Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (11 page)

I couldn’t keep myself from giggling at how obvious she was. "I’m sure you will, right next to Dylan."

She smiled goofily. "Of course, a girl needs a little eye candy while she’s eating. Catch you later." She quickly walked out the room, humming loudly.

Jessica giggled and looked over at me happily. "I think that I’m going to like this place."

"I think so too, Jessica." I scanned the room quickly, spotting a four-poster bed right by the window. I ran over quickly and flopped down with a loud sigh with a lollipop rolling around in my mouth. I quickly looked over at Rosalinda as she frowned down at her iPhone, texting furiously. "Anything wrong, Princess Rosalinda?"

She looked over distractedly. "Huh? Oh,
nada
—nothing."

I knew instantly that something was wrong. Rosalinda absolutely hated when I called her Princess Rosalinda. In fact, it always made her explode into a loud tirade of Spanish that left everyone exhausted just from listening.

Zora frowned. "You’ve been texting like a madwoman since we got in the room. Are you sure everything is all right?"

"What are you, the text police? I said everything is all right, so stop asking already." Rosalinda flipped her hair angrily.

"You don’t have to be so rude, Rosalinda. Excuse us for caring."

Jessica’s eyes filled with disappointment.

Rosalinda rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

At that exact moment, I couldn’t care less about Rosalinda and her usual "Princess Rosalinda" attitude. "I’m starving. Is anyone going downstairs with me?"

Jessica smiled. "Pass, I’m way too nervous to eat, but thanks, Gabi."

Zora was cooing at Oscar lovingly and gave me a happy look. "Skip, Gabi. Oscar needs some major attention."

Rosalinda gave me a real dirty look like "don’t even ask," then continued texting.

I frowned at her. Something about her was really wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on what the problem was. Right now, I was way too hungry to even try.

"All right, Gabby Girls, I’m out."

Zora watched curiously
as Rosalinda paced back and forth while furiously texting. Her facial expression went from anxious, to happy, to anxious again in less than fifteen seconds flat.

She gave Rosalinda a questioning smile. "Everything okay?"

Rosalinda looked up from texting with a frown. "Yes, it’s Papa. He heard about what happened at Vineswell on the news, and he’s real worried," she responded tensely.

Zora smiled faintly. "Oh, okay, tell him I said hi."

Rosalinda continued texting. "Yes, I will let him know," she answered distractedly.

Zora pushed up her glasses, which had slipped to the tip of her nose. "I’m so hungry. Do you guys want to get something to eat?"

Jessica licked her lips hungrily. "Absolutely, my appetite has returned full force. Let’s go downstairs and meet Gabrielle."

Rosalinda quickly grabbed her designer bag, dropping her iPhone into it. "Sorry, girls, I’m not hungry, but I do need some air. This room is too stuffy. I’ll see you later." She rushed over to the door and opened it hurriedly.

"Wait, we’ll go out with you," Zora said quickly.

"Uh, no, I need time to think. I’ll catch you girls later." Rosalinda dashed out of the room without a backward glance.

"What’s the deal with her?" Zora asked hurriedly.

Jessica pulled her blonde hair into a messy ponytail. "What? She seemed fine to me." "No, something is definitely wrong. She’s been acting real strange ever since we got here."

"Come on, Zora, I’m acting real strange too. Being here is really nerve-racking. Do you realize that I just got back my appetite?"

Zora walked over to the window and stared at the moon. Her senses were definitely telling her that something was very wrong; she couldn’t shake the feeling of trouble and distress looming around them and just waiting to pounce.

chapter

SIX

The whoosh of
the private jet’s propellers startled Celeste out of her trance. She looked across the aisle and saw that Priscilla was nestled well into the plush leather seat, fast asleep and snoring rather loudly. Celeste shook her head with amazement as she reached over to pull up the blanket that had slipped down into her best friend’s lap. It never failed. Only minutes into the flight, and Priscilla was snoring loud enough to wake the dead.

Celeste sighed deeply and whispered under her breath, "I wish that I could rest so peacefully." But there was not even a remote possibility of her taking a nap right now, even though she was mentally and physically bone tired from attending the emergency
Eternal
Council meeting. As a member of the council, it was her duty to attend the meetings, and under better circumstances, she loved it. But today’s meeting was not one of those times. The recent attacks had her really worried.

Well, she was worried about a lot of things, like the very ominous, dark dreams that she had back-to-back. She had been confused by them, but now she realized that they were a very nasty omen of the Vineswell attack. The visions in the dreams always started out very clear, then became dark and foggy. And every night, like clockwork, she woke up in a ball of nerves with her heart racing a mile a minute.

Her body had sickened to the point of sheer exhaustion, as if someone was sucking the life out of it. But the most chilling part was on the fourth night, when the Algea, the spirits of pain and suffering, appeared before her. Their golden images shimmered and floated before her mesmerizingly beautiful and composed. Achos, Ania, and Lupe’s eyes conveyed their obvious distress.

They spoke softly in unison. "
High Priestess Celeste, there is trouble afoot
."

She felt the warm spirit from their hands, but took no comfort in it, for she knew that when they appeared, trouble, anguish, and sorrow were sure to follow.

"
Oaths have been broken. Gifts have been misused,
" Lupe said softly.

Celeste rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"I can sense that our world is falling apart, and the darkness seeping in through the cracks, but what can I do to stop it, or more importantly, will the
gods
save us from ourselves?"

They looked at her silently.

