It has been a month now and I still can not follow anyone. People are following me but I can't follow them back. ARRRGGGGHH. This is so frustrating. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Happy Reading.

Love
NJ Kuhr
XOXO

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No one responded or said anything. They stared at her, some in mild confusion but most of them made her feel like a circus animal trained to do human tricks. "I investigated the possible forms of disguising magic. I came to conclusion that a charm would be the best option. It's only commonly used by Witches so not something Warlocks would consider immediately. I also eliminated the possibility of a spell. The Warlock or Witch has to be present to cast a spell. If the Circle hadn't discovered the perpetrator then he had to be rejoining the Circle, so no spells. Cloaking runes require multiple conjurers so that was also eliminated. I gave Oliver a profile and continued to investigate. I used resources and my own skills to track the purchases of ingredients for the charm I believe most accurate. I was able to locate the sales of largely concentrated moonstones dating back to over two years ago, possible older. According to many of the vendors I questioned, a high ranking Warlock was purchasing the stones at twice the going rate. I didn't get a name or identity. He used a powerful glamour and a fake ID."

            They had all listened to her every word without interruption. She had stated everything like it was a report, leaving out the fact that Oliver had hired her. She deliberately only gave them the information pertaining to the charm and that alone. Oliver caught a glance from Marcus and they both turned back to Reagan. Sealey had looked from Reagan to Oliver and back to Reagan rather quickly having filled in the holes she left out.

            Phillip turned a rather green color and didn't appear to be breathing. Lucas was looking around to Marcus, Christian and Sealey waiting for one of them to come to a decision. Peter had a blank controlled expression and was just staring at Reagan. She had a sudden flashback to his hands around her neck. Unbeknownst to her she had lifted her own hand to her throat and had placed it protectively over her over her windpipe. A reflex that Oliver noticed but no one else.

            Before anyone could force her to answer more questions he spoke out for the first time in what felt like hours, although it was merely a few seconds of astounded awkwardness. "Reagan gave me the report and I had to agree it made sense. Whoever betrayed us knows exactly how we think and what conclusions we would have come to. He would have anticipated this and chosen to use means foreign to us in an attempt to deceive us."

            It worked momentarily. Sealey and Peter had both continued appraising stares at Reagan considering her role. The others had turned their attention back to Oliver, Reagan haven been successfully forgotten by most of them. Marcus was the only one who appeared to be deliberately avoiding looking at Reagan. As if he was aware of her location in his peripheral vision but refused to look at her directly. Oliver was attempting to do the same thing, pull everyone's focus away from her once more.

            Sealey turned back to Oliver also trying to avoid drawing more attention back to Reagan. She wandered if there was some sort of Warlock ESP that they could use to communicate without saying anything. She got the feeling Sealey and Marcus were well informed when it came to her involvement although Oliver hadn't explained anything to them. All three of them seemed to be on the same mission, to keep everyone's focus on the thief and to avoid drawing anyone's thoughts towards her. Paranoid much! She chastised herself. She told herself they probably just knew each other very very well. Considering the years they spent together it wasn't a hard deduction that maybe they just knew how to read one other and had developed some form of gestures and had similar thought patterns.

            Something in the way Sealey shifted had everyone turning towards him before he had even spoken. "It appears we have some work to do." He looked towards Marcus.

Marcus nodded then look back to Phillip, "As soon as you're ready, explain everything to Gregory. James will be looking to improve his odds. If we get Gregory with us it will even the numbers." he turned back to Sealey, "He always had a way with trolls and giants. Even Damian has connections with the Vampires. Can you talk to the vampires convince them to stay out of it? Don't ask them to help us, the fewer outside involvement the better but stop them from joining James." 

            "I can try." Sealey agreed. "He can promise them things I can't."

            No one chose to comment on that little morsel of information much to Reagans disappointment. Marcus turned to her though with a glint in his eye, "You wanted to help. Could you warn the Healers? They need to be prepared. If this spills out they will need to be ready to help. The facilities are about to be overwhelmed with patients."

            "Yes, I'm still welcome. I know a few priestesses in the Witch's circles as well. They will remember what it was like. If I can get to them before James they can be prepared to refuse him. Start potions and ointments to assist the Healers, maybe even reach out to other groups in the community." She saw the look on Marcus's face. He definitely wasn't as obtuse towards her awareness as he led on. She wasn't warmed by the idea.

