“Everyone in this town has your phone number, and there’s an intercom system. If you’re needed–if there’s an emergency– you’ll be found.”
She dug in the bag over her shoulder and pulled out a silk-wrapped deck of cards. “Let’s see what we can see.” She looked up as she unwrapped the cards, her gaze holding mine. “I’ll need you to be in a receptive place to hear this, Delaney. Right now you’re throwing off a mess of negative energy. That’s going to screw with the cards. Sit. Drink the tea. Think Zen thoughts. You’ll see Myra and Jean in just a minute. That handsome boy of yours too.”
I sat, fiddled with my cup as she cut cards, shuffled, spread them in an arc on top of the silk, which she had smoothed out on the bed. She pulled three cards.
“The energy around you, your challenge, your assistance.”
Nine of Swords, Death, and the Devil. I didn’t know much about the Tarot, but the images were dark. A woman grieving in her bed, her hands over her face, and nine swords on the wall behind her; a skeleton in a knight’s armor riding a pale horse; and the devil squatting on a throne behind two chained people.
“Neat.” I said.
“Hush. You’re humbugging my energy.”
“I’m humbugging? Do you not see those cards?”
“Just because they look dire, doesn’t mean they are. For goodness sake, you of all people should know never to judge a book by the cover. All right, let’s see what we have. Nine of Swords. You’ve been worried, sleepless, sad. That’s a no-brainer. As for your challenge, we have Death. Well. Hm.”
“Hm, what?”
“Hm, Death doesn’t usually represent a physical, actual death. It represents change. A caterpillar-to-butterfly energy. Your challenge is to accept a change. Possibly a difficult one. A change that will apply to you, personally. And your outcome is the Devil. Again. Not one of my favorite cards, but it’s not usually a literal translation.”
“So a devil isn’t going to show up in town? That’s a relief.”
“Well, this is Ordinary. I wouldn’t rule it out. But it wouldn’t be my first inclination. The devil represents the chains that hold us back. Sometimes those chains are addictions, bad habits, behaviors, sometimes they are people or life circumstances. But for you….”
I waited. Jules was good at this kind of thing. I knew she’d be able to tell me what kind of chains and what kind of devil would be my outcome.
“Give me your hand, sweetheart.”
I reached out and she took hold of my right hand. Then she picked up the first card, set it down, picked up the second card, frowned and put it down, then picked up the last.
“Oh, Delaney.”
“Yes?” That didn’t sound good. Didn’t sound like I was going to be happy with the devil I’d have to deal with.
“This is…well, it feels like there is a clear literal bent to the reading. There may be a death in your near future. And a devil with chains.”
Wow. Way to make me hate tarot readings.
“Is the, um, death something about my dad?”
She picked up the middle card again. “Yes. That resonates. It is connected with his death.”
So that might mean his ghost showing up in my life was going to be a challenge. Fine. That was something I was pretty sure I could deal with.
“The chains, would that be the bite?”
“I wondered if you were going to tell me about that. Which vampire did you let mark you?”
“Not one of ours. Not one from inside Ordinary.”
“And not willingly?”
I shook my head.
Without a word, she passed me the flask. I thought about taking a nice long drink, but decided to stick with my tea.
“Could that be it?” I asked. “The chains that bind me?”
