Lucas surveyed the crowd with a benevolent smile. “I love weddings. They’re all about moving forward into the future. It’s a transcendent experience, if you ask me. There’s so much optimism. So much anticipation. So much sense of community.”

“So much possibility of disaster,” Victor muttered. He drank some of his champagne and lowered the glass. He studied the bridal couple, who were chatting with a circle of friends. “But I’ve got to admit Sierra and North do look right together. Some good energy in the atmosphere around them.”

“This is the second couple you’ve managed to put together,” Lucas said. “You hit a home run with Slater Arganbright and Catalina Lark and now you’ve pulled off another successful match with Sierra and North. If this director-of-the-Foundation gig doesn’t work out for you, maybe you could get a job working for Sierra’s new matchmaking business.”

Victor looked at him.

Lucas chuckled. “That was another joke.”

Before Victor could respond to that, he saw a familiar figure making her way through the crowd. It was hard to miss the Oracle of Fogg Lake. She was dressed, as usual, in knee-high leather boots and a long sweep of a black cloak. The only thing different about her this evening was that there was a garland of flowers crowning her long silver hair. The purposeful way she strode across the old ballroom, cutting a path through the crowd, was a warning in itself.

Victor tensed. Beside him, he felt Lucas go very still.

“Something tells me this is not good news coming our way,” Victor said.

Lucas said nothing until Harmony halted in front of them, her eyes hot with energy.

“Please don’t tell us you’ve got a feeling things are going to go badly for North and Sierra,” Lucas said. “This is a wedding. We’re supposed to think positive.”

“What?” Harmony blinked, momentarily distracted. “Oh. Right. North and Sierra. They’ll be fine. Excellent. Sierra’s new business plans are going to go brilliantly. People will love the idea of a matchmaking psychic.”

Victor allowed himself to relax just a little. “Good to know. So what’s the problem?”

“Sorry to ruin your evening,” Harmony said, “but I thought I’d better tell you about what just came to me.”

Victor braced himself. He knew Lucas was doing the same thing.

Harmony began to speak, her voice resonating with power and certainty.

“Only the Oracle of Vortex can stop the forces that have been unleashed,” she intoned.

Victor absorbed that. The image that came to mind was the painting in his office that showed the Oracle in flowing robes surrounded by people dressed in Bluestone Project uniforms. He remembered the prophecy: Here there be monsters.

“If there was an Oracle associated with the old Vortex lab,” he said, “he or she must be dead. As far as we know, everyone associated with Vortex died a long time ago.”

“Never forget the power of DNA,” Harmony said, falling back into her normal voice. “Talent goes down through the bloodline.”