Indra draped himself over Akiva, looking over the cards. “You hear that?” He rested his chin on the lich’s head. “You’re easy.”
Akiva flapped his hands at Indra, shooing him back onto the sofa.
“Your romantic relationship is stable,” I announced, as if he didn’t know.
Cian fought to cover a snort. “You needed your cards to tell you that, huh?” His tone was sweet, though disbelieving. I didn’t get the chance to speak before Akiva jumped in on me as well.
“Is that it?” Akiva asked. “No offense, George, but this is why most people think fortune telling is a hoax.“
“Shut up a sec. Your relationship is stable. To others, it seems as if you and your partners are cool headed. As if you have reached a comfortable place in your lives and things are all static. However, that is not the case.” I pressed my fingers to the Ten of Pentacles. “Your relationship is unbreakable and filled with passion. You look for ways to challenge and provoke each other, whether it be in the bedroom or outside of the house. Your relationship thrives off of the passion and challenges that you rise to together. You are all evenly matched, and you share….“ I broke off, confused slightly.
I’d had this trio of cards come up for me before, but the reading wasn’t always the same. The cards always whispered to me, nudging me towards one conclusion or another.
“What do we share?” asked Cian, suddenly interested.
“You?” I tried to puzzle it out. “You share…yourselves? No, that’s obvious. Your…magic?” That was closer to being correct.
“Uncanny,” Akiva broke in. “You’re right.” He leaned back against Indra’s knee. “We’ve all shared Cian’s blood. We share his power.”
“Oh.” I sat back, satisfied. I’d never read for a group that had been sharing blood with a vampire. It made sense as to why I hadn’t understood. “Well, there you go. Congratulations. That’ll be seventeen-fifty.”
“I let you eat my Lucky Charms and drink my tea,” Akiva retorted. “There’s your payment.
Snickering, I pushed the cards back into their box. “Fine. But next time, you owe me for this priceless insight into your lives.”
Chapter 22
Predictably, Aveline had a ton of questions.
She greeted me at the door, Vanilla Coke already being pushed into my hand as I walked into the living room, down the hallway, and slammed my bedroom door so I could change.
“Did you do it with all of them?” My cousin asked through the wood, having no sense of privacy or decency.
“Yes,” I said.
“At the same time?”
“No, it was like a well mannered check out line.”
“You’re lying.”
“Of course I’m lying.” I pulled the door open, frowning at her. Now I was dressed much more comfortably in running shorts and a t-shirt, and I needed a shower at some point very soon.
She sipped her coke, eyes narrowed. “So you aren’t going to tell me who the best was? Who did who? Did you watch them do each other?”
“Not at all.” I grinned at her arrogantly. “You shall have to live and die in your disappointment.” She wasn’t going to get anything out of me.
Aveline blinked, displeasure evident. “Whatever. Then I’m not giving you your letter.”
My face fell in shock. “Letter? Is it from Mom?”
She shook her head, then let out a breath. “I don’t know who it’s from, if we’re being honest.”
“Show me?”
Aveline walked to the kitchen with me following, then tapped her finger on the table near an envelope that radiated magic. What had the sender done, bathed it in some kind of ritual?
“The fuck?” I asked, whisking it off of the hardwood.
My name was scribbled across the envelope, but there were no stamps or return addresses.
But then again–witches rarely needed to use the postal service to get messages to each other.
Trouble was, I didn’t recognize the handwriting. I would’ve known if it was my mother’s, and this wasn’t.
“Are you going to open it?” Aveline asked quietly, peering over my shoulder at the envelope.
“Yeah I…think so?” It was more a question to answer her question.
But I wasn’t going to let it just sit here.
So I opened it, dropping the envelope on the floor once I’d pulled out the paper that looked like it’d been pulled from someone’s desk notepad.
Meet me at A Little Brew the day after tomorrow at nine am.
I didn’t know who had sent it, nor who it was referring to.
“You shouldn’t go,” Aveline said, taking the note from me. “Or you should take someone. Like Cian.”
“He’s not my babysitter,” I grumbled. “Or my white knight.”
Aveline fixed me with a look that I ignored. “If I go, I’ll go on my own.” The thought filled me with anxiety, but I could not allow anyone else to think that I needed them to follow in my shadow.
I was not helpless.
It was raining when I stepped out of the house to go see my mysterious letter sender. I made a dash for my SUV and jumped in, closing the door firmly as rain pounded on my windows and streamed down my skin.
“Thanks, weather,” I mumbled, remembering the crap about Cairo weather anomalies and Cian talking about his friend.
I started the car and pulled out, more confident now in getting around the city since I’d driven around a few times with Aveline. For the last two days, we’d taken advantage of her time off to work on our magic and better acquaint me with the city.
She’d cautioned me twice about this meeting, asking me again to take someone else with me. I’d told her I’d consider it.
I did not consider it.
During that time, I’d texted conversationally with Indra. Less so with Akiva, though the lich did send quips my way at odd hours.
Both of them had assured me that Cian wasn’t a social texter. I’d responded that he needed to get with the times.
But something I did notice, it seemed like they were pulling away from me
