Chaos (Book 4) (The Omega Group)

by Andrea Domanski

  Would they kick it? Maybe drop something heavy on it? Gracey wanted to tell them not to waste their time. The magic protecting her totem wouldn’t go down that easily. Maybe after a few unsuccessful attempts, they’d finally see the power she’d been trying to convince them existed. It might do them some good. At least then they’d be forced to believe in—

  A bright orange ball of fire appeared out of nowhere in Orano’s hand. Instead of shrieking like any normal person would, he threw it at the jar like a major league pitcher.

  Chapter 11

  With a sigh of relief, Tori said goodbye to the final guests of her party, leaving behind only her inner circle. Although she’d wanted to kick everyone out immediately after Gracey and her friends departed, she’d continued to play the perfect hostess for long enough to keep up appearances. Only her inner circle knew the whole truth of her plan, and she needed to keep it that way.

  “Let’s get to work, ladies.” Tori led the trio to her office. She needed to find out what coven, if any, those men belonged to. “Nicole, start working on the totem for the one named Phoenix. You’ll find some wax in my bottom drawer.” She handed over the lock of hair she’d removed from the GQ-looking guy. “Liza, work your magic on the computer and find me everything you can about those two.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Joy asked, appearing more than a little nervous that she might be left out.

  “You and I are going to see what the spirits can tell us. Grab the board from the closet,” Tori instructed.

  Joy returned a moment later holding the spirit board reverently in front of her. The aged wood, rubbed smooth from centuries of use, smelled of incense and oil. Tori placed a chair in front of the sofa for Joy. Before sitting down on the couch herself, she lit the small white candle and the Dragon’s Blood incense which rested on the end table. Ouija boards were not something to be toyed with, and those items would help protect them from any darkness they might encounter.

  Joy pulled her chair close enough for their knees to touch. After laying the board on their laps, she set the planchette on the triangle carved in the center of the wood. Joy had the strongest connection to the spirit realm of any coven member, the only reason she’d been brought into the inner circle.

  “Are you ready?” Tori asked after they took calming breaths to clear their minds. When Joy nodded, they both placed two fingers from each hand on the planchette, and Tori began.

  “With the elements and spirit guides, I ask that the users of this board be protected from all negative energies and entities. Are there any spirits who would like to help us by speaking with us now?”

  As usual, no spirit immediately made its presence known. For reasons Tori never quite understood, it often took more than twenty minutes for an entity to start talking, like they were playing hard to get. With her patience running thin, she almost repeated the question right away—a response known to anger spirits considering making contact—but the sound of Liza tapping on the laptop keyboard stopped her. They had the time to wait.

  She cleared her mind of everything but the planchette on the board, hoping Joy did the same. Several minutes passed before she felt the familiar connection and watched the planchette move to the top left corner of the board.

  YES.

  “Thank you for offering to help us. We would like to know about the men who were here today. Orano Tulay and Phoenix Reese. Are they really from the government?” The planchette stayed put.

  YES.

  Tori paused at the unexpected answer. She’d initially discarded Liza’s theory that the men were actually warlocks, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made to her. She’d all but convinced herself of it.

  “So, they’re just mundanes. Good, I can handle that.” Tori felt her confidence surge at the knowledge, and then the planchette moved across the board.

  NO.

  “No? I don’t understand. Of course I can handle a couple of mundanes. Even government agents.”

  YES.

  The planchette moved much quicker that time, indicating the spirit might be growing annoyed with her. Tori decided to slow things down and get the entity back on her side.

  “Thank you very much for helping me. I’m very sorry that I’ve misunderstood your message.” Tori tried to figure out the proper wording to get the information she needed. “Are these two men, along with being from the government, also warlocks?”

  NO.

  Tori clenched her jaw to stop herself from lashing out, another surefire way to anger any spirit. If that happened, it might leave. Worse yet, it could intentionally mislead her with false answers. She needed to keep it happy and talking until she figured out what she’d missed.

  “So, you’re saying that they aren’t warlocks, and that I can handle mundanes, but I can’t handle these men. Is that correct?”

  YES.

  “What are they, then?”

  The planchette began making slow circles on the board. Tori waited for it to stop over a letter and spell out a word, but it just kept circling. Either the entity couldn’t answer the question, or it just didn’t want to. A moment later it stopped over the carving at the bottom of the board.

  GOODBYE.

  “No. Please don’t leave. I have more questions for you.”

  The planchette didn’t move, and Tori knew they’d lost the connection. She moved the board to the couch and stood. Joy looked up expectantly, but Tori ignored her.

  “Liza, any luck online?” Without concrete answers from the spirit world, she had no choice but to rely on her second in command’s hacking ability. Not a bad back-up plan considering her level of skill.

  “I’m having no luck tracking down a Phoenix Reese,” she said. “There are plenty of people with the surname, but I can’t find any with that given name. I also don’t have a way to narrow down my search without knowing where he’s from. So, I put him aside pretty quickly and started on the other one. Orano Tulay from Nigeria has an interesting past.”

