The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3)

by Croston, Jeremy

  “Do ye think lass that this Jonathan already be gone? He mighta grabbed one of the witches and left a long time ago.”

  Fergus was right. That of course was a very real possibility. I was getting ready to lament so when a knock came at the door to my hotel room. I was not expecting anyone. Cautiously, I got up and looked through the peephole. Under my breath, “Damnit, not now.”

  “What’s wrong Liz?”

  I turned back to the two werewolves. “Bernard, please escort Fergus to your room. There is a matter I must deal with and the two of you will only compound it.”

  Fergus’s eyes shock right to the door. “Don’t tell me that’s Connor? What’s that useless pile of shit doin’ here?”

  Bernard immediately grabbed the Red Alpha and dragged him over to the door that connected our two rooms. Fergus wasn’t going quietly. “Connor ye good fer nothin’ bugger! Ye owe me at least the decency of an explanation!”

  With one last mighty pull, the two werewolves left the room and Bernard closed and locked it. Fergus was still causing a ruckus, but at least there was a door to keep him at bay. Part of me wondered what Connor had done to the Alpha, but another, larger part was more curious why he decided to come out of the wood work.

  I opened the door and the taller man entered. Just like every other time I had seen the Ambassador of Ireland, his hair was immaculate and his clothing made him look like a model. Even the awful way he pulled his sunglasses off his face screamed pretentious. To make matters worse, he was doused in some horrible cologne that would wake the dead. He gave me a half smile before sitting down where Fergus has just been.

  His voice was not as thick with an accent as Fergus’s, but it was still strong. The higher pitch may also have had something to do with my hard time of taking him seriously as well. “I am a bit surprised ye be consortin’ with the werewolves Elizabeth. I count two different scents in your room.”

  “Who I consort with if none of your concern. What does bother me if your sudden appearance here.”

  He stretched out of the couch. “I am just doin’ my job, somethin’ ye can understand. Yer in my jurisdiction and I would like ta know why.”

  That smug jerk knew why I was here. Every vampire drawing breathe knew about Jonathan’s betrayal. “I am here to locate and terminate Jonathan. Is there anything else you would like to pretend not to know?”

  Lifting himself off the couch, “Yes there is. Rumors have it yer werewolves friends are askin’ about the O’Byrne clan. Are they doin’ it for ye?” He took a step towards me, as if to challenge my authority.

  I was not in the mood to back down, so I too stepped forward, my nose almost touching his chin. “Yes they are. I am currently investigating them under the authority of Roderick, so that should suffice.”

  He stood there for a second before taking a step back. “Listen Elizabeth, this does not need ta get nasty. Just remember the side ye be on is not the winnin’ side. Marquis Lemoyne is not goin’ ta let him walk for his ignorance.”

  Lemoyne, the French blowhard that had been after Roderick for years; just hearing his name made me feel ill. “Better have tried to topple Roderick and failed. Lemoyne should be the one watching what fights he picks.”

  He began heading towards the door. Before he left, “We do not need ta be enemies. However, if ye keep lookin’ into the O’Byrnes, I will have ta get involved.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “No, it be a promise. And tell Fergus he be barkin’ up the wrong tree. The only land he has claim to is the one his people are already on.” With that, he left and the door closed too quickly for me to retort anymore.

  The door to Bernard’s room flew open and the openly enraged Alpha came charging in. “That good fer nothin’ piece of shit! I’m gonna kill him!”

  Bernard looked at me like this was now my problem. Sighing, “You must calm yourself Fergus. Going after him and trying to kill him would only cause more problems between your two communities. You must remain strong and patient.”

  “Patient?! My people have been treated like lepers for centuries by that asshole! I’m not gonna cower ta him any longer.”

  “Listen to her my friend.” Bernard’s soothing baritone voice filled the room. “Know when to fight and when to plan. Besides, it sounds like we might have to go through him to find the witches.”

