Oracle of Spirits #5 Read online

  Ian stood and shook his head. "I'd rather help you."

  She laughed. "I know you, detective. You just don't want Cronus and me to start a fight in your house."

  He smiled. "Something like that. But let me take your bags." He hefted her now-lighter bag and strode from the room.

  "Now that's more like it," Jenny cooed as she followed him.

  I brought up the rear of this strange train. We paused so Ian could grab her other luggage, and proceeded up the stairs. The second-floor hallway was deathly quiet. I wondered if Cronus had committed suicide rather than face this woman in pink. Ian stopped in front of a door opposite his and pushed open the portal.

  "This is the guest room," he announced.

  Jenny peeked her head inside and wrinkled her nose. "No good. There's no life in there."

  "You'll be the life," he assured her.

  She turned around and shook her head. "No, I'm used to a room with life." Her eyes fell on our doors. She strode over and opened the door to Ian's room. Her face lit up, and she stepped inside. "Now this is what I'm talking about, honey. There's some living in here."

  Ian and I hurried after her, and I got my first peek of his room. There was the usual bed with black covers, the white walls were in contrast to the black curtains, and there was a black, sleek dresser to the right. I glanced at him and jerked my head towards his digs.

  "You have a serious problem," I commented.

  He sheepishly grinned and shrugged. Jenny stepped into the room and spun in a circle.

  "It's perfect!"

  Ian and my mouths dropped open. There couldn't have been a greater contrast than between the pink-suited woman and the dark, foreboding room.

  "You're joking, right?" I asked her.

  She turned to us and shook her head. "No. It feels just like home when I lived with my mom and-" She paused and her eyes clothed. Her sentence finished in a whisper. "And others."

  "I offered to protect you, not sacrifice my bedroom," Ian spoke up.

  "Can't you do both?" she pointed out.

  "Yeah, but-"

  "What's that?" Jenny skipped over to the bathroom door and peeked inside. "A shared bathroom!" She turned and winked at me. "And I think I know just who's bedroom is on the other side, you feisty fox, you."

  I blushed and shook my head. "It's not what you think!"

  She smiled and waved off my words. A string of purple light floated from her fingers and wrapped themselves around her luggage Ian held. The light pulled the bags from him and floated them over to the foot of the bed where they were dropped to the floor.

  "Now that that's settled, let's-"

  "It's not settled," Ian spoke up. "You can't have my room. Your room is across the hall."

  Jenny walked over and draped her arms around his shoulders. Their faces nearly brushed against one another as she batted her eyes at him.

  "Do you want my help or not?" she cooed.

  I could tell from his face that the 'or not' option was being seriously considered. "Are you going to give more help than a couple of spells?" he asked her.

  She laughed and pushed off him. "Certainly. I can give you contact names, the address of their office where they took me, and that dispel chant."

  Ian ground his teeth together and he ran a hand through his hair. "Fine, stay in here, then, but we're not keeping you forever. You won't be safe in the city, and the faster we get you out the safer you are." And the faster he got his bedroom back.

  Jenny crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "I can't leave yet."

  Ian frowned. "Why not?"

  "Because I have some things to look into," she told him.

  "What things are we talking about?" he persisted.

  "Things that keep me in the city until they're done, now stop asking questions and start getting out." She spun him around and pushed him towards the door. "Enid and I have a lot of girl chatter to discuss, and you're just getting in the way."

  I don't know who looked more worried, Ian or me. I stepped towards the open door. "I think I left something downstairs-"

  Jenny shoved Ian out the door and slammed the door behind him. The latch locked with an ominous echo. She turned to me and smiled. "Now where do we start?"

  CHAPTER 3

  "Start what?" I returned.

  Jenny laughed and pulled me towards the bed. "Start our little get-to-know-each-other chat. I might have teased you back there about the bathroom, but I can tell Ian isn't keeping you around just to have some fun with you."

  "We haven't had any fun," I assured her.

