Luna gestured to the chair Wren was holding and told her to take a seat. “Cedric is also sitting in on this meeting—he’s taking minutes—as well as Effie, as the ghost representative.”
This was her life now, apparently. Meetings with witches, psychics, and ghosts. Fabulous. Andrea caught her eye and sent her a soft, sympathetic smile. Wren wondered whether she believed in spirits; not all witches did. How did she know that? That would be thanks to living with Luna.
Wren sat down, folded her hands, and lifted her eyebrows. “Why am I here, ladies?” She glared at Luna, hoping it was crystal clear the whole lying-again-to-get-her-ass-here issue would be addressed later.
“Honor, our tarot-card reader, is unavailable to do readings at our summer events, and you know how popular tarot-card readings are,” Luna stated.
Wren didn’t actually know that, but okay. If Luna said so.
“She’s gone on an urgent pilgrimage to Sedona to clear her chakras,” Luna continued.
Madame Calliope snorted. “She’s in Atlantic City playing craps, Luna. She met some guy, a high roller, and he invited her to tag along. She’s flinging dice in between ordering room service and getting herself sexually serviced.”
More than Wren needed to know.
Luna leaned forward, her entire body vibrating with curiosity. “What else do you know?”
“Effie says that she’ll be late for her date with the coffee machine if we don’t move it along,” Madame said, bored. “Get on with it, Luna.”
If there wasoneperson in H-Town with more power or bigger balls than Luna, it was Calliope.
“Anyway, we are auditioning tarot-card readers,” Luna continued. “We have a candidate, and she will read you.”
Oh, fuck,no. “I don’t believe in tarot-card readings, Luna, as you well know,” Wren said through gritted teeth.
“We want to see how the reader does with skeptics,” Andrea said. “It’s easy to perform well when you have a believer in front of you. Just be your usual cynical self, Wren dear.”
Okay, then. That was something she could do.
Wren watched as Luna called in the tarot-card reader, a woman around her age dressed in a colorful peasant skirt, Jesus sandals, and crop top. She had the expected nose ring, incredible sleeve tattoo, and beads in her dreadlocks. She sat down, sent Wren a smile, and played with her tarot deck. Luna introduced her as Cilla.
Wren wasn’t overly fond of the amusement in her eyes. “Not a believer, huh?” Cilla asked her.
“Not even a little bit,” Wren assured her.
“So, you aren’t interested in hearing my usual spiel about vibrations, auras, and unseen energies?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Pity,” Cilla said as she fanned the deck, old, hand-painted, and beautiful, on the table between them. “Thank you for the compliment, Effie; the deck was my grandmother’s. She painted the cards herself.”
Points for her, Wren thought. Good guess about Effie. She’d obviously done her H-Town homework.
“Do you think you could try to focus your energy on the cards, Wren?” Cilla asked, and Wren caught an ever-so-slight hint of irritation in her voice. Okay, time to reign in her skepticism and cynicism. She didn’t believe, but she’d been taught that everyone deserved respect. She’d learn nothing from a choice of three random cards, but she could make it easy for Cilla. After all, she was trying to secure a job.
She sat up, winced, and caught her eye. “Sorry,” she murmured, staring at the cards. For some reason she was drawn to the last one to the right and pulled it away from the deck. Cilla flipped the card over, and Wren took in the fine details of the large silver moon, the two dogs, and the vibrant colors.
“With the Moon, we are dealing with illusions and secrets, energies whispered in darkness. Often-hidden truths are surfacing. Does that resonate with you?”
Wren wrinkled her nose. It did, and kinda didn’t. If she thought hard, she could apply it to Kyro—and his stupid proposal—or to her career, where she wanted to go next. Or to Dane, who seemed hella secretive.
“Pick the next card,” Cilla said, and Wren sighed, wanting this to be over. And, she noticed, no one had offered her a coffee yet, but there were two still-full coffee cups in front of the empty chairs where, she presumed, Effie and Cedric sat. God, her headache was coming back.
As soon as she finished the thought, Andrea placed her hand on hers, and yep, gone again. Unexplainable. Also, undeniable.
Wren chose another card, the Tower this time. “Forces are conspiring to shake you up. You have new truths to learn, old habits to shake off. There’s an awakening.”
Wasn’t there always, though? Wasn’t that what life was about—steps forward, sideways, back, then a massive change of direction? Wasn’t that how you learned to grow?
