He was well aware. Only it was easier said than done. If he could chill out, he would.
There were footsteps.
“Here comes Avalon.”
When she came in, she didn’t look good. She was pale and wearing layers piled on top of each other. It made her lithe frame look disheveled and bulky.
Immediately, everyone watched her.
No one spoke, since they were all thinking the same thing. She was way off her game.
She headed toward the coffee, finding it despite her blindness. It had been a couple months, and she’d memorized every step in the place.
When she turned around, she went to put the coffee down, and Jagger glanced at Nate.
The coffee sloshed over the rim.
Again, like it always did.
“Avi, honey, are you okay?” Maura asked, watching the woman. She looked like shit.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
She wasn’t.
She’d never felt this bad in all her life. This was completely a new thing for her. Death likely felt better than she did at that moment.
As she stood there, her head was pounding, and her stomach was twisted into knots. She wanted to throw up. She could hear the screams in her head, the residual of what had happened last night.
They had a case.
She could feel it.
“What’s going on?” Maura asked, moving closer. That’s when she saw it. The blood began dripping from Avalon’s nose. It ran across her lip and dripped onto the countertop.
Commence the freak out.
Nate was going to lose his mind.
Maura grabbed some tissues to blot the blood. While horrifying to see any on her, this wasn’t the first time it had happened.
Thankfully, for Nate’s sanity sake, not all of Avalon’s visions were this difficult. Unfortunately, as of late—the last month or so—she didn’t seem well.
Maura was terrified that Oracle was burning out. While she wouldn’t say it out loud, it was on her mind. To her, it was all about priorities.
Screw helping complete strangers.
She could retire for all she cared. Maura didn’t want her friend to hurt.
She loved her too much.
There was a horrified gasp, and they all knew who it was from.
“Jesus!” Nate saw the blood, and he wanted to be sick. “Avi, are you okay?” he asked, moving from his seat to reach her side. When he touched her face, she was ice cold.
It scared him.
She felt like a corpse.
“I have a killer headache, and I want to puke,” she said. “The vision from last night was hellish.”
He was aware. “What can I do for you, honey? Just tell me,” he asked, letting her lean into his body.
“Can I have some tea, Nathaniel? I can’t stomach coffee right now. It might push me over the edge.”
Luke jumped up, allowing his friend to keep Avalon steady. He’d handle the tea for her.
As soon as Luke turned the kettle on, Nate scooped her up in his arms to keep her from falling. It always astounded him how light she felt. Her body was so frail compared to her mind.
Inside her head, there was something that none of them could even comprehend. Avalon had her own little universe there, along with an off the chart psychic gift.
Sitting, he held her against him as Avalon held the tissues to her nose.
She relaxed.
The scent of his cologne, the way he held her, and the fact that she was safe, helped get her through it. There was still a part of her that was scared about the whole thing, but she kept it to herself.
Avalon was focused on keeping her stomach from turning itself inside out.
Baby steps.
“How bad was the night?” Jagger asked.
“I was sleeping when I heard him. He was calling to me,” she said.
That disturbed Nate on some masculine level. How could he protect her inside her head? “A killer found you?” he asked.
“No, a psychic this time. He didn’t really find me as much as scream out for help. He’s a mess. In fact, he makes my life look normal.”
That was saying a lot.
“What’s his name?” Jagger asked, grabbing the tablet from across the table. They had one in pretty much every room in case something like this happened.
With Avalon, you had to be on guard.
Jagger got ready to do some research. These tablets had access to just about every military and government database. They were unregistered, ran on a hidden network, and were untraceable. The government had secrets, and they had ways of using them thanks to the Blackhawks.
“His name is Lucian Monroe. He’s about Nate’s age. I saw him. He’s really been hurt by someone. I don’t know much more about him.”
“Hurt by someone?” Maura asked.
“He has burns and scars.”
Jagger began searching him.
“What can you tell us about the dream?”
“There was a killer, and he was torturing someone. It was pretty brutal. Lucian was trapped in it.”
“What did you see?” Luke asked.
“I didn’t. I couldn’t get past Lucian. He was seeing it, and I was helping him focus. His gift is violent. The visions take him to his knees. They come in flashes. In order to help him see the crime, I had to slow them down. I had to focus for him. That’s why my nose is bleeding. It was hard.”
Nate wasn’t happy. His face said it all.
Shit like this pissed him off. Nate was the job and ran everything by the book. The only weakness was the woman in his lap. For Avalon, he’d cut out his own kidneys.
“Nathaniel, stop scowling,” she said, reaching for his cheek with her palm. “I can hear the frown lines from here.”
How she knew, they’d never know.
“I’m worried about you, Avi. The last week, you’ve been sick. I can tell you’re under the weather.”
“Everyone gets a cold or the flu, Nathaniel. I’ll be fine. This is all about Lucian Monroe from here on out.”
He hoped she was right.
“Maybe we should take you to a doctor.”
