“Thank you, my son,” Bishop Abiola said. “I have another warrior close by. We will take it from here.”
As soon as the line went dead, the pilot dropped the phone to the floor, crushed it under his heel, and kicked it behind him. The sound of footsteps on metal stairs signaled him to resume the fearful expression he’d be wearing since the demons arrived.
Let them think they won. It won’t last for very long.
Chapter 19
Tori surveyed the room. She’d brought the entire coven, along with Phoenix, back to her shop after Gracey found them in the woods. It had been a serious mistake to not shield their location—a mistake that could have cost them everything. Had Nicole not taken control of Phoenix when she did, it would all have ended right then. They’d gotten lucky, and Tori knew it.
As she looked from one coven member to the next, she saw uncertainty etched in their faces. Each of the women remained unusually quiet, casting the occasional quick glance toward their prisoner before simply staring at the floor. That attitude wouldn’t get them to the finish line, and Tori knew it. She needed to remind them about the importance of fulfilling their founder’s prophecy. At least the prophecy as Tori told it. Her coven members willingly took part because they thought they were helping the world get through an imminent disaster. They still had no idea they were actually creating that disaster. She needed to get them firmly back on her side.
“Ladies, I know how you’re feeling right now, because I’m feeling the same way. Gracey betrayed us all tonight with her vicious attack. I’d hoped her time in the mental institution would have helped her heal, but it appears she’s too far gone. I, like you, would never have believed she’d resort to such violence. But after tonight, her lethal intentions are clear.”
A few of the women began nodding their heads in agreement, but the rest still seemed uncomfortable. Their stolen glances at Phoenix made their reasoning clear.
“When Gracey recruited two thugs to help her, she left us with no choice. Obviously, we cannot—and will not—resort to violence of any kind ourselves. That’s just not our way. By putting this man under our control, we can hopefully stop Gracey from attacking us again. Her mental illness is far more severe than I realized, and I owe you all an apology for not seeing that sooner. I only hope you can forgive me.”
Tori closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand as though fighting to stop her tears. The charade worked exactly as she’d hoped. Several of the women jumped to her side to offer their support and encouragement, while others gave sympathetic smiles.
“I’ve also called in a little extra help to keep us safe. They’ll be here before the ceremony begins.” Tori gave her most sincere smile to the crowd. “I promise that I won’t let anyone threaten us, ever again.”
Nicole, who’d proven to be a far more valuable member of the inner circle than Tori previously gave her credit for, stood to address the room. “Tori, I believe I speak for everyone here when I say this. There is a reason you were chosen to be the one to lead all witches during the mundanes’ time of need. The prophecy foretold by our founder all those years ago is about to be fulfilled, and we are proud to be by your side.”
A smattering of applause started in the back corner and quickly grew to a raucous standing ovation by every single member of the coven. They were ready, and so was Tori.
“All right, ladies.” Tori glanced at her watch. “We have exactly ten hours and thirty-five minutes before the world is forever changed. When that happens, we must be ready. Try to get some sleep.”
Tori made her way through the crowd like a politician running for office, clasping outstretched hands and accepting hugs from those close by. When she was finally able to break away from the group, Liza and Nicole followed her to the front of the shop.
“Were you able to speak with the leaders of the European covens?” she asked Liza.
“Yes. The blackout in Rome had exactly the effect we’d hoped it would. They’ve all agreed to allow us to channel their powers. Although, the high priestess from the London coven wanted me to remind you of your promise to her.” Liza raised her eyebrow and smirked. “I assured her you’d already announced your choice of second in command, and she definitively had the job. I also gave those same assurances to the leaders of the Amsterdam, Munich, and Florence covens.”
Tori let out a brief laugh. “Good. Now all we can do is wait.”
The heavy bookcase that doubled as the door for the back room opened behind them, and Joy stepped inside. Before speaking, she carefully closed it.
