Earth
Gaia

Nothing got Nїx out of sorts more than being unable to locate her favored shirt of the day.

Where is it???

She unfolded another, glanced, and grumbled while flinging it over her shoulder. No, not that one either.

Where the hells was it? It couldn't grow legs, unless... she paused and traced back through the paths of the decision trees.

Then she shook her head. No, Mariketa hadn't put a spell in here. The redheaded witch was crafty, true, but she wasn't known for pulling that many pranks. Especially not with Nїx.

She thought it over, continuing to trace the paths. Perhaps one of her sisters had stolen it from her?

Sigh. No, they hadn't stolen that one, either. A couple other shirts were missing, yes, but she didn't need those. In fact, she'd chosen them specifically to get stolen.

Her sisters had a bad habit of getting clingy with her favorite shirts, so she stole, bought, or acquired others that would outshine her choices deliberately.

Finally, she conceded defeat. Huffing, she fell onto her soft bed and plucked at the strings on one comforter. Perhaps the fates just enjoyed playing with her. These days, the paths had been growing dimmer with each passing hour.

The last time she'd felt this disillusioned with her being an oracle, it had been forty years ago. Or was it fifty?

Her sisters said she spent an entire month mumbling ancient Babylonian. The dialect was not lost to her, but for the life of her, she couldn't reacquire the language that readily. More was the pity, she knew a couple tomes she needed to read very shortly.

She rose up, then tugged on the nearest t-shirt. When she saw herself in the mirror, she grimaced. Black was slimming, but she liked her curves, damn it!

Another caught her eye. A deep maroon. She'd filched it from a local shop not less than a week ago on a whim. Though she didn't bother mentioning the two hundred dollars she'd left on the counter. The proprietor was on hard times.

She held up the soft cotton, considering.

Well, that was that. She stripped the black shirt off and slid the maroon over her, pasting a smile in the mirror of her vanity. Hm. Much better. Nїx paused, considering the phrase.

In My Defense, I Was Left Unsupervised.

She smiled more widely. It would do. She caught a glimpse of something ahead. A new decision tree had appeared. She focused on the tangent. Nїx felt forward through the branches and frowned. The gold thread unraveled to black swiftly.

Some warlock was about to make a very fatal mistake. One that involved making a move on the Vertas Pact. That settles my evening plans.

Phenїx would be going on a little treasure hunt. Or more appropriately, a head hunt. Not that this one was very much to look at.

Still, a few pretty explosions were just what the doctor ordered. She tied a pink string on her finger.

Better still, they were what the oracle ordered. She slid on a pair of tight jean short shorts, and then threw on her best pair of black thigh-high stockings, with come-get-me high-heel boots that zippered up to her calves.

Regarding herself in the mirror, she sighed. It's such a burden to look this good...

She traipsed down the stairs of Holly's mansion. As usual, her young niece was trying to get the twins ready for their bedtime. And as usual, the darlings had zero interest in doing so.

"Moooom, come on! We're not babies anymore!" Alyson was almost crying.

Holly had her hands on her hips, "Oh, really? Pardon me, Miss Grown-Up, but what were you doing back in the living room just now?"

Her youngest by only a few seconds, Aly pouted, "I wasn't yawning!"

Despite her slightly bedraggled appearance, Holly looked every bit the mother-in-charge. She leaned closely and touched her daughter's cheek softly, smiling.

"Your father will have a good breakfast for you in the morning if you go now," Holly whispered.

The beautiful half-demon Valkyries nibbled their lips softly, pensively. The older, Brianna, asked, "Cimmanon pancakes?"

"Exactly. And plenty of syrup."

Nїx felt her heart twist a little. The children were so innocent. Mischievous, as all girls were wont to be, but truly good at heart. Little were they aware of their future trials. The tribulations ahead would test them greatly.

That didn't matter. Let children be children for their appointed time. She called them her sweet little vamons. Valkyrie, demon. Vamon.

Regin the Radiant was so put out over the choice. But, she admitted, Demyrie didn't have the same ring to it. They pronounced it vay-mon, rather than Malkom Slaine, as a vampire demon, a vee-mon.

Brianna and Alyson were already blonde-haired and violet-eyed, much like their half-Fury mother. Aly's would go strawberry-blonde, like her mother, Bri would darken later in life, almost to a burnished brunette.

They were also sporting slightly longer fangs and nails, courtesy of their rage demon father, Cadeon Woede. And they'd make it to five foot nine, yay for tall girls among the Valkyries!

The twin daughters gave a huff, but both nodded eagerly, smiling. Bri was missing her first baby upper canine fang. The adult one would arrive shortly.

While they had taken to tracing to and fro across their home, they always liked to race to bed. Perhaps that was the Valkyrie in them.

Phenїx paused when another image flashed in her sight. The odor from it was enough to make her teeth hiss a breath out.

"Auntie Nїxie, are you okay?"

She paused, considering the child. Who was-? Oh, yes, this was her grandniece.

She patted Bri on the head, smiling indulgently. "Your mother is going to help your father with the pancakes this time."

