Oracle

Part 57

John carried Jasper back to the Rook, having left some trusted men to deal with the wardens. Tim would be put somewhere safe and Maria was already in the hospital being operated on by someone with supernatural experience.  They needed to remove the spear from her body before it tried to heal around it. Jasper whimpered in his arms, not aware of his surrounding at all. Too lost in the suffering that existed.

The wall of the Rook had been patched up slightly. It was by no means finished, a mixture of construction bricks and strong tarp to keep the elements out, but it would do for the moment. There was a few men inside, drinking as ever now the wall was patched up. Oct was one, interesting sitting behind the bar and passing out beers. 

"Afternoon, John," those who were not his slaves nodded at him.

"Hey John," Oct waved, "What your whiskey?" he asked, offering the fae the bottle. 

"Afternoon," he nodded, his magic opening the door portal. "Not now, Octivaios. Remember to leave your bills," he commented idly, trusting the men not to steal but caught bemused by the fact they were drinking without supervision.

"Aye sir," They nodded with cheeky grins. John rolled his eyes at them and walked through the portal.

Johns office was warm and John was suddenly aware that it had actually been cold outside. Humming unhappily, John placed Jasper on a sofa. Jasper yelled and clung to him as he tried to let go. John gently forced the hands of him and instead wrapped Jasper up in a thick blanket, kissing his forehead and leaving him. Jasper let out a sound of despair but stayed put, curling on the sofa and just shaking with fear.

"I'm sorry, young seer," John mused, pouring himself a drink from the cabinet, watching Jasper cry. This time drinking some high-quality beer as opposed to whiskey, feeling more in the mood for it. "But I can't let you try this again."

Sipping his drink, John moved over to the door and opened it. The table had some food and drink on it but no one was eating. The air was tense. Isaac sat in chains next to Elison. Lord Calder was sat opposite looking at Elison darkly, with his aide next to him. Leo was sat next to John's seat looking grey but with a slightly reddened face with Mimi behind him with her hands on his shoulders. The brief contact with sunlight had burned the man.

As John entered the room, Leo and Elison stood. Lord Calder's aide went to stand but Lord Calder kept him down. Peter sat looking slightly nervous and uncomfortable. John approved of the aide for trying to stand at least. Lord Calder and Isaac should have done so, given the circumstances.

"Sit, Leo," John ordered gently, walking over to his seat. Leo looked very fragile at that moment and unlike Justice or Jaspar, John could be kind to him at that moment. "Before you fall," he added, rubbing his bartender's shoulder, giving Mimi a signal to leave the room. What he was about to talk about, he only wanted a few people to know. 

"May I sit?" Elison asked stiffly, noticing that he hadn't been told to.

"If you want," John shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "You might not want to." He commented softly.

Elison frowned before his eyes turned red for a moment. "Jasper knew about the plan to escape?" He growled darkly, sounding about to hurt someone badly.

"Not quite, what he knew is worse. At least for you," John explained gently, sipping his drink and looking at Lord Calder calmly. "Jasper has been having lots of visions. He claims that he didn't piece them together until Justice was pushing him into Raine's car. He's mostly truthful, but I suspect it was more a lack of wanting to know, than trying to. He knew, they knew," John added, looking at Isaac to include the Wardens in that statement, "that I was going to chase them. That I was going to try to kill Tim and Maria would die instead."