  “That is what Connor thinks. What he forgets is he is not the only Irish Ambassador around.” Neither werewolf looked to understand what I said. “Ireland is split into two parts and it just so happens the Ambassador to Northern Ireland is an old friend.”

  “Ye be friends with those heathens up there?”

  “Shush you.” Fergus made a face, but he would just need to deal with it. “Kristie just so happens to be a very old friend and is much more pleasant to deal with than Connor.”

  Fergus snorted. “A root canal be much more pleasant than that toe-rag.” His anger seemed to sooth away. “I gotta run as the pack meetin’ be startin’ in a bit. Yer more than welcome to join us Bernard, as yer family.”

  That actually was an excellent idea. “Yes, you should go. I know you miss your family and this will help you overcome that.”

  “You sure? Will you be okay by yourself?”

  His concern was touching, but also quite unnecessary. Truth be told, it reminded me of Vic and it made me both happy and quite sad. “I will be fine. There is little on this island that could successfully kill me.”

  “Aye, don’t ye forget the Dullahan. It’d be strong enough to kill ye.”

  Fergus and his old Irish folktales. “There may be a lot out there that I have not seen, but this headless horseman of yours is not one of them.”

  Fergus grabbed Bernard by the shoulder. “Come on man, we need ta get outta here before her bad vibes common the creature and it kills us all.”

  I knew he was being sarcastic, but that did not stop me from kicking him as he high tailed it into the hallway, laughing as he ran with a confused Bernard in tow. With newfound silence, I picked up my phone and dialed a number I should have called a few weeks ago.

  It rang one, twice – would she pick up? After the third ring, a raspy voice answered. “Elizabeth Swansea…”

  “Hello Kristie. I hate to call like this, but I really need your help. I need help tracking down a coven of witches.”

  A short, sharp laugh nearly popped my ear drum. “It’d be my pleasure. I haven’t killed any witches in far too long.”

  Kristie is a certified witch hunter. In fact most in Europe refer to her as the Witches’ Bane. So with that in mind, my next words would not go over well. “We need them alive.”

  “Witches don’t deserve to live! Have you gone soft in your old age Lizzie?” She switched to that name, knowing my disdain for it.

  I would not take the bait. “Kristie, it is the only way to find Jonathan and make him pay for what he did to me.”

  “You mean the rumors are true? He turned on you and Roderick?”

  “Yes, they are most true. And worst of all,” I paused for a second to gain my composure, “he killed the man I loved.”

  “Say no more. I’ll be in Dublin before you know it.” She tried to sound friendly, which was a stretch for her. “We’ll find the witches and Jonathan Liz, you have my word.”

  Chapter 7

  **The Sphinx**

  “What are we doing on this awful island Oberon? There are so many more places that this realm has to offer.” Why the Druids kept coming here and worshipping those silly deities from the other side of the veil was ridiculous. “Let us turn around and go see Greece again.”

  Tall amongst the Druids, goatee, and powerful, Oberon stood on the beach like a warrior ready to claim his mantle. Behind us, boats full of more of the earth wizards were getting ready to land. In his deep, rich Gaelic, “Sphinx my darling, the Orcs need to be eliminated for good. Who better to do so than I?”

  This was not the life I wished for myself when he took me as his bride. Worse yet w
ere the rumors of infidelity of my husband. I knew most of his brethren did not approve of his vows to me, but to say harsh words was unforgivable. Only Oberon’s will kept me from unleashing my wrath upon them.

  “Amongst the Fae, they are considered animals. Maybe that is why they come to our lands.” He was so confident of himself. “Before my fellows join us, let us find the Orcs and see if they will submit to my rule.”

  I did not share that confidence. Orcs were awful creatures; there was a reason they abandoned their Fae world to settle on this one. The Druids believed it was the destiny to rid the world of the blight, but I had a feeling they were not properly prepared. “We should not hurry to such a task. It would be best to have numbers, at least as a show of power.”

