“He’s scanning the same voices. His mind works a lot like mine. That’s likely how he finds the visions.”
Nate didn’t like this at all.
His fiancée thought the man was a good person, a lot like her, and they weren’t on good ground.
This was going to be a disaster.
He could see it now.
“Okay.”
“Here.”
He knew that it was the house. He could see the navigational system. She couldn’t. Avalon was on point with this man. It was as if she was tracking him with her gift.
It pissed Nate off.
He wanted to be the only man on her radar.
PERIOD.
“Yes, you’re right. It’s a giant old house, and it’s locked behind giant gates. Someone doesn’t like company. When Jagger said recluse, he wasn’t yanking our chains.”
Honestly, after what had happened to Lucian, Avalon didn’t blame him.
Being close to people sometimes hurt her too. She’d pick up on their feelings, anger, fears, and anything else they were projecting.
Like right now—Nate was pissed. He wasn’t saying a word, but his aura was very angry. This was going to be bad. At some point, his control would break, and he’d lose it.
It was only a matter of time.
As they pulled up to the gate, he pressed the box and waited for the voice.
“Yes?”
“Lucian Monroe?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Nathaniel Carter with the FBI. I’m here to talk to you…”
“Go away!” he demanded. “I want you off my property. I have nothing to say to you.”
The box went silent.
“Well, that sucked,” he said, “so much for riding in and coming to his rescue.”
Avalon knew she was up.
“Push it again, and this time, let me try, Nathaniel,” Avalon stated. She knew what would work with Lucian Monroe.
“Okay, but I think we’re on our own with this one—at least until the next victim shows up.”
He couldn’t help but celebrate that they weren’t going to be dealing with the man. Nate felt bad, but he also wanted to throw a party.
He pushed the button.
“I said…LEAVE!” Lucian bellowed from behind the safety of his fortress.
Avalon couldn’t help but think about how he sounded like a wounded animal. This man needed her. He needed all of them, and she wouldn’t give up.”
“It’s Oracle. I’ve come to help you, Lucian. I’m here to help you silence the demons.”
There was a pause.
Then there was a buzzing sound, and the gate miraculously opened without any argument.
Nate didn’t know why he tried.
He really should just let her handle it. She was always surprising him. Now he had to stop his internal party, and let his fiancée do her thing.
Great.
As the two vehicles pulled up the long drive, it was clear that Lucian Monroe had money. This wasn’t DA lawyer money.
This was old family.
Old wealth.
Bags of cash hidden in the walls, money.
This was going to be interesting.
When the two vehicles came to a stop, they all hopped out. Nate went to help Avalon down, but she was already on her way toward the house, leaving him behind.
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
On the large porch, Nate could see a figure of someone standing there.
“What the fuck?” he muttered. How did she navigate that walk without help?
Had she been there before?
Maura was right there. “You better chill out,” she whispered. “You’re bright red, and she’s going to figure out that you’re not happy. Let her do her thing. Trust her.”
Yeah, especially since Maura knew what was going on, and she felt for Avalon.
The girl was scared.
She was twenty-five, in love with an older man, and didn’t know much about life—let alone being pregnant. That would scare the strongest of people.
Maura knew this was going to blow up at some point in the near future.
It was only a matter of when.
“I’m trying,” he muttered.
“Let’s give her a minute.”
“I want to make sure she’s safe,” he said, trying to follow.
Maura handed him an earbud. “She’s wired. You can listen to her work and still give her space.”
He was glad his team had thought ahead.
Keeping Avalon safe was always their main concern, so they took extra precautions.
Now he could eavesdrop.
Perfect.
He popped in the earbud and listened. He really hoped the man didn’t try to hurt Avalon.
They’d have a second body in Ravenswood, and it would be Lucian Monroe’s.
Well, it would be if he had anything to say about it.
As she approached, he couldn’t help but think she looked like a ghost. Her skin was so pale, and so were her eyes. He’d seen that cloudy look before. It was in his one eye before they removed it.
“Are you really Oracle?” he asked.
She stared at him. “I am, Lucian. I told you that we’d come. We’re going to help you.”
“I think it’s happening again. I’m feeling the same way I was before,” he said, remaining in the shadows. “My head is beginning to hurt. I think the killer is on the move.”
She didn’t doubt it.
The static was going crazy in her head too. He wasn’t the only psychic noticing what was going on around them.
Others, like them, were aware. The whole psychic spectrum was alive with chatter.
“It’s okay. We’ll work on it.”
As she went to approach, he stepped back.
“Stop, please.”
“Why?”
“I’m scarred and hideous.”
“I’m blind. You look like everyone else to me. I have the luxury of judging a person by their inside, not their outside.”
He went silent.
Avalon could tell he was thinking about her words.
