Foresight Read online

  I have faith my power wouldn’t show me a fate that wasn’t changeable.

  My feet echo hollowly on the stone floor as I step out, Piers at my side, into the main hall outside the chapel. It takes me a moment to realize the silence in the space isn’t just from the early evening hour. As I turn a slow circle, reaching for the hearts and souls of the Oracles who live here, I realize the truth.

  They are gone. All of them. Not a single heartbeat remains in the sanctuary, my family disappeared. Grief at their loss hits me hard, though I chose to abandon them, didn’t I, not so long ago? I wish my mind wouldn’t take me to worst case scenario, though I can only think Liander has them and is using them for some foul part of his plot.

  I catch a faint glimmer of life and turn for the chapel door, racing inside. My feet skid on the rock as I slip and almost fall at the edge of one of the benches, the sight of blonde hair tumbling over the side pulling me to a halt.

  Ash is unconscious, her heart beat steady, if weak, eyes closed. She appears unhurt physically, but I can’t reach her with my mind. My gaze lifts to Rupe who crouches next to her, staring at me with flat dislike.

  “Saved her,” he says. “Your turn.”

  I promised him, though it was a different bargain, another life I wanted rescued. Still, I owe him for this, enough to try.

  Baird pushes me out of the way, lifts Ash into his arms. She looks so tiny stretched out over his thick forearms, head resting on his shoulder. The way he looks down at her with tenderness and hurt, I have my answer what she means to him.

  Rupe shuffles forward, sniffs the air between us. “All gone,” he says.

  “Do you know where?” My mother interrupts, glances back and forth between Rupe and me.

  He shakes his head, scratches at one ear like a dog with a flea bite. When he answers, his tone is mournful, lost. “Why would they leave me?”

  How very sad and lonely he is at that moment, a boy abandoned, and I can’t help but feel compassion for him. My hand rises, fingers brushing over his face as I let out the flames.

  He screams, falls back from me as the fire finds the wolf in him and isolates it. How odd it feels, like an infection, a diseased tumor he carries. But even as the flames try to burn it up, it wriggles free and scatters, and the deeper I dig, the more damage I do until I finally have to retreat.

  Rupe pants, still sobbing half breaths, hanging from the seat of the bench with one arm, his entire body smoking. I sag before him, shaking my head, wishing there was something I could do.

  But when I look up to apologize, to find a way to comfort him, he is staring at me with utter adoration. He falls to his knees, bending to press his head in my lap, hands stroking my thighs with loving gestures.

  “The pain,” he whispers. “It’s gone.”

  I pat his head, weariness overwhelming me a moment. Strong hands settle on my shoulders, and I look up into Piers’s troubled gray eyes.

  “There’s no one here,” he says. “We have to keep looking.”

  He’s right, of course. I pull away from Rupe who follows me with a hopeful smile. I might have freed him from his pain, but his mind is still broken and I doubt he will ever be whole again.

  “Where now?” Tallah is clearly anxious, blue flames snapping over her hands as though she’s constantly testing her power. She seems to have no trouble using it here, at least, so whatever is going on has to be focused on her house.

  Which gives me an idea. “Your place,” I say. “And we need to hurry.”

  ***

  The moment we step out into Tallah’s kitchen, I know we’ve made the right choice, and that we’re not alone. Though whether putting ourselves directly in the line of fire is a good thing or not remains to be seen.

  I’m not surprised to find Liander sitting at her kitchen counter, helping himself to a cup of coffee while Kayden and a few of the other young sorcerers lounge on her sofa. Anna stands off to one side, mute but furious, wrapped up in visible vines of black power while the rest of Tallah’s witches lie unconscious on the floor.

  “How delightful.” Liander is all posh and arrogance, clearly believing himself to be in the position of power here. I pull in my flame and wait my turn, knowing it will come. I just have to be ready. “Zoe, you made it.” He has a lighter in his hand. A shining gold lighter. My heart tightens as I realize I left Sibyl’s focus of power here, in this house, for him to find. “And Sibyl thought you wouldn’t show. Isn’t that right, my dear?”

