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Liliana considered opening her third set of eyes to look at these new people properly, but she couldn’t risk her inhuman eyes being noticed. There were about a hundred Normals for every Other, so the likelihood was high that any new strangers she met were Normal.
The third stranger, a tall, pretty soldier with Army sergeant’s stripes, looked at the sky. She had no makeup, an athletic build, and a pained expression.
Liliana looked at the sky too, but saw only the clouds and drizzle she had already seen with her fourth eyes that morning. There did not appear to be anything unusual up there.
“Ma’am, could we come in?” the soldier asked.
“Oh!” Clients asked questions at the table, not on the front steps. Liliana had forgotten to invite them in, and strict social rules prohibited them from entering without her permission.
The soldier’s name was Zoe Giovanni, but her customers taught Liliana that social rules demanded she call soldiers by their rank and last name. She didn’t know about civilian police officers, though, since she’d always avoided interactions with them. She assumed she should use the policewoman’s rank, but should she use the detective’s first name, Shonda, or her last name, Jackson? It was probably different from the military.
“Yes, Detective Shonda, Sergeant Giovanni, Doctor Teague. Please, come in.” She opened her door wide, bowed gracefully, and gestured for the three strangers to enter her work space with her usual flourish of flowing sleeves. Dramatic motions were expected from seers.
“That’s Detective Jackson.” The short woman crossed her arms and pressed her lips together.
Liliana’s cheeks heated. That had to be a new record, even for Liliana. It usually took more than a few seconds before she managed to annoy someone that much. “I am sorry, Detective Jackson.”
She closed the door, muffling the traffic noises. The formal dining room Liliana had converted into her business was not ready to receive visitors. The pile of new, unfolded scarves lay messily on the shelf near the closed door to the rest of her house. The goddess symbols, crystals, and other arcane bric-a-brac on the higher shelves were still dusty. And the large crystal ball was off-center on the round table in the middle of the room.
Hastily, Liliana moved it two inches to the left.
The three people stood among her scarves and clocks and mystical knick-knacks peering around curiously, filling up a lot of space.
The spider-kin suppressed an instinctive urge to squash herself tiny in a corner of the room. “Sit down.”
The strangers started at her abrupt order.
She winced at her own tone. She’d meant that to be an invitation but didn’t get the voice inflection right.
To fix her social mistake, Liliana added a graceful gesture with one arm accented by the butterfly sleeves of her hibiscus-print silk blouse. She might not be good with her voice, but after growing up dancing on the high lines of a circus, no one could fault her physical grace.
They sat in the three client chairs around the far side of the round table.
Liliana chose a sheer, rose-printed scarf from a shelf and sat in the chair opposite the strangers. Now they wouldn’t feel insulted because she didn’t make eye contact. It was expected for her to stare at the crystal ball. She sighed with relief.
In the dramatic singsong that she’d memorized, Liliana said, “Madame Anna sees all. Pay me what you feel is fair for truth that cannot be seen by other eyes. I see what is, what has been, and what might be. Ask and the truth shall be yours.”
She watched the strangers in the crystal reflections. Amused smiles played around their lips.
“Well, we did say we wanted to ask questions,” Peter Teague said.
Sergeant Giovanni rolled her eyes.
Oh. They must expect a charlatan’s show.
Liliana would have to prove to them that her sight was genuine before they would ask any questions of substance. She kept her smile small so as not to show fangs. They would learn what she could do. “Who chooses to be seen?”
Sergeant Giovanni grinned wide and shrugged. “I’ll bite.” She glanced at the detective for permission or confirmation.
Detective Jackson sighed, then nodded. “Fine.” Liliana didn’t know why the detective was still so annoyed. It seemed like a small mistake and Liliana had apologized. “I suppose we can start with that. It’ll be interesting to see what the lady can do.”
Liliana draped the scarf over her head as a veil to obscure her face. If they were Normals that didn’t know about Others, she had to make sure they didn’t notice when her inhuman eyes opened and closed. She waved dramatically over the crystal ball. When they looked at her gesturing hands, the spider-kin opened her third set of eyes just below the inner corners of her human eyes, like glossy black tears.
The sergeant’s soul shimmered with color and energy, but not the distinctive, feral shine of a beast-kin, the cool green overlay of a plant Fae, or the hard edges of a mineral Fae.
A Normal. I was right.
Sergeant Giovanni’s heart pulsed richly red, a passionate person, impulsive, someone who falls in love easily and deeply. Her inner self was riddled with the dark purple cracks of past heartbreak. A shell of pale yellow cynicism guarded her tender, wounded heart. “You have loved unwisely, Sergeant Giovanni. More than once, you chose forever, but forever didn’t last.”
