circles. The second question, "Is this a dead fish?" resulted in wide, counterclockwise swoops.
"That's all there is to it," Nathan explained. "Clockwise for yes, counter for no. At least, for you. It varies from person to person."
It was much easier than Bella made it sound. She either had a gift for overcomplicating things, or she had greatly underestimated my intelligence. Probably the latter, as werewolves didn't put much stock in the intellectual equality of other species. I dangled the crystal point over a map of the world moving it from area to area and asking,
"Is the Oracle here?" while Nathan hid out one complicated spread of cards after another. As soon as I made inroads to the continent North America, I flipped to a new page in the atlas and started working on the states and provinces. Occasionally, the pendulum would swing erratically, and I'd have to go through the process of recalibrating it. Then I'd start over from my last reasonable answer, sometimes to find it had changed. Every yes I got, I wrote down. Though the Oracle couldn't really be in all those places at once, Bella had said to write everything down. I would let her sort out the details. We'd sat in silence for an hour before Nathan looked up and frowned. "Do you hear that?" Now that he mentioned it, I did. Every few minutes, a rhythmic bang came from the upper level of the library.
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I rose slowly, staring at the walls. The sound grew louder and more violent, actually shaking the crystal chandelier suspended high above us. "It sounds like it's coming from—
"
"The dining room," Nathan said, breaking into a run toward the doors. We were coming up the stairs to the foyer just as Max ran down from the third floor.
"What the hell is that?"
Nathan didn't answer, but rushed to the doors leading to the dining room. Before he could touch them, they flew open, as if with a gust of wind, but as there were no windows in the dining room, the force must have come from an unnatural source. Nathan toppled back and I rushed to help him up.
"Holy shit," Max whispered, his eyes wide.
I followed his gaze through the open doors. Bella hung lifeless, suspended in the air as though nailed to an invisible crucifix. A supernatural wind howled in a cyclone around her, the various objects she'd carefully spread on the table caught up in the maelstrom. They whirled around her like ornaments on a mobile, almost merry as they weaved and bobbed, the occasional chicken bone or rune stone flying free to smash into a wall. Bella's head, limp and heavy on her neck, snapped up. Her eyes, usually preternatural gold, were opaque with blood, her olive skin pale and her lips the blue of a corpse. As the three of us stared, horrified or dumbstruck or maybe both, Bella's lips began to move.
But the voice that issued forth wasn't Bella's.
It was the Oracle's.
Chapter Four: Oracle
"You have sought me, and now you have found me, children." The voice, which I'd heard outside of my head only once before, sent chills down my spine. Even under Movement control—and heavy sedation—the Oracle had been able to maim Anne, one of Max's few friends at headquarters, and she'd nearly broken my neck. If she'd been able to hurt Bella from wherever she was, she could still damage us. Nathan reached for me, snagging my arm and pulling me behind him, as if he could shield me from her wrath.
Bella's head turned, her blood-occluded eyes fixing on him with startling intensity. "Do not move again."
"Listen to her, Nathan," Max warned. "She'll kill you." Her eyes moved to Max. "I know you."
"Yes, you do. And that's a friend of mine you're possessing." Max took a step toward her.
"And you're going to have to leave."
"You fear me, vampire?" Bella's head sagged for a moment, then snapped up again. "I have no power over you now. Any harm you visit upon me in this form will only hurt her."
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"That's all there is to it," Nathan explained. "Clockwise for yes, counter for no. At least, for you. It varies from person to person."
It was much easier than Bella made it sound. She either had a gift for overcomplicating things, or she had greatly underestimated my intelligence. Probably the latter, as werewolves didn't put much stock in the intellectual equality of other species. I dangled the crystal point over a map of the world moving it from area to area and asking,
"Is the Oracle here?" while Nathan hid out one complicated spread of cards after another. As soon as I made inroads to the continent North America, I flipped to a new page in the atlas and started working on the states and provinces. Occasionally, the pendulum would swing erratically, and I'd have to go through the process of recalibrating it. Then I'd start over from my last reasonable answer, sometimes to find it had changed. Every yes I got, I wrote down. Though the Oracle couldn't really be in all those places at once, Bella had said to write everything down. I would let her sort out the details. We'd sat in silence for an hour before Nathan looked up and frowned. "Do you hear that?" Now that he mentioned it, I did. Every few minutes, a rhythmic bang came from the upper level of the library.
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I rose slowly, staring at the walls. The sound grew louder and more violent, actually shaking the crystal chandelier suspended high above us. "It sounds like it's coming from—
"
"The dining room," Nathan said, breaking into a run toward the doors. We were coming up the stairs to the foyer just as Max ran down from the third floor.
"What the hell is that?"
Nathan didn't answer, but rushed to the doors leading to the dining room. Before he could touch them, they flew open, as if with a gust of wind, but as there were no windows in the dining room, the force must have come from an unnatural source. Nathan toppled back and I rushed to help him up.
"Holy shit," Max whispered, his eyes wide.
I followed his gaze through the open doors. Bella hung lifeless, suspended in the air as though nailed to an invisible crucifix. A supernatural wind howled in a cyclone around her, the various objects she'd carefully spread on the table caught up in the maelstrom. They whirled around her like ornaments on a mobile, almost merry as they weaved and bobbed, the occasional chicken bone or rune stone flying free to smash into a wall. Bella's head, limp and heavy on her neck, snapped up. Her eyes, usually preternatural gold, were opaque with blood, her olive skin pale and her lips the blue of a corpse. As the three of us stared, horrified or dumbstruck or maybe both, Bella's lips began to move.
But the voice that issued forth wasn't Bella's.
It was the Oracle's.
Chapter Four: Oracle
"You have sought me, and now you have found me, children." The voice, which I'd heard outside of my head only once before, sent chills down my spine. Even under Movement control—and heavy sedation—the Oracle had been able to maim Anne, one of Max's few friends at headquarters, and she'd nearly broken my neck. If she'd been able to hurt Bella from wherever she was, she could still damage us. Nathan reached for me, snagging my arm and pulling me behind him, as if he could shield me from her wrath.
Bella's head turned, her blood-occluded eyes fixing on him with startling intensity. "Do not move again."
"Listen to her, Nathan," Max warned. "She'll kill you." Her eyes moved to Max. "I know you."
"Yes, you do. And that's a friend of mine you're possessing." Max took a step toward her.
"And you're going to have to leave."
"You fear me, vampire?" Bella's head sagged for a moment, then snapped up again. "I have no power over you now. Any harm you visit upon me in this form will only hurt her."
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