Oracles' Light [PUP Squad Alpha 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (15 page)

BOOK: Oracles' Light [PUP Squad Alpha 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
10.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“You think Victoria and Tory are the same person?” Kali asked even as she shook her head. “Somehow, that just doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s the only explanation that fits,” Ava said, tilting her head the way she and the other Oracle’s receptacles seemed to do when they were trying to interpret things that they “knew.”

“But Kali’s right,” Lilly said, looking confused. “They are the same person, but they’re not. I’m not sure how to explain it.”

“Tory is the only one who could manipulate the Ruling Body into promoting Cassandra. Anyone who’s met Cassandra would know she’s not capable of doing the job,” West said. “I spoke to the witch for quite a while before I came here. She admitted that many of her ‘orders’ had been suggestions from Tory. The problem is that even Tory’s orders contradicted one another.”

“So what are we dealing with?” Ronan asked the entire group. He turned to Eric. “Can witches develop a split personality disorder the way some humans do?”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Eric said on his usual considered tone, “but it’s not necessarily out of the realms of possibility. Some of the magic witches and warlocks use taps into the darkest parts of their psyche, but it’s more likely that they would go insane, maybe even homicidal, rather than develop the complexity of a split personality disorder.”

Darian and Jed, the two warlocks in the room, nodded their agreement. Eric was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by Lilly.

“Shit!” she exclaimed. “Drop the shield.”

The other women nodded, and a moment later Lilly grabbed ahold of Devlin and Jed and blinked out of the room.

“Where?” Benjamin began to ask the remaining Oracle’s receptacles, but the three people reappeared a moment later. This time with a pile of ashes at their feet.

“Did you get them all?” Devlin asked as everybody moved back just a little. Considering how crowded the meeting room was, they didn’t go far.

“Who is it?” Angus asked, recognizing the ashes of a pixie recently incinerated by a demon shot.

“Dex DeKardoin,” Kali said. “I’ll go get Emmallina.” Kali blinked from the room alone, much to the annoyance of both of her husbands. Angus tried not to chuckle. At least with Kristen being completely human, he would never have to worry about her putting herself at risk. She was his and Dyson’s to protect, and protect her they would.

Dex was already well on his way to re-forming when Lilly and Emmallina blinked into the room. The pixie queen looked momentarily unsettled by the human version of slip travel, but quickly moved to her husband’s side.

“Lil,” Jed said very quietly. “It’s not that I disagree with saving the pixie king, but is it really wise to keep bringing pixies inside the town limits? I’m starting to get a kind of Trojan-horse feeling.”

“It’s okay,” Lilly replied just as quietly. “Dex and Emmallina are allies.”

 

* * * *

 

Dex wasn’t really prepared to re-form in the middle of a room full of people he’d once thought of as his enemies. It certainly didn’t help that he was naked. He accepted the coat someone handed him, and then tried to maintain his dignity as the waistband touched the floor and the sleeves swallowed his arms completely. He took a deep breath, smiling gratefully as Emmallina appeared in the room and ran into his embrace. Being royalty, they didn’t ordinarily show affection in public, but this wasn’t exactly an ordinary situation.

“How did I get here?” he asked, trying to moderate his voice so that it showed only mild curiosity and not the freaked-out feeling behind it.

“It doesn’t matter,” Benjamin said dismissively. It was obvious he would protect his operatives even from the people they rescued. “What matters is how the king of the pixies ended up a pile of dust in need of rescue.”

He wanted to bristle at the suggestion that he’d needed rescuing, but since it was essentially the truth, he decided to not draw attention to it. “Victoria,” he said simply. It went against every instinctive behavior he’d learned over the centuries, but Dex knew he needed to start trusting someone. Emmallina trusted these people—being the Oracle for humans and vampires meant she was uniquely qualified to make that call—so he would, too. “I went to the home of the head of the PLA. Victoria arrived as I was interrogating the man who is clearly under the influence of fireweed. She fired off a demon shot before I had time to react.”

“Did you see her face?” Benjamin asked.