“Gracey is still alive,” she said, her voice trembling.
It took a concerted effort for Tori to not strike the incompetent woman down right then and there. “What?” she choked out through gritted teeth.
“I’m sorry. I did what you said, but she had friends who wouldn’t leave her side at the hospital, and she left with them as soon as she woke up.” Joy’s eyes glistened in fear.
“How could you screw this up? I gave you one job to do and you—”
“Gracey doesn’t have any friends outside of this coven. Who were they?” Liza interjected.
She had a point there. The only people Tori had ever known Gracey to hang out with were all seated in the next room. “They could simply be friends that we aren’t aware of.”
“I don’t think so,” Liza added. “Suzanne told me once that she’s Gracey’s emergency contact. Suzanne is here with us, and no one from the hospital has called her to tell her about Gracey. If they haven’t called the emergency contact yet, how the hell would friends find out she was there?”
Tori worked through every possibility she could think of, but kept coming back to the same conclusion. “Gracey has more backup than just Orano and Phoenix,” she said.
“We can’t stay here much longer.” Liza spoke calmly, as though this kind of thing happened to her every day.
“I know a place we can go that’ll be perfect.” Tori smiled. “Nicole, you and Joy stay in the back room with the others. Keep them happy until we’re ready to leave. Liza and I need to gather some items to make a few potions.”
Chapter 20
Gracey couldn’t get her mind off Orano. She’d come so close to losing him and needed to wrap her arms around him just to be sure he was really okay. She’d tried to approach him after he got off the plane, but he’d been immediately surrounded by people she’d never met—the rest of his team, she assumed—and ushered off.
The ride back to their hotel had Gracey in the car with Mirissa and Greco, along with a boisterous Scotsman named Myrick. The man hadn’t stopped peppering her with questions since he’d introduced himself. It appeared that none of Orano’s team knew anything about him at all, and Gracey’s admission to being his childhood friend gave them a unique opportunity to snoop.
It felt as though the drive lasted twice as long as it should have, and Gracey wondered whether they were deliberately taking their time just to have more chances to pry information out of her. Determined to not give them what they wanted, Gracey dodged every inquiry she could and gave only short, generalized answers when pressed. If Orano wanted these people to know about his past, he would have told them himself.
When they finally pulled into the hotel parking lot, Gracey all but flew out of the car. She could still hear Myrick laughing at her as the sliding glass door to the lobby closed. She ran down the hallway toward her room, but stopped short when she realized she no longer had a key. In fact, she didn’t have anything at all. When they’d left the hospital, she’d been so worried about Orano, it hadn’t even occurred to her to retrieve her belongings, assuming that anything even survived the crash.
Rapping on the door, she waited for someone to let her in, but no one answered. “Where are they?” Gracey’s breathing sped up and her heart raced. “They should be here by now. Something’s happened to them.”
“Take it easy, lass.” Myrick took hold of her shoulders and waited for her to meet his gaze. “They needed to
make a quick stop on the way. I’m sure they’ll be here any minute.”
Gracey’s temper flared. “They’re running an errand? Orano was just kidnapped, for God’s sake. Couldn’t one of you have done his chores just this once?”
Mirissa crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall, a less-than-gracious expression on her face. “We offered, but Orano demanded that we take you straight here.”
“What the hell could be so important that they needed to drag Orano with them?” Although Gracey knew she was basically yelling at the most powerful human Orano had ever met, she didn’t care. They needed to know that she wouldn’t allow them to treat him like that.
Mirissa curled one side of her mouth up in an angry grimace. “When Orano found out you’d left your bag at the hospital, he insisted they go pick it up. For you.” She drove her message home by pointing at her.
Gracey swallowed hard, as guilt and shame—not to mention utter embarrassment—washed over her. “Oh. Wow. Um, sorry.”