"Good, Daddy always burns them," she sniffed.

"I like them burnt, though!" Aly mentioned.

"I will communicate that on to your parents," Phenїx whispered in her best "auntie conspiracy" voice.

Well, she wouldn't, but Cadeon would burn the last pair for Aly. Even if his wife would demand reparations for him setting off the smoke detector.

A good thing her niece wasn't eating, or those reparations would make a new little one. She was clear. Two tracing daughters were enough for the time being to take care of.

Cadeon, alpha that he was, wanted a few more, mostly because he feared his wife might be harmed on the battlefield. But Nїx had made it clear; he'd trained her niece well. She was already one of the most feared warriors in the Lore.

The twins giggled and waved, "Thank you, Auntie! Night!"

"Good morning, sweethearts."

Wait, it was nighttime. Ah, yes, in the morning they'd have their pancakes. What was she supposed to be doing?

She looked down at her finger. The single pink string reminded her. Warlock. Right.

Not for the first time, she was grateful that her nieces and sisters had been getting shacked up. Holly, for her part, had allowed a dozen of her new coven sisters to remain in the mansion Cadeon had purchased for her while they found a new place to stay.

Even if their constant partying left her OCD screaming to rearrange and clean everything in their wake.

With Val Hall being leveled, it was only a matter of time before the Bringers of Doom went on the offensive again. But they'd need to spread across most of New Orleans to eliminate every home the Vertas leaders owned.

The Pravus, meanwhile, were largely disorganized, unhinged. They were trying to find someone strong enough to unite their factions and bring an end to the Vertas Pact.

She had a very good insight (foresight) about who one of those leaders would be. Nїx looked down at her shirt. This isn't the right shirt! Where is it?

Another vision threaded its way into her view. The image of her sister Kaderin with a broken arm from a car wreck made her wince.

Well, only one way to avoid that. She walked over to the kitchen counter. The Valkyries were playing Wii, deep in intoxibongs. All except Myst and Kaderin.

Oh? She caught a glimpse of her eyes glowing gold in the mirror. A new image and thread appeared. She followed the golden thread.

She gave a fistpump.

Kaddy's gonna have a baby after tonight! Yay!

It was about time. Sebastian Wroth was very eager about catching up with his eldest brother. The Estonians were learning to enjoy their Brides deeply, even if they found the other Valkyries disconcerting.

Wrong shirt. She shook her head. No, she couldn't find the right one. This one would suffice. She frowned when something spiked through her. For a moment, the air had left her lungs.

What the hells was that?

It had felt like a power surge, a jolt to her heart. Like she was... yes. She blew out a sigh. Finally, the pieces were landing together.

But there was another lingering feeling. Disquiet, unease.

She shoved that down. Useless emotion. She had things... what was she doing?

Pink string. Kill the warlock and then find out what needed to happen next.

When had she gone outside? She shook her head. "Focus, girl, focus."

She ambled over to Kaderin's car, jangling the keys.

Plopping inside the leather interior, she gave off another contented sigh. Very nice ride, Kaddy. Very nice. But did she... yes, she left the arsenal in the trunk, good girl, sis!

Nїx clapped excitedly and started the engine. A press of a button, and the V8 roared to life. Ahh, now that was a sound that never got old.

She floored the accelerator and was off in a screech of rubber. Gods, that wind felt so freaking good in her hair... she tapped her sister's smartphone and started bopping to the lyrics.

On a whim, she snagged up a peppermint and popped it on her tongue. Relishing the taste.

Time for a redux, Nїxie!

* * * * *

When she stepped out of the mansion Byron had to suck in a sharp breath to control himself. Lord above, the woman truly was delectable. She knew it, too.

Otherwise why would she bother wearing that bold color on her, letting all and sundry know she could rock anything and look like an embodiment of Sex?

Worse, every curve on her was painted clearly with the clothing she'd chosen. The phrase 'hourglass' would have been very applicable. Honey-smooth skin glowed like she'd been fresh from the best beach in the world.

He didn't use that phrase lightly. Feveris was a beautiful realm, for all its crazy stupid fertility fonts.

He'd had to trail close behind her, but when Phenїx's feet unerringly found their way to the vehicle of her choice, his eyebrows lifted. A freaking six-figure ride.

Well. Okay.

It wasn't as if they couldn't afford these things, but yeesh.

It still boggled his mind to consider all of the old money that these immortals had lying around.

Inside of a few minutes they had already left the high-end neighborhood and were on the highway headed out of town.

Where's she planned on going now?

He leaned back in the passenger's seat, listening when the phone's streaming service started up.

"The wind is blowing through her hair, We like to head out on the road,
And you know we don't really care, Cuz we're just doing what we want."

He smiled a bit, soaking in the song. He liked NEFFEX.

The Valkyrie slapped the phone. The song stopped. Byron glanced at her with a tiny glare.

Really? Changing mid-song? Rude.

But it was her car. Or wait, hadn't that vampire come over in it?

Byron's head tilted. Now that he thought about it for a moment, yeah, he had.

