by Mac Flynn
Contents
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Other Books
Oracle of Spirits #5 (BBW Paranormal Romance)
MAC FLYNN
Text copyright 2016 by Mac Flynn
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission in writing from the author.
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CHAPTER 1
I never knew what new danger would be lurking downstairs. Would Ian con me into another haunted house job, or would I face a demon that hankered for my soul?
Turns out that fateful night was neither, but something much worse.
I walked downstairs. The house was as quiet as the grave, but that was typical. I found Ian in his usual chair with a warm fire in the hearth. Nothing weird about that. What was strange was the expression on Ian's face as he gazed into the flames. A note dangled from his left hand and his cigarette burned low in his mouth.
"You look like you just lost your best friend," I commented as I plopped into my usual spot on the couch.
"Nearly so," he replied.
I raised an eyebrow. "Is this something you don't want to talk about?"
He pursed his lips and turned to me. "You remember what Ruthven told us about the witches?"
"Something about how they were helping the Whisperers, right?" I asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah, but one of the witches, a woman named Jenny, decided not to help them. She pulled out, and now they're after her."
"They really don't take 'no' for an answer, do they?" I commented.
Ian shook his head. "No, and to make things worse Ruthven thinks she could help us."
I raised an eyebrow. "Why is that worse?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose. I'd never seen him do that before. "Jenny's not your typical witch, even if witches were typical anything. She's a handful."
"So this is more trouble than just tracking her down before they do and telling her we'll help her?" I guessed.
Ian sighed and raised the note so his eyes brushed over the contents. "That's the easy part. Ruthven knew where she was hiding and I sent a message to her telling her she could live her with us for a while in exchange for what she knew. She replied agreeing to come."
I blinked at him. "Wait, so what's the problem here?"
Ian returned his gaze to the fire. "The problem is I haven't told Cronus about it."
I snorted. "Is that it?"
"He's not very fond of witches, particularly this one."
I raised an eyebrow. "Why this one?"
"Like I said, she isn't your textbook witch," he told me.
"And that means what?"
"It means pink, and lots of it."
"Pink?" I slowly repeated.
He didn't look at me when he nodded. "Pink everything."
I slumped in the couch and furrowed my brow. "Still, it can't be that bad, can it? I mean, Jenny doesn't have to live here forever, does she?"
"What does she mean by that?"
The voice spoke from the doorway, and Ian and I looked to find Cronus standing there. His narrowed eyes were zoomed in on Ian. Ian returned the deadly look with a shaky smile.
"Hey, Cronus, didn't smell you come in. Is there anything to report-"
"How long is she to stay?" Cronus interrupted him.
Ian winced. "I'm not really sure. Maybe a couple of days? Maybe a couple of months?"
"Then she must be kept elsewhere," he demanded.
Ian stood and held up his hands in front of him. "Work with me here, Cronus. You know Ruthven's come up dry. She's our best lead so far on these Whisperers, and if we don't have her we don't have anything."
Cronus spun on his heels and stalked away.
"Ouch," I spoke up.
Ian's shoulders slumped and he ran a hand through his hair. "That could've gone better."
I jerked my head at where Cronus had disappeared. "So is this personal or does he just hate pink?" I asked Ian.
He shrugged. "I don't really know. She knew him before I knew him because she's the person who introduced us. Jenny did it as a joke to torture Cronus, but he got back at her by partnering with me."
"Touche. So when does she come?" I inquired.
He checked his watch. "We pick her up at the park at midnight tonight."
Ian and I drove to the park a couple of hours later sans Cronus. Ian hadn't even asked him along for the ride.
"So how powerful are witches, anyway? I mean, what can they do?" I asked him as we passed block after block.
"Those things generally accepted by folklore," he replied.
I snorted. "So they're ugly and smell like cat piss?"
He smiled. "Some of them do, but what I meant was they're all women and can cast spells with their hands or with magic ingredients."
"They must make a wicked dinner," I quipped.
"Don't put them down too much. Their powers are on par with those of a mystic, they just happen to use natural energy over the spiritual," he explained.
"That must be why the Whisperers need them for the stones," I guessed.
He nodded. "Probably, and why Jenny is so important to us. We need her to tell us how those things work, and how to break them so guys like that man in white don't snatch up all the mystics."
I recalled the strange man and shuddered. I'd hate to be in his grasp.
We arrived at the parking lot and stepped out of the car. The park was deserted, but our attention was on the gazebo. Somebody stood under the round roof, and that somebody wore pink.
"At least she's punctual," I commented.
Ian swept his eyes over the area and pursed his lips. "Don't get too comfortable. Ruthven said she was a target for the Whisperers, and they don't let their targets go without a fight. Keep your eyes and ears open."
"Way to kill the mood. . ." I murmured as I followed him to the gazebo.
We came to the steps and I got a good look at the woman. She was a half a head taller than me, about thirty-five, and her hair was brown with pink highlights. Her attire was a pink blouse, pink knee-length skirt, and, unsurprisingly, pink silk stockings with pink shoes. A pink handbag hung over her arm, and she looked at us through narrow, pink-rimmed glasses. On either side of her were two large suitcases, also pink. She wasn't too bad to look at if you could get past the pink, though that was a big 'if.'
