The Last Oracle

by Colvin, Delia

  He let out a boisterous laugh. “He bit me!”

  “Let me see your finger. Did he break the skin? You might need rabies shots.” Caleb held up his finger and moved the layer of rubber aside. Valeria examined it, but it didn’t look like it had broken his skin. “Better wash it and put some antiseptic on it. Okay?” He rolled his eyes as if she was being overly protective.

  Alex glanced toward Caleb and said, “And while you’re at it, pack your bags.”

  Narrowing her eyes, she wondered if only Caleb was leaving, and why. But there was definitely something…different in his mood. Maybe he had changed his mind about having that pastor perform the ceremony and he wanted to give them some privacy. Or maybe it was just good news on his investments. Alex leaned down and kissed Valeria. She loved seeing him happy.

  “What’s happened?” she asked.

  “Why?” he asked coolly, but his face betrayed him and he pulled her into his arms and gave her a lingering kiss.

  “Hmm…so, what’s going on? Why is Caleb packing?”

  “It’s a rather interesting business meeting I have to attend. Thought you might want to get out of here for a while.”

  “Where? Johannesburg?” she asked.

  “Innsbruck.”

  Valeria’s jaw dropped. “Austria? Is that wise?”

  “I can go alone if you prefer,” he teased.

  “Not on your life! You promised never to leave me again—remember?” Then she realized that there was no possibility that he would be leaving her alone, especially now that Toma wasn’t here to protect her.

  “That’s what I thought.” Alex winked. “We’re flying out of here this afternoon and then catching a flight in Joburg. We’ll arrive in Innsbruck late tonight, but I thought you would appreciate a bit of time near our part of the world.”

  ∞

  Innsbruck, Austria was only two hours from their home, Morgana, in northern Italy. Alex had said that, to be safe, it would be many years before they could risk being in Europe. Yet after only just over a month, they were flying not only to Europe, but they would be only two hours away from their home. Valeria was ecstatic. She knew they wouldn’t be able to see anyone, or even drive down the mountain. But to be that close—and to be in the mountains in the summertime. Alex had told her stories about how beautiful the spring and summer were at Morgana, with the fantastic smells of everything in bloom.

  It took her only minutes to pack her bags—not that she had that many clothes with her. Alex took his time, occasionally smiling as he saw the thrill in her eye. Then they put on the brown contact lenses that Paolo had supplied them. Their brilliant blue eye color would alert any other immortals that they were in the vicinity. Not that there were that many, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Alex restated their safety rules: If there was any trouble, Caleb was to grab Valeria and the two of them were to get as far away as they could. Alex assured her that if they got separated, he would find them. He was immortal. Valeria was not. Still, he didn’t seem too concerned.

  They arrived in Johannesburg and Valeria was surprised when Alex escorted them to a private full-sized jet. Caleb was thrilled and asked if he could ride up front in the jump seat, a fold-down seat, so that he could watch the pilots.

  “After take-off.”

  Caleb shrugged and pulled out his laptop.

  In all the time that she had known Alex, he had always avoided the ostentatious flaunting of his wealth. To see him paying Toma a huge severance pay and then this, was beyond her reality. Something big must have occurred in his investments. Valeria and Alex sat next to each other on comfortable tan leather seats as a woman in a navy blue uniform served them champagne.

  As soon as they were airborne, Alex pulled out his laptop. “You might want to rest. This is a long flight and we probably won’t get much rest in Innsbruck.

  “Oh, you have meetings tonight?” she asked, disappointed.

  “Just a few.”

  “A few? So are we going to check in at a hotel first?”

  The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. “No. I have…other plans.” Then he cleared his throat and lowered his brow in concentration as he focused on his computer screen.

  “What’s going on there?” she asked.

  “Just some business that requires my personal attention.”

  She shrugged, pulled out her Kindle, removed her contacts, and read. A short while later, a dinner of stuffed sea bass and tossed salad was served—along with her strawberry kale shake.

  Caleb was busily working on his laptop.

  “Alex, did you know that Caleb goes by the name of Lord Raiden?”