“I did,” Dex said with a nod. “It was very quick but enough to confirm that Tory and Victoria are the same person. I’ve dealt with the Judiciaries often enough to know what Tory looks like.”

Emmallina shook her head quickly. “No more,” she said urgently. “Connistanterina said Victoria was the Oracle for pixies and demons. She knows everything you say and do, where you go, who you talk to.”

Dex went to open his mouth, but Emmallina shook her head again.

“Jennifer,” Emmallina said, suddenly sounding very casual. “Is there a place where my husband and I can rest? Regenerating from incineration can be very tiring.”

“Of course,” Jennifer said as she led them from the meeting room and into what seemed to be a type of day-sleeping area one might find in a busy human hospital or fire station. She indicated for them to take any bed they wanted, and then turned to leave. “I hope you have pleasant dreams.”

As the young werewolf closed the door, Dex finally understood what Emmallina was planning. With a sigh of relief, he climbed onto the bed, gathered his wife close, and tried to go to sleep quickly.

 

* * * *

 

“Jason,” Angus said quickly as the implications of Emmallina’s words sank in. The Oracle for pixies and demons would know all about the conversation Dyson had shared with Jason. Victoria had been brazen enough to try and kill the king of the pixies. She wouldn’t think twice about murdering a PUP squad operative who thought he was following orders. Jason trusted the woman. There was no way he would see a hit coming.

Benjamin shook his head slightly, but the look he gave Angus suggested that there was something neither he nor Dyson knew. Hopefully, that meant Jason was safe. From everything Dyson had told him, the young warlock was as much a victim of Victoria’s machinations as everyone else.

“Oh, crap. The fucking idiots went and did it.”

Kali’s exclamation had all eyes turning to her. “Nukes?” Ronan asked his wife urgently.

“Yes,” Ava confirmed. “Why would they think they need two?”

“We need to evacuate the town,” Angus said, his mind already turning to think over the safest locations to hide Kristen.

“No,” Hannah said in her usual calm voice. “This ends here.”

“How?” several of the men asked at once.

“First we need to disable those nukes and then we need to reduce the size of the shield. Angus, can you bring Dyson and Kristen into this building, please?” Angus was half out the door before Kali finished speaking.

He ran to their home, his heart pounding as fear pulsed through his veins. He’d never really minded the possibility that he could die in the line of duty, but to lose Kristen in a war that she had nothing to do with was completely unthinkable. He didn’t slow down as he approached the front door, practically ramming it with his shoulder when he didn’t turn the handle quickly enough. Dyson was there in an instant, Kristen held tightly behind him.

“We need to go,” Angus said quickly as Dyson lifted Kristen in his arms and followed without question. He led them into the meeting room, unwilling to leave Kristen even only a room away. She’d avoided the other women living in Sugarvale, but she was about to get to meet them whether she wanted to or not.

Kali, Ava, Hannah, Amber, and Lilly all turned in their direction and smiled at Kristen. Clearly embarrassed, Kristen gave them all a half wave and asked Dyson to put her down. But the moment he placed her on her feet, her knees gave out, and he lifted her back into his arms. The room suddenly filled with angry curses, and it took a moment to realize that all of the Oracle’s receptacles had lost consciousness the same time as Kristen had.

Chapter Thirteen

 

Dex held his wife close in both his dream and in real life. After the heartache of thinking he’d lost her, it felt miraculous to be this content. Even with everything else going on, the one unassailable truth was that he loved his wife and she loved him. Whatever evidence the PLA had supposedly amassed against her didn’t mean a damn thing in the light of that revelation.

He held her for what felt like hours in the dreamscape but was probably less than a few minutes in real life. At first he put it down to the virtual world they inhabited, but it bothered him enough that he finally had to ask.

“Are you shorter inside your dreams?”

“Actually,” Emmallina said with a nervous sort of laugh, “I’m shorter in real life now as well.”

“How? Why?”

“Remember the cure I told you about for Conni? It worked, but every female in your immediate family is now a few inches shorter.”

“But Conni is okay?”