  “In what way?” Tori could see by the smile on Liza’s face that the story would be a good one.

  “He was born in Osogbo, Nigeria, to Deinde and Cherice Tulay. A few months later he and his mother moved to Tennessee. There’s no mention of the father. At first I thought they’d just split up or something, but it’s more than that. Orano’s father disappeared the day he was born.”

  Tori found the information interesting, but definitely not earth shattering. Lots of families split up. “You must have found something more than just a broken home.”

  “Oh yeah. The Tulay name goes way back. At some point a long time ago, according to the legend, two of the Tulay brothers branched out and started killing their cousins. They claimed demons cursed their bloodline and that they’d been tasked by God to root out and destroy every family member infected with the”—she used her fingers to make air quotes—“demon-like ability to express the fires of hell from their hands. Since then, dozens of people in that family—maybe a lot more—have disappeared just like Orano’s father did.

  “I’m still piecing together the folklore but, from what I’ve gathered so far, it looks like the brothers convinced a bunch of other family members to join their cause. Rumors of their exploits pop up everywhere, even now. If any of it’s true, they might be the oldest cult in existence.” Liza continued tapping on the keyboard as she spoke. “It’s going to take me a while to wade through everything.”

  Tori needed that information, but she couldn’t afford to have Liza sidelined right then. Their final demonstration would take place in less than eighteen hours, ensuring the rest of the European covens fell in line for the grand finale.

  “Can you get a phone number for someone suspected of being in the cult? Anyone?” she asked.

  Liza scrunched her eyebrows together. “Sure, I guess, but … do you really want me to just call them? I mean, we’d lose all anonymity and, let’s face it, they sound seriously crazy.”

  Tori couldn’t argue with the logic, but
it didn’t matter. She had to take the risk. “Just call them and find out as much as you can.”

  “Guys?” Nicole’s soft voice trembled behind them. “Did someone forget to close down the scrying board?”

  “Of course not,” Tori spat out. “The spirit said goodbye, so the board is clo—” As she turned to send a withering look to Nicole, she saw why the girl sounded so scared. The planchette moved back and forth across the board’s surface on its own volition.

  Only a very strong entity could control a Ouija board. To do so after a user properly closed it down required serious energy and, in the spirit world, evil tended to be the only thing to amass that kind of power. Had Tori opened the door to a poltergeist?

  She took a tentative step toward the board, leaning forward to follow the planchette’s path. As though sensing her presence, it stopped its quick movements, made two slow circles, and began spelling out a message.

  S…T…O…P…….T…H…I…S…….T…O…R…I…

  Tori felt the air leave her lungs as her chest tightened. Before it could spell out any more messages that the others might see, she grabbed the planchette, held it over the carved “goodbye,” and forcefully closed down the board with her words. “Goodbye spirit. Leave now.”

  She held the planchette in place a moment longer, then pulled her hand back. It didn’t move. “Whatever that was is gone now. There’s nothing to worry about.” She held her breathing to a slow rhythm, though panic felt all too close.

  “What did it say?” Joy asked.

  “Nothing. Just gibberish.” Tori took a deep breath and turned her attention to Nicole. “Have you finished Mr. Reese’s totem?”

  “Yes.” She handed over the wax figure. “What spell do you want to use?”

  Tori took the totem into her hand, opened her mouth to answer the question, but stopped short of speaking. An odd sensation came over her, one she’d never experienced before. It felt like a warm breeze blowing through her.

  “Do any of you feel that?” she asked.

  At first, she assumed whatever spirit took control of the board had manifested itself somehow. But that didn’t seem right. It didn’t feel as though a presence joined them, rather it felt like something had left. Not the nasty entity from the Ouija board, but a warm power of some sort.

  And then she understood.

  Tori bolted into the hallway, pulled down the attic stairs, and climbed. When her head reached through the hatch, her anger swelled yet again.

  “Someone’s broken Gracey’s jar.”

  Chapter 12

  Gracey stared, slack-jawed, as her jar exploded in a hail of glass and wax.

  Orano, her childhood friend, had just done something that a mundane absolutely could not do. He had magic, just like she did, but he’d spent the last two days lying to her about it.

  “You son of a bitch!” Gracey stepped out from behind the truck with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

  Pain exploded behind her eyes. Her muscles strained as every nerve ending in her body electrified. The return of her powers, something far more agonizing than Gracey anticipated, proved too much for her. Though she fought to stay conscious, she couldn’t stave off the darkness, and her body crashed to the asphalt.

  ********

  How much did I drink last night?

  The raging hangover made Gracey wish she could roll over and go back to sleep, but the voices in her head had other plans for her.

  “Can you sit up, Gracey?” one of the voices asked.

  “Give her a minute, man,” the other voice interrupted. “Breaking that jar really hit her hard.”

  The jar. Her jar. Her powers.

  The memories flooded back, making the pounding between her ears even more intense. “How long?”

  “You’ve been out for hours,” Phoenix said.

  Gracey pushed herself to a seated position. When the pain subsided, she opened her eyes for the first time. They’d brought her back to her room.

