Chapter 28 #2
“I hadn’t planned that far ahead, honestly.
” Eloise’s dark brows drew together. “I don’t want to endanger my progress toward a new life, and I’m definitely not supposed to be in contact with anyone from my old life.
I miss my brother terribly, though, and until now, all I could do for him was love him and hope he felt it, the same way I feel his love.
But here we are—here you are—and I want to assist both of you however I can, so… ”
This was the moment when Gwen should really beg Hugh’s sister to intervene further on behalf of the kidnapped oracles. If she didn’t, several of those oracles wouldn’t survive another twenty-four hours. Including Gwen herself.
If Eloise broke the rules of her current Realm assignment and got caught, however, the consequences for her afterlife could prove steep and irreparable. And how could Gwen put Hugh’s beloved sister in that kind of—
“Fuck the rules,” Eloise declared, preemptively halting all of Gwen’s tormented dithering. “I need to save my brother and all you poor kidnappees!”
Gwen’s shoulders slumped in mingled relief and worry.
“Thank you,” she said with feeling. “But what can you do within the next twenty-four hours? As of tomorrow morning, Josiah is probably—”
The demon’s entire body stiffened at the sound of the fae’s name.
Oh, shit. Eloise didn’t know. Of course she didn’t.
“Josiah?” Hugh’s sister spoke slowly. “Josiah Goodling? Please tell me that pompous jackass demon isn’t somehow involved with this shit show.”
“Unfortunately…” Gwen winced. “He is. And he’s not actually a demon. He’s a glamoured, silver-winged fae insurrectionist who wants to murder all the other Supernatural species and every Enhanced human, in temporary cooperation with conspirators inside the common human government.”
After a fleeting moment of drop-jawed shock, Eloise waved the new information away. “Doesn’t matter right now. We can deal with conspiracy shit once we get everyone rescued.”
And that brought them back to Gwen’s earlier question. “But how? Josiah intends to kill some of us first thing tomorrow, so we don’t have much time to plan anything.”
As if summoned by the discussion of time constraints, Matilda reappeared in the bathroom doorway. Raising a forefinger, she made the same wrap it up gesture as before, only with a new bug-eyed intensity to her pleading stare.
“Okay.” Eloise contemplated the situation for another moment.
“Okay, here’s the plan: I’m going to leave soon.
Once I do, I’ll tell Dottie what I saw this morning, because I need to get word of what’s happening to Hugh, and she’s the only one aboveground who can hear me and has an actual body.
I’ll have her contact him and tell him where you are, although I don’t know whether he’ll believe her. ”
Gwen wasn’t certain about that either—and she also doubted whether he’d make time for a conversation with a random elderly werewolf to start with, given how much political and personal turmoil he was currently experiencing.
“Thank you, Eloise.” Gwen blew out a shaky breath and sent an apologetic wince in Matilda’s direction. “Uh, just so you know, I think the guards might—”
“Hugh will have to find a demon powerful enough to teleport him in, then teleport both of you back out,” Eloise interrupted, her frown deepening. “There’s no way you’re escaping the Realm Below unscathed by any other means.”
Gwen’s gaze swung back to Eloise. “What about the other seers? Is there any way they could leave with the same demon?”
From what she understood, the energy required to teleport other beings exhausted demons’ power reserves very quickly. But maybe there were exceptions?
Unfortunately, Eloise was already shaking her head. “One demon can carry two non-teleporters, max.”
“But…the other oracles…” Gwen swallowed over a dust-dry throat. “Could Hugh recruit additional demons to help them?”
“Without incontrovertible evidence of fae perfidy, very few demons would agree to intervene in another species’ affairs.
Even fewer would be willing to risk Death and the Fates’ wrath by trespassing into the Realm Below.
” Eloise’s voice had turned gentle, but she didn’t try to sugarcoat the matter.
“There won’t be enough teleporters for everyone. ”
Gwen’s mouth rounded in a soundless oh, and she stared sightlessly at the sink.
How would it feel to escape but leave all the other oracles behind? Could she even make herself do it? For the sake of her unborn child, if nothing else?
Sudden motion in Gwen’s peripheral vision punctured her gloomy thoughts.
Matilda was now outright glaring at the two females on the bathroom floor and circling both raised index fingers with frankly terrifying emphasis.
“Um—” Gwen began.
“Hugh cares deeply for you. I know that for a fact. I can feel it with every heartbeat. But…I need to warn you, Gwennie. Even if Hugh believes Dottie, he…” A pained expression creased Eloise’s borrowed face.
“He might not stage a rescue. If his attempt failed, he’d be endangering not only his life but also our family’s reputation.
And he’s always been very rule bound, with a deep sense of responsibility toward our parents. ”
Eloise didn’t need to sound so apologetic. Gwen had already known that her odds of a rescue within the next twenty-four hours were low. Very low.
“If my brother doesn’t act on Dottie’s information, I’ll…” Bleak worry darkened the demon’s eyes to jet. “I’ll tell my supervisor down here about the encampment.”
Making indirect contact with her brother would be risky enough—but outright admitting to her Realm Below boss that she’d broken her afterlife assignment rules? Gwen didn’t even want to imagine what the consequences of that admission might entail.
She bit her lip until she tasted blood. “I’m so sorry, Eloise.”
“Shut up, you two,” Matilda hissed in an aggravated whisper, having given up on hand signals. “He’s coming.”
She didn’t have to specify which he. From her tone, they already knew.
The other oracle vanished from the doorway, while Gwen and Eloise scrambled to their feet.
By the time Josiah stormed into the tiny bathroom a few seconds later, Eloise had a firm grip on Gwen’s arm and was lecturing her in the haughty tones of a demon who resented the necessity of addressing her inferior.
Gwen cowered in her hold, grateful for an excuse not to look directly at her fae captor.
“You won’t escape, oracle.” Eloise gave Gwen’s arm a shake. “Even if you did, my son will never spend another minute of his precious time with the likes of a two-bit human seductress like—”
“I thought you’d left long ago, Marlee.” Josiah interrupted the dramatic tableau without apology, his eerily bright green eyes narrowed with distrust. “I didn’t call for you. Why are you in the Realm? And why have you intruded upon my encampment without permission?”