiluted hatred. But I barely noticed it. Her last words sounded eerily similar to what the Shade told me about being a

  ‘threat to harmony.’ What did they mean?

  Hera disappeared, and the image of Cyrus and Delphine shifted to one of her and Elliot. It was the same scene I had witnessed firsthand in Montana.

  Elliot declaring his hatred of me. He bowed his head before Hera as he swore his spirit to her service. How he had fought so hard against me in an attempt to strike me down.

  “I will take anyone you have ever loved away from you. But alas, you can make this much easier on yourself.” Hera’s voice returned. Yet, as my memories faded from view, I couldn’t see her. “You can relinquish your power. Allow those who are only tolerating you to know peace. Otherwise, I will finish what I have started. I will extinguish you and all who choose to align themselves with your service.”

  I woke up with a sharp pain in my side, but I ignored it. Hera's threat still echoed in my ears. I tried to tell myself it was just a dream. I tried to explain it away as a product of too many months as her target. Yet, I knew better. She had already taken so much away from me. Could she take Cyrus, too?

  And there was something else. Something was—different about Hera and the way she regarded me. It was as if her hate and anger seemed a bit sharper. A bit more focused.

  It was like her mad-on for me was—madder. What was that about?

  I kicked the covers aside as I wiped away the tears forming in the corners of my eyes. Cyrus wasn't in the bed with me, which wasn't a surprise. He usually slipped out once I'd fallen asleep since he didn't have to sleep. I gritted my teeth as I changed back into my day clothes and headed out into the hallway. My side was throbbing now. So much so, I had to bite my tongue to keep from whimpering. I knew I should have called out to Cyrus. Something was wrong, but I didn't want to consider it. The physical pain would pass. It always did. But the pain in my heart?

  I had to talk to Jonah. He was experienced in visions from Hera.

  I lingered in the doorway as I considered what Cyrus had told me earlier. Surely

  Jonah wouldn't betray me. Granted, I hadn't known him long, but so far? He seemed trustworthy. I waited for the next round of throbbing in my side to disappear before I straightened my shoulders to head for Jonah's bedroom..

  I didn't get very far before Jonathan rounded the corner. He stopped and bowed his head to me.

  “Is there anything I can help you find, Eva?” Jonathan gave me a small smile. “I heard from Jonah that this house is far too large.”

  “No,” I crossed my arms over my chest as I considered his words. “Actually, yes.

  There is. I need to speak with Jonah immediately.”

  “Of course.” Jonathan took my arm. “He is with the others in Reena's art studio.

  Shall I take you there?”

  I nodded. “Thank you. You are very kind to your students, Jonathan. An art studio?” “Indeed.” The man nodded as we walked. “I discovered decades ago that happiness breeds peace. All Eleventh Percenters are artistic. In Reena's case, her painting brings her happiness. It helps her focus.”

  “I could use some of that, you know.” I sighed as we turned down yet another hallway. “Happiness and peace.”

  Jonathan was quiet for a moment before he patted my hand. “Eva, please know, if there is anytime you need a retreat, then you and yours are welcome here at GrannisonMorris estate.”

  “I appreciate your offer, but I don't think your Reena would be too happy about that.” I gave him a sad smile as we stopped at the end of a hallway. “But one never knows. Thank you, Jonathan.”

  The Protector Guide bowed at me once more before retracing his steps. I could hear Terrence's voice coming from a few doors down, so I headed that way. Yet, I stopped just before the door when I heard Reena's a conversation already in progress. Yeah, I was eavesdropping, but I'd lost the ability to care. All the heart-to-hearts had gotten tired. This was the best way to learn information.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jonah Rowe

  “That was harsh, Reena. She actually showed concern for your well-being!” “I couldn’t give less of a damn, Terrence. That woman is bad news. We didn’t have this many attacks last fall, and at that time, we were dealing with vampires and sazers!” Jonah let them go on like that forever. Terrence would make a passionate point, Reena would counter, Terrence would take a different route, Reena would counter that, and so on. They hadn’t been in Reena’s art studio for awhile, so it was a welcome refuge. If Jonah had to deal with Terrence and Reena’s bickering, so be it. It took listening to their argument for him to build up the nerve to say the thing that would shut them up.

  “Hera wants me to betray Eva.”

  It was guaranteed to work, and work it did. Terrence and Reena ceased as soon as he finished and looked at him in shock.

  “Yep,” he said once he felt eyes on him. “She appeared in a mirror at the Covington House and showed me fame. Showed me a reality where I was a prolific novelist. My books were the best of the best of the best. She showed me wearing suits that cost more than a car. She also showed me…other stuff—”

  Some of Reena’s usual nature permeated her shock. “Oh good grief, Jonah. We aren’t in the third grade,” she muttered. “Did Hera show you having sex with someone?

  Namely, Vera?”

  Jonah closed his eyes, ticked off and embarrassed. “Put the damn dampener back on,” he muttered.