  Glancing up from his laptop, Alex smiled. “So you’ve discovered his alter-ego.” Caleb kept his head buried. “You know he’s quite famous online, or perhaps I should say, infamous.”

  “Our Caleb?”

  “Yes, he’s probably the best in the world.”

  “So, Lord Raiden, what game are you mastering now?” Valeria asked.

  “Ahhh, you don’t have to call me Lord. That’s just to make me sound kinda spooky, like in a scary movie. But I decided that playing games is pretty boring now.”

  “Boring?” Valeria lifted a delicate brow.

  “Yeah, once you find all the glitches they’re really easy. Besides, if I’m gonna be a best man, I probably shouldn’t be playing so many kids’ games.”

  Inside, she felt the inkling of a new pain. Then she thought about how a parent might feel, witnessing their child growing up. For the external world, she put on a smile.

  “I think that’s a good idea, buddy. There’s a lot of life to live, and I think it would be better for you to find something more fulfilling than keeping your head buried in that computer.”

  “Well...I decided to make my own game.”

  “What kind of game?”

  Caleb’s eyes lit with enthusiasm. “A game that has real stuff—like when we went down to the cave and swam out. I think other kids would like to do cool things like that.”

  “What would you call it?” she asked, her interest piqued.

  “I haven’t decided yet. You wanna see what I put together?”

  “Sure.”

  The sun was beginning to set over Africa and, below, they could see hundreds of bonfires.

  “Think I’m going to want to see this, too!” Alex shut his laptop and followed Valeria over to the other side of the cabin. She folded her legs underneath her on the leather seat next to Caleb as Alex stood behind them.

  “This is just the prototype and I still have to fix some stuff,” Caleb said. “The goal is to get to the third triumvirate.”

  “Triumvirate?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah. I thought that would be cool.” Caleb’s fingers danced on the keys as he entered code that meant nothing to her.

  “What’s a triumvirate?” she asked.

  Leaning between seats, Alex said, “It’s three people who make up a power group. So, Caleb, are you referring to the Roman triumvirate? Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus?”

  “Well, yeah, kind of. Only from, like, the Greek underworld, instead,” he said, as he continued to type furiously. “I was thinking it would be cool to start from the beginning.”

  “Chaos?”

  “No. I was thinking of the first triumvirate—what do you call them?” He looked up from the keyboard, thinking, and then nodded. “Oh, yeah, the Moira?”

  “The Moira—you mean the Fates?”

  “Yeah. That sounds cool, huh! Guys like to play games with lots of chicks. I had to kind of soup them up—you know, to make it interesting.”

  “Okay, and you said there was a third triumvirate?” Alex asked.

  Caleb sat back excitedly. “I got it! Okay, watch!”

  As the game came up, a thunderbolt flashed and then morphed into a staff. A snake crawled up the staff and blinked with another crash of thunder. Then, the name flashed across the screen, “A Thunderbolt Production.” Caleb turned to Valeria. “I th
ought that would be cool.” On the screen, there was a boy who looked very much like Caleb in a kayak on a moonlit night. The sound effects kicked in and you could hear the surf hitting against the cliffs. Cartoon Caleb blinked and a message appeared as if someone were typing it: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rescue the damsel and her loyal guard from the cave of no return.

  Caleb glanced sideways. “Cave of no return—pretty cool name, huh.”

  “So, now I’m just a lowly guard?” Alex muttered with a hint of amusement.

  “Well, this is just pretend,” Caleb said seriously, as he typed wildly.

  Valeria laughed and shook her head as she glanced up at Alex.

  Cartoon Caleb paddled furiously toward the cave. Suddenly, the background music and sound effects stopped just as Caleb reached the wall of rocks that hides the entrance cave into Delos.

  “Watch this!” Caleb’s face lit with excitement. Cartoon Caleb looked at the wall and blinked twice, complete with sound effects, and then ran straight into the wall.

  Valeria couldn’t help but cover her mouth.

  “It’s cool!” Then seeing Valeria’s concern, he said, “Don’t worry, it’s just a game.”

  The decapitated cartoon head spun several times and froze momentarily, as it looked down to see its body and the water below, reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote discovering himself as he flew off a cliff. Then, he made a sound as his head dropped rapidly into the water.