“She will be,” Emmallina said, her determination to make it so very clear in her voice. “Dr. Eric is working with the warlocks from PUP Squad Alpha to find a way to remove the fireweed effect from her DNA permanently, but for the moment, she is out of danger of dying. Now that she is no longer miniature in size, she is not suffering withdrawals from the fireweed.”

“But she’s essentially back on the drug now?”

“Unfortunately, yes, but hopefully not for long. Benjamin provided handcuffs that will stop her from traveling via her own slip path. Your mother is sitting with her. If there is an emergency, she will slip back to the palace and take care of her until we join her.”

“How did my mother take it? She couldn’t really afford to get any shorter. She’s already the shortest person I know.” Dex knew his mother’s generous heart would have overruled any concern over her own welfare, but it wasn’t something he wanted any of the women in his life going through again.

“Dex,” Emmallina said with tears in her eyes, “they were all amazing. Not one of them hesitated to say yes. Even knowing that they would need to be reduced to ashes to enable the transfer of organic material, not one of them complained.” The tears rolled down her face freely as she gave him a watery smile. “We are truly blessed to have such an amazing family.”

“That we are,” Dex said, vowing to never lose sight of that truth ever again.

 

* * * *

 

“Is the shield down?” Benjamin asked urgently as he checked the panels that controlled the magical wards. Angus knew the Oracle’s receptacles’ shield didn’t show up on what was essentially the electronic version of a magical enchantment, but if they couldn’t tell, they needed to assume it was down. “Nathan, give me three seconds and then shut off the wards. Everyone be prepared to travel by whatever means possible the moment they’re down.” Dyson moved closer to Jennifer, Thomas, and Adam in a clear indication that he would take them through his slip path as well. Darian and Brody also moved closer to the people in the room unable to travel unaided via slip path, bounce tunnel, or vortex jump.

Benjamin, Samuel, and their wife, Skye, moved from the room at vampiric speed, hopefully going to warn Cassandra, Dex, Emmallina, and the rest of the pixies in the building of the imminent threat.

Nathan counted to three out loud and then hit the release code to switch off the protection wards. The moment they were down a witch’s bounce tunnel opened into the room.

“Go!” Angus yelled at Dyson and the rest of the people in the room. Dyson nodded and immediately stepped through a slip path carrying their unconscious woman away from danger. Relieved to see them escape, Angus turned his attention back to the woman who’d stepped into the room. She watched as two bounce tunnels and a dragon vortex closed behind the others.

“Well, that’s not exactly the welcome I was expecting.”

“What do you want?” Angus asked aggressively. She seemed surprised by his anger, but took a deep breath and managed to remain polite in spite of his hostility.

“I was hoping you could tell me where Cassandra is. She went missing from the Ruling Body’s headquarters sometime last night. There is evidence of a slip path into and out of her office, but since she doesn’t have that particular skill, we’re working on the theory that she’s been abducted.”

Angus shook his head and tried to think clearly. The longer he could distract the woman, the more time Dyson and the others had of masking their travel signatures. “So who am I dealing with? Tory or Victoria?” he asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

“I don’t understand,” the witch said with a bewildered look on her face. “They’re both my name. I mean, most people know me as Tory, but my full name is Victoria.” She glanced around the empty room, the disarray proving that many people had left here in a hurry. “Forgive me—it’s been a long night—but I don’t understand your hostility. I’m trying to find the administrative supervisor for PUP Squad Alpha. I figured this would be the best place to start.”

“We won’t let you hurt her.”

“Hurt her?” the woman exclaimed in an affronted-sounding voice. “Why would you think I’d hurt the woman?”

Angus shrugged. “Probably because you tried to kill the pixie king less than an hour ago.”

BOOK: Oracles' Light [PUP Squad Alpha 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
10.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Secret Obsession by Robin Perini
Vacant Faith by Melody Hewson
Pursuit by Chance, Lynda
Bums on Seats by Tom Davies
Europe in Autumn by Dave Hutchinson
Winning Streak by Katie Kenyhercz
Dear Laura by Jean Stubbs
Women On the Other Shore by Mitsuyo Kakuta
The Wells Bequest by Polly Shulman
Angel in My Arms by Colleen Faulkner