  “No.” She glared at Orano. “I meant, how long have you had magic?”

  “It’s not what you think, Gracey,” Orano retorted, clearly planning on continuing his deception.

  “Really? So, I didn’t just see you manifest a fireball powerful enough to shatter a magically protected totem. Is that what you’re telling me?” Gracey, invigorated by anger, crossed her arms over her chest, head cocked to the side, and awaited his next lie.

  “Uh, well …” Orano’s brow wrinkled.

  Phoenix slapped him on the back, wearing a mischievous smile and twinkle in his eye. “I think you’re busted, there, big guy.” He glanced back and forth between the two, as though waiting for someone to speak. When neither did, he continued. “All right, then. You guys work out whatever you need to work out, and I’ll just be waiting patiently in the other room.”

  Gracey’s gaze stayed glued to Orano’s in some absurd staring game. She damn well wouldn’t be the first one to look away. Unlike him, she’d been honest from the very beginning.

  “Well? What have you got to say for yourself?” she asked.

  Her accusatory tone didn’t seem to sit too well with him. Orano immediately narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, mimicking her stance. “Look, I don’t know what you think you saw—”

  Gracey’s temper flared at his response. Words escaped her, so she settled for the next best thing. “Argh!” she yelled at no one in particular. Blowing out an exasperated breath, she stood up and shoved Orano as hard as she could.

  Of course, the man-mountain barely moved. He uncrossed his arms and reached out but stopped short of touching her after she sent him a scathing glare. At least he had the decency to look contrite, which Gracey counted as a point in the win column. A small point, but a point nonetheless.

  “I’m going to count down from five. If you haven’t started telling me the truth by the time I get to one, I’m walking out that door.” She stomped her foot to drive her point home. “Five.”

  “We aren’t children anymore,” Orano said.

  “Four.” She raised her eyebrows, waiting.

  “This is ridiculous, Gracey.”

  “Three.” Although this tactic always worked on him when they were kids, she thought perhaps she’d overplayed her hand. Orano’s jaw clenched, but he remained silent.

  “Two.”

  Orano let out a short laugh. “Fine.”

  Gracey stopped the smile from creeping onto her face. “Fine what?”

  “We’ll talk, but only if you agree to a few terms first—”

  “Hell no!” Gracey interrupted before he could turn her small victory into a steaming pile of compromises.

  “Then you’re free to leave whenever you want.” Orano sat in the small room’s only chair, once again waiting for her to speak.

  Gracey plopped down on the end of the bed, defeated. “What are your terms?” she grumbled.

  One corner of his mouth turned up before he counted off his terms on his fingers. “First, you will not freak out. Second, you will tell no one, ever. Third …” He paused for a moment. “Third, you’ll stop flirting with Phoenix.”

  She’d expected the first two, but that last one threw her for a loop. She’d forgotten all about Phoenix. “Agreed.”

  Gracey sat enraptured by Orano’s story. She’d spent the last ten years thinking her best friend abandoned her when she’d needed him the most. Although she rarely admitted it, all of the self-esteem issues she’d battled her entire adult life could be traced to that one event.

  The more he spoke, the guiltier Gracey felt. She’d been so wrapped up in her own problems—the death of her father and the loss of her one true friend—that she hadn’t even considered that Orano might be dealing with problems of his own. Even if she had, she’d never have imagined the truth.

  Then it hit her. If he’d told her the truth back then, she wouldn’t have believed him. She’d have thought him either crazy or simply teasing her. Gracey would have been the one to betray her b
est friend, instead of the other way around.

  And he must have known that about me, she thought. That’s why he kept it secret. He’d known not to trust her.

  Her eyes filled with tears and, despite her best efforts to stop them, they fell in a torrent of shame. She covered her face with her hands in a desperate attempt to hide, but it was no use. Orano’s arm slid around her shoulders, and he pulled her to his chest until her sobbing subsided.

  “I’m so sorry,” Orano whispered, his chin resting on the top of her head. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  Gracey’s heart wrenched at his words. He’d just apologized to her, when she should have been apologizing to him. Her shoulders sank as more guilt and shame piled on, igniting a whole new flood of tears.

  “Did I say something wrong? I really am sorry.” Orano pulled back, searching her face with utter confusion written all over his.

  Gracey swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “Please stop apologizing to me. I’m the one who wronged you. I’ve been a horrible friend—a horrible person. You were right not to trust me with the truth. I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t deserve you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Orano sat with his back straight and his brow knitted. “I would have trusted you with anything. You were …” He paused and cast his gaze to the floor as though embarrassed by the words. “You were everything to me.”

  Her heart swelled at his declaration. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I’d just killed a man moments after accidentally burning down a barn. I couldn’t risk hurting you. The only way I knew how to keep you safe was to let you go. So I did.” Orano’s pain shone through his eyes.

  Gracey placed her hand on his cheek, seeing the young boy she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. Strength radiated from him, and it had nothing to do with his huge muscles. She’d dreamed of one day finding a man with that kind of honor. A man who would love her, quirks and all, and make her feel safe in a world that was anything but.