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“Come now, child, stupid does not look good on you,” she chastised me. “I recommend not using that strategy in the future. It will only turn out bad for you.” She cocked her head to the side and squinted. “And it seems you’re already up Shit Creek without a paddle.”
“What do you mean? Did that Bone Witch do something to me?” I asked, hanging on to her words.
“So, what items were you wanting me to make out of the gator skin?” She expertly dodged my question.
“Just two belts. But do you know what she did to me?” I pushed, desperately needing the answer.
She held out her hand and gave me a pointed look. I handed her the sling which held the skins and raised an eyebrow in question.
“There’s no such thing as a free meal in the bayou, missy,” she said as she walked into another room with my skins, leaving the door open.
Thorn came up to me and gave me a curious look. ‘Think it’s an invitation?’
‘Has to be because I’m not just letting her keep my damn trophy.’ Not letting this opportunity pass me by, I followed her, and Thorn trailed behind me.
“Hey, wait a minute. We have— Woah,” I said as we walked into a smaller room.
I really wasn’t expecting to see a room from a movie set of a fortune teller. Fairy lights were interspersed around the room, yet I didn’t see any strings. The absence of light made the shadowy parts of the room darker and more cozy.
I’ll never understand this magic stuff.
Hanging vines and plants lined the upper walls and covered the ceiling mostly, and the pleasant scent of incense wasn’t too overpowering. For some reason, it was cooler in here, and I found myself relaxing my shoulders and wiping the last of the sweat from my brow. In the back of the room was a built-in work desk where a pot of something was boiling and ingredients were laid out. A small table was in the middle, with a single glowing lamp and two chairs to sit on.
“I have to keep up the appearance of what’s expected,” Priestess Tanda confirmed as she laid out the gator skin along a shelf she pulled out of the wall. Where did that come from?
“So you really can tell fortunes and help out your patrons?” I asked, sitting down and looking closer at the lamp.
Fuck me. That’s a glowing skull, not a lamp!
She grabbed a small jar that glowed and sprinkled it over the skin as she answered. “Of course, why else would people come to me? They could go to any VooDoo practitioner in the quarter, but if they want the real deal, they come to me.” She worked the skin with her fingers as she mumbled under her breath, and my jaw dropped as I watched part of the hide separate into identical strips, folding upon themselves. She pulled out thick silver and gold thread, waved her hand over them, and turned to face me. Behind her, the thread slowly started to weave itself through the leather.
Yeah. Magic is a whole other thing on its own.
Her eyes shined with mirth as she took me in once again, “But like I mentioned before, there’s no such thing as a free meal in the bayou.”
“What does that even mean?” I asked as I did a double take and scooted away from the ivory skull that once held muscle and flesh and moved in lively ways.
‘It means nothing is entirely free, Rave,’ Thorn uttered as he sniffed at one of the plants by his feet.
“You have a smart one there,” she commented.
My eyebrows disappeared into my hairline as I took in her words. “How?—”
“My granddaughter, Nerezza, has a special connection to her…let’s just call him her familiar,” she admitted as she leaned against the shelf behind her. Does that mean Nerezza is a Reaper? “Don’t worry. I can’t hear your conversation. I can just see the connection between you two, and your face is very expressive. Plus, I can see the blessing that allows you to speak to him.”
Wow. I wasn’t expecting all of that.
“The girl in the photo? Is she around?” I asked hopefully. Maybe I’ll get some straight information out of her. I had a feeling this crazy old bat was gonna run me around in a circle if I was not careful.
She held her chin in her hands and smiled up at me from under her lashes. “Would you like to talk about your issues, or did you come all this way to talk about Nerezza?”
“Ugh. Fine. Me,” I grunted out. Why is this fucking frustrating?
‘Because she’s a black widow, and you’re falling into her web!’ Thorn mocked.
‘Not. Helpful,’ I spat out.
“Now I’m assuming this visit to my abode isn’t agency sanctioned, so let’s talk about payment,” she said, going for the jugular.