  Caleb let out a rollicking laugh as the head plunged underwater with a look of irritation as it sunk past fish and other sea life. A caption appeared on the screen with a deep voice that sounded suspiciously like Tavish, saying, “You lose! You’ve lost your head!”

  Valeria giggled.

  The boy turned toward her for an instant and said, “I just wanted to show you that part. That part’s easy…well, for me, anyway. Let me back it up.”

  This time, cartoon Caleb paddled toward the cave wall with a look of fierce determination. As he approached the stone, Caleb made a movement on the mouse pad and cartoon Caleb rolled the kayak.

  “Cool, huh!”

  “Mm-hmm,” she responded.

  The screen went dark, but Caleb’s fingers flew over the keyboard and then there was the sound of a match. Cartoon Caleb held a match and looked around the cave. He stashed bags of supplies along the way.

  “If you don’t hitch these supplies just right, you can’t make it out of the cave,” he said.

  Then, cartoon Caleb jumped out of the boat at the island of Delos. The frightening white faces of the dribs lurched toward him, but he zapped them just in time. Caleb’s rollicking laughter drowned out most of the games’ sound effects.

  “I made it so you have to release an electrical charge.” Caleb’s face lit with exuberance with each zap.

  Then a giant of a man wearing a green silk toga stepped out from the shadows carrying an ancient, double-sided axe. Obviously, Erebos, cartoon Caleb’s next opponent.

  Erebos swung the double-sided axe at cartoon Caleb’s neck repeatedly, and each time, cartoon Caleb jumped or ducked, just missing it. Having out-maneuvered Erebos, cartoon Caleb ran to the prison cell to free a damsel in a white Greek goddess gown that bore an uncanny resemblance to Valeria with a very enhanced bust line.

  “Nice likeness,” Alex said with amusement.

  Valeria glanced at Alex and rolled her eyes. “A bit ‘souped-up’ if you ask me.”

  Caleb blushed and shrugged. “Yeah…I…well, that’s just how kids draw chicks.”

  “Hmm,” Valeria sighed.

  The heroine gratefully pulled cartoon Caleb into her well-endowed breasts as cartoon Caleb’s face lit with a smile.

  Then, a silly woman’s voice said, “Oh, Caleb, you saved me! Thank you!” She kissed his cheeks leaving behind bright red lipstick. Then, she pressed him to her ample breasts again and kissed him repeatedly, with sound effects, until cartoon Caleb’s face was covered with red lip marks.

  “That’s an awful lot of gratitude when they’re still in danger,” Alex said, still smiling. “So, was your plan to run off with the damsel and ditch the loyal, but lowly, guard?”

  “Nah, I was just getting to that part,” Caleb said, but he didn’t type on the keyboard and the damsel just kept kissing cartoon Caleb, who every now and again would look out, blink, and shrug as if to say, “Aw shucks, ‘t weren’t nothin’ ma’am.”

  Valeria bit her lip to keep from laughing.

  As cartoon Caleb ran his sleeve over his face, the lipstick immediately disappeared. Then he grabbed the hem of the damsel’s dress and yanked, and she was left in a sexy white bikini. He took her hand, they plugged their noses, and together, they jumped into the water.

  “I thought you said the loyal guard is saved,” Alex complained with a smirk.

  “Yeah, I’m getting to that.” A character that looked like Alex jumped into the water and began fighting and gurgling in the water for help. The damsel covered her mouth in fear as cartoon Caleb rescued the loyal guard.

  “Oh, I see,” Alex said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Well, this is all about the hero getting everyone safe. Kids wouldn’t like it if someone else was taking all the credit.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Alex nodded knowingly. Then they went underwater with the damsel clinging tightly to cartoon Caleb’s neck, while his hand clung to the collar of the loyal guard.

  “This is the coolest part!” They come up on an underwater cell with the arms of a headless skeleton wrapped around bars.

  “Okay, that’s enough,” Alex said, suddenly closing Caleb’s laptop.

