I felt the whisper of the deck again before I could get distracted by metalwork, and I continued to rifle through my things, eventually finding it at the bottom of a travel bag. It was a well-loved and well-worn deck, and I took it out, letting both hands hold the cards for a moment, letting us get to know one another again. I walked back across the hardwood floors to the bed, leaving only the moonlight to light the room. I settled cross-legged on top of the covers and began shuffling the deck.
My mother had taught me to shuffle with purpose. I breathed deeply, and I brought the deck up to exhale onto the cards to remind them who I was. It had been a long time, and we needed to be reacquainted. I also wanted a little of my spirit in the deck, even though it had a personality of its own.
I shuffled them, occasionally giving them breath, occasionally just holding them and letting my mind wander. Then I followed my instincts and split the deck, taking the card that lay on top of the split pile. I turned it over, and I huffed out a laugh when I saw the card.
I had forgotten that this deck was sassy as shit. It had come from my mother’s people. I regularly checked up on the family line, even if I never told them who I was. An old grandmother had gifted me this deck, and she had said it was from my mother. I knew better than to question someone old, wise, and a descendent of our family, so I thought of this deck as an extension of my mother. She’d been sassy, so I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised that the deck was as well.
I had drawn the six of swords.
I picked it up and handled it, noting all the details. There was a boat, and the water was in waves on the right side but calm on the left. There was land in the distance with trees, but it was all a gray-blue, matching the water. The boat was bright red and had three figures on board. The boatman was standing with a staff in the choppy water. The boatman’s footing was firm as he stood on the bench seats, and he wore a yellow tunic, green leggings, and a blue shirt. In front of him, seated, was a figure draped entirely in yellow, and a smaller figure, probably a child, was in blue. In front of that, the six swords were in the boat. They were the same gray-blue as the water and the land.
I vaguely wondered if I had ever noticed before that the staff was in the rough waters, but the ferryman steered them toward the calm and the land. Not that I had ever thought of the boatman as a ferryman before, but, as I said, my mother’s deck was sassy as shit.
The six of swords usually meant a journey, travel, or moving forward. It was clear the deck was telling me to move forward with Sebbie. I had forgotten how impatient this deck could be, which was the opposite of me.
I liked to wait for the right time.
I put the card back in the deck, then I left the deck on the windowsill. Perhaps some moonlight would renew the deck. If I thought a little spitefully that a little sunshine tomorrow might fade its attitude a bit, I certainly kept that thought to myself.
I pulled on clothes and made my way to the kitchen. Jude was drinking tea and eating pastries at the kitchen table, and I helped myself to some of both.
“I think Thea’s out stalking your mate. Shouldn’t that be your job?” Jude asked.
I shrugged. “Crow’s there.”
Jude snorted in amusement, then we settled into silence as we ate and drank our tea. I didn’t pick on him about his sheriff,so he wouldn’t pick on me about my grim reaper. Jude was good about things like that.
Eventually we heard a car door, and Thea came in.
“Here comes the sun,” Jude joked, because Thea didnotlook sunny.
She threw herself into a chair, grabbing a pastry off the table. Jude and I looked at each other, both unsure where to go from here. Thea was a hellhound, but she was a mystery to us in a lot of ways. She wasn’t a typical hellhound, for starters. She hadn’t known what she was growing up. Beyond that, though, she was also a girl.
Not that being female was bad. Of course it wasn’t bad. It just left us puzzled more often than not. Jude and I had both had mothers that raised us, so I think we tended to want to protect her and look out for her. Her not acting like a typical hellhound didn’t help our instincts, either. Only she wasn’t a mortal, and she was very capable of taking care of herself.
More often than not, I think we just pissed her off, but she was patient with us. Jude didn’t seem to mind pissing people off, so I let him take the lead.
“What’s wrong? You have more of an attitude than normal. Have you not gotten to kill anyone lately?” Jude asked.
Thea leaned forward, resting her head on the table. Jude and I looked at one another again. What did that mean?
Thea eventually raised her head and stared at me. I wanted to point at Jude. He had asked the question. If anyone was going to get in trouble for… something… it should be him.
“I’m unsure why you’re upset, but I imagine it’s Jude’s fault, not mine,” I told her. “He started with his lyrics thing.”
Jude grumbled, but he didn’t deny it. Hewasannoying. Hetriedto be annoying. If he’d done something to annoy Thea, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
Thea just glared at me, though.
“It isn’t nice to throw your siblings under the bus,” she commented.
“But it’s Jude. If anyone deserves to be thrown under a bus, it’s him, because he probably did something to warrant it. Plus, he’d survive. He’d probably throw himself under a bus just to freak out the driver.” I shrugged.
Thea looked at Jude, who nodded, then shrugged.
“You guys are so freaking weird. This whole place is so freaking weird. Sometimes I think I hit my head and I’m hallucinating it all.” She sighed, looking down and picking at her pastry. “I did go out earlier in the day to the city, but I didn’t kill anyone. Things felt… I don’t know. Weird. It’s like there’s an itch under my skin or something. I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
Huh. Jude and I both pondered that. We knew Thea didn’t smell things like we did—she had feelings. Her abilities were unknown even to her, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have credence.
