Valeria Torres and the Midas Vault

Chapter 24: The Prophecy

"Brigitte did what?!"

Valeria crossed her arms as she sat at the kitchen table. Frank sat across from her, eyes bulging and teeth clenched. She had never seen him this angry before. And while she didn't need an overprotective guardian looking out for her, it still felt good. "I said – she hit me with a car. Luckily I was wearing this Aegis, or I'd probably be dead."

Leaning back in his chair, Frank massaged his chin. "Let me get this straight. You went to the bowling alley with Sai, where you were attacked by a group of boys. They beat up your boyfriend –"

"My friend," Valeria corrected.

"Uh huh. They beat up your friend, so you decided to put on your Aegis and beat them up..."

"I also used a smoke bomb to light a boy's pants on fire."

"Hmm, well okay," Frank said, his trademark grin resurfacing. He paused for a moment while massaging his temples, clearly trying to process his thoughts. "I'll admit I would have loved to see that. But you might have blown our cover again, using the Aegis in broad daylight. Why'd you need it? We taught you self defense...didn't we?"

Valeria was tempted to reply with the truth, but refrained. What would she tell him about the visions? She barely understood them herself. But that wasn't the only reason. She was hearing voices and seeing things now. One of the other girls at the detention center started off the same way, claiming she could hear aliens in the ceiling lights. That girl ended up in a straight jacket and never left the psych ward, and Valeria refused to share the same fate. "I was scared," she lied, "and those boys were huge. You said I could use it for an emergency, and I did."

Frowning, Frank said, "If you say so. But wait, then Brigitte comes along and hits you with a car? Why the hell would she do that?"

Valeria threw her hands up. "How the hell should I know?!"

"Okay. Then what happened?"

"Well," she trailed off, trying to decide if she should tell the truth or not. Unlike Erin, Sai didn't seem to know he was a Celestial. Maybe that made him less dangerous. She already felt bad about her first lie, and decided she should tell the truth on this one. "When I got hit by the car, the Aegis absorbed most of the blow. But I still dislocated my shoulder, and that's when Sai came over and healed me."

"Healed you?!" Frank exclaimed, eyes widening. "Like...Celestial healed you?!"

Valeria nodded.

"Un-freaking believable!" Frank exclaimed as he paced around the kitchen. "You somehow managed to befriend not one, but two Celestials? And got healed by both?! What are you? Some kind of Celestial magnet?!"

Valeria threw up her hands again. "I don't know, okay! It's not like I wave a sign that says – Celestials come heal me! At least Sai doesn't know he's one of them."

Frank stopped and turned to her. "What? All Celestials are recruited early on. He must have known."

"He didn't," she said, shaking her head. "I read his eyes."

"Oh, okay," Frank said, rolling his eyes. "Well that makes me feel much better."

"Hey, that crazy bitch tried to murder me. Are you just gonna let that fly?"

"No," he said, a scowl across his face. "But I can't make a move yet. If she acted on Dontrell's orders, I'll need proof." He removed his phone and started texting. "I will make sure the Thieves guild follows her every move from now on."

"Are you going to tell Jada?"

"No," Frank said, looking up from his phone. "She's got enough on her plate. Besides, she'll confront her brother about it. I don't want Dontrell to think I'm on to him."