“How did you walk toward me if you can’t see?” he asked. “You didn’t even trip on your way up here.”
“Your aura led me, and I have some peripheral. Right now, you’re full of pain, anger, and fear. You think I’m going to be afraid of your disfigurement.”
“Everyone always is. I’m disgusting.”
“You’re not. Your insides are pretty amazing. You used to help people. You wanted justice. Every day, you got up, went to work, and did everything you could to put the bad guys away. That’s not ugly, Lucian. That’s pure beauty, and that’s what I see inside.”
Her words only angered him.
That man was dead.
He was gone.
“I once helped, Oracle, but not anymore. I’m of no use to anyone anymore.”
“Avalon,” she said, holding out her hand to him. “Oracle is my government name. Avalon is the name I was given at birth. I wish we could be friends, and you’ll feel comfortable enough to use it.”
She waited.
He took her hand with only the slightest hesitation. That meant she was on the right path to getting to him. Her blindness was going to be an asset. He wouldn’t be afraid of her, and he would let his guard down.
That was a start.
“It’s not a trick?”
“No.”
“You really can’t see me?”
She shook her head. “I can’t tell what you’re wearing, what color your hair is, or anything else that describes you. I can tell you that you’re smart, funny, and you used to love your life.”
“I once did. I loved helping people.”
She patted his hand. “You will again. If you trust me, I’ll get you back on the right path.”
“No, it’ll never happen. There’s nothing in this life for me anymore. I had it all, and now I have nothing.”
She felt horrible for him.
> Yet, Avalon understood. She’d felt that way, too, when she was a prisoner to her gift.
He was a prisoner to his injuries.
“Want to bet?” she asked.
“What?”
“I’m serious. Want to bet that you’ll start helping people again?”
He couldn’t believe this sprite of a woman was real. Not only was she calming the noise in his head, she was trying to offer him some peace.
He liked her.
She reminded him of someone’s kid sister, sweet, friendly, and safe. He felt safe.
That was a first in about ten years. The last woman who made him feel like that…
It didn’t matter.
She was long gone.
“Uh, okay. What’s the bet?”
“If I’m right, you heal, find happiness, and survive this, then you’ll bring a date to my wedding.”
“What?”
“I said…”
“I heard what you said, Avalon. I’m not fit for a wedding. I’m more like the monster that rings the bells in the tower of the church.”
She didn’t understand that analogy, but it made her curious.
“Make the bet, Lucian. If I’m wrong, I’ll stay after the case and help train you on how to control the voices. You don’t know how to block. You need help.”
He stared at her. “You’re an odd woman, Avalon.”
She laughed, her voice offering so much calm.
If he only knew the half of it.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“You don’t know that you can’t.”
He was getting frustrated.
“Let me warn you, Lucian. All my life, I was told I couldn’t do anything. I was expected to live my life out a mistake by the universe. I learned to persevere. You can too, if you let yourself believe it’s possible.”
He wasn’t sure.
“Let us help you. I can promise you right now that the people waiting by our cars won’t hurt you. They won’t judge you, and they will accept you for the man you are. You’re a hero, Lucian. You helped victims get justice. That’s what we do in our own way. We are fighting the same fight. I promise.”
He hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Trust me,” she said, her voice calm and peaceful. It washed over him as she focused on his aura. It was changing. Avalon was getting stronger. She was able to calm the man with just a touch.
“Okay. Deal.”
He shook her hand.
“Great,” she said.
“What do I do now?” he asked, unsure how to handle this. The whole thing was new. He only knew one other person who heard the voices, and that had been his mother.
“Can I feel your face?”
He was horrified.
“NO!”
“It’s how I see.”
“Avalon.”
“Please?”
He didn’t know why he wanted to feel her fingers over his scarred cheek. She felt so safe, calming, and peaceful. Maybe Lucian wanted to see if some of her happiness would rub off on him. He could read her.
She was a good person.
He’d become good at seeing people for what they were worth. It’s how he used his gift in the courtroom.
“Okay, but I warned you.”
She moved close. With gentle fingertips, she touched his face. Her fingers ran the length of the scar.
“Well?”
“You see the past. I see the future. You’re more scarred on the inside than the outside.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you think you’re ugly, hideous, and a monster, but you’re not. Your face isn’t bad at all. It’s all in your mind. You hate yourself so much that you don’t see you’re still as handsome as you were. I see that handsomeness.”
He stared at her.
She was out of her damn mind.
Here was the proof.
“Can my team come in? We have work to do. We want to start working on this case.”
He didn’t know what to say.
This little redheaded woman was rolling right over him, and he didn’t think he could tell her no.
“Avalon.”
“Let me help you. I see what’s coming for you. I need you to trust me. If you do, I promise you won’t be let down. This is my job, Lucian. This is what I do. I help people like us. I help psychics who are trapped and can’t find their way out. Let me guide you out of this mess.”