  “I’m wearing it, Jonah,” Reena shot back. “I can’t have it off around Eva and Cyrus. Their essences are so full of baggage that they could sink a cruise liner. It was simply written on your face that you saw some sort of carnal vision. Given how unnerved you are, it must have looked great to you—”

  “Can we please get back on task?” interrupted Jonah. “Can we do that, please? There is more. Hera also promised a way to the Other Side. She claimed it could be done.”

  Terrence’s eyes narrowed somewhat. “So that’s your dilemma? You think you might have a chance to see your grandmother again?”

  Jonah closed his eyes. Nana. What he wouldn’t give to see her again. But he didn’t bring it up. It was old news. But Hera said it could be done.

  The bitch was evil. She was calculating, and she made no secret of it. But she dangled the one carrot that gave Jonah the most pause.

  It sickened him.

  “The thing is, Cyrus knows that Hera showed me things,” he said, ignoring Terrence’s question. “And given the way he kept looking at me, he doesn’t trust me. He gave me the ‘night off.’ Bullshit. He’s probably up there turning Eva against me right now.”

  “What was Jonathan thinking when he approved this?” Reena demanded. “He brought this insanity into our home! I admit that I was willing to give Eva a chance, but she’s nothing but trouble. Plain and simple.”

  “She ain’t the problem, Reena!” insisted Terrence. “It’s Hera! And that Elliot guy! Eva is not a threat to us. How many times have people got the drop on us when we least expected it? Eva is a great woman. Let me tell you something about her: Do you know she grew up in a house on Sullivan's Island? A house that
sold for millions? She refused to take a single penny from the sale and insisted the funds be donated to a victim's advocacy group in South Carolina. The Skinwalker episode? Won her a Primetime Emmy, which she gave to a battered women's shelter. Eva did a special on it. Said these women were the true heroes who fight silent battles every day. Now tell me: would an evil troublemaker do or say things like that?”

  “Yes, actually,” said Reena. “Celebrities know how to send the right message with the proper PR. You know how many corporate leeches do charity work?”

  Terrence roared in frustration. “This is serious, Reena!”

  “You think I’m joking?” snarled Reena. “It’s been serious, Terrence! It was serious when Jonah was attacked by the Sirens! It was serious when Elliot, a Tenth Percenter, might I remind you, was on the Astral Plane playing mind games! It was serious when Eva got attacked by Shades, and then brought back that stupid trinket that weakened our defenses! Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten that watch in time? And now there is a possibility that Cyrus is turning Eva against Jonah? Hell, he’s probably turning her against all of us.”

  “You turned Eva against you, Reena,” said Terrence. “She said that she was happy that you were on her team!”

  “I, unlike you, am not so easily flattered, Terrence,” said Reena. “Your stupid crush is blinding you. Pull your head out of your ass, and you’ll see that she is with Cyrus!”

  “What!” cried Terrence, distracted. “The bodyguard/keeper guy? But—but he’s been around thousands of years! He is so much older than—oh God!”

  “Enough, guys,” said Jonah wearily. “Terrence, you’ve made your point. Reena, you’ve made your point clear as a bright and sunny day. But this is on me. Hera tried to bribe me. Goddess of family, my ass. Maybe the goddess of those families on Steve Wilkos or something. But Reena, think about when Jonathan rescued you from foster care after your uncle passed into Spirit. Think about when he welcomed Terrence into the fold. Think about when he rescued me after I learned that I was the Blue Aura. He could have easily ignored us all, but he didn’t. He took us in, and now we’re better people because of that. That said, I won’t abandon Eva. No matter what lies Cyrus has put in her head about me. Jonathan did it for us, and now we have the chance to do it for somebody else. This is our zone, and she is an outsider in danger. Elliott, probably because of Hera, is using a mixture of Greek crap and dark ethereality to screw with us. There is also something about lines being crossed, but—” “How would you know that?” a voice demanded.

  Jonah whipped around. Eva was leaning against the door frame of Reena’s art studio. Terrence didn’t look like he knew what to do, but he still looked a little annoyed that his crush was romantically linked to man who’d been in the world long enough to be three days older than dirt.

  “How long have you been there?” he asked her.

  “Long enough to know that you know information that was given exclusively to me at Covington House,” answered Eva. “Jonathan said you’d be down here, so I came to talk to you. Hera showed me a vision, too.”

  “Are you alright? You're pale, Eva."

  She didn’t answer his question. “How do you know about lines crossing?”

  “From Jonathan,” muttered Jonah.

  “What does he know about it?”

  “I don’t know,” shrugged Jonah. “He didn’t get past the phrase. That was when the

  Shades showed up.”

  Eva flashed an awkward look at Reena, and then returned her eyes to Jonah. “Be straight with me, Rowe,” she said in a terse tone. “Did Hera ask you to betray me?” Through his alarm, irritation surfaced in Jonah. So he was back to ‘Rowe’ now?

  “Yeah,” he confessed.

  Eva stared at him for several seconds, then spoke again. “What does she want you to do?”

  Jonah ran his tongue across his teeth. “She wants me to get you on the Astral Plane by the Golden Hour on Sunday.”

  At that, Eva looked hurt. She actually looked hurt. “Cyrus was right to warn me about you,” she whispered.

