Calan and Hicks were locked in a staring match for most of their time at our apartment which made it even harder to focus with all that tension vibrating in the air. Under different circumstances, I’d think Calan would appreciate Hicks no nonsense attitude.
The Propheros needs to undergo the Reckoning. Darkness to fight darkness. Blah blah majorly boring crap. It didn’t mention a single thing about getting supernatural powers. Was I supposed to die in the process? Was that why there was no good record of what came next?
Like the Luxis, the book was huge, leather bound, and covered with some embedded stones. Except unlike the Luxis’s book, this didn’t have the musty scent of aged papers. Rather there was no scent coming from the big book at all. They probably kept it in some high-tech clean room to preserve its integrity.
Iwassurprised Ylang hadn’t hunted me down yet about Snarp scarfing down a stone of their book, but it had been a little one after all... I was still waiting for Snarp to get sick or pass the thing, but neither had come about. I’d continue to be on the lookout for the stone in his cage, just in case they rounded back and asked for it. I might even clean it off before handing it back.
Finally, conceding there was nothing helpful in the book of Veritas, I gave the book back to Hicks who went about re-securing the goods and the trio beat a hasty retreat out of the apartment.
As soon as I grabbed my bag, Calan was right there.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to meet Mika. She is doing a reading for me.”
Calan’s face darkened. “That’s not a good idea.”
I’d had it. Officially done with overprotective Calan. “You are not putting me under house arrest. If you don’t let me go, I’m calling off the wedding.”
The look on his face suggested either he wouldn’t budge, or he didn’t believe me. When I pulled my phone out and began calling his mom, he folded quicker than a piece of origami paper.
“I’m coming with you,” he said, opening the door jerking his head back and forth, attempting to do a threat assessment on the whole outside work.
“Fine,” I grabbed my jacket in case the spring weather cooled. “But Mika wanted to meet with me alone. You’ll have to sit at another table out of earshot.”
As I grabbed my keys, Calan grumbled something about it being a better vantage point to assess any danger.
I parked outside an African coffee shop called Whittier café. As promised, Calan hung back and said he would be watching. From anyone else that would have been mega creepy, but I knew he only wanted to keep me safe. I knew he thought if I didn’t leave the apartment, Othanos couldn’t get me and Calan wouldn’t have to keep his promise. I half expected if we saw Othanos again, Calan would throw me over his shoulder and run like hell. Not that it was a bad idea, but neither of us were one to run away from a fight.
I spotted Mika right away. She was tall with the same sharp nose and dark eyes as Jolon. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said they were twins. Despite myself, I instantly liked her energy. Especially when she apologized for sending her brother by way of invitation. She’d heard of my hesitance to interact with any of the Orders and thought Jo would make for an appropriate invitation so as not to spook me. She was partially right.
After watching the Ethiopian coffee ceremony for a couple minutes, we escaped outside to a corner of the patio. I didn’t see Calan. For a wild moment, I thought I might spot him hiding in a nearby bush. Shaking that comical image from my mind, I said to Mika, “So you wanted to see me for a reading? Jo didn’t explain what kind.” I’d opted for a mug and blew the steam off my vanilla latte. The heavenly scent both comforted and promised to be my new vice. This place was practically around the corner from our apartment, and I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it before.
A corner of her mouth lifted. “You seem nervous.” Where Jo always sported a glint of mischief, Mika seemed grounded and calm. She looked exactly like what I thought a graphic designer would look like. Her long black hair was a sheet of silk, but there was a streak of electric blue hair that fell over her shoulder and turned into a purple tip. The leggings she wore had fake paint splatters on them. The cut up white shirt that was opened over her shoulders had “Smash the Patriarchy” handwritten in black paint on it. Countless piercings traveled up one ear while a different earring dangled out of the singular hole on the other side. Piercings aside, she struck me as edgy. I could easily see her being the cool girl at school who had no comprehension of what cool was because she simplywas.
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Whenever someone from one of the Orders wants to see me, it’s usually because they want to brainwash, use, or sacrifice me.” I’d worn my favorite yoga set with the white marble print. I never wore it on jobs because I didn’t want to get ichor or blood on them, but if something did go down, I would be in swinging shape.
Mika covered her mug with both hands. “Did they all start with the lure of a cup of coffee?” Where my cup was filled with sugar and froth, she took hers black.
I thought about it for a minute. “No, but your brother did actually open with offering me tea. The incessant flattery came later.” I left out the part where Jo had stolen Calan’s soul and had essentially proposed to me so we could give birth to a baby that would save the world. Not only had he not been able to keep Calan’s soul down, he didn’t know I was the baby in the prophecy he referred to.
Mika rolled her eyes. “I can only imagine. My brother is a strange creature.”
“How so?” I finally took a sip and confirmed my drink was pure heaven.
Mika looked at the ground but twisted the ring on her thumb. She sported almost as many rings as she did earrings. “My brother is more committed to the Order of Terra than almost anyone. Being disenfranchised for so long, the root of our Order morphed into more of a community of healers than fighters. I like to think we are more grounded since we are the Order of Earth. We chose not to get involved in the petty power struggles the Veritas, Luxis, and Tenebrae seem to constantly be in.”
“Jo fights pretty well,” I pointed out. I wonder if she knew how many times Jo had made a play for power.
She nodded. “Our father believed there would be a fight one day and was often frustrated the Order of Terra would not prepare for such an eventuality. I’d say my brother took on a great deal of his mentality.”
“And you?” I asked, still trying to get a beat on her deal.
“I’ve been backpacking through Europe, running my graphic design business from my laptop.” She sighed. “I shared the sentiments of my Order that my father was paranoid and dramatic. I’m not sure if it was fear that had us close our minds to the eventuality of the darkness resurfacing, but now it seems as though my father was correct in his prediction.”
“What did your Order say when they found out he was right?”
She looked down at her coffee, her hair falling over her shoulder like a silken waterfall. “My order has been following Jo’s lead, and they have great faith in him. But my dad died many years ago. I think Jo harbored a lot of anger that no one listened to him when he was alive, so he picked up where our dad left off. "