She had her arms crossed over her ample chest and a cross look on her face as her eyes fell on Ian. When she spoke I wasn't too surprised to hear a Southern drawl in her accent.
"Honey, you are nearly late," she scolded Ian as we walked up the steps.
"Good evening, Jenny," he returned with a smile.
Her ill-temper melted beneath that smile and she gave him one of her own. "I suppose I can forgive you just this once, seeing as how you're going to help me."
Ian stopped a yard in front of her and nodded at her attire. "You'd help both of us if you wouldn't dress like that. The Whisperers could pick you out of a crowd of clowns in that getup."
"You know I don't just look this way because I enjoy the color, honey," she scolded him. She spread out her arms to show off all her powde
r-puff glory. "This is a matter business. If I can't get the attention then I can't get the clients."
Ian lit a cigarette and tossed it into the brush beyond the gazebo. "If you're going to make this fun for us then there's gonna be some payment in advance."
She frowned. "Like what?"
"Like info. Do you know how the stones work?" he questioned her.
"I do. I even know the spell that's cast over them to make them work," she informed us.
"What about the one to shut them down?" he wondered.
Jenny smiled and shook her head. "Now that would be telling all I know, detective, and I'm not quite that stupid."
"We'll protect you either way," he pointed out.
She wagged her finger between them. "You can't expect a girl to put it all out for you on her first protection night, can you?" She gestured to me. "Besides, you rude man, you haven't introduced us."
"Enid," I spoke up.
She smiled and bowed her head. "A pleasure, Enid. My name is Jenny, and I'm-"
"Get down!" Ian yelled.
He leapt towards us and pushed us to the floorboards of the gazebo. Something black and familiar flew over our heads, and I caught sight of a pair of red eyes.
"Phantom!" I yelped.
"A little late on the observation," Ian scolded me as he sat up. He winced, and I noticed a few shreds of the back of his overcoat hung over his shoulders.
"It got you?" I asked him.
"Yeah, but not as bad as it would've been if it got either of you," he countered.
"It's cute to see you two flirt, but could you get off me and get me the hell out of here?" Jenny requested.
I blushed. "We are not flirting!"
"Focus," Ian reminded me as he pulled a packet of talismans out of his overcoat and handed me half the stack. He stood and readied his stack. "And make these count. I don't want to have to make any-" Another Phantom swooped from the darkness of night.
Its blood-red eyes glared at us and its claws were outstretched for another attack. Ian threw his talisman like a dagger and stabbed the Phantom between the eyes. It screeched and fell to the ground outside the gazebo.
Jenny grasped her luggage and looked around wildly at the area. "Where are they?"
Ian lifted his nose and frowned. I used my mystic sight and my eyes caught on some Phantoms that hovered just behind a clump of trees ten yards off. I pointed at the spot.
"There!" I cried out.
"Get Jenny to the car. I'll take care of them," Ian ordered me. He raced to the edge of the gazebo and leapt over the railing straight for the Phantoms.
"Time to go!" I told her as I helped her up.
"Not without my clothes!" she insisted. She slammed one of the luggage bags into my hands. It weighed only slightly less than a car.
"What the hell do you have in here?" I asked her.
She grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the car. "My life, now move!" she ordered me.
We ducked low and sprinted to the vehicle. Halfway to our destination and we found ourselves in trouble. A woman stepped from the shadows. She had a Cheshire grin on her face and a Phantom by her side. In her hand was a rock that glowed.
"It's my lucky night. My target and a mystic," she crowed. Her eyes flickered to her Phantom and she jerked her head towards us. "Kill the witch and get the mystic."
The Phantom flew at us. Its claws were aimed at Jenny while its eyes targeted me. I fumbled for the talismans and ended up dropping both the pack and the luggage. Jenny stepped in front of me and swept her hand in front of her.
A band of pink light shot from her hand and sliced the Phantom. The creature screeched as its two halves separated in opposite directions and crumbled to dust. The Whisperer woman's eyes burned almost as brilliantly as those of her lost Phantom.
"You'll pay for that!" she shrieked as he made to open her pocket.
I could see she had a spare Phantom to send at us, so I hefted the heavy bag over my head and chucked it at her. The woman flung up her arms and screamed. The sound was cut short on impact with the bag, and the woman was knocked to the ground. All that was visible to us was her legs. Her feet twitched a little and stilled.
Jenny and I crept up to the woman and peeked over the top of the bag. I took a breath when I saw the Whisperer still breathed. Jenny whipped her head in my direction and glared at me.
"Don't throw my bag!" she scolded me.
I shrugged. "I couldn't exactly use the talismans on her," I pointed out.
We were again interrupted by Ian. He rushed up to us and swept us, bags and all, into his arms.
"Time to leave!" he told us.