  “But I was just getting to—”

  “Yes, I know.” Alex rolled his eyes at Caleb. “Why don’t you go up to the cockpit?”

  “Cool!” Caleb exclaimed as he dropped the laptop onto the table in front of him and ran up to the front of the plane.

  “Do you think this game is going to cause an issue?”

  Alex shook his head. “We’ll deal with it once he’s ready, and decide if it’s safe. For now, I think you should rest.”

  With her stomach full, and the gentle hum of the plane, Valeria wholeheartedly agreed. She reclined her seat and the flight attendant brought her a blanket, pillow and a lavender-scented eye mask.

  When she awoke, they were preparing for approach at Innsbruck. It was near eleven p.m.

  Valeria replaced her contacts, and after deplaning, they went through customs. There was a limo waiting for them outside and she recalled her last trip in a limo with Alex. It was the first time she had met Paolo. She shook that thought off and allowed herself to enjoy the feel of Europe. The limo took them through the countryside and eventually pulled into a large country estate, stopping at a guard shack. The gate opened and she noticed the electric wire running over the tall stone wall that surrounded the estate. Seeing the two-story stone mansion, Valeria suddenly understood the meaning of “old wealth.”

  They stepped out onto a cobblestone driveway and walked to the front door.

  “Are we staying here?” Valeria asked.

  The corners of his mouth turned up and he shook his head as he raised the large brass knocker and dropped it. Then he turned to her abruptly and said, “Oh! I should probably warn you—”

  When the door flew open, Valeria was completely startled to see the tiny figure with a sprite of white hair and oracle blue eyes—Shinsu!

  For a moment, Valeria wondered if this was a trick and the council was inside. Then she saw the expression on Alex’s face.

  “You are right on time!” Shinsu said, with a twinkle in her eye.

  “Alex, what’s going on?” Valeria asked.

  “Come in and find out.”

  Shinsu hugged Valeria. “Well, it has been quite a long day I would expect. Did you manage to get any sleep on the flight, dear?”

  Valeria nodded as Shinsu turned to Caleb and he stuck out his hand, with his glove on. Shinsu’s smile brightened. “Young man, I have been waiting to meet you! Yo
u are really something else! Smart, courageous, and very clever! ” She winked at him.

  Caleb smiled shyly. “Cool.”

  Shinsu led them past the grand entry with its cream décor and massive moldings and past the overstuffed furniture with subtle complements of pastels and gold.

  “There are some people who have been very anxious to see you all.”

  Valeria noticed that they had left their luggage in the limo; it must be a short meeting. She wondered why this couldn’t be conducted over the phone, rather than at the risk and expense of a private jet and a meeting in the middle of the night. She glanced at Alex as she pushed her brows together in question. Alex widened his smile as he winked at her.

  Leading them through a corridor, Shinsu headed into what appeared to be a large family room. Alex was ahead of Valeria when she heard the voices. Her eyes filled with tears as she saw her adopted family. Lars and Mani were closest and they hugged Valeria first.

  “Mani,” she wiped a tear from her eye. “I haven’t seen you since…since New York.” She remembered that horrible time that was now four months and a reality away. Then she spotted Camille, with her long, straight black hair, and her beautiful Kewpie doll eyes of brilliant blue. They hugged and cried for several minutes.

  “I thought the last time I saw you was going to be the last!” Camille sobbed. “I should know Alex better than that by now.”

  Ava joined them and threw her athletic arms around Valeria and Camille. “So great to see you, sweetie! The Three Musketeers, reunited.”

  Valeria, Camille, and Ava hugged again and then Valeria glanced over and saw Daphne, the beautiful redhead who thought Alex belonged to her, standing with her arms crossed, nearly fidgeting in her discomfort of their emotion.

  “Good to see you both survived,” she said, in her clipped British accent, bordering on embarrassment.

  “Thanks, Daph.”

  Valeria felt awkward not hugging Daphne, so she reached toward her. Daphne pulled back and rolled her green eyes, complements of Bausch and Lomb, tossed her long red hair over her shoulder, and then gave Valeria a light almost-hug. Camille and Valeria were talking excitedly when Alex kissed Valeria’s neck.