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“It changes nothing,” Annie said.
“It changes everything,” Chloe countered.
An involuntary shiver passed through me.
“Your family,” Chloe began.
“Who? My grandparents? The foster families?”
Laz drew a horizontal line in the air, which sealed her sister’s mouth closed.
“What my sister means is you must take care, Melinoe,” Laz warned.
“Why? What do you see?”
“Your road divides like the stem of a rose,” Laz continued. “Many branches and leaves, and many thorns.”
I winced. “That sounds painful.”
“Life is pain,” Laz said. “You have lived enough lives to know that much.”
“Better to be dead then?”
“That’s up to you, although clearly you feel it’s worth the price as you insist on returning.” Annie sounded mildly put out that she’d have to put those scissors to work on me again someday.
“But for what purpose?” Laz asked. “That is the mystery.”
“Because I get bored easily? I have no idea. I don’t leave myself notes.” Sure would’ve been helpful if I had.
Annie cupped my chin in her cool hand. “You will play a significant role. I see it written in the stars.”
“A role in what? The local production of Newsies?”
“You reject the call,” Laz said. “Interesting.”
Annie unsealed Chloe’s lips, prompting a dirty look from her younger sister.
“The call?” I didn’t understand. “I’m not rejecting anything.”
Laz turned to her sisters. “She isn’t ready.”
“She isn’t ready,” they murmured in unison.
Exasperation threatened to spill out of me. “Ready for what?”
“What is to come next,” Laz said.
Annie regarded me. “Choose wisely, beloved Melinoe, goddess of ghosts and nightmares, proprietress of our innermost secrets. The sweet fragrance oft distracts from the pain of the thorns, but the damage is done nonetheless.”
“I’ll be sure to get that tattooed on my arm as a reminder.”
“Our time is up,” Chloe announced.
I shot a quick glance at Annie. “As long as it isn’t my time.”
Chloe glanced at her phone. “No, I have hot yoga in twenty minutes, and I need to change.”
“What happens now? Do you add me to your list?”