I had a good glimpse over his shoulder and saw what he meant. There were two unconscious Whisperers besides our woman, but five more appeared from the shadows beyond the gazebo. Ian sprinted over to the car, deposited us in the back seat, and jumped into the driver's seat. He roared out of the parking lot and left the Whisperers in the dust.
And here I thought picking her up was going to be hard.
CHAPTER 2
Jenny and I burrowed our way out from beneath her bags. I took a deep breath of the night air and slumped in my seat.
"That could've gone better," I commented.
"Yeah. We'll have to find a new meeting place for clients," Ian agreed. He glanced in the rear view mirror at Jenny. "You're real popular with the Whisperers."
She shrugged. "They don't like when people say 'no' to them."
"We'll have to discuss that 'no' when we get to the house," he warned her.
We drove back home and Ian was merciful in that he carried the bags inside. He plopped them at the bottom of the stairs, and Jenny and I came up behind him.
Jenny glanced around the entrance hall. "It looks like you really let Cronus decorate. There's no pink in sight."
Ian smiled and gestured to the parlor doorway. "Let's have that talk now," he insisted.
She shrugged and led the way into the parlor. Ian seated her in my usual spot and took his chair. I made do with the other end of the couch. Ian lit a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth before he studied Jenny.
"All right, out with it," he commanded her.
She smiled. "Do you want it sugar-coated or just the plain facts?"
"I want you to be straight with me. How'd you manage to get out of their plan without getting yourself killed?" he asked her.
She puckered her lips in a pout and shrugged. "If you want to be that way."
"I want to live to see another week," he quipped. "Now what do you know about these Whisperers and what they're planning?"
Jenny frowned at him. "I don't know what they're planning, only that they need mystics to do it. A lot of mystics."
"And they're hiring witches to make stones for them?" he guessed.
She wagged her finger at him. "They're hiring witches to enchant stones. It seems the spell is a little unstable, and once cast a witch can't do it again for a month. That's why they need so many of us."
"And where do you fit into all of this?" he asked her.
Jenny leaned back and sighed. "I must admit I was all set to join in their little game of hide-and-seek until I found out about that explosive spell they wrote into the fine print of the contract," she revealed. "I declined their offer and left, but not before I overheard more than they thought I did."
"Like what?" Ian persisted.
She smiled. "Like the spell they used for the rock. The novice Whisperer who was supposed to give it to me mumbled it beneath his breath-and what breath!-and I happen to know how to read lips, so-" she shrugged, "-I learned it, and the spell to undo the stone magic."
"How'd they find out you knew about the spell?" I spoke up.
Jenny shifted and coughed into her fist. "I might have told a few people what I knew. Just to warn them off, if you understand."
"And one of them squealed," Ian guessed.
She sighed and gave a nod. "Yep. That's what I get for trusting a witch." She closed her eyes and shook her hea
d. "Unreliable, the whole bunch."
I frowned. "Then how are we supposed to trust you?"
Her smile returned and she jumped to her feet. "That's just the question I was looking for. Fetch my bag for me, will you, honey? It's the one you carried."
My eyes flickered to Ian. He rolled his eyes, but nodded. My shoulders slumped, but I got up and grabbed the hefty bag from the hall. I plopped it onto the floor in front of her.
Jenny opened the zipper and stuck her head inside. The luggage was so large her voice echoed. "Now let's see, where is it?" she murmured. "Ah! There it is!" She raised her head and reached inside the bag. Her hand pulled forth a smooth stone much like the one the Whisperer carried, but minus the glow. She plopped it onto the coffee table and it made a dull thud as it landed. "This is the stone they offered me. I thought I'd keep it as a souvenir, and maybe to try a spell or two on it."
Ian picked up the stone and turned it over in his hands. "It's a river stone-"
"Actually, it's a creek stone," she corrected him. "Probably taken from some ancient forgotten creek untouched by man and packaged in the finest, purest silk to get it into their hands."
Ian's eyes flickered to her bag. "It's fallen pretty far from that treatment."
She glared at him. "Pink is a sign of purity."
"A blinding one," he quipped as he set the rock back on the table. "What about the spell that activates it?"
"I'll write it out so I don't ruin a perfectly good spell stone," she offered.
A paper and pen were found, and Jenny scribbled a few words down. She passed the paper to Ian and he studied the words.
"Unde sequitur ut embed in hoc mysterio a lapide," he read aloud.
"Embed within this stone a mystic source to follow," Jenny translated.
"Is that it?" I wondered.
"It's a simple spell, but with the right words from the right witch it'll work its magic," she assured me.
"And the counter-spell?" he asked her.
She smiled and shook her head. "Not yet. Besides, can't a lovely woman like myself get some decent civility in this bachelor pad? I haven't even been shown to my room."
"What guarantee do I have that you even know it?" he pointed out.
Jenny stood and shrugged. "You don't, but I have it and I'll give it to you as soon as you get me out of this mess. Now where am I to sleep?"
Ian nodded out the doorway and at the stairs. "Up there."
"All right. You needn't come with me I can find my own room," she returned.