Not today.
She shuffled the deck again—her third attempt—and drew the top card.
The Fool stared back at her, just as it had the previous seven times.
"Oh, come on!" She flipped the card face-down and reshuffled with excessive force, cards bending under her frustration. She cut the deck, drew again.
The Fool.
"This is ridiculous." She gathered the cards, tapped them into alignment, and performed her most thorough shuffle—the waterfall cascade that never failed to randomize the deck.
The Fool appeared again, this time practically leaping from the middle of the deck to land face-up before her.
"No, I don't want to work with him, universe. He's arrogant, condescending, and smells like...like...pine forests after rain, which is extremely distracting!"
Something thumped against her foot. Jinxie sat there, heterochromatic eyes gleaming with feline judgment, a tiny carved wolf figurine between her teeth.
"Et tu, Jinxie?"
The cat dropped the figurine and limped away, returning moments later with another wolf statue—this one made of polished hematite that Delilah kept on her highest shelf.
"How did you even reach that?"
Jinxie blinked innocently, then scampered off again. The next offering was a wolf bookmark. Then a wolf paperweight. By the sixth wolf-themed item, Delilah had buried her face in her hands.
"Subtle, universe. Real subtle."
A sharp pain lanced behind her eyes. The shop dissolved around her, replaced by the Assjacket Memorial Library. Books flew from shelves. A display case shattered. Something dark moved through the stacks, leaving frost in its wake. Mrs. Shufflewick cowered behind her desk, her magical catalog system sparking dangerously.
The vision evaporated, leaving Delilah gasping.
"Fine! I'll go!" She grabbed her bag, then froze as her gaze fell back to the tarot spread.
The Fool had vanished. In its place lay The Lovers and The Tower, stacked neatly together. As she watched, the cards slid apart, reshuffled themselves, and disappeared back into the deck.
"That's... not ominous at all."
Delilah stomped up the stairs to her apartment, Jinxie weaving between her feet with each step. The cat's triumphant purr only fueled her irritation.
"I'm going, but I'm not happy about it," she muttered, yanking open her bathroom door.
She faced her reflection, pointing an accusatory finger at herself. "This is a professional arrangement. Nothing more."
Her reflection raised an eyebrow, looking decidedly unconvinced.
"Don't give me that look." She grabbed her hairbrush and attacked a tangle. "He's insufferable. All that... intensity and those eyes that change color when he's angry."
The bathroom light flickered. Her toothbrush levitated six inches off the counter.
"Oh, stop it." She snatched the toothbrush back down. "This is exactly why I work alone. No complications, no arrogant werewolves, no...unexpected feelings that make my magic go haywire."
The mirror fogged despite the absence of hot water. Delilah wiped it clear with her palm, leaving streaks that formed an unmistakable wolf silhouette.
"Seriously?"
Her moisturizer bottle exploded, splattering cream across the ceiling. The hand towel folded itself into an origami wolf. Even her lipstick rolled across the counter, leaving a trail that curved into a distinct paw print.
"This is ridiculous. I barely know him!"
