Page 33

Grinning, Tristan knocked on the wooden door, banded with iron.

“Come in,” a woman called.

Tristan entered first, holding my hand. He paused before drawing me in. Candles burned in iron sconces along the walls, casting flickering light over rows of empty pews and a simple altar. Runes were carved into the stone floor along with other symbols I didn't recognize.

A woman stood at the altar with her back to us. She wore a long gray dress, her dark hair braided and coiled at the nape of her neck. She didn't turn when we entered.

“Mirana, I'm—” Tristan said.

“I know who you are, Tristan Bane. I know what you are.” Her voice was low and melodic. “And I know why you've come.”

“Then you'll save us the trouble of asking.”

She turned. Her face was angular and pale. “Osric pays well. I will not betray him.”

“We're not asking you to betray him,” I said. “We're asking for a reading.”

Her gaze shifted to me, sharp and assessing.

“I'll pay you for a reading. It won't betray him if I ask you to read my future. It's my future after all.”

She studied me for a long moment. “Sit.” She motioned at a table set to the side.

I sat down at the table while Tristan took a seat on the pew. A black cloth covered the table and a black pouch sat atop it. Mirana sat across from me, and her wiry hand picked up the bag.

“Payment is eighty dollars.”

I pulled out the cash and put it to the side of the table.

“Say your full name and date of birth.”

“Destiny Kaori Takeda, July 27th, 1999.”

Holding the pouch to her chest, Mirana closed her eyes. She swayed forward and back, forward and back. Despite the open windows, the air went still. Eyes still closed, she poured the contents of the pouch into her hand—a pile of white stones. She put the pouch aside and cupped her hands around the stones.

A shushing-clacking sound came as she shook the stones. Her hands moved forward, toward me, flinging the stones onto the table. Some had runes carved into them.

Mirana opened her eyes and bent over the stones. Murmuring to herself, she turned over the ones with no marking and revealed the runes on the back. Her hand hovered over them, tracing patterns in the stones, going from one to the other.

“Two hunt you. A man of science and a man with a broken heart.” Mirana tapped a stone. “They seek you for what you can hold, but if they succeed, everything you are will be lost. To survive, reach for what has no substance, balance what has no weight, and love what cannot be loved. When it rejects you, you know you are loved in return.” She looked up at me. “Use the weapons you were born with, Destiny.”

“Weapons? Do you mean my gift?”

“Taking can be a gift or an attack. And I said weapons. Your mind, your will, and your heart.” She tapped a stone. “Yes, you have a chance if you don't hold back.”

I nodded.

Tristan cleared his throat. “Could you perhaps tell us more about the two men?”

Mirana looked at him. “Nothing I can tell you will change anything. She is your only chance.” She scooped up her runestones and put them in the pouch.

“She's my only chance for what? To survive?”

Mirana met and held his gaze.

Tristan cursed. “Are you saying they want to put all of Heartbreak into her?” He crouched before her. “At least give us an answer on that.”

“Yes, now go. I've done all I can.”