Shadows Before the Sun by Kelly Gay

Queen of Underground, dispensing riddles and prophecies at a hefty price.
    Alessandra and I weren’t friends. In fact, she seemed to take great pleasure in making things as difficult as possible whenever I procured her services—which I always thought a huge waste of time sinceshe made the department pay dearly and then never gave us much but cryptic answers and sarcasm. The one time I’d used her prophetic services for personal reasons, to find out if my sister Bryn was possessed, she’d been little help.
    The oracle was actually quite pretty, her coloring—otherworldly mossy green eyes, deep red lips, and curly raven hair—vivid against pale skin. Of course, this was Sandra, so her expression was the usual sly amusement and the monumental smugness that came from two thousand years of being a world-renowned know-it-all.
    “Yes, I’m knitting, blondie. It calms my mind,” she said, setting the blob of fuzzy pink and white yarn into an open bag next to her. “Sit down, Charlie.”
    I glanced over my shoulder. The agent was setting all my clips on the counter. If he decided to count every one, we’d be here forever.
    “Going on a little excursion?” I asked, taking a seat. “Family visit?”
    Her smile hiked at the corners as she angled in her seat to face me, her veil dropping in a slow fall of fabric to her shoulders. “Trying to discover my background, are we?”
    I shrugged, glaring at the gate agent. “Thought I’d give it a try.” He began to dig through my shower bag. “So what’s with all the secrecy, anyway?”
    “Not secrecy. There are those who have been around since my emergence. My past is not hidden. But it is mine. Mine to share if I choose.”
    The Adonai jerkwad held up my bra with two fingers like it was radioactive. I crossed my arms over my chest as my cheeks grew warm. “Is that really necessary?” I griped loudly, but he simply ignored me. “There’s a blue one, too.”
    I wanted to sink my fist into the superior expression he gave me. My teeth clenched.
    Sandra tsked. “You always rise to the bait, Charlie. You’re so predictable.”
    I snorted. “Everything is predictable to you.” Others would say I was the opposite—they never knew what I’d do next.
    “Not everything.”
    It was something in her voice, a resignation, a worry, that got my attention. Her eyes swam with something I’d never seen from her before. Fear, I realized. And then it was gone. Before I could digest that, her next words completely bowled me over. “I’m not visiting anyone in Ithonia, Charlie. I am here to escort you into Fiallan to find your siren.”
    I blinked, frowned, then frowned some more . . . And then I scanned the terminal for a hidden camera because the Oracle of All Oracles showing up here, to help me—me of all people, who made it a point to give Alessandra as good as she gave—was just a little too bizarre to comprehend.
    She stared with one eyebrow cocked as I grappled. Finally I found my voice, but she cut me off. “I know what you’re going to say, of course. And I don’t need to be an oracle to know that much. I’m going withyou. I don’t like it. But I’m going. So you might as well get over it.” She glanced at the gate agent and gathered her things. “He’s done. You ready?”
    Then a thought occurred to me and I hurried after her. “Wait. Are you saying Hank is alive?”
    “Oracle,” the agent greeted her, making a respectful bow. She nodded serenely and took the small disposable earplugs he offered her. “Please proceed through the sphere without stopping. May your journey be safe and prosperous.”
    Alessandra was honored; I would never be, even though I was law enforcement, even though I put my ass on the line for the beings of all three worlds.
    Prosperous, my ass.
    The gate agent tossed a pair of earplugs onto the counter. I grabbed the small plastic bag and returned his glare before catching up to Sandra. “Damn it, Sandra, wait.”
    She finally stopped