Chameleon (Supernaturals) by Kelly Oram Page B

said, “Straight A’s. Drives Russ crazy.”
    “Boyfriend’s not too bright eh?”
    “No. The opposite. He’s really smart. It drives him crazy that I’m just as smart as he is. He likes to think he’s the best at everything.”
    Duncan snorted a laugh. “The intelligence is a supernatural thing. The God Complex is a warlock thing.”
    “And Russ isn’t my boyfriend.”
    Duncan raised an eyebrow at that, but decided not to argue. “So anyway. The Hundred Years’ War. Yes, the House of Valois eventually won the war, thanks mostly to a woman you know as Joan of Arc.”
    “Of course!” I said, excited. “They say she was a prophetess. She had visions that helped her in battle. Joan of Arc was a supernatural?”
    “Not just a supernatural,” Duncan said. “She was the Oracle. The last the world has ever seen. Her visions led the House of Valois to victory.”
    “But if she was so powerful, couldn’t she have saved herself from being killed? Wouldn’t she have seen it coming?”
    “Most believe she did. Legend tells she willingly gave her life knowing that her martyrdom would be the fuel the supernaturals needed to win the war. They say she’d seen the future and saw the necessity of her own death.”
    “That’s a tragic story and all, but what does any of that have to do with me?”
    Duncan smirked. “Of course it’s all about you, isn’t it? You’ve been spending too much time with warlocks.”
    “Funny,” I said. “Forgive me if I’m not in the mood.”
    Duncan sighed. “All right, all right. I suppose you’re allowed to be cranky today. As they bound the Oracle—Joan—to the stake where she was burned, she gave the world one last prophecy. She said the House of Valois would find victory, but that the war would not be over. She said the balance between supernaturals and humans had been offset, and because of it, the supernaturals would be oppressed for hundreds of years and driven nearly to extinction. The exact words of the prophecy say, ‘On the eve of that last great battle, there would rise up one more powerful than the world has ever known. Without her, Evil will win.’”
    It took me a minute to digest this and relate it to myself. “They think I’m the ‘her’ in the prophecy?” Um, yeah. I’m so sure. “Boy are they in for a major disappointment.”
    Duncan burst out laughing.
    “I don’t get it. How can anyone possibly think she meant me? And what about this great battle? It’s not like we’re in the middle of a supernatural war. I may have been raised human, but I think I would have noticed that.”
    “I think that’s what has everyone going so crazy. Yes, the supernaturals have been oppressed for hundreds of years. We’ve been forced into hiding for so long that humans believe us to be no more than myths. There are so few of us left in the world. It would be easy to imagine we could all be exterminated without much effort. But who is the threat? Where will it come from?
    “The council believes they were given a miracle with the birth of the Seer. He’s not as powerful as the Oracle was, but he is the first seer the supernatural world has seen in over two hundred years. He’s saved hundreds, possibly thousands of lives with his predictions. No one doubts him. Friday night he had a vision of you. He said you were the girl the prophecy speaks of. It’s got everyone really freaked out.”
    “I guess so.”
    “So you understand why it’s so important that we get you to safety? Whoever this great enemy is that will wage the final battle knows that you can defeat them. Without you, Evil will win and all supernaturals will die. You can see why the Supreme High Councilor was willing to bring you to the consulate against your will if necessary.”
    “It doesn’t mean I have to like it,” I said stubbornly. “And it doesn’t mean that Robert has to be so grumpy.”
    “I believe that had more to do with Alexander Devereaux than you,” Duncan said. “We surely