  I turn slowly, stare down the woman I thought my grandmother as she and a few of my Oracle family emerge from one of the bedrooms. The control I had over her slips and falls away, the awakening of her flame bursting to life as Liander tosses the gold lighter across the room to Sibyl’s waiting hands. Rena hovers, glaring at me like a furious puppy, and I give her about that much attention.

  Sibyl looks terrible despite the return of her power, her face tight and mask-like, shoulders hunched and I wonder if she’s finally understanding what selling her soul and those of my people to a man like Liander actually means.

  “Have you seen the truth yet?” I’ve never felt so calm, the fire hugging me close. “Do you know his true aim, Sibyl?” I throw the images from the vision I shared with my mother at her, hitting her with them like the blades of knives. She flinches over and over, eyes widening so far I’m sure they’ll pop from her head at any moment. “Do you understand where you’ve led the Helios Oracles?”

  She shakes her head, but doesn’t back down. If anything, her shoulders square, her face composing while the others of our family look to her with nervous eyes, even Rena. “I will follow the path of my visions,” she says with conviction I doubt she really feels. If anything, she’s resigned herself to the fate before her. “As will our family.”

  “So you say,” my mother steps forward to the gasps of some of the Oracles with Sibyl. “But unless they can see the truth, how can they truly choose?” My mother repeats my performance, only aiming the foresight and her flames at the Helios women gathered at Sibyl’s side.

  This time, the results are much more satisfying. With the exception of two, they leave Sibyl, fleeing out the open patio door, shrieking as the truth finally overtakes them. The cowards. Though part of me understands their impulse to run from the truth they had betrayed everything our family stood for, duplicitous or not. Only Rena and one other, a tiny, young cousin named Treshi, remain, though the little girl seems more confused than committed.

  Sibyl’s fire rises, but I am ready to counter her. “Do you really want to fail again so soon?” I let her feel what’s inside me and she crumbles at last when the remains of Gaia’s power pushes against her.

  Even as the former leader of the Helios family falls to her knees and wails in despair, Liander begins a long, slow clap. I turn to him as he finishes his applause, his sorcerers grinning as my cousins weep next to Sibyl.

  “What a lovely display of theatrics.” Liander sips his coffee before shoving the cup aside so hard it shatters against the wall. He rises and adjusts his tie, a smirk pulling his goatee askew. “I’ve really enjoyed the performance, but I’m afraid it’s time to get down to business.”

  “What have you done?” Tallah’s voice vibrates with anger, her magic spluttering once again. I reach outward with my flames, feel the pressure of his dark power smothering this house.

  “Not I,” he says. “At least, not alone.” His grin splits his face, evil glittering in his eyes. “As a matter of fact, your Council Leader and I have come to an arrangement I’m certain will benefit all of us.” His smile fades as he looks at me. “That is, if you don’t resist.”

  Tallah’s teeth grind together audibly. “I don’t believe you.”

  He shrugs, suddenly casual and carefree. “You don’t have to,” he says. “But I assure you, Coven Leader Hensley, you will submit. Or be destroyed.”

  I’m braced for an attack, but against Tallah. So I’m startled when his power slams full into me, pulling on my fire.

/>   I should be afraid as his sorcery burrows into me, the magic of his minions attacking the others at the same time. But I’m not, not in the least. I sense the struggles around me, know we’ll fall, that Liander has found another power source to keep him going. One that feels like witch magic, full of the touch of the elements. But I’m not thinking about him or failure or death.

  Not when the power of Gaia tingles through me and feeds my flames.

  He can’t contain me. I know it the moment the sparks of maji power rise, her soul magic filling me with the greatest joy I’ve ever known. Liander’s face blanches as he falls back, shocked and I laugh in his face as the fire takes me.

  Come. I know that voice. I turn inside the flame, see Iepa waiting for me, hand outstretched. I take it, journey with her deeper into the fire, further into the sparks of what was once Gaia.

  And then.

  And then I see everything.

