Chapter Ten
A Prophecy?
The red-eyed sorceress keeps on chanting as she cuts her her wrist and uses the blood to complete the evil and powerful summoning spell. In a blink of an eye the pair of her most trusted and most powerful servants appear in the blood-red mist. The hairy blonde giant of a man goes down on his knee and bows, while the pale handsome black-haired man stands there staring at the sorceress with cold unblinking eyes. The order she gives them is simple and straightforward: tear Stephanie Plum and the great grandchild of the Wizard apart no matter what.
The two magical men disappear in the mist without a sound. The sorceress breathes with difficulty as she seals her wound. This is her last resort. Casting this spell has cost her her a lot of power. It will take her up to 13 months to return to her normal form and regain her power. And controlling both her servants at the same time will be a tricky task. Now that the ancient crystal mirror is broken, she had no choice but to use the Prying Eye spell to spy on the stupid worthless hairy man. But somehow all she could see was a blurred mixture of raging emotions, confusion, and peaceful happiness. Maybe the loss of love has made him hollow and driven him mad. She had hoped to use him as a pawn to get to Stephanie Plum. Jealousy and despair are two of the most powerful weapons of all time. His reckless nature and single-mindedness would be of great help. And he's always so good at manipulating her guilt. But since both his brain and soul are totally messed up now, she has to rely solely on herself. And doing all the work and minding all the trifles and details all alone have begun to drain her power...
In the tidy, spotless living room of Joe Morelli's nice cozy 2-story house, Doc the Duck and Sean the Sheep blow out a long held breath. Together they have successfully blocked the evil witch's foul magic. Bob the Dog is busy playing a game on his iPad in Joe's Morelli couch. Mr. Joseph A. Morelli is snoring like a train while dreaming of pizza, meatball sub, and baseball games in Grandma Bella's arms. The witch is not clever enough to see through their Magic Screen. But bigger and more vicious threats are heading this way. And they are aiming at Stephanie. The two Magical Beings close their eyes and sense the vibes in the air. They nod their heads and smile. The Guardians are coming this way, too.
Stephanie Manoso floats happily in her dream and suddenly hears voices. Sweet little voices. Laughing. Giggling. Talking. Screaming. Yelling. In both English and Spanish. She turns around, widens her eyes, and sees those beautiful dark brown eyes. Serious little faces. Little boys. All four of them. Looking at her. Smiling. Speaking. Crying. Frowning. The three older ones have silky smooth straight almost black hair. The youngest one looks so cute in wild wavy curls. She reaches out a hand, trying to wipe away his crystal tears, and wakes up with her hand on Ranger's face. She smiles happily as Ranger gathers her into his arms with his eyes closed. Their babies. She has just dreamed of their babies. All four of them...
FOUR? She starts to hyperventilate. FOUR?
"Babe?" Ranger opens his eyes and places his large, warm hand on the back of her neck. "Deep breath."
Stephanie wraps her arm tightly around him and slowly calms down. Her heart is still thumping a little bit fast. Her eyes are still as wild and wide as a startled deer's. It's just a dream. She keeps telling herself. Just a dream...Four little boys? Nah, it's just a dream...Just a dream...