Oracles' Light [PUP Squad Alpha 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (19 page)

“Any news on Victoria?” Dyson finally asked.

“Actually, yes.” It was such a relief to be able to close this case that a part of him didn’t want to answer any more questions. Dyson and Kristen wouldn’t let him get away with anything less than a full explanation so he guided their wife onto the sofa, and held her close as Dyson lifted her legs onto his lap and started massaging her feet gently.

“So?” Kristen asked encouragingly. Once they’d transferred the Oracle’s flow of information into the fountain, Kristen only retained the memories she’d specifically thought of that day. Essentially, she had memories of the memories she’d used, but no further details. In an emergency, she could recall details from the fountain, but with Victoria in custody and their unexpected family on the way, Kristen and the other Oracle’s receptacles had decided to try and do at least some things the “human” way.

Since the Ruling Body believed all of the Oracle’s receptacles deceased, they wouldn’t have been able to do much with the information anyway. They weren’t going to risk exposing their survival—at least not yet.

As it was, he was now faced with a woman who always wanted to know all about his day. In fact, her enthusiasm made it quite nice to come home.

“It turns out that Tory’s grandmother was an Oracle. She spent most of her life concentrating on the images inside her head so her own children felt like they never knew her. When Tory’s mother realized that her only daughter was an Oracle and likely to end up as distracted and as disconnected as her own mother, she performed a spell to strip her of the Oracle’s gift.” Angus shook his head sadly as the worst of the story replayed in his mind. He understood a parent trying to protect their children, but what Tory’s mother had done when the spell didn’t work as expected still confused him. “Anyway, the spell ended up splitting the four-year-old Tory into two people. Tory’s mother locked Victoria away and then pretty much ignored her existence and never actually told anyone about her, not even Tory.”

“So Victoria was old enough to know her mother’s love, only to have it withdrawn when she became the Oracle half of the original Tory?” Tears were already rolling down Kristen’s face. “That’s truly horrible. How could anyone do that to an innocent child?”

“I don’t know, baby,” Angus said, hugging her closer. “I can only promise you that all of our children will be loved by all of their parents.” She nodded, wiping at her eyes as she smiled at him and Dyson. “According to what we’ve been able to piece together, Victoria watched from afar as Tory succeeded in everything, eventually becoming a Judiciary and winning more of her mother’s love and devotion. Somehow, in her twisted mind, Victoria decided that if Tory were an Oracle as well, that their mother would have to love them equally. She identified the fire demon, Prianna, as an Oracle simply because she had no knowledge of her.”

“That makes sense,” Dyson said quietly. “With Victoria holding the history of both pixies and demons it would have been easy for her to identify Prianna and Emmallina as Oracles.”

“Exactly. Twenty-seven years ago, Victoria basically whispered in the right warlock ears and created enough hysteria for them to hire the PLA to kill Prianna. When the pixie king refused the contract, she impersonated Tory and overruled him. She knew that Connistanterina was a professional assassin who wouldn’t kill the woman slowly enough for her to pass her Oracle gift to the closest paranormal, so she drugged her and gave her explicit instructions on how to do it. We believe that Victoria chose the location for Prianna’s murder because Tory was the only paranormal in the area at the time.”

“But she wasn’t expecting Prianna to be able to pass the information to human babies,” Kristen finished for him. “And when the assassin realized what had happened, she tried to clean up the mess without Victoria knowing about it.”

“Except that being the Oracle for pixies and demons, Victoria knew what was happening the moment the assassin did.”

Angus nodded. “We believe that she’d already begun planning for Emmallina’s murder. Dex DeKardoin suspects Higgins getting caught was a part of that.” He smiled as if a thought had just occurred to him. “Considering that he has an accurate source of vampire information I’m fairly confident that translates to he
knows
Higgins didn’t send the email. We’re not really sure what Victoria intended to do to Emmallina at that point. We think she changed her plans when she discovered the Oracle’s receptacles existed. With Higgins dead and PUP Squad Alpha on leave, it was pretty easy to move Cassandra into the administrative supervisor’s position. It meant that Victoria could follow everything that PUP Squad Alpha did. We already know she arranged Jason’s assignment to make him look like a traitor so that she could follow everything happening inside the warlocks’ council.”

