Page 57 of Oracles Always Win

“Yeah.”Inodded. “IthinkI’llbe okay.”

IhopedIhadn’t just jinxed myself.

Chapter Twenty

GAGE

Thedining room was a cacophony of loud conversations, laughter, and music when we returned to it.We’djust finished a cursory review of all the paintings, butIknew we’d have to go through them again.Vanhad texted his team at the police department to move forward with a few lines of inquiry, whileIhad sent off similar updates to my contacts at theSupernaturalCounciland my own team.

PeopleswarmedJake, offering hugs and advice.Afew even asked for a reading, as if someone who hadn’t known about his magic until a few hours ago would have suddenly mastered it.Ihated stupid people.Myscowls were enough to have most of them rethinking their requests, often eliciting spluttering apologies, but a few misguided individuals were persistent.

Jaketurned them away with blushes and shy smiles, explaining he couldn’t do that.ButIsuspected, without the curse impeding his magic, he’d get more proficient soon.Allhe needed was confidence and practice.Hestammered when he talked to people about his abilities, andIsuspected he didn’t really trust what was going on yet.Thepoor guy looked like he wanted to run back upstairs and hide in his room.

Luckily, some of the ladies fromJake’spainting group had taken over getting the potluck organized while we were upstairs, so it wasn’t long before everyone was encouraged to dish up their plates.Nothingwas better at distracting a group of supes than food.

Longrectangular tables along the wall by the kitchen were laden with all kinds of dishes.Supesate a lot, butIdidn’t think anyone would go hungry today, even if they were acting like they hadn’t eaten in days.Itwas chaos.

Almostas chaotic was the surplus magic tingling through my blood.Witheach giftIreceived from the locals, my magic sang just a little louder.Allthis goodwill was unbalancing my magic, but… in a good way?Eachpresent was like an open negotiation.Thedetails hadn’t been finalized yet, but the deal had almost been completed.I’dreceived payment for somethingIhadn’t done yet.

Partof me felt off-kilter at all these unfinished deals, but my magic felt… joyful.Thatwas the only word that came to mind.

“Whereare the extra napkins?” a woman shouted from the kitchen.

“I’llgo grab some,”Jakecalled back to her, then he turned to me and patted me on the chest.Aroundus, a few of the ladies tittered at the display of affection andIsuspected there would be a new bet about our relationship starting up soon. “I’llbe right back, but you should get some food while you can.Itgoes fast.”

Jakedarted into the kitchen to retrieve more napkins whileIgrabbed two plates, one for him and one for me, and got in line.Ifelt absurdly pleased at the idea of providing food for him, even if it was just dishing up from a buffet.Balancinga handful of utensils and the two plates,Ifound it unexpectedly tricky to add everythingIwanted to our plates.Aheadof me, a young woman was managing to do the same thing with three plates, presumably for her kids who were circling around her legs and scurrying in and out from under the table.Itwas impressive.Iwas also surprised to see a supe with so many children.Thatwas a rarity.

“Helpthe nice demon,Simon,” a woman commanded from ahead of me.Irecognized her from the group of ladies who’d been painting withJakeearlier.

Thedark-haired man in front of me stiffened.

“Goon.Iraised you to be a good boy, didn’tI?”Thewoman glared at the man, who was presumably her son, and motioned toward me.

Theman,Simon, pivoted to face me.Heswallowed audibly when he saw who he’d been tasked with helping.Hisone hand moved immediately to grasp at something in his hoodie pocket like he was worriedI’dpickpocket him.

“Uh…Help?” he asked, almost like he was asking for help, rather than offering it.

IfIwas staying inWillowLake,Isupposed it made sense to get to know the locals.Thiswas a start.Ieyed the young man.Hewas probably around the same age asJake.Hecowered under my gaze.Hiseyes took on a very feline appearance and the tips of his ears tufted up like a cat’s.

“Canyou scoop some of that onto my plate?”Inodded toward a lumpy creamy casserole.

Simongulped and looked at the casseroleI’dindicated.Hisnose wiggled as he smelled the dish.Thenhe glanced quickly at his mother, before looking at me.Hegulped again, like he needed to gather the courage to talk.Thenhe subtly shook his head and squished up his face.

“Maybethis one instead?”Hepointed to a different casserole.

Ishrugged my indifference.

Simonhad just dropped a spoonful of mystery casserole, with a very shaky hand, onto one of the plates when my phone pinged.Withno space on the buffet table to set down the plates,Itried to balance them in one hand whileIfished my phone from my pocket with the other.Thatwas even trickier than dishing up our plates.

Ididn’t need to swipe into my phone to see the start of the message.

Nelson:Getto the inn.Tell…

Theominous sounding message was cut off.Nelsonnever sent unnecessary texts.Somethingmust be going on.Istepped away from the table and set the plates down on the nearest bare surface and opened my messages to read the rest.

Nelson:Getto the inn.Tellthe hellhound.Somethingis happening.

Fuck.Iscanned the room for threats.Noone was acting sketchy.Ididn’t sense anything suspicious.IflaggedVanover asIreplied toNelson.