“That’s true.” I rubbed my neck. “What if the oracle is being held in a wizard House?” I asked. “A House could go toe to toe with a dragon shifter, right?”
Vale narrowed his eyes. “You have a House in mind?”
“It’s a reach, but House Tellier,” I said. “I’ve seen them mingling with all kinds of supernaturals, when they’re usually the type to be obsessed with wizards.”
I stretched my memory, trying to recall what else Vale had told us to watch for. “Also they’ve been flush with cash the last couple months, which is pretty unusual for wizard Houses. I just have no idea how they could have gotten their act together to actuallycapturean oracle. That seems beyond their skill set.”
Vale rubbed his chin. “Not necessarily. An oracle’s tell is an easily exploitable vulnerability—much like the brief interval it takes a shifter to switch forms. If they were in the right place at the right time, even wizards could capture an oracle.”
My mind was so mushy with exhaustion I tiredly nodded—too out of it to question him. “Then maybe try looking into House Tellier—they’re under house arrest anyway, and they have just the one property. When I entered the yard to their House they were very emphatic I didn’t go inside, so it’s probable they’re hiding something. You should be able to figure it out pretty easily.”
Vale studied me. “You don’t seem enthusiastic.”
I curled my fingers into fists. “I’m afraid to hope. Every guess we’ve made has been wrong, and this idea seems very unlikely as House Tellier is so incompetent.”
“I’ll investigate it,” Vale said. “It should be easy to verify if they don’t have the oracle, and I’ve met enough slayers to value their input.”
“Good luck.”
Vale disappeared into the hallway, leaving without speaking.
I stood there for a moment.What if I’m just wasting department resources by asking him to investigate it? Time is too valuable right now to throw away on a hunch.
But we didn’t have many leads, and Considine needed us to find him.Now.
It would have been all too easy to fall into a spiral of emotions—the sting of guilt that I hadn’t told Considine how I felt, the suffocating anxiety that he was still missing, and the gnawing fear that whispered I might never find him.
If I gave into the spiral, however, I suspected I would collapse and be unable to look for him. That was absolutely unacceptable.
“Jade!” Alex shouted. “Bed.Now!”
I waved a hand and once again shuffled toward the cots. I’d do whatever it took to find Considine, and right now that meant sleeping enough so I could operate with a sound mind.
“All teams,once you finish patrolling your current location, return to the Cloisters.” Sarge’s voice was buzzy sounding as it blasted through our radios.
I frowned and exchanged looks with Orrin, who had his eyebrows furrowed.
“This is the first patrol location of the night.” Orrin played with the twin daggers he’d been given two nights ago—a show of trust from the Cloisters, though he still had on his magic canceling cuffs. “They just sent us out. Why call us back?”
“I don’t know.” I did a quick scan of the area—for safety. We’d been assigned to the business district and had just started our route with Goldstein Street. The street was quiet—I didn’t sense or hear anything out of the ordinary.
They can’t be calling us back for something pertaining to Considine. The slayers would have found out first and notified me.I checked my cellphone, just to make sure, but no one had sent me any messages.
Tetiana—the third member of our team for the evening, which was also a testament to how much the task force trusted Orrin that he counted as the second member—tugged her radio from her belt. “Let’s find out, shall we?”
“Wait—” Orrin said, too late.
“WHAT’S GOING ON, SARGE? WHY CALL US BACK?” Tetiana hollered on the radio.
Static crackled on our radios—likely as Sarge waited for everyone’s ears to stop ringing.
“We have a lead on the oracle.” Sarge said. “Including the probable location at which they’re being held.”
Every nerve in my body fired at once—this was amazing news. If we retrieved the oracle, we could find Considine!
“Woah, that’s huge.” Tetiana gave me a broad smile. “This could be a breakthrough!”
I fumbled with my phone, firing off a quick text to Mom, telling her the Cloisters had a breakthrough and to see if they’d share the info with the slayers. I put my phone away before she responded, but my heart twisted in my chest with the possibilities.
