Oracles' Light [PUP Squad Alpha 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (18 page)

She smiled as she felt Angus step into the room, his mission complete. She could feel his concern for her, his pride in her finding her abilities, and even his small, mostly unacknowledged doubt that he would ever be strong enough to protect her. It wasn’t right to know so much about the person she loved.

“A font?” Kali asked with a wide smile on her face.

“Perfect,” Hannah and Ava said at the same time.

“We need a fail-safe,” Amber warned. They all nodded.

Kristen smiled. The solution was perfect.

* * * *

“What is it?”

Dyson wasn’t the only confused person in the room. He was just the first to ask the Oracle’s receptacles to explain the sudden presence of a huge water fountain in the middle of it.

“It’s the font of all knowledge,” Kristen said with a smile.

“How is a water fountain a font of knowledge?”

“Every Oracle collects the history of a species. As the Oracle’s receptacles, we seemed to be collecting even more than that. Before we created the fountain we could sense the thoughts, motivations, and emotions for every person on the planet. It’s not really a skill that we need to help us accomplish what Bethany wanted.”

Everyone in the room seemed uncomfortable with that information.

“The good news,” Hannah said, glancing at her husbands, “is that all of the information is now being recorded on the water and we are no longer collecting it in our heads.”

Just about everyone in the room sighed with relief. It was very disconcerting to feel like his thoughts weren’t private. From what Dyson understood from the pixie queen, Oracles only collected knowledge of events and the people involved, not the motivations or emotions behind it. Theirs was simply an accurate recording of history. What the Oracle’s receptacles had just described was well beyond that.

“What is the liquid?” Skye asked as she walked around the large stone design.

“Plain-old ordinary water,” Kristen confirmed.

“How can you store information on water?” Dyson asked. He wasn’t really sure he wanted to know the answer.

“Ironically, we got the idea from the human brain. It’s mostly water, but has an incredible storage capacity.”

“So the history of the world is being recorded onto this fountain of knowledge?” Angus asked with a wide grin.

“Yup,” Lilly said with a bright smile.

“But how do you ‘read’ it?” Jennifer asked curiously as she joined her sister at the edge of the stone construction.

“We just have to dip a hand into the water.”

Dyson frowned at that explanation—it seemed like a huge security risk—but Ava explained before he could voice his concerns.

“Only the Oracle’s receptacles can read it. To anyone else it just seems like water.”

“But what about evaporation? Or if someone drinks from it?” Benjamin asked, obviously thinking along the same security lines as Dyson.

“The information is copied hundreds of times. If information is lost, the fountain will simply reproduce it.”

“It sounds like an automatic diagnostic system on a computer,” Jennifer said.

“In many ways, it is,” Kali confirmed. “The fountain is constantly checking information and recording new stuff just like the computers of the world’s banks. If it finds a problem, it self-corrects.”

“You mentioned a fail-safe,” Benjamin said, apparently not yet convinced.

“We’ve set up a type of diagnostic algorithm. Each of us will check the fountain once a day. It will alert us to potential problems and help us identify when people need our help.”

“We can do what Bethany wanted us to do without going insane,” Kali said with a wide grin.

“What did she want you to do?” Dyson asked, worried that he already knew the answer.

“She wants us to save the world.”

“How?” he asked. Kristen might be an Oracle’s receptacle now, with skills he could barely imagine, but it didn’t stop him from worrying about her. She was in his heart and he couldn’t imagine going on with his life without her by his side.

“In lots of little ways,” Kristen said as she stepped into his arms. “We can help nudge things in the right direction.”

“The fountain contains all of Bethany’s knowledge, too,” Hannah said as she moved to cuddle up to West, who looked as concerned as Dyson felt. “She saw the future. She understood what caused the disaster, and she sent us the knowledge we will need to change it.”

“As history is written, we have a chance to alter certain events, and we have the opportunity to share our gifts with others,” Ava said quietly.

“When is this disaster supposed to happen?” Alex asked without the slightest hint of emotion. Dyson knew him well enough to know the guy was about to crack his back teeth from holding his jaw so tightly.

“In about three hundred years,” Amber said with a soft smile.

“So it’s a task you’ll pass on to our children?” Darian asked with a hint of anger. Dyson shared the emotion. It didn’t seem fair to burden their offspring with such a huge task.

“Actually,” Ava said rubbing a hand over her belly, “we’ve already changed the future just by existing. But, even if it hasn’t changed the future Bethany saw we should still be around. Part of the gift Bethany gave us increases our life expectancy considerably.”

Kali stepped into the embrace of her human husband, Ronan. She leaned up to kiss his jaw as his arms tightened around her.

“It also changed that in the people around us. Sorry, Ronan,” she said with a laugh, “but you don’t get away from me that easily.”

* * * *

Angus wasn’t certain his heart could take any more surprises.

This morning he’d woken with his arms around an ordinary human. This afternoon he’d believed her dead, and now she was an Oracle’s receptacle, with skills never even heard of before, and a life expectancy that could very well match his own.

It seemed that his whole world had changed in the blink of an eye.

But then Kristen moved into his arms and he realized that on the important subjects he was still very certain. He loved this woman with all his heart.

“Take me home,” she said tiredly. “I think we’ve all had enough fun for one day.”

“Fun?” Dyson asked incredulously. “You think today was fun?”

He sounded so affronted that Angus couldn’t help but smile.

“What would you call it?” Kristen challenged. “At the end of a PUP squad assignment, when you’ve caught the bad guys, averted discovery of paranormals by humans, and nobody got injured, what would you call it?”