“Does Victoria realize now that it’s impossible to steal an Oracle’s knowledge?” Kristen asked quietly. “It’s a gift freely given.”

“I really don’t know if she understands anything. She is blinded by her need to make Tory like her. I don’t think she even comprehends that what she’s done is wrong,” Angus said honestly. “The Ruling Body has her in custody, but they’re still deciding on what to do. We’ve discovered that Tory and Victoria are symbiotic. If one dies so does the other. Thankfully, the Judiciaries are hesitating on an execution order because it will also kill Tory. She’s essentially an innocent in all of this.” He gave them both a crooked frown. “It was suggested that the two halves be integrated back into one whole, but Tory is understandably uncomfortable with absorbing the memories and behaviors of a conscienceless murderer.”

“God, that must be so hard for her.”

“It is,” Angus agreed. He knew Tory was feeling responsible for something she’d had absolutely no control over. The Ruling Body was looking to punish Tory and Victoria’s mother, not only for the spell she’d performed but also for the way she’d raised Victoria. By her actions she’d essentially created a serial killer.

At least Victoria knew nothing of the Oracle’s receptacles’ survival, and thankfully nothing about the demons or pixies that knew them. According to all records held by the Ruling Body, the death of the Oracle’s receptacles was now merely a footnote in history, a situation they were relieved not to be called on to deal with. Officially, they condemned the warlocks for their actions. Privately, they agreed with the outcome.

The only people who knew the Oracle’s receptacles still existed lived in this tiny little town called Sugarville. And quite frankly it suited the residents just fine. The Oracle’s receptacles had shared their skills with the humans in their group, extending their life expectancies considerably in the process. Everyone living here was now expected to live a very long paranormal lifetime.

“So what should we do now?” Dyson asked.

“Um…” Kristen said as she wriggled to get to a more comfortable position. She went to say something but all that came out was a deep groan. Angus froze as he waited for his wife to tell them what was happening. Dyson slid onto the floor in front of her, kneeling at her feet as he watched her face.

“What is it, sweetheart?” he asked, sounding way calmer than Angus felt.

“That question you asked. The one about what we should do now…” She took a deep breath, relaxing a little as she let it out slowly. “I think the babies just made the decision for us.”

Emmallina sat on the covered veranda of Jennifer, Thomas, and Adam’s home and watched her grandchildren play with the offspring of the Oracle’s receptacles. There had been so many new additions to the group in the past ten years that Emmallina could barely keep up. The backyard was filled with children’s laughter, the happy sound floating through the air as the adults stood in groups talking.

In what Emmallina had always thought of as typically human behavior, the men had gathered around the barbecue talking and laughing as they swapped stories of the biggest fish they’d ever caught. Emmallina smiled at the ever-increasing size of the fish that supposedly got away.

Benjamin and Samuel held Skye between them, laughing as the stories got more and more outrageous. Eventually, the conversation turned to the matter at hand as Alex and Brody argued over the best way to cook steaks. Ronan and Nathan watched, occasionally throwing in a comment to egg on the good-natured argument. Thomas and Adam played tag with the older kids, their wolf forms and doggy antics eliciting shrieks of laughter. Jennifer watched indulgently as she cuddled their newborn son.

Devlin chuckled softly at the chorus of disappointed young voices when he finally landed on solid ground and let his wings disappear. He’d taken every child in the yard flying twice today, much to the delight of his adoring fans. What was it about flying that fascinated paranormal children? Perhaps it was just a skill different to the ones they knew. Devlin grinned widely as Angus handed him an ice-cold beer and dragged him back to the barbecue for some grown-up time.

