Page 54 of Oracles Always Win

“Knockit off,”Vanmuttered.Hescowled atGageuntil the power surge ebbed away.Whenit was gone,Vannodded. “Yes, okay.Thelocals had a bet going about whenJakewould realize his legacy.Answerthe question,Jake, so the others will leave us alone.Thenwe should talk.”

“Whatdo they want to know?”Iasked.

“Whendid you first see something supernatural?”

“I… uh…Idon’t really know.”Irubbed my forehead.Thespot whereOldThomhad hit me with the bottle cap the day before was aching again.Whywas my head bugging me now?I’dfelt so good afterGagehad removed the curse or whatever.Butevery timeItried to access memories,Ihit barricades.

“Isyour head bothering you still?”Gageasked.Hepushed my fingers out of the way, replacing them with his own.Asoft pulse of warmth blossomed under his touch.Myeyes fluttered closed for a moment.

“Thatfeels good.”Ihummed.

“Didyou know he could do that?”Jeremyasked someone, probablyAdrian. “Ithought the only one on the team with healing mojo wasTeague.”

“Idon’t sense anything wrong,”Gagesaid, ignoringJeremy. “Butsome memory loss may be a symptom of the curse as it tried to hide magic from you.Atthis point, it is likely permanent, but we can consult with a coven.”

Ishook my head.Ihated thatI’dapparently lost some memories, but that didn’t meanIwanted more people messing with my head.Itried to think about my first freaky experience. “IguessIsaw a few things whenIfirst got here, and then it seems likeIsaw more and more all the time.Ijust found out about what it all means today.”

Someonein the back of the room groaned. “Shit.Nowwhat do we do?”

“Hefound out about magic today.That’syour answer.”Yep.Thatwas my grandfather’s cat talking as he sat on the floor in front of me with his tail twitching back and forth.

“Shutup,Paws,” someone shouted. “You’rejust saying that because today was your day.”

Pawshissed and then started licking his calico fur.

“You’vegot your answer.Goon now,”Vansaid, speaking in a way that oozed authority and a don’t-piss-me-off attitude. “Jake?Youready for this?”

Inodded. “Iguess you want to see my paintings, hey?”

“CanIcome?”Jeremyasked.

“No,”Van,Hayden, andGageall said in unison.

“Fine.Sheesh,”Jeremymuttered.Thenhis phone pinged, announcing a message.Whenhe read it, he grimaced. “Shit.Weneed to go pick upAshandDillon.Theirtruck, the one we borrowed to look at trailers—" he shuddered when he said the word trailer like it inspired horror, “—it quit again.”

“Doyou need to borrow a car?”Iasked, then realized mine wasn’t there.Itwas still in one of the parking lots atWinslowPark.I’dhave to retrieve it later.

“Thanks, butHaydenis lending us a beater untilAdrian’struck is fixed.”Thenhe caught my eye. “Butwe’ll talk later, m’kay?”

AfterAdrianandJeremyhurried out the door,Vanmotioned for me to take the lead andIrealizedVan,Hayden, andGagewere waiting for me.Myheart beat faster and faster the closer we got to my room.Bythe timeIopened the door, my breath was sawing in and out likeI’drun a marathon.Myhand shook asIwaved them inside.

“Holdon,”Gagesaid as he rushed to gather the pieces showing him alone or with me.Heset them aside. “Youdon’t need to see these.”

“Shit,”Haydensaid when he saw how many paintings remained.Herubbed at his mouth. “Thisis more thanIhad guessed.”

Vannodded. “Bestway is probably just to start at one end and go through them one by one.”

“It’s… just the black-and-white ones,”Imanaged to say. “Theothers are just mine.No… uh… messages from beyond or whatever.”

“Makessense.”Vanstood in front of one of the paintings and stared at it.Haydenfollowed him.

Gagewent over to stand by the others.

Theywere staring at an image of two people at an outdoor market.Thetable in front of them was littered with various junk objects.Actually, those figures looked an awful lot likeJeremyandAdrian.Theywere lifting two boxes.Peekingout of one of the boxes was a weird little statueIwas sureI’dseen in my grandfather’s rooms at some point.

It’dbeen a while sinceIpainted it, soI’dforgotten about it.Seeingit again,Iwas sureIcould paint over it now, butGageand the others were staring at it like it was important.

“That’sAdrianandJeremy,”Gagesaid, confirming my suspicions.