Siljar immediately understood her question.
“Three weeks have passed since you entered the mists.”
“Damn.” She’d missed her deadline. It didn’t matter that she’d been jerked onto an island wrapped in mystical mists that altered time. Or that there was a looming apocalypse. She’d been given three months by the Addonexus to track down Ariyal. And the head honchos of vampire hunters didn’t accept excuses. “I have failed to fulfill our contract.”
“The Sylvermyst is proving to be surprisingly resourceful,” Siljar agreed.
Resourceful?
“He’s a pain in the ass,” she muttered.
“A male is allowed to be a pain in the ass when he is so wondrously gorgeous,” Siljar murmured, shocking Jaelyn. “It’s a pity I’m not a few millennia younger.”
Jaelyn wisely kept her thoughts to herself. She had all the troubles she needed, thank you very much.
“Do you want me to return to the Addonexus?”
Siljar paused, as if puzzled by the question. “Why would I want such a thing?”
“The Ruah will send another Hunter to complete the contract,” she explained, referring to the traditional leader of the council.
“So you can be executed?”
Jaelyn shrugged. “My fate is irrelevant.”
“I must disagree.” Pressing her palms together, Siljar stepped forward, her unrelenting stare starting to make Jaelyn twitch with unease. “Your fate has become of utmost importance. As has Ariyal’s.”
Jaelyn knew she should be grateful that Siljar wasn’t in a hurry to have her executed. No matter what her training, she wasn’t anxious to take one for the team. But her spidey senses were tingling, warning her that she wasn’t going to like where this conversation was going.
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” the Oracle bluntly admitted. “The threads are shifting.”
Jaelyn wasn’t sure what bothered her the most.
The fact that the Oracle was baffled, or that she seemed to be implying that Jaelyn was a part of her confusion.
“Threads?”
Siljar gave a wave of her hand. “I am not a true seer, but I am capable of occasional visions, and more importantly I can detect those individuals who are to be woven into destiny to fulfill those visions.”
Jaelyn took a hasty step backward. “You can’t mean ...”
“You, Jaelyn.” She paused. Dramatic effect, anyone? “And Ariyal.”
Shit, shit, shit.
“That’s impossible.”
“Ah, the cold logic of a vampire.” Siljar smiled, but there was no missing the warning in the dark eyes. She didn’t like Jaelyn arguing. “But denying your fate will not alter it.”
“You can see my future?”
“No, as I said, I am not a seer,” Siljar reminded her, “but I do know that you are a thread.”
Jaelyn clenched her hands at her sides. “Is that why the Commission hired me to track down Ariyal?”
“No, when you were requested to bring the Sylvermyst before the Commission it was to question his intentions in remaining in this dimension rather than joining his brethren with their master.” A punishing energy swirled through the air as the demon’s eyes glowed with a sudden silver light before returning to black pools of mystery. “But the fabric of the future is changing and your destiny has been irrevocably entwined with Ariyal.”