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Once we arrived, we headed through the nasty, smelly tunnel, to the entrance of the Black Hole, passing the other supernaturals on the way.
“So, how do we find this fortune teller person?” Cove asked, being the only one in our group not to have an encounter with her. Though, we’d told her a little about the fortune teller on the way. Warned her, I should say, since the first visit with the fortune teller was a bit jarring.
“No clue,” I answered, glancing around. It was more crowded than usual. Not that I knew the typical number of patrons that visited the Black Hole on a daily basis. But looking around, I didn’t see the fortune teller. “She found us last time.”
Ember laced her arm through Cove’s. “We saw her through Raul in the power-sharing place. But I wouldn’t recommend going there if you can avoid it.”
“Maybe we should split up and look around in sections,” Cassian suggested. “We can call each other when we find her and meet up then.”
Emily held her phone in the air, shaking her head. “No good. I have zero reception underground.”
“We could try going to that corner she took us to last time,” I offered, looking at Cassian. “It’s better than standing around.”
He nodded, so we led the girls to the same secluded area the fortune teller had taken us before. When we got there, it was empty and dark—the light casting a shadow that covered the entire back corner.
We were ready to walk away when a voice from the shadows stopped us. “Well, hello there.” A figure emerged from the shadows, the same young woman as before. “Long time no see, friends.” She looked around at each of us, stopping at Cove. “Oh, hello,” she said, stepping closer and tilting her head slightly as she looked the girl up and down. “A face I don’t recognize.”
Cove pushed up her glasses with her finger and held out a hand to shake. “Greetings! I’m Cove, from the Ash Hound Pack. I’m new to the Black Hole, so you’ve never seen me around here before.”
The woman took her hand, a sly grin at the corner of her lips. “Pleasure,” she drawled. Then, she stepped back and regarded us all as a group. “I know you’re here for a purpose. You seek out something vital, and I can guide you to it.”
Her eyes wandered over to Ember, and she smiled. Ember looked away, her cheeks growing red.
Cove asked the woman, “Can you transport us to the Underworld?”
While the fortune teller answered her question, I stepped my way to Ember’s side and mumbled, “Do you two know each other? Ex-lovers, perhaps?”
She shot me an unamused expression and turned away, pretty much giving me my answer. They probably dated at some point, and now she felt awkward being around her. Although, if that was the case, then why wouldn’t she have mentioned it the first time they visited the Black Hole?
Or, maybe,I thought, my mind clicking into genius mode, Ember had the hots for the fortune teller, and now she feels awkward because she’s been hitting on Cove the past two days.
Detective Griffin cracked the code once again. Now, if only I could pay attention to what the fortune teller had said, rather than worrying about Ember’s love life. I missed everything she’d said thus far.
“Remember not to touch the River of the Dead. Doing so is considered direct contact with the deceased and threatens your chances of returning to the realm of the living.” The fortune teller looked at each one of us to ensure we understood but waited for Ember to nod before she moved on. “You’ll need to offer something significant to the ferryman. I assume you have your objects?”
We all nodded, and she said, “Excellent. To transport, we’ll need to stand in a circle and hold hands. Do not break the link or you will be lost in Limbo, do you understand?” She reached out for Ember’s hand, who took it with hesitation. With her free hand, Ember grabbed Cove’s, who grabbed Emily’s.
Cassian looked over at me, and I motioned for him to take Emily’s hand, knowing it meant I would be linked with the fortune teller. But something about that fortune teller was… off. I couldn’t explain my suspicions, but something in my gut led me to believe there was more to that woman than meets the eye—and that wasn’t based on the way she went from beauty queen to old hag in a matter of seconds.
The fortune teller held out her hand, looking at me with a smile. “Complete the circle,” she muttered, but all I could do was stare at her hand as if it were foreign and unpredictable.
When I linked my hand with hers, I felt a weird surge of power pass through me, coming in from the fortune teller and flowing through one arm and out the other. Cassian’s expression changed when he felt the sensation, and I watched as it passed through each one of us, until it reached the fortune teller again.
In doing so, it completed the circle, and a cloud of mist or smoke—I couldn’t tell which—formed around us, enveloping us until nothing else was visible.
“Don’t break the circle,” the fortune teller sang out. I gripped Cassian’s hand tighter, though it was hard to maintain a good grip when my palms were sweating. “Almost there,” she called out, her voice strained.
And then she disappeared from my hand as though she’d never existed, leaving us in the cloud of smoke-mist. When the mist subsided, we were in the Underworld.
