Before he could touch them, they flew open, as if with a gust of wind, but as there were no windows in the dining room, the force must have come from an unnatural source. Nathan toppled back and I rushed to help him up.

"Holy shit," Max whispered, his eyes wide.

I followed his gaze through the open doors. Bella hung lifeless, suspended in the air as though nailed to an invisible crucifix. A supernatural wind howled in a cyclone around her, the various objects she'd carefully spread on the table caught up in the maelstrom. They whirled around her like ornaments on a mobile, almost merry as they weaved and bobbed, the occasional chicken bone or rune stone flying free to smash into a wall.

Bella's head, limp and heavy on her neck, snapped up. Her eyes, usually preternatural gold, were opaque with blood, her olive skin pale and her lips the blue of a corpse.

As the three of us stared, horrified or dumbstruck or maybe both, Bella's lips began to move.

But the voice that issued forth wasn't Bella's.

It was the Oracle's.

Chapter Four
Oracle

"You have sought me, and now you have found me, children."

The voice, which I'd heard outside of my head only once before, sent chills down my spine. Even under Movement control—and heavy sedation—the Oracle had been able to maim Anne, one of Max's few friends at headquarters, and she'd nearly broken my neck. If she'd been able to hurt Bella from wherever she was, she could still damage us.

Nathan reached for me, snagging my arm and pulling me behind him, as if he could shield me from her wrath.

Bella's head turned, her blood-occluded eyes fixing on him with startling intensity. "Do not move again."

"Listen to her, Nathan," Max warned. "She'll kill you."

Her eyes moved to Max. "I know you."

"Yes, you do. And that's a friend of mine you're possessing." Max took a step toward her. "And you're going to have to leave."

"You fear me, vampire?" Bella's head sagged for a moment, then snapped up again. "I have no power over you now. Any harm you visit upon me in this form will only hurt her."

"If you don't have any power, how are you here?" I asked, trying to keep my tone reasonable. She might have tried to kill me before, but she'd also given me key information in finding Cyrus. It seemed unlikely she'd contacted us so dramatically only to slaughter us where we stood.

"Listen well, vampires. The age of your reign is drawing to a close. Those who resist will be killed. Those who do not may be spared. Chaos shall rule, order shall be abolished. Do not stand in my way and you may live." Bella's arm twitched. The Oracle's control seemed to be slipping.