Page 53 of Oracles Always Win

“Human,” he said.

“Noone?”Myvoice squeaked and was way louder thanIintended.Weremy eyes bulging?Iwas sure they were asIgawked at the people who’d taken me under their wing after my grandfather died.Andnow they were all looking in my direction.

Thesensation of something—sure, let’s call it magic—ratcheted up.

“Heya,Jake, it’s okay,”Jeremysaid as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Itfeels kind of awesome too, amIright?Ibet you didn’t thinkIwas one too.ButIam.I’ma newbie, butI’msuper excited to be a part of the supe crew.”

“Wow.”

“Right?Socool.Andcan you feel that pressure or tingling or energy?Itmanifests in a lot of different ways, but that’s magic.”

Itwas one thing to hearGagetalk about magic; it was another thing altogether to hearJeremytalk about it.Gagewas big and powerful and horned.Ofcourse he was supernatural.ButJeremy?Jeremylooked and acted like a regular, normal nosy guy.

“Youlook freaked out.Don’tbe.They’rea friendly bunch.”Hesqueezed my shoulder. “But, if it helps, just envision everyone’s tummy glowing like aCareBearas they unleash their power.Wait, do you know aboutCareBears?”

“Likethat cartoon onTV?Myold roommate watched it when he was hungover.”Isurreptitiously glanced around again. “Wasthat show inspired by supernatural people?Idon’t see rainbow beams shooting through the room…”

Jeremylaughed likeI’dtold the best joke.

“Jeremy,”Gagesaid, sounding like he was reprimanding the friendly guy. “Jakedoesn’t have to talk about this with anyone.It’shis choice.”Thenhe turned his attention to me. “Although, if you are up for it, you might want to chat withHaydenandVan.Ican go with you.Butif you don’t want to do it today, it can wait.”

“I… uh…”Iswallowed.

Gagehad said my pictures might be important.Ifthey were,Ishould show them to people, right?BecauseIhad no idea what they meant.Butafter hiding them for so long,Ifelt queasy at the thought of letting people look at them.

Whatwould they think of me?

Haydenstalked over to us. “What’sgoing on?”

Aneerie quiet stole over the room as everyone else seemed to lean in to listen to our conversation.

“GagethinksI’man oracle,”Iblurted.

Basedon the gasps and squeals around us,Iknew the whole room had heard.Abunch of people pulled out their phones.Theirfingers tapped rapidly on their screens.Theyweren’t texting about me, were they?Theway people were eyeing me, though,IknewIwas lying to myself.Butwhy would anyone care about me?

Haydennarrowed his eyes inGage’sdirection.Thenhis irises seemed to flash with some unnatural light.Igaped.

“That’sjust his wolf coming to the surface,”Gagesaid in a bored tone. “Nothingto worry about.”

“Youtold him?”Hayden’squestion came out like an accusation.

Gageshook his head. “He’sbeen seeing under the glamour for a while now and decided he was going crazy.Ithought having a conversation would help.”

“Wedidn’t think he’d have that kind of reaction.Weshould have thought of that.”Haydendragged his hand down his face. “Van, get your ass over here.Everyoneelse,Jakeknows and has known for a while.Sogive the boy some room to breathe.”

“When?” someone in the back of the crowd asked.

“Yeah.Whendid he first find out?”

“Wasit at the painting class today?Someonesaid something happened.”

“Ah, man,Ihad tomorrow,” someone else complained.

“Whatare they talking about?”Iasked.

Hayden’scheeks darkened and he glanced away. “Ah, there may have been a bet going.”

“Abet?”Thedemon’s power rumbled through those two short words.