“We don’t have time.”
She told them about the killer. “There are going to be seven. He’s on his first one. The sooner we get there, the better. I want to stop this killer from taking any more lives. From what Lucian says and what I could pick up, it was violent.”
That made Nate unhappy for two reasons. He didn’t like Avalon in danger, and he didn’t like the idea that there was some man playing around in her mind.
Both scenarios led to her being hurt, and that was the last thing he wanted. He’d put his foot down before he let that happen.
She was his, and he couldn’t help but get jealous.
“Nathaniel, relax,” she said, taking the tea from Luke. “Thank you.”
He dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s not a problem, Avi. If you need more, let me know,” Luke said. “I want you to feel better.”
Yeah, and his buddy too.
He could see his best friend suffering over Avalon’s pain. When one of them hurt, they all hurt.
“We better get ready.”
“I have the basics,” stated Jagger. “Most of the details are from ten years ago.”
They all looked over at that little tidbit of information.
“Why so long ago?” Maura asked. “There’s nothing up to date on him?”
Jagger had only one reason. “He’s a recluse.”
They didn’t get it.
“It seems that Lucian Monroe was an up and coming District Attorney in a town called Ravenswood. In fact, it’s not far from here. We’re talking maybe a thirty minute drive.”
They listened.
“One day, as he was heading out of the courthouse, someone put a bomb in his car. He disengaged the locks, and it went off. It nearly killed him. He went from this,” Jagger said, turning the tablet to show them, “to this,” he said, pulling up the most c
urrent driver’s license picture.
There was a scar from the top of his head, through where his eye once was, and into his cheek.
“Wow,” stated Maura. “That had to hurt like a bitch. He’s lucky he didn’t die.”
Jagger read the news article out loud that went with the first picture. It was a tabloid, and while shady, they tended to be somewhat accurate.
‘DA Lucian Monroe was nearly killed today when a car bomb placed in his vehicle went off when he tried to open the doors. The explosion has put him in critical condition, and he isn’t expected to live with thirty percent burns across his body.’
“Well, he lived,” Avalon said. “He’s a mess, but he’s alive. When I was focusing for him, I could feel his anger. He’s locked himself away, and he’s full of hate.”
She knew he was going to be part of the mission too. It wasn’t only about finding a killer. Avalon instinctually knew she had to help him.
He’d locked himself away, and that was never a good thing for a person like them. Their minds needed stimulation, to work, to help, and to be free. He was caging his gift.
It had to stop.
“Can you blame him?” Jagger asked. “Look at the pictures of his life before he was nearly killed.”
They all studied them, and Nate described them to Avalon since she couldn’t see them.
“He was drop dead gorgeous,” Maura stated.
Luke gave her a look.
“Really?”
“You’re more drop dead, beach-bum sexy. He’s tall dark and mysterious.”
“This isn’t getting better,” Luke clarified.
Avalon interrupted. “We have to help him.”
They had to set him free.
“He’s still beautiful,” Avalon said. “I can feel his insides and that’s what makes a person attractive. To someone, like me, who can look past the superficial, he’s still sexy. He’s genuinely a good person, but he’s very angry.”
Nate stared at her.
Did she just call another person sexy?
His fiancée?
Why did that make him want to hurt something?
“I feel horrible for him. What he’s lived through has to be painful,” Maura stated.
“So, we’re going to help him?” Luke asked.
“Yeah, but it won’t be easy. He’s not really into helping people anymore.” Avalon knew that was all about the anger locked inside of him. She saw what was coming, and they could help him if he’d let them in. “We have to get him back on track, using his gift for good.”
They were confused.
“He did this before his accident?” Maura asked. “He’s had visions? They weren’t from the explosion and his injuries?”
“No. Read about his career.”
Jagger pulled it up.
As he skimmed through it, he whistled. “She’s right. He was brilliant in the courtroom, closed his cases, locked the bad guys away, and he never even batted an eyelash the entire time.”
“He used his gift. I’m almost positive,” Avalon offered. “He used that to drive his career.”
“Do you think he’ll help us?” Maura asked.
She wasn’t sure.
It was a gamble.
His aura told the tale. Lucian was one pissed off man, and it could go either way.
“It’s going to depend on two things.”
“What?” Nathaniel asked.
“If I can get through to him, and if the next person on the killer’s list hits home for him. He knew the first victim. He knew the judge who was killed.”
This wasn’t going to be easy.
How were they supposed to get into place, investigate, and handle the situation if the person who was connecting to the killer didn’t want to help?
They had to stay low key.
“Maybe we should pass on this one,” Maura offered. Her biggest concern was keeping Avalon hidden. They didn’t need the media, local cops, or the President, getting wind of her identity.
That would be bad.
Very.
Very.
Bad.
“No, we’re doing it. I just need a shower, to get dressed, and eat something. I’ll be fine. I can pull this off. I know I can. Lucian needs me.”
No one believed her.
