He stared at her.
“You’re insane, lady. I don’t have a partner. I run this place, and we don’t have serial killers in Adare.”
Even as he said it, Laird didn’t really believe the last part of what he was saying. His gut was heading that way, but he wasn’t going to admit that to this woman.
Avalon’s laughter filled the room.
“Yes, you do have a partner. We all do. It’s the person who knows us best, who protects us, and guides.”
“If I had someone like that in my life, don’t you think I would already know it? You’re not making sense. I have myself and Molly. She’s my backup.”
Well, she was.
Now she was licking Oracle’s arm.
She was a traitor.
“Laird, you’ve already met her. Trust me when I say it. You’ll recognize her.”
The room went still all around her, and the energy began changing.
She looked over at Nate. “She’s coming. Unlock the door. It’s time.”
Nate did what she asked.
“Molly, stay here,” Avalon said, moving out of the way. The dog remained by her, resting its big fluffy head on her leg. Her hands stroked the fur.
When the door opened, Laird stared in disbelief.
He couldn’t believe it.
Nothing made sense.
What the hell was going on in his life?
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Twenty Minutes
Earlier
St Joseph’s School
She was feeling agitated. The entire morning, something was off with her. It all started the minute she walked away from the man she’d met on the street.
Her head hurt.
Her skin felt like it was crawling, and she was edgy as hell, but didn’t know why.
Today, she should be calm.
It was the last day of teaching for the year, and her students were plying her with presents as they bid her adieu.
Still, Brianna Collins couldn’t think about them.
She was seeing the man from that morning in her mind. It was as if she had to see him again.
“Miss Collins, do you want to walk home together?” asked Mary Murray, as she peeked her head in through the classroom door.
“Oh, Mary, I can’t today. I have some errands to run, but can you bring these gifts home for me?” she asked, packing them away.
“Yes, mum.”
The girl took the floral tote and peeked inside. “You got lucky! There are cookies in there!” the teen said.
She laughed. “You can have them.”
“My Da…,” she began.
“It’ll be our secret. Pick what you want.”
Mary gave her a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll see you for dinner at the bed and breakfast?” she asked.
“Absolutely.”
Mary headed off, and Brianna stopped smiling.
She could hear the voice in her head. It was the one she’d heard before. It was calling to her. It wouldn’t relent, and Brianna knew that meant one thing.
She had to listen.
“What?” she whispered.
‘You need to meet your partner,’ came the reply.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have a partner,” Brianna answered.
There was some static as the voice tuned in and out. Then it suddenly became clearer as if someone moved the antennas—like on old television sets from years ago.
“I’m confused.”
Her head hurt.
‘Talking like this is safer,’ the voice promised.
Brianna tried to figure out how to do it. Finally, she was able to pull it off. The woman in her head gave her instructions, and it seemed to work.
‘What do you want from me?’ she asked.
She felt this urgency, like she needed to leave and find him.
Brianna picked up her purse and grabbed her keys to the room. She was listening to the voice, even though it scared her. She didn’t want to help anyone do anything.
She just wanted to be safe.
‘He sees the future, and you see the past. Together, you’ll save people.’
She kept walking.
Was that true?
Did she have a purpose other than this?
‘Where do I have to go?’
The voice gave her instructions.
Brianna didn’t hesitate. She had seen some pretty scary things, and if she could help, maybe that was the right thing to do.
‘I need a sign.’
Oracle could hear her, and she knew exactly what the woman would need to get her to help. Once she arrived, it would begin.
The race against the clock would start.
Brianna listened to the woman, and her voice was sweet, cathartic, and it offered her peace. As she moved through the street, passing by kids who were beginning to celebrate the end of the school year, she was focused on something else.
There was this scent.
It was leading her.
As she approached the building, she didn’t even notice the name plate on the door, or the big sign hanging overhead. All she could think about was the sound of a heartbeat.
His heartbeat.
She could hear it.
It was close.
As she stood there, trying to gather her wits, her own heart began beating in syncopation, adjusting to the one she could hear. It was as if they were one.
Her hand touched the knob.
Slowly, as if afraid to see the truth, she pushed the door open, and there he stood.
It staggered her.
He stood up from his desk, and his eyes, the ones that matched hers, connected.
There was that moment between them.
“Laird.”
“Brianna,” he whispered.
Avalon smiled. She could feel the threads of fate weaving together. She could see the chances of this woman’s survival increasing.
“What are you doing here?” Laird asked. His whole demeanor changed. Before, when he’d been drawn to her, he was easy, calm, and peaceful.
Now, he was anything but.
“I saw the killer. I was in my room at the bed and breakfast, and I saw the killer here,” she said, touching her head. “I saw it all. I have to help.”