Brody laughed as the children turned to him in the hopes of getting a ride on the dragon. As always, he declined. He’d once confided that with his scales so slippery he didn’t feel comfortable taking on passengers. He’d only made one exception—when he’d saved his wife and her other husband from a burning building. Jed smiled as their attention inevitably turned to him. He used his magic to manipulate and animate the paper cups and plates, his puppet-style rendition of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” capturing the children’s attention for a little while.

Kristen sat with her youngest daughter asleep on her lap. Her triplets—all boys—were still climbing all over the gym equipment. Dyson stepped through a slip path just in time to catch their youngest son as he fell trying to keep up with his brothers.

West, Eric, and Hannah came into the yard carrying enough fruit salad to feed a small army. Considering how bear-shifters felt about fresh fruit, it wasn’t really surprising. But as always, Eric saw Emmallina, excused himself, and came to check how Connistanterina was doing. Emmallina knew that her daughter was doing as well as could be expected under the circumstances. Even after ten years she still blamed herself for what had happened. It was unlikely that she would ever feel differently, but the fact that she’d been cleared of any wrongdoing by three different investigative committees would hopefully one day help her come to terms with having so many years of her life stolen from her. Thankfully, Eric had found a way to permanently remove the “fireweed” markers that Victoria had inserted into many of the PLA operatives’ DNA. All of the miniaturized pixies had been cured thanks to the information they’d found in Bethany’s journal.

Eric squeezed Emmallina’s hand, told her again to call him any time, and then headed back to his wife’s side.

“It’s hard to imagine what it was like before,” Brody’s niece, Keira, said as she took a seat beside Emmallina. “I barely remember life before Uncle Brody, Nate, and Ava took me in. I’m so lucky that they found me.”

“They’re good people,” Emmallina said, remembering everything she’d ever known about the two humans before they’d become invisible to her Oracle skills. “Your Uncle Brody is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. Despite what he’d been taught growing up, he found his way to love and acceptance of all species. Growing past ingrained behaviors is never easy, but your Uncle Brody made it look that way.”

“He did,” Keira said with obvious pride in her voice. In many ways, the young woman had been just as extraordinary. She’d also let go of the prejudices and hatred she’d been raised with and embraced the peaceful life she’d been offered.

They sat together for a while, watching many of the children playing in what had probably once been built as a children’s jungle gym, but now more closely resembled an army training ground. Jennifer had confided that it had been the only way to get her twin boys to sleep. The young werewolves had more energy than even their fathers could keep up with. They’d considered moving back to Xavier’s pack land so that the boys had a safe place to roam and expend their youthful energy, but in the end had found a compromise. As much as they loved their pack, they had an extended family right here with the Oracle’s receptacles and their offspring.

Emmallina laughed softly as she watched Alex lift Kali into his arms, place her on a chair at a table with Ava and Lilly, and order her to stay. Kali smiled as Ronan scooped up their young girls just as they all decided to sit on their mother’s lap at the same time. Considering that she was heavily pregnant with their little brother, it was unlikely any of them would have found a place to sit anyway. Ava and Lilly smiled at the children’s antics as they each held a sleeping infant and enjoyed the party.

“I’m really going to miss this place,” Keira said quietly. She’d been so happy when she’d received the acceptance to her college of choice that it had probably taken a while for the reality to sink in. Moving away from the people she loved was going to be hard, but Emmallina had no doubt that the young dragon-shifter would find her way.

“Sorry we’re late,” Amber said as she stepped onto the back porch, each of her husbands carrying a young child. Wilson’s son was almost an identical replica of his daddy. Even though he was barely five, he’d already shown many of the skills ordinarily attributed to vampires. He was fast, very fast, and way stronger than any of the other children in the backyard, but he was also the sweetest, shyest little boy Emmallina had ever met. And, to his mother’s never-ending thankfulness, able to play in the sunshine and hadn’t yet shown a need to drink human blood. It was a possibility that would change when he reached puberty, but for now, for the most part, he was simply an adorable five-year-old child.