“I’ll help you,” Nate offered, despite the sick feeling creeping into his gut.
“Actually, can Maura do it? I need to talk to her about something.”
Nate got worried.
It wasn’t like Avalon to push him away like that. It terrified him. That was the one thing in his life that could, and would, continually keep him wracked with fear.
“Okay, Avi. I’ll get the plans started, so we can head to Ravenswood.”
It took everything he had not to beg her to let him help. Nate knew he’d sacrifice his dignity for her.
Somehow, he kept his mouth closed.
Standing, Avalon headed for the doorway with her tea. She didn’t glance back, she didn’t speak, and she didn’t acknowledge that Nate’s aura was filled with fear.
She had bigger issues at the moment.
As she headed up the stairs, it took everything she had not to run. Avalon wanted to race up to their room, lock herself in the bathroom, and be sick.
When she finally got upstairs, she dashed the rest of the way, praying nothing was going to trip her. Once in the bathroom, she hit the floor and began purging everything in her body.
The tea.
Bile.
Fear.
Behind her, she heard the door close and could feel Maura’s approach.
“Avi, are you okay, honey?” Maura asked, kneeling beside her to pull the woman’s red hair back as she purged.
Avalon was crying as she threw up.
Maura had never seen her like this.
When Avalon was finished, she handed her a towel. “Do you want me to get Nate?”
“No. I’ll be okay. I just need a minute and you.”
Maura held her hand. “What do you need?”
“I think I’m pregnant.”
Maura’s mouth opened as those words sunk in. That would explain just about everything they’d seen happening to the woman. “Ohhhh. Yeah, okay.”
Avalon felt better after puking.
“Anymore. I’m sick in the morning—all the time. The last two weeks have sucked.”
“Does Nate know?” Maura asked. She prayed he did because if this got out, and he wasn’t the first one to know, he wasn’t going to be happy.
“No. I don’t know what to do. My birth control must have worn off.”
“What kind were you on?” she asked.
“Shots.”
Maura thought about it. “Yeah, that’s likely.”
“I want to make sure. What do I do?”
“You get a test and pee on it.”
She stared at her blindly. “How about I give you some nuclear codes? That I can do. Drive to a drugstore, pick up a pregnancy test, and take it—let alone read it—without Nate finding out, isn’t going to happen.”
And now she knew why she was there. “I don’t have one, but I can get you one.”
“Please?”
“Okay. Can you handle packing? I’ll make up some excuse and get one in town. It won’t take me long.”
She could.
“Maura, I’m scared.”
She could see that. “It’ll be okay, Avalon. If you are, we’re here. We’ll make sure you figure this out.”
“I don’t know if I want to be a mother.”
And there was the fear.
It took a brave person to come right out and say it.
Maura understood what she was saying. She didn’t want to be a mother either—not with her job.
“Okay, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, we have a case, we need to get you a pregnancy test, and then we’ll deal with that, but you’re going to have to tell Nate. He’s like a freaking bloodhound. He’s going to pick this scent up,
and there is no way in hell he’s going to let it go. It’s not going to happen.”
She was aware.
“If I am…?”
“We have you.”
She believed her. They were her family. There was no way in hell they’d ever let her down. She would be safe.
“I feel better.”
“Great,” she said, helping her up.
At least one of them did.
Maura felt like shit. She was going to have to keep a secret from the team—worse yet, from Nate. This was going to be ugly.
And she knew it.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Ravenswood
Well, this was a mess.
Her day couldn’t have possibly started out any worse. For Sheriff Bishop Killion, she was facing down the worst case scenario. Here she was, at the courthouse, and someone had left her a present.
The judge.
She’d gotten the call from one of her deputies that morning, before the sun had even come up. She didn’t believe it at first, but he’d been right.
Someone had killed Judge Arron Abrahms.
Not only had they mutilated and tortured him, but they left him splayed out on the courthouse steps where he’d worked. It was likely a message.
Yeah, that couldn’t be good.
They had a real sicko on their hands. Whoever had done this wasn’t playing with a full deck. It didn’t take a genius to see that.
“What do we have?” she asked, as her deputies milled around. On the ground, Doctor Roxanne Faust was kneeling beside the body.
“Well, it’s definitely the judge, Bishop, and he’s been tortured. Look at the cuts to his body. They’re pink around the edges, and that means he was alive at the time.”
“That sucks for him.”
“Yeah, it did. His intestines are covered in dirt, leaves, and twigs. I’m going to guess and say that his internal organs were outside his body as the killer dragged him through the woods, or someone’s backyard.”
“Why do I get the feeling, Roxy, that by the time you’re done, this is going to suck even more than I thought?”
The coroner stood and pulled off her gloves. “Bish, this has absolutely nothing to do with me. You simply have the worst luck on the planet.”
She was right.
She did.
Her life was a series of misfortunate misses. The last ten years blew to hell and back.
Oracle Seeing (The Phoenix Files Book 2) Page 3