            Sealey watched Reagan closely, aware of her presence again. Glancing at Oliver, who simply smiled knowingly. It was enough for Sealey, he knew Oliver well enough to trust his judgement, if he included her than Sealey supported him. "We can only risk so much time. Get to whomever you can. That means everyone, reach out to as many as you can. If we can spread the word we may be able to prevent more losses."

            "The Society is more aware than you think." Reagan interrupted, there really wasn't any more harm to be done, everyone was aware of her involvement. "The streets have gotten very quiet lately. They might not know why but people have been laying low for a while now. There's a tension that wasn't there before. People are scared."

            Lucas turned to Marcus. "What about the Fae?"

            "Can you get to any of them?" He asked.

            Lucas shook his head. "Possibly. The Fae aren't our biggest supporters. Informing them may make them act or give them a reason to rebel against us. It's possible they may already know. They have their own sources. I can try to reach out to them but I'm not so sure I will be welcomed."

            Reagan hesitated for a second but decided preserving her own skin was less important than trying to stop a civil war. "Aengus Murphy." Lucas didn't looked please when she addressed him. "He owns a leather shop on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village." None of them had caught on to what she was saying so she explained. "He's a Leprechaun; sort of the unofficial brass in North American. He owes me a favor."

            Lucas laughed. "The leader of the Leprechauns owes you a favor?" He clearly didn't believe her.

            She glared at him in a way that would have made Sophia proud. "Yes. He does." She turned to Sealey who watched the exchange waiting for an explanation. "Last winter there was a human who had been snowed in at his family's cabin. He happened to spot a couple of leprechauns who had built a habitat in those woods. He captured them and was planning on caging them and selling tickets for other humans to come see them." She said all of this rather quickly in order to just get it over with. Leprechauns didn't look at all like little Irish men and they most certainly didn't look anything like garden gnomes. They reminded Reagan of Jar Jar Binks. They were nasty little wrinkled versions, with long pointed ears and stretched out limbs and fingers. They had huge eyes and sharp pointy teeth. Not at all nice or pleasant to look at. Sure they wore clothes and grew out beards but that was as close to the lucky charms cartoon as they got.

            "That was you?" Phillip had made a connection. "We were informed of that exposure. I don't remember who was sent out to take care of it but by the time he arrived it was already handled." There was what sounded like subtle awe in his voice.

            Reagan just shrugged. "If you go to Aengus and tell him I sent you he can get to the rest of the Fae. They will listen to him. The leprechauns have what passes for respect in that community."

            Lucas wasn't the only one reconsidering their opinions of Reagan. She might not be an honorary member but they were all least accepting that she was useful. Sealey laughed. "I have a feeling Reagan has something to do with a few of our other responsibilities that happened to resolve themselves before we were called in."

            She rolled her lips and raised her shoulders. She had no idea how much of her work had interfered before the Warlocks were called in. She did her job and tried to help out as much as she could.

Sealey gave her another appraising look but this was a little more encouraging than the last. It might not be respect but it was at least acknowledgement. "We'll meet at the gate at dawn. Hopefully, word will spread and we can get ahead of this."

They all started to have separate conversations. Each either getting their orders or discussing the best way to approach them. Marcus was talking with Phillip and Christian. Sealey, Peter and Lucas had all mingled around the fireplace.

            Oliver nodded at something Phillip had said, feeling relieved for the first time in weeks. It wasn't completely soothing but at least this was a step in the right direction. They could begin to repair the damage. He chanced a glance towards Reagan. She hadn't moved during the entire conversation. She was standing against the stove; holding a coffee mug in her hands forgotten once again, rubbing her bottom lip with her thumb. She had been staring at the floor but she looked up at him as if sensing his thoughts turn towards her. He could read her expression. The same relief he felt that they had accepted this without too much difficulty was evident on her face.

Well, difficult might not be the appropriate term. Every single aspect of this was difficult. But once the theory had been voiced the compete horror of it all couldn't be explained any other way. They recognized the truth, now they just needed to convince the others. He was proud too, he hated that this is what it took to get the Order to open their eyes. He didn't exclude himself but they had all been sheltered in their own supremacy, blinded by their superiority. They put themselves above everything and that had been their downfall.

