33. THE ORACLE

33

THE ORACLE

W aking with the intense urge to empty her bladder, Charlotte climbed out of the bed on wobbly legs. She felt so tired. All the stress with the recent changes to her life had steamrolled her brain. She worried everything would finally catch up to her, and the depression that had receded to manageable levels upon her return to Rosebrook Valley would return with a vengeance.

After finishing her business, she stepped back into the moonlit room, her gaze drifting to Aiden lying tangled in his covers.

She didn't fully understand what had happened earlier.

The antagonistic way she spoke to him made her feel terrible. She didn't mean to sound like she didn't trust him. She did. Fear had taken over, and she freaked. Not only because her stalker lived, but also because he'd found his way onto Blackthorn Academy's campus like he did at UGA.

Aiden's frustration was justified. She didn't hold it against him .

It hurt her heart to put him in danger by having a stalker. From her understanding, rogues weren't an everyday part of their lives. One so focused on her, who had attacked her, put a target on Aiden as much as it did her mothers. Even if they were both Vasirian, it still didn't change the reality that her being at the academy put Aiden and her friends at risk.

She banded her arms around herself.

No one had ever made her feel the way Aiden did in her entire life. She had never felt for anyone the way she did him.

Walking across the dorm room, she lowered herself onto the edge of his bed, trying not to wake him. Her gaze moved across his face, studying his features.

She wondered if agreeing to stay at Blackthorn was the best thing for him.

Reaching out, she traced his cheekbone and stubbled jaw with her fingers. He groaned, turning into her touch, his brows flexing.

With everything that happened to Blaire since that fateful day where the headmistress came to the diner and offered her an escape, and how out-of-the-loop Charlotte had been through it all, she didn't truly feel like she belonged in their world.

Her presence brought more danger, and she was an inconvenience for being na?ve to their ways.

Lowering her hand to her lap, she went to stand, but paused when she saw an open letter on his bedside table that hadn't been there earlier.

She wasn't a nosy person, and wouldn't touch it in normal circumstances, but seeing the cursive "Sweetest Cherry" at the top had all her senses on high alert. Snatching up the paper, she began reading.

Blaire? Blaire was the only blonde friend she had. It made sense. They wanted to hurt Blaire for her role in the prophecy. What did this have to do with her stalker, though? Never had he said anything about love. Who is J?

Placing the paper back on the table, she stood and crawled into her own bed.

Why did Aiden keep the letter from her?

A sick, oily feeling settled in her stomach.

Even with the stalker being a Vasirian, and his ultimate goal getting to Blaire, his obvious sick fascination with Charlotte made one thing clear to her: if she stayed, she put them all in danger.

She needed a break. A break from feeling like the walls were closing in. Away from the gnawing need to crawl into bed with Aiden just because he made her feel safe.

Not wanting to wake him, she decided not to change clothes. No one walked around the campus this late from what she noticed from the window, and with the heat, her sleep shorts and his T-shirt would suffice.

She crept over to the closet and pulled out a pair of flip-flops, carrying them to the door. She wouldn't put them on inside the dorm to avoid the noise.

Leaving the room, she wandered out of the dorm building and across the campus until she found herself at the back of the main building, looking at the dark forest looming in front of her.

Did they have fences somewhere in the forest or on the other side? She sure didn't see any keeping her out of the forest, so maybe someone could get on campus that way. Nope. Not going in there. She shook her head and stepped back from the forest, ready to go back the way she came.

"What brings you out here, child?"

She shrieked, spinning on her feet, and almost falling when her flip-flop caught on the edge of the cobblestone.

A few feet away from her on the path stood a woman with hair as black as night shot through with silver strands pulled tight in a bun at her nape, dressed in a long dark robe with glimmering chains. Charlotte couldn't make out many details with the limited lighting at the back of the academy, but the robes had some sort of design along the bottom, hood, and draped sleeves.

"I'm sorry for scaring you."

Straightening, she smoothed her hands over the front of Aiden's T-shirt to give her something to do while she composed herself. "I'm fine. Um." She looked around the empty path and the darkened forest behind her. "Can I help you?" She didn't want to be rude, but even with a school full of fanged students, someone wandering around at night in robes seemed weird.

"Maybe not, but you might be able to help me." The faceted jewels at the ends of the chains around the woman's waist glittered red when the moonlight caught them as she walked past Charlotte over to the edge of the forest, looking into the shadowed depths. "You know only the peak of the iceberg of secrets in our world. In order for you to understand your place here, you need to know the truth."

"Who are you?"

"I am called the Oracle."

Charlotte angled her head to the side, trying to get a better look at the woman's face. The age lines discernable by moonlight and gray in her hair said she was maybe fifty or sixty, but she was supposedly hundreds of years old. It wasn't that Charlotte didn't believe the headmistress when she had explained how Vasirian aged, it simply seemed too unreal at the time, even with her claim of being in her seventies. Seeing a living person as old as the Oracle helped solidify the reality of it all .

"You are aware of the Blood War, but not everything."

"The Blood War?"

"A time when our king's great-grandfather Rosendo Blackthorn ordered the execution of every witch, warlock, and pregnant Vasirian woman to prevent their powers from growing or their children overtaking the Blackthorn bloodline."