  From the tiniest grain of sand created a million years ago on a far distant plane to the final, brief blink of light as the Universe dies, it’s all there, surrounding me in layers and circles and zig-zags of promise and possibility. My mind should rupture from all this knowledge but I watch and contemplate with only mild curiosity while Ipea looks on.

  But Iepa isn’t alone. I know those two dear faces, Bellanca smiling at me, Thanos nodding slowly as I recognize them and acknowledge their presence.

  You’re not Oracles. I don’t speak, but they hear me.

  We actually are, Bellanca’s smile makes me grin through my calm. The first Oracles. You, my dear Zoe, are our creation.

  Should I be freaked out? I find her answer delightful. Thank you.

  Thanos laughs, but the sound is lost. I only hear it in my head. You’re welcome.

  Who are you, then? Where is my fear and concern for the future? Lost in the endless, timeless flow of space around me.

  We have many names, Bellanca says, but the most recent is Fate.

  I rather like Thanos, he says with a wink.

  We were here when the Creator began, Bellanca says, and we will be the last to go when the Universe dies.

  And maybe not even then, Thanos says.

  Maybe. His sister smiles up at him. For now, all you need to know is we are here to guide you, Zoe. You are our daughter, our sister, our instrument. Through you fate will take either one path or another.

  All you have to do, Thanos says, is choose.

  Choose what? I shake my head. You manipulated me. I’m not angry, but it’s true. What a life I’ve led, full of deceit and lies.

  We allowed you to believe we were family, Bellanca says. And, as far as we’re concerned, it’s the truth.

  I smile and accept, because there is nothing else I can do.

  But we’re not here to talk about our little deception, Zoe. There’s a problem, and I think you know what it is. Bellanca’s steady gaze isn’t white here. She has blue eyes, eyes that seem to see right through me, ignoring the swirling layers of future and past and present all waiting for acknowledgement. I nod, calm returning.

  The Brotherhood.

  But she shakes her head. No, Zoe, Bellanca says. The Oracles.

  That doesn’t sound right. We’re not the enemy. Or are we?

  My sister is being obtuse, as always. Thanos shrugs. His eyes are green. How odd. Shouldn’t they also be blue? Your people’s purpose was skewed, Zoe, a long time ago.

  By the Brotherhood. So I was right.

  By Sibyl and her hate for Gaia. Bellanca’s sadness shivers through my composure. It was she who altered the fate of the Oracles and led us to this place. Had she not given in to her need for power and control, most of what has come to pass would have been unnecessary. I see flashes of images, of Syd and another woman with ice blue eyes and black hair, facing off in a small stone chamber. With the guidance of the Oracles, witches would have never succumbed to the terrible punishments of the Brotherhood in the Dark Ages. In fact, destiny would have led normals to know of and accept the presence of paranormals among them.

  How tragic. I feel the sadness of it, but nothing can rattle my steady quiet for long. What would you have me do?

  In this moment, Bellanca says, you are the crossroads. In your hands lies the fate of all Oracles.

  Why me? How oddly petulant.

  Thanos grins at me. Why not you?

  I accept that answer without a moment’s hesitation. It must be someone. Why not me indeed?

  My choices? I don’t need them to see—I have all of creation spread out around me. Instead, I focus on the future and what can be—

  —the last of the Oracles die quietly, powerless, their fires burned out while the world marches silently on, grim and dark—

  —or—

  —you rise in sheets of fire consumed by the flames while your people’s magic is cleansed and reborn, greatness unfolding for the magic races of all planes in their wake—

  So. I turn to them again, a tiny pulse of regret in my heart. I let my people die out, take their power and it will be as though the Helios Oracles never existed.

  Doing so will ensure no one ever uses them for ill gain again, Bellanca says. If they are allowed to continue this path, Liander Belaisle and his dark master will win.

  Liander has a master beyond himself? I didn’t know, though when I turn to examine that possibility, Thanos’s voice draws me back.

  Or, he says.

  I nod. I die, I say, using the power of Gaia to cleanse the hold of the Brotherhood over my family and allowing them to see the true future for the first time in centuries.

  And guide this Universe into a new age. Bellanca’s soft smile is tinged with sadness. You understand your choices?