  She paused and raised an eyebrow. "Not even a little kiss?" I blushed, and that reignited her humor. I tried to wipe away the red rouge of blush, but she laughed. "I see that. Don't try to cover it up. Now sit." She shoved me into her luggage. My legs tripped over the bags and my butt fell onto the end of the bed. Jenny bounced onto the bed beside me and looked me over. "So why are you here, if it isn't for Ian?"

  "I'm a mystic, and the Phantoms tried to grab me," I explained. "Ian got me out of a jam and offered me a job here."

  She chuckled. "And Cronus threw a fit, didn't he?"

  I nodded. "Pretty much. He didn't want me around at all until a little while ago," I told her.

  Both of her eyebrows raised. "He wants you around now?"

  I shrugged. "Yeah, sort of. Ever since I showed off my Blessing powers-"

  "Blessing? As in the Blessing power?" she asked me.

  I sheepishly grinned. "Yeah. I heard it's kind of rare for a mystic to have."

  Jenny laughed. "Honey, it's not only rare, it's practically an endangered species. You might find one in ten thousand people who are mystics, and one in ten thousand of those have a spark of Blessing in them."

  I tilted my head to one side and furrowed my brow. "That little? But I can blow away a hundred Phantoms with my blast."

  Jenny stood and faced me. She put her hands on her hips and looked me in the eyes. "Honey, you must have the most incredible mystic lineage in the world. Are your folks this gifted?"

  I shook my head. "I don't think so. My mom never told me anything special, and I never knew my dad. I've got a step-dad, if that makes a difference."

  She shook her head. "Not a lick. It's in the matter of the blood that decides your abilities." She paused and studied my face. "So is Cronus showing you how to manage that power?"

  I snorted. "I can barely get him to talk to me, much less teach me anything." I paused and frowned. "If he can teach me about the Blessing does that mean he can do it himself?"

  Jenny blinked at me for a moment before she burst into laughter. Tears streamed down her eyes and she clutched her stomach. "Can he. . .can he do that?" she gasped between laughs. "Oh honey. That'd be child's play for him."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

  She resumed her seat beside me and caught her breath. "Yep. I guess he doesn't like to show it off much, but he's got a lot of talent." She leaned towards me and gave me a wink. "Especially in some certain spots."

  "You mean in the bedroom?" I guessed.

  Jenny paused and blinked at me before she burst out laughing. "Him? He's so cold he could extinguish the sun. I was talking about his powers. He's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve that would leave even a lot of witches spinning on their brooms."

  "So how do you know him?" I wondered.

  She sighed and stared into the space in front of us. "Let's just say he and I go way back. In a professional manner. He hunted demons and Phantoms, and I lent him my hand with some spells. Purely business."

  Her eyes swept over me and a sly smile slipped onto her pink lips. "Speaking of business, you don't happen to want your fortune told, do you? For you, I'd do it for nothing."

  I raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

  "Certainly. And I'm sure you want to know if there's a handsome man in your future. Maybe Ian?" she teased.

  I blushed, but waved away her suggestion. "We're just co-workers or whatever."

  "
'Whatever' can mean many things," Jenny pointed out as she pulled a knife and clay bowl from the unopened pink leather bag. She held out her hand to me with the palm up. "Now give me your finger. I just need a simple drop of your blood. It won't hurt."

  I cringed. "Maybe I'd rather not know my future."

  "Come on. Hand over the hand," she insisted.

  "You're not going to take 'no' for an answer, are you?" I asked her.

  She smiled and shook her head. "Not in this life, honey." I sighed and placed my hand in hers. She pulled my hand over the bowl. "Now hold still."

  In one swoop she sliced my pointer finger open from palm to the tip. Blood poured from the wound and into the bowl.

  "What the hell?" I yelped as I pulled myself free from her grasp. I cradled my injured finger in my other hand and glared at her. "I thought you said that wasn't going to hurt!"

  She turned away and searched her large bag. "What I meant to say is that it wouldn't hurt me."

  "God damn it!" I snapped as I made to stand.

  Jenny pulled a vial and rag from her bag and grabbed my arm. "Hold still while I dab some of this on the wound. It'll fix you right up."

  I eyed her with suspicion. "No tricks?"

  She smiled and shook her head. "No tricks. Well, other than magic."