Nearly every person in the room laughed quietly. Every member of PUP Squad Alpha and Deeks Security knew the emotional high of a successfully completed mission.

“I wouldn’t exactly call it fun,” Dyson admitted grudgingly, “but I suppose I can understand the sentiment.”

“Good,” she said with a sharp nod, as if that somehow ended the discussion.

They bid farewell to the others, watched as most of them left via blink travel, and then turned to Kristen. Despite the fact that slip travel made Kristen violently ill—or at least that had been true this morning—with the town relocated and probably switched around they had no idea where home actually was.

Angus raised an eyebrow, waiting for Kristen to blink them home.

She shrugged. “I thought it would be nice to walk.”

“But then it’s just that much longer before we make it to our bedroom,” he said in a voice that he hoped suggested endless pleasure was in their near future.

“True,” she said with a laugh. “In that case, I think we better run.”

She took off out the door, leaving both Dyson and Angus staring after her.

“Life is never going to be dull,” Dyson said, shaking his head and laughing softly. A moment later, they both started running after her.

As they managed to catch her not far from headquarters—proving that even in times of great commotion some things stayed the same—Angus realized that it didn’t matter what changes had come or what challenges the future might bring. What mattered most was that they truly loved each other.

A long paranormal lifetime filled with happiness and laughter, change and compromise, hope and love—that was the greatest adventure anyone could ever ask for.

Angus couldn’t help but smile as he stepped into the front foyer of their home. Five months ago, when the Oracle’s receptacles had moved the town, they’d renamed it Sugarville so that it wouldn’t be confused by passing warlocks with the town that had supposedly been destroyed. Somehow the Oracle’s receptacles had managed to alter every human record of the building, planning, layout, and historical ownership of the houses that they’d moved from their original location. Only someone very familiar with the homes in Sugarvale would recognize the buildings, and since they were all laid out differently and on official records were credited to the same builders, it would not have mattered if they had. Officially speaking, Sugarville had been here all along. It even showed up on historical satellite images.

If nothing else, it proved how truly powerful the Oracle’s receptacles had become.

“Honey, I’m home,” he yelled as he stepped in the door. Thanks to his demon senses, he already knew where his wife was, but it was very gratifying that she blinked to his location and stepped into his arms every time. Of course, “stepped into” was a relative term since her belly had swollen to huge proportions thanks to her unexpected, but joyfully accepted, pregnancy.

“How are my favorite people doing today?”

“You mean apart from the fact that the triplets seem to have taken up professional wrestling?”

He smiled as he felt one of the babies roll in her belly. “Yes, I mean apart from that?”

“In that case, just peachy,” she said with a genuine smile. It was obvious that the pregnancy was tiring her out, but it was also plain to see that she was enjoying every moment of it. Demon pregnancies usually only lasted four months, but as with the other Oracle’s receptacles and their pregnancies, no one really knew what to expect. Although, considering how large Kristen’s belly had grown, both he and Dyson were hoping that their children would be born very soon.

“Is Dyson around?” Angus asked.

“Of course I am,” Dyson said as he stepped from out of the kitchen. They were currently using Kristen’s pregnancy as an excuse not to leave her alone, but even after the babies were born, they’d arranged to continue job sharing for Deeks Security. That way they got to enjoy the best of both worlds, still doing the work they both loved and able to live with and love the woman who made life worthwhile. “How did it go?”

“As well as can be expected. You would have quite liked it, I think.”

Dyson grimaced. “I don’t know. Attending a memorial for my own death in the line of duty doesn’t sound like something I would enjoy.”

“Maybe not,” Angus said as he tried to hide how much the ceremony had affected him. Essentially, Benjamin, Samuel, Thomas, Adam, and Jason, as the only known surviving members of PUP Squad Alpha, had been forced to sit through a symbolic retirement of the “Alpha” title. Angus, as an independent contractor, had been invited as a courtesy.

With Jason the only operative to remain with the PUP squads—everyone else now worked for Deeks Security, including those the Ruling Body thought were dead—retiring the “Alpha” title had been a gesture of respect from the Ruling Body. Never again would the name “PUP Squad Alpha” be used for any other PUP team.

“How’s Jason doing?” Dyson asked. It was obvious that Dyson still wondered if he could have done more to protect his former squad partner from Victoria’s machinations. Fortunately, the answer to Dyson’s question was good news.

“Really well,” Angus answered with a smile. “He’s been transferred to PUP Squad Echo and seems to be really happy.”

Fortunately, Jason had been cleared of all charges once the full story of Victoria’s involvement had come to light. But even before that, Benjamin had trusted Dyson’s judgment enough to urgently track Jason down and recall him from Victoria’s phony assignment.

Jason knew they were all alive, but had decided to stay away from Sugarville for the time being. After the accusations of being a traitor, he didn’t want to accidentally give the impression he had something to hide. It was a rather ironic outcome considering everything that had happened to the man.

“Was Cassandra okay?” Kristen asked, showing again just what an incredible woman she was.

Angus nodded. “She resigned with dignity, her head held high, despite what was essentially a complete failure of her supervision. I’m glad that she doesn’t know everyone survived. She never seemed capable of keeping a secret.”

“Did she say what she’s going to do now?”

“She refused the offer of getting her old job back and has decided to move on. I’m not sure what her plans are, but I got the impression she was going to be okay.”

Kristen hugged him tighter, staying quiet, obviously understanding his and Dyson’s need to take a moment to let the significance of the day sink in. It was more of a political stunt than any real acknowledgement of the achievements PUP Squad Alpha had made over the years, but it was still nice to be recognized as having contributed something worth remembering.