  “Nonsense, as the leader of this expedition, I am well equipped to handle anything these rodents have.” He waved his hand and a rose sprouted from the ground. He plucked it and put it in my hair. “See, even here the land responds to the Druids’ commands.”

  With nothing left to say to persuade him, the two of us ventured from the beach into the forest. Immediately I felt as if we were being watched. I wanted to say something, but Oberon was in full stride. Nothing would delay the inevitable, not even my words of wisdom.

  Oberon stopped and threw his arms into the air. Branches rushed in from all directions, encircling us, with the ground below raising us up far above. I braced myself for the Orc attack, but it never came. Instead, something much larger appeared. “Heaven above…”

  A wyrm, larger than any I had the privilege to see stormed out of the forest, so quickly that we had not even heard the sounds of the creature. It ignored us and continued its rampage forward, towards the beach that the other Druids were landing on.

  Panicked, “Oberon, we must turn around and assist! There is no telling what the creature can do.”

  But he was not listening to me. Below us was without a doubt the leader of the Orc Tribe. Dressed in their native war apparel, the lead Orc was easily seven feet tall. Knives hung from his belt and in his hand was a spear that was another foot taller than he. He did not move, but waited for us to come back down to him.

  Oberon released the Druid magic and soon we were on his level. His black eyes never once looked at Oberon; instead they were narrowed on me. “Creature, what are you doing here?”

  I expected grunt, or at the very least, a broken attempt at our language. I was shocked that his speech was almost perfect. “Taking what is destined to be ours. The Fae cannot deny us our new claim.”

  Oberon, quick to temper, did not respond with words, but action. He reached out with his hand and thick vines wrapped around the Orc’s neck. Between Oberon’s battle cry and the Orc’s gasps of surprise, the situation went downhill in a split second.

  The Orc ripped the vines from his neck. “Impudent lower being! I will take your head as my trophy!”

  He started spinning his spear so fast. I did the only thing that I thought I should do. I took my natural form and with one bite, removed the Orc’s arm from the rest of his body, saving Oberon who had frozen up. The Orc, seeing his new opponent, ran back into the forest, yelling curses.

  “How dare you interfere woman…?” His tone went from a low growl to unhinged yelling. “This is not your place!” I had morphed back immediately and he slapped me across the face, sending me to the ground. Without even as much as a look back, he stormed off towards the beach.

  **Vic**

  The whole story made me uncomfortable. Granted, it was from the Sphinx’s point of view, but any dude that lays a hand on a woman like that is a dick. Plus it gave me some insight to both the crocodile and the lizard tribe Pan talked about. I also was going to keep using crocodile and lizard tribe when talking about them, just because wyrms and Orcs sounded too far out there.

  It seemed like we’d reached the end of story time. “I’m guessing that’s not the way things ended huh?”

  “No, the Druids were routed by the wyrm. They scrambled back to their boats and left with their tails tucked firmly between their legs, no offense.”

  Hell, I couldn’t transform so no harm there. “What happened next?”

  “Oberon never got over the fact I saved his life. The Druids, wanting to forge an alliance with the Red wolves to help in their battle against the Orcs, encouraged relations between the groups. Oberon eventually decided he wanted to take on a Red as his wife and sent the Teacher after me.”

  The Teacher guy kept coming up in conversation I’d been having with these people. Jack the angel mentioned him a few times and the Sphinx had too. “So who’s this Teacher guy? How was he able to send you back to the Pit?”

  “You will not like this answer, but that is not a question I can answer.”

  She was right, I didn’t. “And why the hell not?”

  I guess my bark was pretty bad as she jumped back for just a split second before regaining herself. “You will learn there are a lot of secrets to the world. Unfortunately, this is not one for me to explain to you.”

  I crossed my arms, still a bit annoyed. “This goes back to trust Sphinx. You want me to trust you, yet you won’t answer my questions without more of your riddles.”

  “I just told you one of my deepest and darkest memories and you still question me. I am beginning to think earning your trust is not worth the headaches attached to it.”

