Things are getting dark. I just love this pic. Film nior is sort of the inspiration behind this whole novel.

Happy Reading.

Love
NJ Kuhr
XOXO

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Reagan was sitting in her office again, going back over her meeting with Sophia and her research into concealment charms. She documented everything, including her impressions and observations. Curled up in her chair, her feet tucked underneath her, she didn't know how to tell him but there was nothing else to it. This was going to suck and putting it off was only going to make it worse. "Oliver." She whispered feeling slightly foolish.

She wasn't sure what to expect, the sound of wind rushing past her, a slight popping sound like bubbles perhaps. She didn't think Warlocks arrived in a cloud of smoke but there was some merit to the idea. Or maybe she just had a soft spot for Baum. She hadn't really considered how Oliver would make his appearance until after she'd already spoken his name. The possibilities flashed through her mind.

"Yes."

Reagan nearly fell out of her seat she jumped so hard. There he was sitting across from her.

"Shit!" Her heart was racing; she steadied the chair by grabbing onto the edge of the desk before she toppled over and embarrassed herself farther. "Was that necessary?"

"It would have disappointed you if I had just knocked on the door."

Reagan had to admit he was right. She made eye contact with him, a mutual understanding, maybe more flirting than understanding but she wasn't going to allow herself to take that thought too far. He was right though, she would have been disappointed. Shrugging, moving on, she consented, a slight smirk on her face. "Moot point. I have a lead I wanted to run by you. How are things in the Circle?" She asked conversationally.

Oliver's playful smile froze in place, the charming flirt was gone. She wished she could find something else to talk about, something that would keep that side of him around. She couldn't though, the ramifications were too severe to ignore. "Things aren't going well at all." He stated. It was the simplest way of saying it bluntly without having to go into detail.

That was exactly what she was afraid of.

It didn't look like he was going to elaborate so she moved on. "I've come up with a list of items needed for a concealment charm powerful enough to hide the energy from the amethyst. I've been looking around for venders of the rarer ingredients trying to find a solid trail. Something's are common; candles, herbs. Other items aren't as forthcoming."

"You're looking for a charm?" Oliver asked. Warlocks rarely messed with charms, they had more power at their disposal so they didn't need to use primitive craftwork. He was beginning to see just how pretentious the Circle had become.

Reagan decided she had better start at the beginning. "Yes, if the Amethyst could be found on its own, the Warlocks would have discovered it already. But, I doubt they would have looked for a charm." She watched him. He wasn't looking at her, only chewing on his lip thinking about what she was saying. He titled his head a little realizing she was right. They wouldn't have.

"Whoever took it would have to stay within the Circle and attend meetings in order to stay undetected. They couldn't walk around with the Amethyst in their pocket, although, that would be diabolical. It isn't realistic. Could you imagine sitting in a room of Warlocks with that giant rock hidden under your shirt while everyone is looking for it, hidden in plain sight. I would be amazed if your thief was that confident and arrogant. It's something I would do just for the sheer ingeniousness of it but realistically, not the best option. It would be kinda awesome though."

Reagan was babbling, procrastinating. "They would have to hide it somewhere safe and keep up the concealment while they were gone. A spell would wear off too quickly without a consistent flow of energy from its source and Warlocks can locate other Warlocks spells. I expect the Amethyst's power is masked by a charm. A very powerful, well thought out charm. Charms last much longer than spells and don't need supervision but they have the same problem. Eventually its energy will fade and more quickly when it has to work against the magic of the Amethyst."

She was a genius. Oliver was impressed. A room full of the most powerful Warlocks alive and not one of them had considered searching for a charm. They had only gotten so far as trying to summon the Amethyst itself. Granted they had been too busy accusing one another than to think about how to get it back. They had spent the entire time pointing fingers at each other and arguing over who was the worst of them or the most suspicious. A plan of action wasn't even brought up. Oliver wanted to kiss her.

She reached for a stack of papers and slipped the top one off handing it to Oliver. "I have done some research into some very powerful veils. In order to provide enough energy to mask that kind of essence he would need hecatolite."

"Moonstone." Oliver knew what it was, it wasn't exactly rare so to speak but it wasn't easy to come by either. Well, not moonstone with magical properties.

"Yes, and a lot of it, soaked in his blood to keep others from stumbling onto the charm by accident. Although, he probably has multiple levels of security to make sure no one got that close. I don't think you'll find it without catching him first."

Oliver glanced up at her looking irritated and disappointed. Before he could consider it and terminate their arrangement she hurriedly added. "There are other ways to figuring out who is he. Moonstone has essence of Night properties; the strongest of the shielding elements. Unfortunately, it can only produce so much, once tapped out the moonstone becomes an insignificant rock, pretty but useless, until it can absorb more moonlight but that takes years, decades even."

"I've been looking into anyone purchasing large concentrated moonstones and at first I didn't come up with much but then I thought to myself. Self? If I was going to plan something of this magnitude I would have tested the charm first and then stock piled all the supplies I needed in advance. This wasn't spontaneous. Years went into dreaming of this. He probably started imagining someone else doing it. He would fantasized about how to make it really happen. Then one day he thought, 'why wait for someone else to do it.' He had already seen the flaws. Realizing he himself could do it, than rationalizing that that would be the best option so that he could control the outcome. He decided to act and fantasies became a plan."

She hated this, causing Oliver pain. But, there was nothing else for it. He needed to hear it straight. "He already knew how to make it work. He already knew what he needed to get around the Circle. He started simple; something that couldn't be traced. He wouldn't buy anything in bulk. Then he would have stopped purchasing everything months before he acted on it. It's what I think was the safest way to precede and he likely thought the same thing. So I went back to my people, the ones that can get the size of the moonstones I imagine he would use, and asked them to go back to at least a year ago maybe longer."