She knew it by description, but not by name, and not in that much detail.

"The humans with magical blood knew of our existence then. We lived in harmony together and found our Korrena pairs among them. The severance of power when Rosendo sought to destroy the bloodlines resulted in many of my kind no longer being able to find the one destined for them. As you know, Blaire is the key to restoring that bloodline."

"How do you know what I know?"

"Because, child, I know and see many things." The Oracle smiled over her shoulder the way a mother would when indulging her child. "I've also been kept up to date through Dominic and your headmistress."

Charlotte curled her fingers around the bottom of Aiden's T-shirt. "So when Blaire becomes a Vasirian like you, everyone will find their Korrena again?"

"Among other things."

"Like what?"

"The magic that lives in her blood—the blood of a witch—will spread upon her awakening, rousing dormant magic in those like you. The magic that keeps the Vasirian strong and alive will strengthen. As it is, we grow weaker with every year that passes."

The Oracle turned fully to face Charlotte.

"If Blaire doesn't become a Vasirian, our future dies with her. Not only do we not find our pairs, but our preternatural abilities will fade away, reducing our lifespans to that of a human. Without magic, those older—like myself—will become dust."

Charlotte gasped.

The Oracle shrugged. "Human organs cannot survive hundreds of years. It is only natural it would happen."

"That's awful."

"This is true. It is a terrible fate, but one we might face. I foresee mass hysteria arising among humans who witness those they work alongside aging at an alarming rate as their bodies catch up with their organs. The ripple effect across the world will be devastating."

Charlotte curled her toes against her flip-flops. The thought of people around her small town withering away and dying in minutes sounded terrifying. She didn't want to imagine people with friends and coworkers witnessing that. She couldn't picture the headmistress as an old woman.

"With our preternatural abilities gone, we then become susceptible to human ailments without the ability to heal. There will be no children born when our reproductive functions fail without the magic that keeps us existing. But none of that will matter to most of us when the time comes."

"What? I don't understand."

How could the Oracle say it didn't matter if their kind didn't have children anymore?

If they started dying without their magic, wouldn't they want to reproduce to restore their population? That's what humans did with animals on the verge of extinction. Her nose wrinkled when she considered the comparison to humans, but it was the best parallel she could draw. Humans had entire breeding programs to restore animal populations on the verge of disappearing because of disease or human interference.

"Blood, child. Blood."

"Huh?"

"While we will be similar to humans in most every way, our existence still relies on the consumption of blood. No matter how our magic dwindles, this need will never extinguish. Without magic, blood will become like a poison to our bodies until we can no longer consume it. At that time, we will succumb to sanguis manie and—"

"You'll go mad and die," Charlotte finished for her, her voice flat.

"Precisely."

"Where do I fit into this? Why am I here? They said Blaire was supposed to be the only descendant."

The Oracle smiled and her gaze moved over Charlotte's head, staring up at the stars in the clear night sky as she spoke.

"The stars have revealed new truths. A danger to both your kind and mine. The balance and restoration are at risk, saved only by a friend's sacrifice. An untapped, lost power is the conduit for a bond deeper than that of lovers to overcome even death itself. But the heart must be open."

"What does that mean?"

"It is one of the prophecies that has come to fruition in Blaire's path to restore our rightful bloodline."

Charlotte tried to remember the words, picking them apart and fitting them to any information already shared with her, but she hadn't known the words were related to some prophecy or she would have paid better attention.

Sensing her struggle, the Oracle stepped closer. "Aiden sacrificed his life to save Blaire. Only he would be strong enough to do that. With his death, and her unfailing devotion to him—her open heart—unwilling to give him up in the face of everyone resigned to the loss, a door unlocked on Blaire's magic, and she was able to bring him back to us." With a soft smile, she said, "Your awakening was made possible by that door unlocking."

"I don't understand. You said others with dormant magic like me… does that mean I have magical blood? Am I a witch?"

The gears in her head worked overtime as she tried to make sense of all the information dumped on her tonight when all she wanted was fresh air to get her head on straight. She never imagined her entire perception of everything would turn upside down.

The Oracle moved to stand beside her, turned opposite to the direction Charlotte faced. She lowered her voice. "Even if you were to remove yourself from the path you are on now, it will not thwart what is to come. The wheels are set in motion. But know this: the others are stronger with your presence. Never doubt your place with them. Your soul was meant to be alongside theirs. You may not see your own strength yet, but it exists."

Charlotte started, head snapping to the side as she met the Oracle's knowing gaze. Somehow this mysterious being knew of her insecurity.

"You belong here, Charlotte. They need you."

With those final words, the Oracle stepped away along the path that followed the back of the academy toward the staff buildings.

The enigmatic woman hadn't answered the questions about Charlotte's blood or if she were a witch, or even how her presence tied to the prophecy, but one thing the Oracle did for her was give her reassurance. If she had the power to receive and give prophecies that shaped the future, then maybe her words held merit.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a long, steady breath and nodded to herself. She had to try. If she made the others stronger, then she had to try. The Vasirian needed Blaire. Blaire needed her. She didn't think she could let go of Aiden, anyway.

She only hoped the strength she gave them overrode the danger she brought by bringing a stalker and other rogues to their doorstep.