Her words did two things.
They solidified what Oracle had said, and they pissed him off. This was a game to them. It had to be set up and to hurt him.
He stared at her.
“GET OUT!”
She jumped at the tone in his voice.
“I’m not fucking around. I don’t know what you think you’re about, but I’m done playing! Leave my office, and stay away from me!”
She backed up.
There was shock on her face, and there was fear. She’d never told anyone about her gift, and here was why.
Rejection sucked.
“I’m sorry,” she said, moving away from him.
She looked over at Avalon. “I’m sorry, Oracle. I tried. I have to go,” she whispered, yanking the door open. “I can’t be that person. I’m leaving.”
When she raced out, and the door slammed behind her, Avalon stood.
“And now she’s dead,” she said, the room around her vibrating with energy.
Laird looked over at the tone in her voice. It wasn’t there before.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked. “What are you even alluding to?”
Oh, where to even begin?
Avalon moved toward him. She took his hand in hers, and she opened his third eye all the way.
“She sees the past, and you see the future.”
Then she showed him.
And it was horrible.
There was Brianna, being sliced to pieces. The killer ripped open her shirt, and began carving her heart from her chest. When it was pulled out, it continued to beat in the bloody hand.
He dropped to his knees as all the visions slammed into him at one time. He could smell her perfume, h
ear her laughter, and then taste her blood as she screamed.
Jaysus!
What did he do?
“You just sealed her fate. Brianna Collins is the last victim, Laird, and now fate will have her. I can only help those who wish to help themselves. You clearly don’t care about Adare or its people.”
With that, Avalon moved her fingers from his face so he could fall out of the visions.
He was on his own.
“Let’s go, Nate and Luke. I’m done here. I made a mistake. Laird isn’t ready or strong enough. I’ll have to do this a different way.”
Both men followed.
When they headed out, Laird grabbed his waste can. He purged everything in his stomach. What he’d seen made him ill. He’d been forced to watch the pretty American being slaughtered, and she kept crying for his help.
What was he to do?
Laird wanted one thing.
To close his third eye.
Forever.
Outside, Avalon took Nate’s hand in hers, and she said nothing. In her mind, she was working on tying up all the loose ends.
She’d done her part.
Played her role.
Now, it was on them.
“Well, that didn’t go well,” Luke stated. “Now what?” he asked.
Avalon’s laughter floated around them.
“Why do you think it didn’t go well?” she asked.
“Because you said it wouldn’t work,” he replied.
That made her smiled.
“Fear not. That went perfectly. Now, we wait. Laird Maguire will do the right thing. He’s a cop at heart, and he’s a good person. I believe in him. He will save Brianna. I’d place a bet on it.”
Nate wasn’t so sure.
It didn’t look so good from where he was standing.
“Baby, how do you know that?” he asked.
Avalon simply smiled.
Fate was playing out exactly how it was supposed to. It was right on track. While they thought this was bad, it wasn’t. It was a catalyst.
She was right.
Avalon knew it.
Now, time would tell.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Graymoor
Adare
Once in the safety of the house, Maura needed a little backup when it came to cleaning up the ‘road rage’ mess. They had to unload that vehicle, and make sure that they had all of their stories straight in case the Garda came a calling.
As far as they were concerned, they didn’t know anything about some high-speed chase on a roadway in Ireland.
Nothing.
Lucian needed to call in his vehicle as stolen, and once that was handled, Maura and Jagger were going to go off to handle the actual disposal. It was something they’d done many times before to cover their trail.
As she dropped them off, Jagger grabbed a motorcycle from the garage. He followed Maura, to give her a ride back. It was the least he could do since she saved his and Roxy’s bacon.
Inside Graymoor two-point-oh, Lucian listened to the whole story as his wife and her friend told him all about it.
“It was madness,” Roxy stated. “She drives like a maniac. When that car blew, she didn’t even flinch.”
Lucian loved a good story. “I’m incredibly jealous that I didn’t get to see this.”
Bishop dropped into his lap. “I’ll act it out for you later,” she said, nibbling on his ear.
“Well, then, in that case, I’m glad I missed it. I don’t mind a rousing game of show and tell with my wife.”
She snorted.
“What have you been doing?” Roxy asked, ignoring the man’s innuendos. She was also going to block out that he was teasing her best friend’s ear.
It made her bitchy.
Her and Lucian…they were oil and water. Roxy held a grudge, and Lucian had hurt her best friend. As of that moment, they were still on opposite sides with Bishop trying to bridge the gap.
Should she let it go?
Absolutely.
Did she trust him?
Uh, no.