She was talking very fast but Oliver had caught every word. "What did you find?" Oliver demanded.

"I didn't get much, at first, but starting a few years ago someone was collecting every quality moonstone rumored to be on the market. The story is the same. They would get paid twice the going rate if the vendors held the stones in reserve. The suspect stopped buying about four months ago, at least here they stopped. There was a shipment that went missing. Although moonstone weren't the only thing in the container but there were a lot of them. It's too much of a coincidence for me to ignore. Stealing the entire container was smart. No one would look into a single item and there were more valuable ingredients. I have a few connections internationally that I expect to be contacting me soon to gauge how much he may have gotten a hold of total."

Reagan tapped sharply on the leather armrest building up the nerve to say it. "The name, T. H. White was bogus of course but someone has to have remembered something, a description or trait that will tell us who it was. I've put out some feelers, subtle but effective and I'm hoping something pops up."

Oliver was ecstatic, this was the best news he had heard in a week. "You brilliant woman." He had shifted his weight forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

"I know." Reagan said but her playful smugness wasn't as prominent as it should have been.

Oliver's excitement diminished noticeably. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Reagan frowned at him, he was too perceptive. She reached down and pulled out the scotch and two tumblers, pouring them both a generous amount. She placed the back of her fingers against the glass and guided it across the smooth wood, resting it in front of Oliver. That wasn't a good sign.

She took a sip out of her own glass but didn't look at Oliver. "How bad are things between the Circle?" She asked again, her voice was low but it carried across the room.

Oliver didn't answer her right away. She swirled the dark liquid around the glass and watched as it clung to the sides and slowly pooling at the bottom once more. He reached for his own glass, staring down into it. He lifted it to his lips. "Bad" he said. His words echoing out of the crystal before he took a drink, a long one. He finished the glass in one swallow.

"I believe he choose the amethyst not only to confirm his plan was working using it's scrying capabilities but so that the rest of the Circle couldn't use it to see his plan either. The premonition quality is what I'm concerned about. There should be more valuable items, more powerful items that he could have taken. Talismans worth considerably more than an amethyst even one as powerful as this one. Why the Amethyst? And, why only that? He could have cleaned you out. This is unbelievably risky, why not take everything he could and run? Why just the one item and, more importantly, why come back?"

Reagan looked up at Oliver, making her emphasis on why relevant, more important. When he refused to come to terms with what she was saying and reach the conclusion she had come to herself she resigned herself to be the bad guy. "It's a means to an end, Oliver. It's not the objective. The rock had some added benefits but it was only the catalyst in his plan. His motive, I'm afraid, is so much worse than greed."

She could tell he wasn't registering where she was going with this. As if his mind blocked her logic to protect itself. Reagan braced herself; she knew she was going to have to convince him. He wouldn't want to hear it. She feared he would turn on her, make her into the person he would blame. "The Circle is disrupted, isn't it? They're going to start to divide, Oliver, and sides will have to be picked. They're going to turn on each other and factions will form. Then the fighting will start and it will get violent; the worst kind of violent. That animosity will trickle out into the outer Circles and it will turn into a blood bath." She paused, hoping he would understand what she was trying to tell him. "He's not a thief, Oliver, he's a tyrant."

Oliver stared at her open mouthed. This was too much. That couldn't happen over something so small, something as simple as one, insignificant amethyst.

"I'm sorry, Oliver. Why else would he have come back to the Circle if it wasn't to drive in a wedge and create doubt and panic? If it was strictly for the rock than why stick around once he had it? Stealing from the inner Circle is absurdly insane so whatever the reason it was worth the risk. An amethyst, even one as powerful as this, doesn't constitute that big of a risk. Unless, there was an ulterior motive." She let it sink in; let him consider what she was saying. " Civil war is a pretty big motive."

He didn't want to believe it; she could see it on his face. He was fighting the truth. Trying to form other explanations but she saw the doubt there too, the rational side of him. "The factions will recruit outside of the Circle. My guess is the Witches first, than vampires and werewolves and so on. Once that begins, it will be chaos. There's not a way to prevent the human world from discovering an all-out war. There won't be enough fighting to prevent it. The inner Circle has worked for thousands of years to keep the humans shrouded in ignorance. If I'm correct, that's his objective; break down the Clave piece by piece and expose us all. He can't do it on his own but if the Circle turned on itself the Warlocks would eliminate themselves for him. A little push in that directions and he would only have to sit back and watch the Circle destroy itself. Then no one would be able to oppose him."

Oliver absorbed her words like a physical blow.

"T.H. White." She paused, not wanting to take it this far but knowing she had to. "His own alias is the author of 'The Once and Future King." her voice caught slightly on the last word.

She could see the pain, see the denial. His face contorted as he tried to fight the truth. She felt the turmoil roll off of him in waves. The charge in the room made the hairs on her arm stand up.

"NO!" He growled through clenched teeth. He slammed the crystal down making Reagan flinch when the sound bounced around the room so loudly her ears rang. "That's not possible." Then he was gone. She was alone in her office feeling heartsick.

She hadn't realized she was holding her breath until she felt dizzy. Gasping for air she finally moved. However, she didn't move to fix anything or make anything better but to push herself further into oblivion.

She was right. That sucked. She reached for the bottle and poured herself another glass.

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Cheers. End of the world crap deserves a drink.

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