Marcus and Sealey seem to at least realize their folly. Phillip had always been the most humble but with their leaders at least attempting to correct their oversight then maybe the others would follow. Reagan was a start. It saddened him how easily they had disregarded her at first, there was no hesitation, no thought. But, that was changing. She was beginning to be considered an ally. 

            Marcus tapped the table with his finger nails drawing Oliver's attention back to the group. "We need to come up with a plan of action. Whatever we do, we need to get the other members of the Order together and do our best to prevent any more violence."

            Sealey stood up. "I still have some pull with Travis, maybe some of the others. If any of us could reach them I think it would be me. I'll go to them. Christian, you know the vampires as well as I do. I'll reach out to the others if you will go to the Vampires on our behalf. The rest of you should reach out to your contacts first. I don't think anyone has been back to recover the bodies. They are still our brothers and we need to release them properly and give them the ceremony they deserve to pass on into the next life. They deserve as much."

            Oliver felt a sudden foreboding. The bodies of their comrades still lay within the altar where they had fallen. Their powers trapped in this world unable to be returned to nature and await the birth of a worthy companion.

            Marcus seemed to come to the same conclusion Oliver had. "Yes, that needs to be a priority. There are ways to obtain the powers of a fallen comrade. We need to send them back into nature before the thief has a chance to secure them for himself. If he obtains even one of them we will have a harder time putting an end to this. Any more than that it would be nearly impossible."

            Reagan was watching their reactions. Marcus and Oliver determined. Peter look, she wasn't quite sure how to read him but if she had to guess disappointed maybe frustrated. She had never considered that their powers could be left behind. That was terrifying. Someone could gain more power. The inner Circle was only marginally accepted as the hierarchy because the members were reasonably matched and it was a democracy. The idea one could gain more power over the others was nearly unimaginable, it horrified her.

There would be no stopping him. It would be genocide. The humans would be subjected to the worst form a hell. A holocaust beyond their imaginations. The Society under an even more hideous oppression than before it was formed. The supernatural world would experience a more insidious form of hate than they had ever experienced at the hands of humans. Phillip looked even sicker than he had before if that was possible. He looked exactly how Reagan felt. 

            She caught herself rubbing her lip again and realized with a sinking filling in her gut that it was the same behavior that disgusting goblin had told her the buyer of his moonstone exhibited. She was mimicking the behavior of someone here. It was one of them and she hadn't even realized who. Her fear had distracted her from the details she was so accustomed to observing. 

They were all moving, preparing to respond to the threat. The discussion was over and it was time to act. She frantically watched them all closely trying to discern which of them had triggered her reaction. She tried to recall, to think back but she must not have noticed and her subconscious had picked up on the movement. Trying to remember when she had started the nervous habit. Could it have been last night during dinner? She couldn't place it but she knew it was someone close to Oliver. Someone looking them all in the eye and not one of them suspected that they were among the enemy.

Maybe she was over reacting again. It was a common habit, she herself, was guilty of a similar quirk. She probably didn't even see anything and was just over come with worry and stress. No need to be more paranoid. But, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was in the same room as a man who would be responsible for their destruction.

            Oliver stood up, "I'll need to take Reagan somewhere safe tonight."

            Marcus nodded, not even looking over at her. She had the gut instinct again that this was deliberate though; like he didn't want to draw attention to her either. She wasn't exactly happy that he felt the need to protect her, Marcus was by far the most ghoulish man she had ever encountered but she also wasn't going to complain. She was out of her depth. 

"Yes, she doesn't need to be put at risk. We'll all need rest as well," He addressed everyone at once, "and the ceremony has to be performed at sunrise so we'll need our strength. It's old magic. It will require a lot with so few of us. Do what you can today and we'll regroup at the gate an hour before dawn." There was a finality in the way he spoke. An unspoken release. Suddenly everyone was called into action. A few blinked out of the room, most likely heading to other cabins. Marcus and Sealey headed down the hall towards the back room. Peter immediately stormed out the door and headed towards the vantage point they had arrived at yesterday.

            Oliver walked over to Reagan, being dismissed. He pulled the coffee cup out of her hands and set it in the sink. Grabbing her hand he led her out of the cabin and through the woods after Peter. However, he was long gone.