  I reluctantly knelt and held out my hand. She dabbed the rag with the contents of the vial and wrapped the rag tight around my finger. Very tight.

  "So am I going to lose the finger from blood loss or suffocation?" I quipped.

  "Keep it on for a few hours and you should be just fine," she assured me as she resumed her search of her bag. She pulled out bottle after bottle of powdered substances until she had a row of half a dozen. The witch rubbed her hands together and grinned. "Now let's get fortune telling."

  Jenny proceeded to toss a pinch of some of the dust and a dash of others into the bowl. My ample supply of blood changed color from red to green to a soft blue. I leaned over and watched with a mix of curiosity and doubt.

  "So will it show me a video or will it spell something out for me?" I asked her.

  "Neither. It'll talk to us," she told me.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Like speak?"

  She nodded. "Yep."

  "A bowl of my blood is going to speak to me?"

  Jenny paused in her spice dashing and her narrowed eyes flickered up to me. "Do you doubt my abilities?"

  "I doubt my blood's got much to say," I quipped.

  She resumed her work. "Blood is the life in all its forms, the past, present and future. It will know what future you have, and it will tell you it in your own voice."

  To say I was a little skeptical was to call the Empire State Building a hut. Still, I sat back and watched her do her work. She finished dabbing the contents of the six bottles into the bowl and pulled a small vial from the crack between her breasts. The vial held a red liquid. A grin slid onto her lips as she swished the contents.

  "A little bit of special blood from a special angel," she told me.

  Jenny popped the cork and tilted the vial. A tiny droplet of the blood slipped to the lip of the vial. The blood teetered over the edge before it dripped into the bowl. The droplet touched the blood and caused a ripple in the surface.

  And that's when it exploded.

  CHAPTER 4

  Shards of clay scattered in every direction and many of them pinged off me. The blood splattered over both of us and covered the near vicinity with brackish black liquid. A puff of smoke floated from the liquid and filled the room with a ghastly rotten-egg smell.

  Jenny choked and waved her hand in front of her face. "That was unexpected."

  "It doesn't mean I'm going to die soon, does it?" I asked her.

  "If you'll excuse me," she replied. The spry witch jumped to her feet and hurried to a window which she opened. She leaned out the window and took a deep breath. "Ah, that's better." She half-turned to me. "As for your question, I don't think you're going to die. There was just an explosive reaction between your blood and the blood I used to bring forth your voice."

  "So this has happened before, right?" I guessed.

  She leaned her rear on the window sill and nodded. "Yes, once before. I was-" She froze. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped to the floor. She dropped her voice to a low, hoarse whisper. "He didn't. He wouldn't." She tilted her head to one side and her eyebrows crashed down. A far-away look slipped into her eyes. "Or would he?"

  "Would who do what?" I asked her.

  She shook her head. The strange look vanished. "It's nothing. Let's get this place cleaned up before-"

  The door flew open and Ian stepped inside. His nostrils flared as his gaze swept across the blood-splattered wall and our blood-covered selves. His inspection stopped on me and my wounded hand.

  He strode into the room and knelt in front of me to inspect my hand. "It's just a cut. Jenny did it," I assured him.

  "What the hell have you two been doing?" he snapped.

  "Just some divination," Jenny replied.

  He whipped his head towards her and narrowed his eyes. "Divination is a dangerous business."

  "So is being a paranormal detective, but that never stopped you," she quipped.

  Ian deigned not to comment and instead looked me over. "Are you okay?"

  I nodded. "Yeah. A little messy, but nothing a long bath and some bleach won't cure. And sorry about your clothes." I looked down at the borrowed attire. "I guess I kind of forgot I was wearing them."

  Ian helped me to my feet and smiled. "That's fine, but I insist on helping you out of them and into something more comfortable."

  I snorted and pulled myself from his helpful hold. "No doing, mister. I can unclothe myself."

  He shrugged. "You can't blame a guy for trying."

  I was just about to do that when another person made their appearance. It was the last of our fellow house mates, but not the least. One moment the doorway was empty, and the next he stood there like a looming shadow. His scowling eyes were locked on Jenny and his lips were so tightly pressed together they were as pale as snow. The clean kind, not the yellow.

