Sometime later, it might be a minute or an hour, the Oracle arrives, striding in with the posture of a queen. Although her size is diminutive, her presence would give even the strongest warrior pause. Rightfully so. She’s powerful. More powerful than any of us. She holds her chin high, her wild, curly hair framing a face with olive skin, a hooked nose, and a smile with one slightly crooked eyetooth. She wears a simple white blouse and a long floral skirt with a wide belt and leather sandals. It’s an outfit I might find on any older woman walking past my restaurant in New York. Nothing special. Nothing regal. But the power coming off her makes the hair on my arms stand at attention. And although I can’t get out of bed, I bow my head.
“Such deference from an Aries,” she says, moving closer. Bones gets up and hobbles over to her, wagging his tail. She smiles at him and rubs his ears. “Ah, an ambassador on your behalf. How persuasive he is. But I’m afraid you and I have unfinished business, Connor.”
“Bones, go lie down,” I command, and he does with an almost comical harrumph.
“I’ll get right to it,” she says. “Taking the bride from an altar in front of more than a hundred Order members was impulsive, irresponsible, and dangerous. You disregarded the direction of your appointed advisors, abused your position almost tyrannically, and in so doing, toyed with the lives of the brotherhood and our species. You had no idea what the fallout would be when you threw that woman over your shoulder, and here you are, injured and without the muscle to back up your decision while your brothers try to clean up your mess.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“No, you are not.”
“Okay. You’re right and I’m not sorry.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” she murmurs.
“The bride, Fiona, is my mate. She called to me, and I was unable to deny her.”
The Oracle’s pupils reflect the candlelight as if she holds an entire universe within her. “Has Fiona accepted your claim?”
“Yes. Just before she was stolen back by Roman. She is my true mate, the other half of my soul. Everything you accused me of is correct. I am impulsive and reckless, and I acted on my own without guidance from you or the rest of the four. But I don’t regret it. I could no sooner leave her on that altar as I could leave my own head. Every single moment I spent with her was worth the rest of mine without her. I will never regret saving her from him. I will never regret taking her.”
“I see.” She rubs her palms together in tight circles as she paces the room, her footsteps and the ticking of the clock the only sound. “No doubt you are curious what punishment I’m planning for you.”
I gulp. “It has crossed my mind.”
She stares up at the ceiling, and the flames from the candles reflected there. So that’s what the acolyte was doing. Normally, the Oracle meets with her subjects at the center of her sanctuary, where an observatory offers a clear view of the night sky. Here, the candles and reflective things Nova set up create an artificial view of the sky, one I have no doubt mirrors the actual position of the planets accurately. Her eyes glaze. “I’ve spent the pastweeks in solitude, meditating on our predicament. Never in my thousands of years as Oracle have I seen the stars quite like this. And when you took her, I feared the path before us had become bleak, darker even than it would have been before. But it is easy to forget that the creator is always at work in the universe and that coincidences are often not coincidences at all. Was it a grand coincidence you met your mate when you did? Or did the creator place her in your path?”
“I’d like to think it was destined.”
“Yes. Because of love. You think your love was destined. But the stars tell me she is more. She is much more. You should know that Fiona is human, Connor, entirely so. She’s fragile. And while being with you will grant her health and prolonged life, she will never fly. She will never be a dragon.”
“I know. I accept her as she is.”
The Oracle paces in the opposite direction. “Different species. Different gods. Different ways of worshiping.”
I scratch my jaw, wondering what she’s getting at.
“Your mate, as it so happens, is exceptionally blessed.”
“Blessed?”
The Oracle nods slowly. “Blessed with a gift from her god, one that may be our salvation.”
“What kind of gift?”
The Oracle taps a fist to her chin. “It is veiled from me. The answers the stars give us are always shifting. They show me multiple futures, crossroads, possibilities. Fiona’s light is bright. I see her clearly and that she was chosen to be your mate for a reason, but beyond that, thefuture is cloudy. What I can say now, with certainty, is that you were meant to be in that garden on her wedding day and you were meant to take her, and if we are going to be ready for what is to come, it is imperative you get her back.”
A huge, relieved sigh leaves my lips. “Morwyn says I won’t be well enough until the day after tomorrow.”
“Listen to Morwyn.” Smiling wistfully, she looks back at the ceiling, her fingers grazing her throat. “I see you with her. I see her in your arms.” The Oracle inhales sharply, a look of horror transforming her face. Her hands fly to her mouth.
“What’s wrong? What do you see?” I push myself up in a panic.
She quiets me with a raised palm. “The fires of change.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “Heal, Aries, then go get your mate. You have my permission to bring her here for Mason’s ascension when it is done.” She turns to leave, looking forlorn somehow.
“Is there something else?” I ask, knowing in my gut she hasn’t told me everything.
With a long deep sigh, she turns and looks directly at me, her dark eyes large and soulful in the candlelight. “Whatever happens, whatever you have to do to get her back, you must succeed, and do not blame yourself if there are unexpected complications. Some things are meant to be.”
