Page 52 of House of Mages and Raven

Now I was worried that he might’ve neglected his duty while I’d been hidden within Sy. Somehow, he’d gotten himself addicted to smoking weed whenever he was in solid form. I had to terminate his source, as I didn’t want a junkie in my employ, but I needed to find his supplier first. I rubbed my temples in annoyance while running. These days, if you wanted a job done properly, you had to do it yourself. No one was reliable anymore. My thoughts drifted to the chaos prince, and a bitter taste coated my tongue. Lovers were worse.

I dashed into the woods where the vampire prince had caught me on my first day here, only because I’d bumped into Killian’s hard chest. He’d purred,“There you are,”as if he’d been waiting for me and known who I was.

Suddenly, a tingling sensation buzzed between my shoulder blades, then a voice from the depths of the woods invaded my head.Magic fades. Mist reveals, and Ruin comes. The cursed and the blessed are One. The darkest flame has emerged. Fuse it with light, or its power will devour the worlds and all whom you love. The Wheels of the Fates have turned. New threats have been woven. There shall be two Brides.

Fuck off!I shoved the telepathic voice out of my head.

“Show yourself, or I’ll make you!” I shouted, and I felt a presence before Sy barked,Behind you!

I wheeled one hundred and eighty degrees, reaching out and summoning the evil blade—I’d somehow figured out how to forge a bond between Deathsong and me, and now I could summon and dismiss it at will and save myself the burden of carrying it everywhere and hearing its gleeful whispers of bloodlust. The dagger fell into my palm, and I curled my fingers around its jeweled hilt, my knuckles white. I wouldn’t hesitate to kill.

And then I was facing a veiled woman in a white robe, her black hair pinned on top of her head. I could see the magical light in her glassy eyes even though she wore a veil. My skin tingled as divine magic rolled off her. If I reached out, I could take it for my own, but I reined in my primal urge, especially when I recognized who stood right in front of me.

My father had tried to hunt her—Moirai, the Maiden of the Wicca oracles. I wondered if the other two—the Mother and the Crone—were around as well. They hadn’t shown themselves to the world for over a millennium, hiding from Ruin for longer than I had.

“Hello, hello,” I purred, going on the offensive. “Look who’s here.”

The blind Maiden had made me to flee the House of Chaos when she teamed up with Queen Lilith to out me. I recalled what Cami had told Killian while he and I were entangled in the sheets.“Queen Lilith brought the oracle, who has been searching for the lost princess, daughter of the God of Ruin.”

Yet Moirai had made herself absent in the court of Kingdom of Chaos and saved my skin.

She knew exactly what I was. There was no point beating around the bush. While Ruin had me and his agents hunting forher, I’d tried my best not to tap into her hidden haunts, but now she’d come to me.

“Your father is coming.” Her black lips moved, getting to the point right away. “I’ve warned Hades’ heir. I need to warn you as well before I depart. I can’t let Ruin find me and my coven. You’re the darkness who carries the darkest flame, yet you’re the last kernel of hope we have. If you don’t rise, he’ll consume all of us. You’re the enemy, the eater of the world, yet you’re also the protector of the last drop of the oldest magic.”

I didn’t need an oracle to remind me of my father’s coming. He’d been hunting me, and he’d never give up the hunt. But I wasn’t comfortable discussing Ruin in the open, let alone hearing a stranger, oracle or not, calling him my father. Right now, I sensed that it was only her and me in the woods, but the princes’ minions would track me down soon, even if the heirs got on with their own business. Plus, I would not discredit the possibility of Ruin’s spies lurking somewhere.

I shifted my weight from foot to foot to dispel my nervous energy.

“Is this going to be a long preach?” I asked. “I gotta go.”

“You don’t need to go to the Veil at the moment,” she said. “The enemies will be coming in a few days while you’re locked in a cell.”

Alarm shot through me.

“What cell?” I demanded. “Is the druid coming after me again? He’ll never give up, will he? Will you scry for me and tell me where he is holed up so I can lead a strike team to dig him out before he tries his monkey business again?”

I didn’t have a team, but I could always persuade the mage prince to go along with my plan, and Sy could get Rowan to bring his fae warriors to join us. I was confident that I could reach out to the shifter prince and vamp prince as well to form a temporary coalition.

“You’re terrified of being taken,” the Maiden said. “But one day soon, you’ll be willing to sacrifice yourself for those whom you love.” She lashed out and grabbed my hand before I could shake her free. “Barbie, you must venture into the Underworld, walk through the inferno, and obtain Heaven’s Arrowbefore you allow yourself to be taken. The fate of the world is in your hands.”

Chills sank into my bone marrow as I felt the power of her words.

“What Heaven’s Arrow?” I demanded. “Can you be any vaguer? All you bring is bad news. No wonder no one likes oracles. The world hasn’t missed you since you lot went into hiding. Are you the one who spread the rumor that’s disguised as a prophecy about the One who’ll bring the old magic back and thus kicked off the farce of the Brides Selection? You stirred the shit pie, lady.”

“You’ve been carrying the last drop of the oldest magic with you since you were in the womb, goddess, but you aren’t the old magic,” she said, her unseeing eyes trying to pierce my soul. “It has manifested, become flesh, and matured. She’s been protecting you while you’ve been shielding her without knowing what she actually is. It’s time that she learns about her own truth.”

I stared at Moirai, my heart ramming into my ribcage. Was she talking about Sy? But Sy was…

Sy tilted her head, her heartbeat picking up as well, though not in sync with mine.

“What are you saying?” I whispered. “Talk plainly. Riddles do no one good.”

“A separation is coming.” The oracle ignored my question and kept going down her own track. “It will bring you the greatest pain, worse than the worst labor pain…”

I shuddered, and Sy shuddered as well.

“Stop! Just stop already,” I said. “If you truly want to be helpful, you can tell me about my doppelgänger. That chick bothers me.”

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