Celeste knew that her questions had to be precise, for they would not reveal anything that would sway the course of events.

"Is it too late to stop the darkness?"

Ania stared at her with anguished eyes. "
The Gates have been opened by your own. Trust has been forever severed.
"

Lupe’s face twisted with sorrow. "
A war looms. Many will perish, and all will be lost.
"

They looked at her with sad finality, shimmering away, leaving her shaken and torn.

"Are you ready for your tea?" the jet attendant asked with a soft British accent.

Celeste was startled back from her thoughts. "Yes, that will be fine," she answered distractedly.

The jet attendant carefully placed a steaming cup of tea and a delicate plate filled with pastries onto the glossy round walnut table nestled in front of her.

"Shall I wait, or serve Ms. Priscilla’s tea right now?"

Her stomach was suddenly queasy, with dots of sweat dotting her forehead. She pushed her waist-length curly gray hair away and quickly wiped her forehead. "You can place her tea on her table. I’ll wake her up in a minute."

"Certainly." She placed a steaming cup of tea on Priscilla’s walnut table and silently walked away.

Celeste took a slow sip of tea, trying to relax as she inhaled the sweet aroma of Earl Grey. But it was useless. Her mind involuntarily roamed back to the complete mayhem of today’s council meeting.

"This is not good. This is definitely not good," she muttered gloomily.

"What in the world are you yapping about now?" Priscilla asked loudly with a Southern drawl.

She looked over at Priscilla, who was now alert and looking at her curiously. "I can see that you had an absolute wonderful nap. Grumpy much?" she asked laughingly.

Priscilla brushed her shoulder-length, recently colored blonde hair away from her pale face before picking up her cup greedily. She sipped the tea slowly, looking at her suspiciously. "You know how I love teatime. Were you just going to sit there and let it go cold?"

Celeste chuckled loudly. "Why don’t you just go back to sleep? We have a while before we get to the Isles." She smirked as Priscilla’s cup slowly transformed from a delicate white color to a red-hot color as she enclosed her palms around it, causing the tea to gurgle as it boiled gently in her hands.

Celeste quickly looked down the aisle to see if the attendant saw what Priscilla was doing. "Hey, stop that, fire girl. You know there is no using of gifts while a
Normal
is present," she chided playfully.

"Whatever, I’ll use my gifts where I darn well please." She raised a blonde eyebrow questioningly. "Don’t avoid my question, Celeste. What is not good?"

Celeste exhaled noisily; there was no dodging the question. She knew that Priscilla was stubborn, like a dog with a bone. "Were you not at the same meeting with me?" Her tone was incredulous.

"Don’t get snippy with me, Celeste." She reached over, grabbed a blueberry scone from her plate, and nibbled it nonchalantly. "I don’t see why you’re panicking. And don’t tell me that you’re not because I’ve known you for far too many centuries not to feel the panic lurking under the surface."

"I don’t see what—" Celeste sputtered.

Priscilla smiled warmly, her blue eyes softening. "I was not finished, Celeste. Now here’s how I see it. This fight has been brewing for centuries within the council. Now some members have the ammunition to push their radical agenda because now the Underworld has brought the war to our backyard."

She sipped her tea casually, looking into space as she continued. "You and I have fought the
Banished
and
Daemons
for many years. Steeling our hearts and cutting down the lives of our own to protect our way of life. I’m simply exhausted with this old argument. Should we use what’s left of our Warriors and declare an all-out brawl with the
Banished
and the
Daemons
? Should the Royal
Elementi
Conclaves ante up Warriors to join the fight? These questions are doggone exhausting."

She looked over at Celeste tiredly. "On the other hand, if we don’t hold true to our blood oath, our numbers will dwindle, bringing us to the brink of extinction. Then who will protect the earth and guard the Gates? Dang it, this cowgirl is just plum tired. I say we just sit this rodeo out and let the council fight this one and hope for the best. It’s really that simple." She nestled down into her seat, taking another sip of her tea leisurely.

Celeste was dumbstruck. Only Priscilla could take such an apocalyptic situation and turn it into a trivial matter.

"What?"

Priscilla looked over at her innocently, in fact, way too innocently.

"What don’t you understand, wise one?"

Celeste jabbed a finger at her. "Sit this rodeo out? In all my years on the council, and yours too, by the way, we have never put such a thing to a vote. It was not even a thought."

Priscilla snorted loudly. "That’s hogwash. It was always a thought, but no one had the horse sense to put the issue to a vote except for Queen Harmonia."

Celeste looked at her with shock. "I just don’t understand how you can be so calm and collected right now. We are talking about the serious matter of the balance of the planet. The council is divided; therefore the members of the
Eternals
are divided, and let’s throw in the tiny matter of trying not to piss off the Royal
Elementi
Conclave."

Priscilla looked at her serenely. "Do you know why I’m so calm?"

Celeste looked at her with wide eyes. "Please do tell?"

"Because as it has always been throughout the centuries, the gods will make the final decision about this whole brouhaha and put an end to all this squabbling." Priscilla took another sip of her tea with finality.

Celeste looked at her gravely. "And what if they decide not to intervene? What then?"

Priscilla choked on her tea, spitting droplets through the air. "What?"

Celeste looked at her smugly because now she finally had her attention to the seriousness of it all. "You heard me correctly. What if the gods decide not to intervene?"

Priscilla’s blue eyes popped open with shock as she flicked her blonde hair anxiously. "Why would they choose not to intervene? Did you have a vision?" Her voice raised at least five octaves.