Page 73 of Bitten By the Basilisk

He chuckled, smirking. “I was only joking.”

“Was that you shouting f-bombs, Lance?” a familiar drawl asked.

Though Silas sounded calm and strode with a casual gait, he coldly regarded the serpent-folk standing over her. She immediately went to take from him the three drinks he was holding in a disposable carrier.

“Did you already forget my warning from last night about disgraceful behavior?” he asked of Lance, positioning himself between her and the other shifter.

Lance scowled at the reprimand. She swore he looked larger, the shoulders of his black jacket stretching taut. His dark-haired friend approached to lay a staying hand on his arm, which he quickly shook off.

He then forced a smile that looked anything but genuine. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

“Is that right?” Silas replied, turning his head to direct his question to the fortune teller.

Her response was entirely unbothered. “We can call it that.”

Now that Lance wasn’t blocking her view, Alice instantly recognized the woman inside the tent. “Madam Yōko?”

The woman who had been her seatmate on her bus ride into town gave her a friendly smile. “Alice, right? How nice to run into you again.”

Alice was in the middle of bowing her head in acknowledgment when Silas said to Lance, “No more misunderstandings, or you’re gone. Your one and only warning.”

Lance jutted his jaw in offense before raising his hands in mock surrender and walking away without further comment, his dark-haired friend following.

Once Lance disappeared into the crowd, Silas approached the fortune teller, his wallet already in hand. Alice kept pace. “Allow me to repay what he took back.”

“Oh, no need,” Yōko pleasantly replied, once again lifting the black cloth. The crispy fifty, slightly curled, was still there. “I’m afraid all he’ll find in his pocket is a leaf.”

Silas chuckled as he put his wallet away. “Well played.”

“Won’t he come back?” Alice fretted.

“He’ll be too embarrassed,” Yōko said with confidence. “Now, dear, why don’t you have your handsome beau take those drinks to your mother, and stay to hear your fortune?”

Alice didn’t miss that Yōko knew who Silas was to her or that her mom was also here and expecting a cool refreshment. “I’m afraid I can’t afford to give you as much as the other guy did.”

Yōko waved away her concern. “No charge. In fact, think of me as your fairy godmother.”

Silas took back the drink carrier with an indulgent smile. “Come meet us afterward, Cinderella.” Before he left, he dropped a kiss on her head and put a blush in her cheeks.

“Please have a seat,” Yōko invited, speaking in Japanese and gesturing at the vacant chair in front of her. Alice obediently sat, tucking her skirt under her.

“So, do you read palms, or…?”

“First, tell me what I am—without peeking.”

Alice was stunned for a moment. “Um…” She assumed she had to guess without using her True Sight. Based on what she’d seen… “You’re a kitsune.”

Yōko smiled and dipped her head. “Correct. Now, see me as I really am. You have my permission.”

Swallowing her nerves, Alice peered through the glamour that cloaked Yōko. Seated across from her was a sleek orange-and-white fox with three fluffy tails that swayed lazily.

When Yōko spoke, her fox form didn’t move its mouth. “You have a question in your head. Speak it.”

Alice clenched the sides of her seat. “Can you see the red thread of fate?”

The fox nodded. “But like you, I cannot see my own.”

Alice’s jaw dropped. “I…can’t see my own thread?” she rasped, her heart racing so fast she briefly saw spots. “Then, the man earlier, was there⁠—”