Oracle

Part 48

"Well, he's not doing that," John said darkly with a possessive undertone at the idea of Maciek harming Jaspar. "It is ashamed what happened to his boys but Maria, I assume, had warned him that something was in the area. Do we have any ideas what that something might be?"

"Nothing anyone's told me," Mimi said dryly, flipping through her notes. "But Nadiam said that Maria told Oct that Jaspar had a ridiculous amount of visions while he was locked up on his own and that you would want to know about some of them."

"Any information on where Elison was during all this?" John said frowning as he realised the demon bodyguard's name hadn't really shown up at all in the report.

Mimi frowned and flipped through the pages again. "Ah. He was trying and failing to find where Nathan was," she commented. "He was coordinating with Lord Calder's second, Brenton and his aide, Peter. Peter had given him the place but sadly Elison didn't get there in time. It was the last one he went too. He did have the sense of mind to call a clean-up crew, unlike the Warden."

"Brenton's loyal but he's not exactly the brighten bulb in the bunch," John commented darkly, thinking about the two names. The thinly veiled insult was John's way of stating he had no desire to protect or keep the man. He liked his slaves and servants to be somewhat smart, even if it was only street smart. "Peter... Calder's had him for a while," he mused, leaning back. "Handsome man, little timid given who he works for but very clever. Him, I will have to keep a closer eye on in the coming years," John mused softly. If things went bad, Peter would get swallowed up quick. John needed to find a way to place some kind of claim on the man.

"Is this to do with the rumour Lord Calder and yourself are getting close to a battle, Master?" Mimi asked passing her notepad to John so he could look at it himself.

"There are always those rumours," John chuckled, flipping through the page at the bits of information Mimi hadn't spoken out loud.

"Yes, but rarely from the people who are saying them at the moment," Mimi commented softly.

John was silence for a moment before putting the notebook down. "It isn't any of your concern Mimi. The brat's time is coming to an end and he knows it. The cards he plays now are useless and are in desperation," John said darkly. "If any of this leaves this room, I will you punished very painfully Mimi."

"I understand, Master," Mimi breathed slipping off the desk and kneeling on the floor. She knew when a line had been crossed, even if it was not a line she had been particularly expecting.

"I hope you do," John nodded, standing and ruffling her hair slightly. "I must go to the Rook. See that things are ready for Bill when he gets here. I believe he has a pet dog too that we will need to care for."

"Yes, Master," Mimi said dutifully. "Have a good day."

John went straight to Justice's room, deciding to tackle Bill first. Of everything he had to deal with in the Rook, Bill was the simplest. The man was breathing evenly but he was pale and clearly still on the edge of life and death. He was covered in bandaged, even his face had some wrapped around. Doctor Jones was sitting next to him, taking his pulse.

"What's the verdict Doctor?" John asked as he walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Morning John. Better than when I saw him last night," Jones commented softly. "Has someone caught you up on things?"

"Mimi did her best. She didn't quite go into details though. A lot happened last night," John chuckled darkly, sitting at the end of the bed. Bill wasn't about to wake up anytime soon. His soul was fluttering weakly, fighting to live longer. John's powers' reached out and caressed it. The soul paused for a moment. It knew John from the last time Bill owed money. It made a decision and pushed against John's magic, accepting John's presence. John smiled. The reaction meant Bill liked and trusted him. It would make things easier.

"That it did," Jones nodded, sitting back on the chair, watching John not unaware of what John would be doing. "The people who attacked him had laced their weapons with poison and acid to try to stop Bill from healing. Low-level demons would have struggled to recover from that. Luckily Bill's had his fair share of dealing with poisonous creatures so he has a better immunity than most. The acid was a bigger problem but I managed to wash it out," Jones grimaced.

"He got lucky," John mused, petting the soul and gently injecting some of his power into it. Not enough to change Bill in any way but enough to help the soul fight to survive.

"Basically, yes," Jones nodded.

"I think I can heal the rest," John mused, his powers moving through Bill's body and healing him. "Or at least, enough that he will be out of danger," he mused before exhaling. "I felt so good this morning as well," he said sadly,

"Oh yes. You were dancing, weren't you, sir?" Jones smiled grimly. "You're going to need every ounce of power you have I suspect today. From what I overheard, you have a problem."

"I'm aware of Calder's games," John commented darkly.

"Not Lord Calder," Jones shook his head. "Apparently the people who took Nathan referred to Lord Calder as your human bitch. Someone else is trying to uproot you, John. I have no doubt, Lord Calder, is up to something because you underbelly types always are but he isn't behind this," Jones said gesturing at Bill. "Someone else is."

"Anything else you think I should know before facing the rabble downstairs?" John asked, not looking at Jones, showing no real reaction to that news.

"They were Jace users," Jones offered. "Not something we usually deal with in this city."

"No, for good reason," John said darkly. He let his powers flow into Bill and enchant the healing process before standing up. "If you excuse me, Doctor Jones. I have some people I need to talk too."