this pivotal moment in history. And that’s going to be the center point of our seminar—this enormous, without precedent, moment in history. We’re going to study current events and discuss ways it might continue to unfold—both good and bad. So right now, let’s break into groups of four to six and do some quick online research. I want you to look for recent news or opinion pieces on the supernatural breakout. We’ll take like fifteen minutes, then we’ll go around the room and see what everyone has found.”
We ended up with eight in our group and everyone broke out phones, tablets, and computers to start running down the news.
A little more than a quarter hour later, Gina called for our attention.
“Shelia, tell us one thing your group found?” Gina asked one of the telepath girls who was in a group of four.
“The top headline in Google News was a story about Chris and his team cleaning up a gateway at Stonehenge. Lots of articles about their recent travels around the world cleaning up the remaining outbreaks,” Shelia said, nervously pushing her glasses up.
“Good. That’s been a major topic for the last two weeks. Remember, there has been much said internationally about the God Hammer being just an American asset. Thomas, what did you guys find?” she asked one of the were boys, deliberately bypassing Delwood.
Thomas glanced at the giant before answering. “Yahoo Finance and MSN Money both have headlines about the upcoming Demidova IPO. It’s got Wall Street all hot and bothered. There’s no other company in the world quite like it and the prices of many major pharmaceuticals are plummeting.”
“Excellent. Talk about a disruptive technology: refined vampire proteins to treat some of the most devastating diseases known to man, and they currently have the only source,” Gina said.
“What do you mean by currently?” Matthew the werewolf asked.
“Katrina, care to comment?” Gina asked.
The vampire girl was still by herself, none of the other groups brave enough to include her. She didn’t appear to care.
“Tanya’s group is a smaller subset of the Coven. The Elders are hanging back and letting her front the Darkkin society, but at some point, they may decide to compete against her.”
“Which are you part of?” T.J. asked her, showing serious balls.
She studied him for a moment. “I am a Vice President in the Demidova Corp.”
“Then why are you here… at this school?” Ariel blurted out, surprising everyone.
“Exactly how would that be your business?” Katrina asked in a dangerous tone.
Ariel shrugged. “You’re likely older than anyone here, probably been to college three or four times, and you already have a job. Just seems odd is all.”
A funny expression flashed across Katrina’s face. It might have been chagrin or embarrassment, but it was gone too quick to tell.
“Perhaps, noisy little seer, I am on assignment for my Queen,” the vampire replied.
“Enough. Katrina has as much right to be here as any of you, whatever her personal reasons are. Let’s get back to the topic, shall we? Tami, what did you girls find?”
“Well, Mrs. Velasquez, we’re not sure of this one, but eleven women were found dead in New York City. The cause of death was sudden embolisms in all eleven and the scene of their deaths was set up in an occult ritual. The article surmises that it has to do with Satanists attempting to open a gate,” Tami said. “We think it was a circle of witches.”
“Interesting. Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t most circles number twelve?” Gina asked.
“Generally, that’s the accepted number, although a circle can be any number. The eight of us could form a circle, nine if we added Declan, but twelve seems to supply the best mix of power and flexibility. We are wondering if the twelfth one survived and in fact might have caused the others to die,” Tami said.
“What gives you that idea?” Gina asked, thoroughly intrigued.
“We can’t be sure, but the description of the ritual layout is more in line with a spell to raise power than to summon anything,” Britta spoke up. “If the circle was collectively sharing power with its leader and something went wrong, it could kill them in just that way. It’s one of the first things we learn: how to prevent draining yourself to death in a sharing.”
“Also, the article mentions that the police are looking for a twelfth woman known to be part of the group. I think they fear possession, but I doubt it,” Jael added.
“That, ladies, may be a pivotal point