The Scotsman let out a belly laugh and held up a keycard. “Orano still had his room key—one of the benefits of being a man and keeping everything in your pocket and not in a purse. He gave it to us so you wouldn’t have to wait for him.” When Myrick opened the door, he bent in a bow worthy of honoring a queen and ushered her inside.
Gracey just wanted to disappear. These people were taking care of her, yet she’d treated them like they were the bad guys. She could only imagine what they must think of her.
“I really am sorry about how I acted. I’m not normally a horrible person. I swear.”
All three of them stood in a line staring at her but giving no indication of what they were thinking. Gracey swallowed again and forced herself to meet their gazes. Myrick broke first and, as soon as he smiled, the other two joined in. Gracey felt the air lighten as she took what felt like her first deep breath.
“We’re just messing with you,” Mirissa said. “It’s kind of sweet that you care enough about him to go up against the likes of us. You do know who we are, right?”
“Yeah, well, kind of.” It occurred to Gracey that she really didn’t know anything about who they were. “Orano just told me you’re … special … like he is, and that you’re part of a team.”
“Yep, that pretty much sums it up,” Greco said.
“Sums what up?” The unmistakable baritone vibrated through the room.
“Sparkles!” Gracey burst out. Before she could think better of it, she jumped on Orano, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She hugged him so tight, her muscles ached.
“I’m okay,” Orano said quietly in her ear before grabbing her waist and setting her down on the floor.
The ear-to-ear smile Gracey wore slowly dissipated as she noticed every pair of eyes in the room staring at her, dumfounded. Twice in as many minutes, Gracey managed to make a complete fool of herself.
“Did she just call him Sparkles?” Myrick asked with a wry grin.
“All right, everyone. Show’s over.” The apparent leader of the group pushed her way past the gawkers and handed Gracey her bag. “I’m Myrine Colson. We didn’t have a chance to officially meet back at the airport.”
Although the woman had to have twenty years on Gracey, the only hint of her age came from the occasional streak of gray in her otherwise chestnut hair and the tiny wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Neither of which detracted from her stunning beauty. Mirissa definitely took after her mother in the looks department.
“I’m Gracey McMillan. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Let’s get to work, shall we?” Myrine stepped out of meet-and-greet mode and into team-leader mode as easily as she would a pair of shoes. “How do we find Tori Houlton?”
“Earlier tonight, I found her through scrying. I can try that again.” She grabbed the key ring from her bag. “Anyone have a map?”
“I thought you might need one, so I picked it up at the hospital.” Orano laid it out on the bed. “Do your thing.”
Gracey unhooked the chain attached to her crystal, wrapping the free end around her fingers. Once she felt her connection to the Earth’s energy strengthen, she made her request. Please show me where my coven leader is.
Unlike with her earlier attempt, the crystal didn’t move, so she repeated her plea for help. Please show me where my coven leader is. Still nothing.
“It’s not working. She must have cast a cloaking spell.” Gracey felt sure Myrine thought her a fraud. They’d asked her to do one simple task as a witch, and she’d failed.
“I figured as much,” Myrine said unexpectedly. “This Tori wouldn’t be foolish enough to let you find her that easily twice in one night.” She pulled out her cellphone and put it on speaker.
A voice Gracey immediately recognized answered on the first ring. “Julian’s the name, computers are my game. What can I do for you?”
Myrine rolled her eyes, but smiled at the same time. “Tori’s cast some sort of cloaking spell. Any chance you can find her?”
“Give me a second,” he said, the click of his keyboard keys filling the room. “Her phone’s offline. Either that, or her spell cloaks electronic signals, too.”
Gracey walked over to the window but, with the lights on in the room, the view only showed her reflection. “How are we going to find her? She could be any—” An idea struck her so forcefully it felt like a physical thing. Where it came from, she couldn’t say, but she knew instinctively that it would work.
“I can make a viewing mirror,” she said, grabbing the mirror off the wall above the dresser and laying it on the bed. “Does anyone have a knife?”
