Jacklyn and Craven entered the room where the supervisors waited. Jacklyn scanned the room for blond hair and turquoise eyes. Matt wasn't there. Toby the dog seemed to be missing the meeting as well.
A perfect circle with five points was carved inch deep into the natural stone floor. A thick, foggy liquid filled the carved line. Five candles in frosted glass holders were placed at the tips of the star inside the circle. The star's outlines looked like a sloppy work of chalk, compared to the stone circle's etched perfection. There was a small pile of dirt or ash at the circle's center.
Jacklyn felt a shiver trickle down her spine. Horsey sense felt the cold feelers coming from the pile, like ghost tentacles hungry for contact. Whatever it was, it couldn't cross the circle's perimeter, but that didn't make Jacklyn feel any better.
Jacklyn and Craven kept a healthy distance to the pentagram on the floor. She felt its force field tugging. It was strong, but nothing compared to what she'd experienced with Matt and the Bridge. Some of that energy had lodged inside her, making her stronger in ways she didn't fully understand. Some of the energy had been absorbed by the Mirror Coat. Glass message burned in her mind. Wherever they were keeping Matt, she prayed he was still wearing the coat.
The realm Supervisors wore long traditional robes with embroidery, odd head garments and heavy bejeweled necklaces. They would have blended in fine at a Hobby & Crafts convention.
Veronica looked like the one sane person in the room in her white business suit. Sane, reasonable, rational – the perfect mix for wanting to save the world and make sure Jacklyn died. This was not the way Jacklyn had seen her dog walking employment pan out when she started.
The Visionary studied Jacklyn with sharp brown eyes.
"The Visionary wants to control you to control the realm. He doesn't want to destroy you, unless he have to. Use it."
"Give me the Venetian," Jacklyn said.
The Visionary turned to Craven, ignoring her. "Craven, would you do the introductions?"
"He is a stickler for rules and formal shit."
Craven ignored the request. "You gave me the Vonandi dagger," he said. "I maimed the Beast on your orders and the dagger maimed me. We should both be dead. But you don't want the Beast dead, you want to command her. So you lied. You gave me a different dagger."
Craven looked at the supervisors. "It could have been over. Whatever happens next is his doing."
"We'll brand the Visionary a traitor. That should buy us some time."
The supervisors protested, loud and angry.
"We'll see what the they do after that. They might rise to the occasion."
It was clear Craven didn't think that was going to happen.
The Visionary gave a signal.
The Svartalves filed in, creating an outer ring around everybody.
"Hush," said the Visionary and the protests stopped.
"Give me the Venetian, old man," said Jacklyn.
The Visionary finally acknowledged her with a glance.
She didn't like the smirk on his face. Jacklyn scrapped Craven's vague plan and improvised, using the stock of energy the Bridge had left dormant inside her. She focused her angry feels to one single point: Come.
The static noise roared instantly. Outside, it looked like nightfall happened in a second. The view through the windows disappeared. A cloud of tightly coiled dark forms slithered outside, forming a wall of snake skin, fur, claws and hungry yellow eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Shifting Life
Paranormal[COMPLETE] Magic is all about the rules. You mess up, you fix it. Or pay the price. Not that Jacklyn Morse has a choice. She's a new shape shifter paying the price for saving a notorious thief who is as hot as the supernatural loot he's stolen. To J...
