Page 90 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

I unpack my tarot decks, careful to only set them on my altar cloth and not let them touch anything of hers. I do the same with my crystals, then run a finger along the protective crystal bracelet I have on, reassuring myself and trying to slow my pounding heart.

The clouds release the moon, and bright silver light floods down from the break in the trees above us. I tilt my face up to it and hum, relief and peace washing through me. The Moon Goddess has my back, too.

“Thank you,” I quietly murmur to her.

“Let’s go,” Helen says, speaking for the first time in long minutes. “Stand there. Don’t say anything. Don’t touch anything. Just let me do it and then you can do—” she flicks her fingers dismissively at my altar setting, “whatever it is that you do,” she finishes with a sneer, then steps over to her tripod to start recording.

I resist glancing at Aury, hoping he caught all of that.

“No problem! I’ll follow your lead.”

“Obviously,” Helen grumbles. She starts an incantation, and I pick up one of my protective crystals, intending to walk a lap around the ritual table she has set up.

“I said not to touch anything!” Helen snaps, and I freeze, staring at her. “I literally just said that. Put it back.”

“My crystal?” I ask, holding up the smoky quartz.

“Yes, your stupid crystal.” She glares at me, and I jerk my chin back in surprise. I knew she wasn’t nice, but I didn’t think she’d be so obvious about it.

“Right,” I say, frowning. “Sorry.”

I put the smoky quartz back on my altar cloth, and Helen huffs irritably, then starts speaking again. “Take two.” She holds her hands over the ritual table and tilts her head back, starting her incantation again.

I take a slow step back, then proceed to slowly walk the perimeter again, intent on containing whatever spell she’s trying to cast. She said it was a powerful abundance ritual for autumn, but I don’t believe her. When she opens her eyes and sees me in a different spot, her eyes flare with irritation and she pauses, then snaps at me again. “What the fuck are you doing now?”

“I’m ensuring we have a protected perimeter. Is that not okay?”

Helen’s jaw clenches and she glares at me, then seems to remember we’re not alone. She glances at Hayden, who is snapping photos, then forces herself to take a deep breath. She straightens her spine, forces her expression into one of serene calm. “Of course that’s okay,” she says. “Great idea, Siobhan.”

She says my name wrong, pronouncing it “si-ban” instead of “shi-vawn” as it should be. I correct her, and she rolls her eyes without comment. This time, I do glance to the side at Aury, making frustrated eye contact.

I try to check in on my bond with Jayce, but he seems to have his side locked down. That worries me, because the only reason to hide it is if he’s struggling to manage his emotions or stay in control. I send light-hearted annoyance down the bond his way, letting him know it’s not a big deal.

Helen continues with her next steps, then asks me to place my crystals at certain points on her table. I reluctantly do so, silently promising to cleanse them as soon as we’re done. She continues, combining ingredients, reciting spells. I’m quickly confused. Despite having studied up and reviewed a number of spells and rituals and ingredients in the past week, none of what I saw is matching up with what she’s doing.

“Want to do your reading or whatever?” she says.

I force a calming breath into my lungs, then smile. “Sure! What should I set the intention or question as?”

Helen rolls her eyes so hard her entire head jerks, and I have to bite my lip not to laugh. She is a real piece of work. “How about you just ask for abundance, as that’s the ritual we’re doing?” she says, her tone indicating she thinks I’m an idiot.

I roll my lips between my teeth, then palm my most trusty deck. I whisper a quick, “I’m sorry,” to the cards, not feeling good about involving it in this, but I proceed anyways, deciding to do a quick three-card draw. I have Helen draw the first, I draw the second, then I let the deck spit out a third.

I lay each one face down on my altar cloth, then set the rest to the side. “Ready?”

She nods slowly, just once, having fixed her expression into a serene mask.

I look into her camera with a grin, then give her a conspiratorial smile as well. “Let’s see what wisdom the Moon Goddess has for us tonight.”

Chapter Forty-Eight

Siobhan

I flip the first card—Helen’s—to reveal the Ten of Swords. I show it to the camera, then set it back down in its place.

My hand rests on the second card, but Helen interrupts before I can flip it. “Are you going to explain what it means?”

“Oh, sure, I can do that now. I normally like to see the full picture first.”