“Tomorrow is no good. I told you already, I need it now.” She paused for a moment. “I said I would pay you. Why can’t you trust me for once?”
Another pause. I wished I could hear the other end of the conversation.
“Yes. Tonight in my tent. Fine. I’ll pay it. Whatever. Just bring me what I asked for.”
The phone beeped as she ended the call.
I made it back to the cushions as she entered the room. I’d never seen her so disheveled. Her normally stylish hair was limp and uncombed. Dark circles shadowed her eyes.
“Miss Kennedy,” she said as she focused on me. “What are you doing here?”
“I need help,” I said. “Uhh… relationship help.”
Why hadn’t I thought this through before I came? Surely I couldn’t tell her that I suspected she was aiding a murderer. Now I’d have to come up with some depressing relationship story.
At least I won’t have to lie about it.
“It will have to wait,” she said. “I’ve got too much going on right now. I’m not seeing clients today.”
“No, wait,” I said, scrambling to come up with some reason I should stay. “Look—I really need your help now because… he’s going away soon. And I won’t get another chance with him.”
“Relationship troubles?” she asked. “I charge more for that sort of service.”
“Fine, I’ll pay it. I just… I really need to speak with you.”
She narrowed her eyes. Madame Glitter was one of those women I had trouble understanding. She knew how to manipulate, and she was an expert at deceit. I’d have to find a subtle way to get her to talk.
“Fifty dollars,” she said.
I almost choked. “Fifty?”
“Yes, plus a tip if you ever want my help again.”
There went my grocery money for the rest of the month. “Fine, I’ll pay it.”
She stood for a moment, scrutinizing me, and then made her way around the table and sat across from me. “You’ve never struck me as the type to want this sort of thing,” she said.
“Desperate times,” I answered.
“You’re falling for him that bad?”
“Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
I sighed. I could pull this off. I really could. I just needed to believe it.
“All right. The truth is, I’m not even sure I want him anymore. He’s not the same person he used to be.”
“So you need my help deciding if you want him?”
“Uh… no. I need your help deciding if he wants me.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Why would you need to know if he wants you when you don’t even know if you want him?”
She had me on that one. Again, I found myself scrambling for an answer.
“Because we were together once, and those were the happiest days of my life. I guess… I just want to know if I’ll ever find someone like that again.”
She worked her jaw back and forth. I was sure she was deciding whether or not to throw me out.
“We’ll ask the cards. It’s the best I can do.”
She absentmindedly picked up the cards and shuffled them, all the while keeping her dark eyes on me, making me shudder.
“Tell me about him,” she said. “Is he the cop?”
“Brent? No. It’s not him.”
“Someone else?”
I nodded.
She continued shuffling the cards, her gaze unfocused. She placed the cards on the table and rested her hands on top of the stack. We sat in silence for several minutes, her eyes closed, her breathing quiet.
“I cannot,” she finally whispered. “All I see around you is darkness. Pain. And this word—this word I keep hearing over and over. Deathbringer.”
Shivers ran down my spine.
“Does that word mean anything to you?”
I swallowed. “I’ve heard it before. I still don’t completely understand its meaning.”
“That is all I see. Nothing more.” She leaned forward. “Now, you must tell me your true purpose in coming here. Is it about Possess?”
Possess? I decided to play along. “Yes,” I answered. “Who do you get it from?”
“Why should I answer?”
“Because I’m trying to protect you. Those drugs are dangerous.”
She laughed. “Dangerous?”
“Yes, two people have already been killed, and both were found with traces of the drug in their systems. There are dark forces at play, ones that you can’t comprehend. If you want to stay safe, you’ll tell me who you got them from.”
“I don’t believe you. Dark forces are what I deal with every day thanks to the work I’m in. You don’t scare me.”
I sighed, feeling at my wits’ end. I’d dealt with her type more times than I could count. People like her never believed me when I first told them about magical forces. But sometimes it was better to show than tell.
Praying my magic cooperated long enough for a simple demonstration, I opened my hand, palm up, and whispered the word for a simple fire spell.
“Ignite.”
A tiny flame appeared, feeding off my magic. I held it quietly, watching the fire dance on my palm, reflecting on my skin.
Madame Glitter grew still, and her eyes grew wide as she watched the flame.
“What is that?”
“Magic,” I answered. “Real magic.”
She swallowed. Fear replaced the aloofness in her eyes. “A trick,” she whispered.
“No. It’s real. You can feel it, can’t you?”
The magic grew within me, and I sensed that soon it would be too much to control, so I extinguished the flame.
“Are you going to hurt me?” she asked.
“I’m not here to hurt you. I want answers. People have been killed, and I don’t want anyone else to suffer. So tell me, who do you get the drugs from?”
“Fine,” she said. “Mr. Kaufman sold them to me when I first set up my booth. He’d been using them, and he’d sold different things to me before. He even put a trace of the drugs in the meat he sold—thought it would make the food addicting and make people come back for more.” She laughed. “He was so stupid, and so easy to manipulate—married, too—the kind