  “Now that’s not fair!” said Jonah, incensed. “That dude doesn’t even know me! And the fact that I admitted what Hera wanted me to do speaks volumes!”

  “And the fact that you didn’t tell me right away speaks volumes, too,” countered Eva. “You know, I thought we'd made progress, but you know what they say about first impressions.”

  “But I wasn’t—”

  “Hera wants me on the Astral Plane on Sunday?” Eva spoke over Jonah. “Fine. She can get me there from Los Angeles. You won't have to worry about betraying me, because we’re out of here.”

  “But what about the episode?” said Terrence. “And your parents’ spirits?”

  Eva looked troubled, like that thought hadn’t occurred to her. Painstakingly, she put her defiant mask back on. “I’ll think of something.”

  She turned to walk away, but then clutched at her side, gurgled, and collapsed. If Reena hadn’t used her ethereal speed to catch her, she’d have face-planted on the floor. “What the hell?!” Jonah joined Reena at her side, with Terrence bringing up the rear. Reena must have suspended her dislike for Eva, because she fervently checked over her prone body.

  Reena placed her fingers over Eva, and they gleamed the yellow of her aura, but she

  desisted in frustration. “Damn! I don’t see any wounds or anything, and Liz isn’t here!”

  She raised her hand to her temple, focused very hard on something, and seconds later, Jonathan and Cyrus appeared from nowhere. Their mentor knelt down next to Eva without asking questions. His eyes widened within moments. “What, Jonathan?” asked Jonah.

  “Her Sybil powers keep fading in and out,” he told them. “That means the immortality fades in and out as well. Her previous wound from Athena’s Blade has not healed fully or properly. It’s plausible that she’s begun to bleed internally. We must give the girl time. There is nothing more we can do."

  Chapter Twelve

  Eva McRayne

  I don’t know how to describe what happened next. One minute, I was on my way to grab my phone to call the airport. The next?

  I was standing over myself as the Elevenths circled around my body. I wanted to tell them I was fine. That if Reena would move out of the way, I’d wake myself up. But as my keeper appeared, I saw something I never thought possible.

  Cyrus’ expression was one of pure fear. Sure, he tried to stay stoic, but there was no denying it. He wrapped my body up in his arms and stood. “Jonathan, I assume you have an infirmary on the grounds.”

  “Of course.”

  Jonathan gestured down the hall and they took off in that direction. I felt as if I should have followed. In fact, I started to head after them. But as I passed by a window, I

  froze into place.

  I could see the grounds of Grannison-Morris estate glowing beneath me. I mean, literally glowing a strange pulsating light. I changed direction to approach the window and gasped as I pressed against the glass. From here, I could see the source of the white light was a perfect line slashed into the earth. It was strangely beautiful.

  “Magnetic field lines.”

  I turned to see Apollo step out of the shadows to stand beside me. I frowned as he stuffed his hands into his suit.

  We hadn’t had a proper conversation since I discovered that he was my father. I wondered how to approach the subject. How to feel. What to say. But before I could even try, he shook his head.

  “Spare yourself, Sybil. The details of our blood ties are a matter for another day.

  There are more pressing issues at this time.”

  Wow. He thought I could just compartmentalize it like that? As if it were a photo shoot for Grave Messages or a guest spot on The View? Was that all I was to him? An event to pencil into his godly schedule?

  Either he sensed my thoughts, or my emotions were written on my face. Either way, he gave me a look that was stern. Dare I say it, it was paternal.

&nbs
p; “I care for you deeply, my daughter. But this is not the time. For now, let it go.”

  I decided to roll with it, only because I realized that pushing the matter was useless at the moment. “I thought you couldn’t come here.”

  “I’m not on the physical plane. Neither are you, Sibyl.” He looked pleased that I obliged him, and turned his head to stare at me. “We are in-between.”

  I rubbed my hands over my face before I responded. “What does that mean, exactly?

  Are you here to take me to the Underworld?”

  Apollo burst into laughter. “Dear girl, no! Do you not understand what the word ‘immortality’ means? You haven’t passed into Spirit indefinitely. I simply needed to speak with you.”

  “And scaring the hell out of Cyrus was the only way to do it?” I raised an eyebrow to take him in. “What do you wish to tell me?”

  “Straight to the point, huh?” He threw a dazzling grin in my direction. “Very well.

  For one, I won’t allow you to destroy yourself so soon. You’re my daughter, after all.

  You’ve done your duties to me well. For two? Come with me.”

  The room shifted in a flash. The window. The estate. It all disappeared. I found myself in the basement of the Covington House, where the white light I’d seen outside Grannison-Morris estate was blinding. The symbols I had documented on the walls were glowing. I couldn’t see well, but I could hear.

  “Stand still.” Elliot growled. He maneuvered someone into the center of the room.

  “You need to be in the very center for this to work.”

  “I need you to stand still.” A man spoke. “How am I supposed to capture this if it's going to come out all blurry?”

  “Stop talking.”

  Elliot raised his arms and began to chant. He began to shift into the wolf form Hera had granted him. I whimpered as I saw him turn on the man with a snarl.