This was Sebastian Wroth's ride, or Byron figured it was his mate's, Kaderin. A Ferrari Portofino... well, the vampire assassin had interesting tastes. Not half-bad.

Once the cold-hearted, the dark-haired vampire assassin had really bloomed into a lady that loved life since her family had returned from the dead, literally. Word was she and the vampire were now starting on a baby.

Nymph covens who used to be snide about her slumming with a leech were choking on all the riches the Wroths were laying out for their wives. Myst had already had one son with her husband Nikolai, and word was she'd be trying for another.

Fates were smiling on the Forebearers. They might not be the most-loved in all the Lore, but their Brides were certainly loving them enough, and then some.

Neomi, the ballerina from the 20s, now a phantom, was also said to be starting a family with her own vampire husband, the old Kapsliga assassin Conrad.

Byron had made some soft questions around the Kapsliga lower rank and file assassins. They'd gotten the hint. The Forebearers were largely off-limits.

Conrad was a point of contention, but since most of his kills had been contract hits, he was being given a pass. A first in any Accession.

Top it off, the Wroths had apparently been blessed by the goddess Riora with another turn of what was called Thrane's Key. They'd gone back to retrieve their beloved Wroth sisters and brought them forward in time.

By all accounts, they and the Valkyries were becoming quite the party-goers when they could. Of course, they were still mortal, but the Wroths were having to deal with that separately.

He paused and checked out the oracle when they shrieked past another car at ninety miles an hour. She was accelerating.

Then he grew thoughtful. Nїx had stolen a car just for a joyride? Their garages were full up with toys.

Why take the...? Convertible. Lightbulb. She wanted to feel the wind in her hair.

He smiled over her features. Her raven tresses were getting whipped up. Then the music skipped to Mya's "Sophisticated Lady".

Nїx instantly started bee-bopping her whole body to the rhythm. Byron's eyes widened.

Whoa. Hello.

He'd seen her a few times when she was in a good mood, but this was a whole different level. She wasn't just giving a head bob to it, her whole form was flowing.

Her lips opened just a little, the tip of her tongue flicking along a tiny fang, then she kept mouthing:

"Sophisticated lady, But nasty when I want to be.
I see ya starin' from across the room, And you can't keep your eyes off me.
Got you wrapped around my finger baby, Like a puppet on a string. Have you in cuffs like cops and robbers, Cuz touching me's a felony."

She looked like she was at peace, her face lighting up. She steered perfectly, aiming between cars at over a hundred and ten miles an hour. A small bit of sweat trickled down her neck.

The proto-Valkyrie's vacant amber-gold eyes actually seemed cognizant while she flicked her fingers with the song. Alive, virile. Gorgeous.

Then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Byron wanted to sigh, but this close, she'd hear him. He inhaled slow, expanding his lungs, and then let the air out through his mouth in a controlled exhale.

She was in such a great mood right now, he hated to disturb her.

He had time before he had to act. Byron settled back watching her. She wasn't even worrying about where she was headed.

Odds were she'd already foreseen every moment of this journey. His brows lofted slightly. Well, not every moment.

Next up on the listing came "Indestructible". He grinned to himself. Yeah, there's a beat.

But Phenїx hit the phone less than a minute and a half in. The speakers skipped over to "E.T." by Katy Perry.

He frowned and squinted over at her, then shrugged to himself. Whatever. Let it roll.

Then came "Viking Death March" by Billy Talent. His eyebrows went up. Ah, now that one she had to enjoy.

Her hand hit the phone again. Demi Lovato's "Confident" bumped up.

He peered at her, then checked his magicks. Was the cloak not working? Did she know he was there?

He patted himself down. Is she messing with me?

No, everything was fine. He was cloaked, same as before. That meant this was all on her.

His cheek twitched. It kind of irked him.

She had all these great songs saved on her streaming service, but she only wanted to listen to these bee-boppers? Sure, sexy, confident. He could get with that, once in awhile.

But Nїx the Ever-Knowing was a kick-ass shield maiden, a demigoddess, a warrior above all other peers. She could throw in a few harder beats and keep with them, right?

She hit the brakes, slowing just in time to avoid a radar trap from a highway patrolman. An easy 77 miles an hour, not quite fast enough to warrant a pursuit.

His eyes lifted to look out over the highway while they swerved past a mortal. Older, a bit paunchy, the guy was drunk, and he looked at her with something close to a lecherous look. In spite of the ring on his finger. Byron's brow quirked and his fist clenched.

Don't go there, pal.

Next up came Cash's beat from the jukebox the other night.

He froze, glanced over.

Phenїx's pert little nose twitched, gold eyes squinting with irritation. His eyelids flew wide while his jaw dropped. He mouthed the words. Oh, Hell no.

She raised her palm to strike the phone again.

Trigger! NOT The Man!

He snarled, snatched her wrist, and threw his cloak into its pocket dimension. His mystickal aura blasted out in full force.

Foreknowledge off. Now.

"Never interrupt Johnny," he said.

She shrieked and the car's windows blew out in their faces.