  Jenny smiled sweetly at him and pushed off from the windowsill. "Cronus, what a pleasure to see you-" Cronus strode over to her and reached for her bosom. She jumped back and clutched the lower part of her collar. "That is no way to treat a woman!" she scolded him.

  "Give it to me," he demanded.

  She turned away from him and lifted her nose in the air. "I don't know what you're-"

  "The blood permeates the room," he told her.

  "Cronus, what the hell's going on?" Ian spoke up.

  Jenny's eyes flickered to Cronus and she pursed her lips. "You know I'm not just going to hand it over. It's too useful to me."

  "Then I shall force you to relinquish it," he warned her. He clasped his right hand and his wicked red sword appeared.

  Jenny's eyes widened and she stumbled back against the wall. "Y-you can't be serious! You wouldn't dare!"

  "Would I not?" he challenged her. Cronus took a step towards her and crossed his sword over his chest. He stretched out his free hand towards her. "Now relinquish what is not rightfully yours."

  Ian jumped to his feet and slipped between the two opponents. He faced Cronus and stuck his hands in the pockets of his overcoat.

  "That's enough, Cronus," he told his partner.

  "This does not concern you," Cronus snapped.

  "When my partner decides to do something really stupid then it concerns me," Ian argued. He nodded at the blade. "You know as well as I do what'll happen if you cut her with that, now put it away and let's talk about this."

  Cronus hesitated. His eyes flickered past Ian to Jenny. The color drained from her face and she squished herself against the wall. Cronus ground his teeth together and whipped his head away. He dropped his sword hand and the weapon disappeared.

  Ian relaxed and smiled. "All right, now let's-" Cronus turned away from him and strode from the room, "-talk about this
." Ian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll never understand that guy."

  "He hasn't changed," Jenny commented as she pulled herself from the wall. She straightened and glared at where Cronus had gone. "He still thinks he can get away with murder."

  Ian half-turned to her and held out her hand. "Fork it over."

  She blinked at him. "I beg your pardon?"

  "Whatever Cronus wanted, fork it over," he demanded.

  She frowned. "I don't know-"

  "Listen," Ian interrupted. "I took you in knowing you were going to be a pain in the ass, and you're pretty much keeping up with my expectations, but on this you're going to lose. You either fork over to me what Cronus wanted or I have Ruthven wipe your mind back to the age of ten and let you go on your way. Which is it gonna be?"

  She raised an eyebrow and her nose. "You wouldn't dare."

  "You've already dared one guy to kill you and he might've if I hadn't stepped in. Don't think I won't have your mind wiped, and nobody's gonna save you from me," he warned her.

  The witch pursed her lips, but reached into the valley between her breasts and pulled out the vial. She forked over the vial to Ian. He lifted the vial to face-level and inspected the contents.

  "This is it?" he asked her. She nodded. "What is it?"

  "It's blood," she told him.

  "It doesn't have the scent of blood," Ian argued.

  She rolled her eyes. "That's because it's in a special bottle that hides its scent so you bloodhounds don't find it."

  Ian popped the cork and took a whiff. He raised an eyebrow and his eyes flickered to her. "How'd you get this?" She shrugged. Ian frowned and put the cork back on. "All right, I won't ask you any questions about it, but you're not getting it back. Ever."

  Her eyes widened. "But I need that for my divination!"

  "And I told you that was dangerous, so take my advice and quit that racket," he commented as he pocketed the vial.

  "What if I was to tell you that that blood is part of the reason the Whisperers are after me?" she wondered.

  "I'd say you were right, and really stupid to have it in the first place," he returned.

  "Stupid or not, when Blake comes for it you're going to want my help," she insisted.

  Ian frowned. "Who's Blake?"

  Jenny rolled her eyes. "Blake? The head Whisperer?"

  "Doesn't ring a bell," Ian admitted.

  She threw up her arms. "Don't you know anything about what's going on?"

  Ian lit a cigarette and nodded at her. "That's what you're here for," he reminded her.