Mirissa stepped forward and curled her right hand into a fist. Almost instantly, her unusual ring began to grow and move. A golden snake spiraled its way around her arm until its head sat just below her shoulder. Its tail formed a gleaming blade that stretched about eight inches past her middle knuckle and looked like it could cut through just about anything.
“Okay, then,” Gracey said. “That’ll work. Please cut my hand.”
“Whoa.” Orano pushed Mirissa’s blade down. “What are you planning to do, Gracey?”
“I can’t explain how I know this, but I can do a spell to make this mirror into a viewing portal. All I need is a little Sherwood blood.” Gracey realized that the first part of her sentence hadn’t gone over very well based on the looks she was receiving. “I know you might find this hard to believe, but I am one hundred percent sure this will work. I need you to trust me.”
“That’s good enough for me.” With a flick of her wrist, Mirissa sliced into the tip of Gracey’s finger before Orano could object.
With a nod of thanks, Gracey held her finger over the mirror and squeezed the tip until blood droplets fell. She recited a spell she’d never heard before but knew by heart.
“Instead of my reflection true, allow the view I choose to come through. What I cannot, this mirror will see. I give my blood, so mote it be.”
The puddle of her blood grew smaller and smaller as the mirror absorbed it. When the last spot disappeared, a swirling fog replaced her reflection. She focused her thoughts on Tori and waited.
“Wow, it’s working,” Mirissa said, as an image of the inside of Tori’s shop came into focus. “There’s Phoenix.”
Gracey changed her focus to him, and almost immediately wished she hadn’t. Nicole held his totem in both hands, while Phoenix jumped back and forth, waving his hands in the air and clucking like a chicken. The women in the coven laughed at his humiliation, infuriating Gracey.
They watched the image in the mirror as the women piled in cars and drove off. She focused on the vehicle she’d seen Tori enter, but the farther away they drove, the weaker the image became. It took less than ten minutes for her to lose the connection completely.
“That’s the best I can do. They were driving south, if it helps at all.” Gracey shrugged.
“It’s a start,” Myrine said. “You did well. At least we kn
ow Phoenix is safe, albeit humiliated.”
“Did you get the tag numbers I sent, Julian?” Greco called out to their computer genius whom Gracey had forgotten still waited on the other end of the phone line.
“I did,” he answered, then paused a moment. “Nope. Nothing. Whatever she’s using to cloak her coven, it’s blocking everything. I’ve checked every license plate you gave me and, even though each of the cars comes equipped with an onboard GPS system, I can’t hack into them. It’s like they don’t exist. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Gracey was overcome once again with the odd sensation of having an idea jammed into her mind—not quite painful, but anything but pleasant. “We need to go to Tori’s house.”
“Do you think that’s where they’re heading?” Myrine asked.
“No. Her house is north of the shop.” Gracey tried to find the least crazy sounding way to explain how she knew where to go and what to do. “Someone, or something, keeps shoving ideas into my brain, like how to make that viewing mirror. I know how it sounds, and I swear I’m not losing it. I don’t know who is sending them to me, but I do know that we need to follow them.”
“Been there, done that, my friend.” Mirissa patted her on the shoulder. “I had the pleasure of visions of the past a few months ago. I knew they weren’t coming from me, but I still don’t know who sent them. My best guess is one of the gods, but I don’t know which one.”
Gracey’s jaw dropped open at that last comment. She’d lived for years thinking her particular brand of supernatural crazy was the only one around. Now she found herself surrounded by people who made her look like a mundane. She had to admit that it felt kind of nice to not only be able to share her true self with other people, but to also be the most normal one of the group.
“Tori’s house it is,” Orano said with a grin. “We’ll follow your lead.”
“But what about the people who kidnapped you?” Gracey asked.
Orano placated her. “They’re neutralized for now. Let’s deal with one problem at a time.”
Chaos (Book 4) (The Omega Group) Page 14