Guys like Lucian Monroe were as slick as slime, and she knew the type. There was a part of her that was waiting for him to break her best friend’s heart.
Then she’d level him—pregnant or not.
Since, at that moment, she had nothing nice to say, it was best to leave.
“Is there some place I can go to take a nice, hot bath?” she asked. “Driving NASCAR with Maura frazzled my nerves. Dianna is doing spins in there.”
“Can I feel?” Bishop asked.
She smiled. “Absolutely. When she’s born, I’d like you to be her godmother.”
“Oh, Roxy, I’d love that,” Bishop offered.
Bishop felt the baby moving. It was sweet to see her best friend’s face as her child made little bumps.
“I just began being able to feel her. She’s smart. I can tell. Most babies don’t move this much. That car ride…”
She got it.
“I’ll bring you up. I could use a shower myself. I feel the filth of blown up assholes all over me.”
Lucian laughed. “That’s the perfect name for a perfume. You should market it.”
“Yeah, right after ‘Blood of my Enemies’,” she teased her husband.
She and Roxy headed upstairs. When they got to one of the unused rooms, Bishop pushed it open.
Roxy whistled. “Granddad is loaded, but this…”
Yeah, she knew it.
“It’s like a castle. What kind of money is that man sitting on?” she asked.
Bishop snorted. “Yeah, I know. He’s rolling in it. It drives me insane.”
“Yeah, it must be hard living in a castle,” Roxy teased.
“Watch out for the dead.”
Roxy stared at her.
“What?”
“You heard me. This place is spooky.”
Good God!
Was Bishop busting ass?
“What? Why would you say that? Do you think I look like I can handle more crazy today?”
Bishop hugged her. “Go take a long bath. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Roxy grabbed the fluffy towel that was hanging on a hook on the wall. “This is better than the spa.”
Bishop laughed as she closed the door.
Heading toward the master suite, she, too, began pulling off her things as she got inside the door. As she stripped, on her way to the bathroom, she left a trail.
Yeah, she was a slob.
Sue her.
She’d get it later.
Walking into the palatial bathroom, she was suddenly yanked to her left, spun, and pressed to the icy cold tile of the wall. The second the hot, hard erection touched her ass, she knew who it was.
“Lucian,” she moaned, as his hands wandered, and his mouth teased her neck.
“I couldn’t let you shower alone. The house is always so busy, but now I seem to have you to myself.”
His words sent shivers down her spine.
She quivered at his touch as he wantonly let his fingers explore. It was when Lucian ran his fingers across the soft, sensitive bud that she shook.
It made him wilder.
There was no way he was going to be able to take his time with Bishop. His needs were off the chart.
What he wanted?
That was easy. It was to take his wife.
“I feel out of control today, and the fact that you were nearly hurt…”
She got it.
Lucian, while a gentleman on the outside, he had one hell of a wild streak.
She loved it.
“Do your worst, my sexy beast.”
That was music to his ears. Forever would she be his opposite, the beauty to that monster looming in him. How she accepted him…
It drove him wild.
Now he had to have his woman.
Spinning her, he lifted her up, trapping his wife between his rock-hard body and the wall. She moaned as his mouth did torturous things, his hands drove her wild
, and his dick…
It was there, throbbing, and waiting for her.
Lucian was a man on the edge.
Just the feel of her in his arms and her fingers running through his hair made him crazy. She kicked up his libido and made him as horny as hell.
“I can’t get enough of you,” she admitted, biting him on his lower lip.
He got that.
It was as if he just couldn’t get enough of her either. Lucian was more than happy to be her sexy plaything. This was one of his favorite things to do.
Wife-molestation.
“If you keep doing that, we won’t make it to the shower,” he mumbled, as they continued to make out like wild animals in heat.
Bishop brought this out in him.
“Bed first,” she muttered, wanting him to have his wicked way with her on that monstrosity they slept in each night.
That was her secret little pleasure.
There, she was his queen, and he was the king. It helped fuel some really exciting Lucian-driven fantasies.
Oh, he could do that.
What his Bishop wanted, she was going to get.
From the way she was trying to climb into his body by way of his mouth, Lucian could tell his wife was going to be a crazy romp.
Oh, he was up for that.
Literally.
At their bed, he dropped her onto the soft mattress.
She beckoned him closer, right before he dove back onto her, pinning her beneath him. Once more, the war began as they struggled for control. Before they knew it, they were rolling around, getting tangled in the linens.
As her nails scraped lightly down his slick skin, there was a low moan from deep within his chest.
“Bishop, save me,” he whispered. “Make me feel!”
Oh, she could do that. Her sweaty pirate was all hot and bothered, and that was always her goal.
Oracle Haunting (The Phoenix Files Book 4) Page 10