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The woman sat down across from us. “Hi there, you must be Brittney.”

She really was quite beautiful. “Hi, yes. I didn’t ask for a reading.”

“Ahh, yes. Your friend here,” she gestured lightly, “decided to treat you.”

“Calling him a ‘friend’ is being generous right now.” She began shuffling her cards while I narrowed my eyes at him.

Vance leaned back and placed his palms on the tabletop. “Really? And this on the day of my Quinceanera?”

The purple-haired woman laughed softly at him. “I would guess forty years old,” she said, examining his face.

Okay, maybe I liked her a little bit.

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “I hope pain and agony are in your future.”

“Thanks, pal,” I retorted.

The cards were now fanned out across the table. “My name is Natalie, by the way, Brittney. Please choose five cards. Whichever you feel drawn to.”

The music was so loud it took a moment to register her voice after she had lowered it. Her eyes took on a glazed appearance, and I glanced at Vance. He motioned for me to choose, widening his eyes at me.

While I had my treasured deck at home, I’d never used it. I’d played around with spells and stuff like that before on my own, and I had a few books about magic, but it was never something I took seriously. I didn’t even read my horoscope.

The only magic I’d ever practiced was typical things like love and money, and I couldn’t really say how effective the spells were. Did they work because I’d conjured something or because those things had already been coming my way? Who knew?

After I selected five cards, Natalie slid my choices away from the others and stacked the remaining cards into a single pile. Then she flipped the first one face up. It was the Queen of Hearts.

She peered down at the card for a moment, her long eyelashes fluttering. “I see love. Love is coming into your life. But it is death.” She paused before continuing. “Evil. The end. It will destroy you if you pursue it.”

What the fuck.

“Hold up. Isn’t that unethical? You’re not supposed to say those kinds of things to people.” From my novice understanding, foretelling death and other seriously negative things just wasn’t done. I turned and glared at my friend before facing her again.

She ignored me and showed me another card. The Three of Spades. “Digging. You’re going to fall into a hole. Darkness. It is very dark. Dangerous. Deceptive. Delusion. Deep dark.”

I crossed my arms. “Now you’re just looking for words that start with the letter ‘D.’ Have you ever been audited by one of those psychic societies?”

Vance whispered in my ear, “Mother, forgive me for I know not what I’ve done.”

My elbow slammed into his side and he grunted. The woman took another card, this one the Six of Clubs. “You have a new life searching for something.” This time, my friend nudged me. “You will find what you’re looking for. Eventually.”

This was more like it. My grandfather’s jewelry. She had to mean that. It was fine if it took a while to recover, as long as I did—“eventually.”

The next card was the Joker. I couldn’t wait to hear what kind of nonsense she’d spout at me. “Mmmm,” she hummed, clicking her tongue. “It's the devil. Dream. Devilish. Like a demon. More deception. More dark. Desire. Destroy. Dagger.”

I had enough. Swooping up all the cards, I stacked them into a pile and slapped them against the table. “Thank you, I think your work here is done,” I announced before taking a long swig of my too-warm beer.

Natalie’s eyes shuddered and she shook her shoulders before smiling at me. “I hope I provided some insight and you enjoyed your reading.” She smiled and my mouth fell open. “Have a great night, you two.”

She must have had ankle bracelets on because I heard chiming when she stood up and walked away.

Vance turned to me, his eyes all big. “Holy shit. Remind me to never ask for a reading from her.”

“I hate you right now,” I growled at him. My drink was almost gone, and I wanted another—badly.

A deep sigh left him. “I’m sorry. I really had no idea, I swear. I only heard good things about her.”

He smirked. “Too bad she didn’t say ‘dick.’ When’s the last time you got laid?”