  I do. They are rather simple, after all. My family’s end, or mine, for the sake of the Universe.

  I’m ready. I step into the fire at my feet as Iepa raises one hand.

  My sister’s power is the key, she says as I enter the flames. Remember what I told you, that you must save her regardless of what you decide. Syd, yes, of course. Iepa’s voice is desperate, but she shares a burst of love. And thank you, Zoe Helios. No matter your choice.

  ***

  Chapter Twenty Four

  I open my eyes, know as I draw a breath only a fraction of a moment has passed. Liander is falling back from me, swearing as Kayden and his sorcerers scramble to their feet, fear radiating outward from them. I’ve already made my choice, know there can only be one path, one way for me to make things right. Or as right as possible, to repent for the sins of Sibyl and her jealousy and hate.

  Liander must know what’s coming, see it in my face, perhaps, as my fire roars forward, plunging toward him. He tries to shield, but he’s far too weak, the flames of fate coming for him as they never have before. But I’m so wrapped up in calm I see his future too late, and in doing so, in watching the vision of what he will become unfold while he fights off my fire, I allow him to slip through my fingers.

  The black tunnel snaps shut behind him, leaving the handful of young sorcerers to stare after their fleeing master. Kayden is the first to react and I sigh, let him go, though Piers lunges to go after him and his cohorts.

  “Let it be,” I say, accepting the future that is to come, knowing what I must do next is the only way to hope to counter what I’ve seen. Liander’s dark master will bring horror and destruction to this place.

  I can’t allow that to happen.

  The flames rise, consuming me with glee and abandon as I stride outside into the darkness. I have far to go if I’m to reach her and must begin my journey before it’s too late.

  Someone hisses behind me, their touch searing a hold on my skin for an instant. I turn to face my aunt, Ash trembling from fatigue, but her face dark with worry.

  “Fight it, Zo.” She clutches at Baird who holds her up, looking at me with worried eyes. “Don’t let go now.”

  I shake my head at her, smile, let her see I’m all right, that this is my decision. “I have to go, Ash.” I raise my hand
to Tallah and her witches and she waves back, face sad. Piers stares, stunned, but with growing fear on his face. He steps down from the deck and into the sand, looking at my mother, at Ash, at me.

  “What’s going on?” His voice shakes ever so slightly.

  “The fire is taking her.” My mother’s tone is remarkably steady, her smile firm but gentle. “You’ve seen the future.” Not a question.

  I nod. “Our people must be free.” I feel them, newly fled, coming to listen, returning with nowhere else to go, to watch me as the fire rises further, dancing around me in hypnotic waves of flame. “And there is only one way for the Oracles of Helios to rise again.”

  Piers suddenly understands, or at least thinks he does from the horrified look on his face. “Zoe, no. Do what Ash said. Fight it.”

  They just don’t get it. But my mother does. “You’ve been here, where I am.”

  She nods, looks away. “I was weak. I failed. And would have died.”

  “No,” I say. “You didn’t have everything you needed. That was why you couldn’t satisfy fate. It would have been a waste of your life, Mother.”

  Is that relief on her face? Gratitude? “I have always loved you,” she says. “And done what I could to protect you.”

  “Even when you thought I was a monster.” I smile, nod. “I know that now.” I turn from her and can’t bring myself to meet Piers’s eyes, though the calm remains. There’s too much sorrow in him. He can’t love me like I love him. He’s only really just gotten to know me ever so little. And yet, fate works in funny ways.

  I only wish I’d had a chance to get to know him—myself, without the visions—before the end.

  Piers takes a step closer, heart breaking almost audibly. I can’t let him go further.

  I reach for Gaia as Piers leaps at me. But he’s too late, the flames carry me up, into the sky, and I’m soaring.

  My vision widens, and I can see it all, the network web of darkness woven around the blue of witch power, forming domed caves of black over the continent. I try to ride the fire to the familiar yard from my vision, but I can’t break through the mesh of sorcery holding pattern over each territory. And the fire wants me to fly. So I fly.