He was scared.
There were four strangers not far away, and he knew they were going to be disgusted.
Everyone always was or they pitied him.
He hated that most.
“Okay, but one gawking look, and I’m kicking everyone out.”
That was the best she could hope for at this point. Lucian was going to take a lot of work.
Yet, he had a chance to heal.
She knew how.
His future was crystal clear, and Avalon knew how to make it happen.
Her name was Bishop.
And she would save the day.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Ravenswood Town Hall
Silas Reed’s Office
She genuinely liked the man she called boss. Silas Reed was a good man and a close family friend. When she needed a job, he allowed her father to hire her on as a deputy.
She’d been green as grass, and likely a menace to everyone around her, but he saw something in her.
Bishop appreciated that.
“Bish, we have a mess,” he said, running his hands through his very gray hair. “Have you seen the news?”
She laughed. “Do you really think I had time today to kick back, grab a cold one, and watch the media prattle on about bullshit stuff they have no business discussing?”
He snorted. “No, not really.”
She glanced at her watch. “Silas, I didn’t have lunch or dinner. I’m ready to eat that stuffed raccoon of yours,” she said, pointing at his taxidermy friend in the corner.
“I have half a sandwich,” he offered, opening the little refrigerator beneath his desk. “I can order you something if you’re hungry.”
“I’ll go with the sandwich. I don’t have much time. I have to get back to the morgue and check in with Roxy.”
“How is my granddaughter doing?”
“She’s crazy. She plays with organs and maggots. Something is definitely wrong with her. You tell me what she’s thinking about.”
He laughed.
Silas loved this girl.
She was like one of his own kids.
“I’m worried about this,” he offered.
She ate the peanut butter and jelly sandwich like it was the only thing left in the world to consume. When she got home, she was taking down a box of cereal next.
“You should be. I’m worried.”
That said a lot.
Bishop Killion was tough. She had been raised with a house full of brothers, and a father who was a cop. Oddly, she was the ONLY one who followed in his footsteps—with good reason.
She had ‘the gift’.
You could see it in her green eyes when she was watching a suspect. The girl was just like her father. She had balls a plenty, and the ability to solve a puzzle with the best of them.
That’s why she was the youngest sheriff in this town, or any of the surrounding ones.
It had nothing to do with the older men around her playing deputy. It had everything to do with the fact that in Ravenswood, the Killions were known for three things.
They raised hell.
They were wicked smart.
They all had gut instinct that would make a psychic weep.
It was that last part that made them good at finding justice and fighting for the truth.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
She pulled out her phone and slid it across the table. “Look at the pictures. Ignore the selfies of Roxy and me. There was way too much tequila that night, and she takes that girlfriend crap
way too far.”
He snorted. “Okay.”
When he found the note, his hand actually shook. “Jesus.”
“Yeah, that’s why you should be worried. This is the first of seven. We’re about to be boned big time.”
He closed his eyes. “Maybe we should call in for backup.”
“Oh my God! Is that what I’m supposed to do, Silas?” she asked sarcastically.
“You’re pushing it, missy. No one likes sass on a good day, but today is a really bad time to push your luck.”
Didn’t she know it?
“Yeah, maybe, but the facts speak for themselves. I can’t call for help yet. The first thing the FBI will ask is how many bodies. We have one.”
“But the note.”
“The second thing they’ll ask is if it could be a prank to mess with us or throw us off track.”
“Is it?”
“How the hell should I know? I have one body and one note. I can’t answer that unless a second pops up.”
“So we’re going to wait until you find a second victim? That doesn’t sound counter-productive at all.”
She shook her head.
Bishop hated that idea. She really, really, hated it, but there was nothing she could do about it.
This was one of those things. It was the nature of the beast. Time was the only way to get more information about what they were working against.
“What does your gut say?”
“That we’re fucked.”
“Bishop! Watch your mouth!”
“Or what? My momma is going to roll over in her grave? Oh wait! She’s not dead. She’s off screwing half of Washington DC in her new life. She can’t roll over. She’s likely handcuffed to a bed.”
He looked appalled.
“Relax. I’m pretty sure everyone who would care if I cursed is focused on the killing—with the exception of you.”
He sighed. “You make me a nervous wreck.”
“This killer should make you a nervous wreck.” She told him about the body, what his granddaughter had found, and how gross the whole thing had been.
He looked horrified.
“I’m waiting on the tox, the trace, the COD, and just about everything else. I can’t move forward until I get something. Right now, it’s about doing the notify, perfecting the fine art of the media blow off, and bracing for what’s coming.”
“Which is?” Silas Reed asked.
Oracle Seeing (The Phoenix Files Book 2) Page 5