  Ahh damnit, just when I thought I was in a position of power, she went and made me feel bad. “Maybe you’re right. Sorry, I just don’t like being in the dark on matters.”

  Either she played me like a chump or was generally happy that I apologized. You can never tell with these crazy old women. “The Teacher and my resistance to telling you about him have no place in current affairs. What does is Oberon and his temperament.”

  “Yeah I gathered he was a bit of a jackass. Why would he act like that to you after you saved his life?” I never got the whole macho man thing.

  She almost looked at me in pity. Was I missing something? “Men in that generation are not like you Victor. To have a woman save you was seen as a sign of weakness.”

  “Even though you’re more powerful than he was?”

  “That makes it even worse of a crime. I think his resentment of me had been building from the moment we started courting. That was the first time I openly used my true strength and I think it scared him, on top of making him feel weak.”

  I couldn’t help but notice even as she said it; she seemed to almost accept that all these years later. “If you feel the need to save my bacon, go for it. I have no problems in accepting help from those stronger than me.”

  An amused look crossed her face. “You do not know it yet but the days of you needing help are limited.” She stopped talking and silence filled the room. The storm had finally blown itself out. “I do not think there is much more here for you to learn from. Let us return to our camp.”

  I looked at all the books still untouched on his desk. “You’ve read them, are you sure there’s nothing here that I can use?”

  “Just his mad ramblings. The only thing I wished for you to read here was his take on the Orcs and the wyrm. From here onward, I can fill in the questions for you.”

  Hmmm, I wondered why she wanted me to learn this from Pan and not her. Just another question to be probably never be answered. “Before we go, where’s the Gem of Babylon?”

  She reached behind her and pressed a section of wall with her hand. I heard a click and a secret compartment opened up. She reached in and pulled out the bluish colored orb. “Safe and sound, although…”

  What was going on in her head? “Yeah?”

  Rummaging through Pan’s stuff, she found a piece of cord. I couldn’t really see what she was doing, but when she finished, she presented the orb, tied to the cord to me. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Putting it around your neck would probably be a good idea.”

  Well then, she had a way of making me feel dumb. I did as she suggested, noti
cing the weight of the orb seemed lighter than I remembered. “This ain’t much of a fashion statement.”

  “No, it is not. But as the guardian of the orb, it is your responsibility to keep it safe.”

  Hold the phone. “When the hell did I become its guardian?”

  “The moment you saved it from Jonathan my dear.”

  Chapter 8

  “I need you to close your eyes and focus internally.”

  Our only light was coming off the campfire. The Sphinx was just out of sight, hiding in the shadows. “When you say focus internally, what am I looking for?”

  I couldn’t see her, but I could feel her look of annoyance. “You are not looking for anything. By focusing on yourself and not the elements around you, the power of the curses will find you.”

  “What do I do then?”

  “Would you please stop talking and close your eyes?”

  I could see this wasn’t getting anywhere, so I closed my eyes. For a good long time nothing happened. I heard bugs, the fire crackling, and the Sphinx breathing. Smells began to reach me from all over the island. Slowly, I was losing control of my enhanced senses and I started to feel overwhelmed.

  I opened my eyes, freaked out, only to find myself sitting on my couch, back in Arizona. A chill ran over me, this couldn’t possibly be real. But the couch felt real. The breeze coming from the open window felt real. If this was my place, then there was one sure fire way to find out. “Hey Michael, you home?”

  As expected, there was no answer. If the old pastor wasn’t here, then this wasn’t my home. That led to the big question, just where the hell was I?

  A rough, daemonic voice answered for me. “This is the nexus wolf, a place where those afflicted come to learn.”

  Great, I was hearing voices inside my own head. Man, if I had a shrink, I could see the bills just starting to add up. “If by nexus you mean my head, we can agree on that.”

  Another, silkier voice took a turn. “What the other one is trying to say is this is a place where we can try to explain the situation clearly. I believe that is what the Old One with you wishes.”