They were getting it.
Yippee!
Prue put in a code at the door, it buzzed, and we went in and up the stairs.
She knocked on the door.
Bummer part two, Ravenna didn’t look like Angelica Huston or that chick that played Rowena in Supernatural, or Melisandre in Game of Thrones.
She was about an inch taller than Prue, had bigger breasts than Chassie, bleach-blonde hair, a heavy hand with makeup, and I suspected she was around my age.
“Come in, come in,” she said distractedly. “I’ll start the tea.”
We walked into bummer numero three.
There was no velvet, tassels, fringed scarves thrown over lamps, circular tables with long tablecloths and crystal balls in the center, or pentagrams carved into the floor.
Instead, it was an open-plan kitchen and lounge with slouchy, comfortable-looking furniture and a hint of a mess (nothing gross, only discarded shoes on the floor, cast aside cardies over the arms of chairs, and copious tea mugs scattered about).
“I’m not certain the woman understands how to set a scene,” Tempie leaned into me to say under her breath.
I gave her big, shut-up-and-stop-trying-to-make-me-laugh eyes.
I heard the undeniable sound of the button on an electric kettle being pressed as Prue said, “Ravenna, I’m really excited to introduce you to my sisters, Temperance and Chastity, and my dear friend, Vivienne.”
Ravenna turned, looked at Tempie, Chassie, and when she looked at me, her head jerked, her body lurched, and she was falling.
“Goodness! Ravenna!” Prue cried, rushing forward to latch on to her to keep her on her feet.
“Please,” Tempie whispered skeptically beside me.
Ravenna kept her eyes glued to me as she steadied herself with Prue’s help.
“Do you need some water?” Prue asked. “Here, let’s get you down and I’ll see to the tea.”
She walked her to the sofa and Ravenna sat in it, consistently, and freakily, staring at me.
“I’ll be on tea,” Chastity chirped.
I hoped her tea was better than the coffee whoever brewed for Battle and me.
“I’m fine,” Ravenna decreed, finally tearing her attention from me. “It’s just, the veil has been unpredictable now for weeks. I don’t understand it. I’ve never felt anything like it. And sometimes, it makes me dizzy.”
Prue seated herself beside her clairvoyant. “Do you have any idea what it might be?”
“No, but it’s a very strong disturbance.”
“We’re having Cook’s homemade gnocchi for dinner tonight,” Tempie leaned into me again to say in an undertone. “I don’t have time to go searching for Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
I elbowed her.
Ravenna eyed her.
Then she reached to the coffee table, picked up a set of cards and offered them to Tempie.
“You first,” she said.
Tempie raised one hand, palm out, and turned her head to the side: the universal aristocrat’s gesture of “no thanks.”
