His hairstyle was modern, and he wore dark gray clothes that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a slayer. When he moved I saw an outline on his sleeves of at least one dagger sheath strapped to his forearms, and the soles of his boots were a flat, flexible design—good for running on pavement.
He was a fae—a member of nobility for sure—since he sported slightly tapered ears. But I’d never seen a fae like him.Fae were beautiful and handsome in a way human celebrities aspired to be. His aquiline nose and thin lips were too harsh.
Plus, those clothes werewaytoo practical.
Whoisthis guy?
“Brr.” Grove rubbed his arms and shivered. “He’s a winter fae alright.”
“Good evening,” Vale said, his voice as crisp as frost. “Despite the dire circumstances of this meeting, I look forward to working with such a competent team.”
Captain Reese leaned against the wooden podium. “Vale arrived this afternoon, but he was read into the situation on his flight over so he knows the case. There have been no new developments, except the day shift did uncover the address of the werewolves who jumped the dwarf, so we’ll be sending a team out to question them. Vale will go with them. Any questions?”
We were quiet.
Captain Reese nodded. “Good. Before we break, however, I’d like Vale to give you clues of things to watch for in our search. Vale?”
“When pinpointing an illegally held oracle, there are usually tell-tale signs from whoever is holding them captive,” Vale said. “There will be oddities in their behavior. Often times there will be a sudden increase in the supernatural’s luck with business dealings, cash, or in getting things they want. Typically they’ll have an easier time attacking enemies.”
“That describes Gisila,” Tetiana muttered. “She all but announced that when she took Considine.”
Vale continued, “The oracle would be held in a secure environment—usually a bare room, so the oracle can’t take advantage of any prophecies and use their surroundings to break free.”
Gisila has properties here in Magiford…I think a couple of them were factories or warehouses. That would be an easy place to hide an oracle.
Vale rested his thumbs on his belt. “Searching for unregistered, illegal oracles is more difficult. Prophecies don’t register as magic, so wizards and fae can’t trace them, and there is nothing unusual about an oracle’s scent profile. The easiest way to recognize one is if they receive a prophecy—there’s always a tell, although it varies from oracle to oracle. In most cases they’ll stop whatever they’re doing and their eyes might glow or be unable to focus. Some hum, while others might recite what they’re seeing. You can’t predict what an oracle’s tell is, except to say it will be obvious.”
Brody leaned back in his chair. “Which kind do you think we’re dealing with?”
“In this case, it seems most likely the oracle is being illegally held,” Vale said. “But it’s best to prepare for both scenarios.”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek.Illegally held…what kind of supernatural—besides Gisila—would do something like that?
Captain Reese cleared her throat. “Based on the case, Vale agreed that Gisila has the kind of profile that matches someone who is not only capable of holding an oracle captive, but greedy enough to want one.”
Grove held his hand up. “If we can’t find Considine, how are we going to find an oracle?”
Captain Reese folded her arms across her chest. “As the slayers have given us a list of the properties Gisila owns, we intend to conduct our own investigation into them to see if any of the locations are a likely place to hold an oracle. Any questions?”
Orrin leaned forward into the table. “Will the department be looking into any other suspects?”
“As stated earlier, we’ll be questioning the werewolves to see if we can pick up any leads there,” Captain Reese said. “For now, Gisila and those werewolves are our best leads. If there are no more questions, I’ll assign teams now…”
I only half listened as Captain Reese started listing out our names, I was too busy chewing on the information Vale had shared.
While my team is driving to whatever location we’re sent to, I’ll text Killian and Hazel. They might be able to think of someone within Magiford who is another likely candidate.
I couldn’t think of anyone. I doubted a vampire had an oracle. They didn’t care enough about the future, and their familiarity with history usually made them good judges of investments and economic patterns so they were rich anyway.
If we were going based entirely on ‘odd behavior,’ as Vale had called it, House Tellier was certainly up there in the weird category, and they’d been doing out-of-character things with trying to improve their reputation.
But they were also so incompetent, I didn’t think the idea of them ever finding an oracle was feasible.
If we can interview the werewolves, that will hopefully give us a new lead.
I exhaled, and there was such a sharp pain in my chest, I momentarily wondered if I was having a heart attack.
I’m sorry, Considine. We’ll find you. I’ll never stop chasing Gisila until you’re free, and as soon as you’re out, I’ll tell you I love you, and I’ll never miss a day reminding you how much you mean to me.
