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My fingers slid under the edge of the first card and flipped it over.

The Tower.Catastrophe and destruction.

I turned the second.

Ten of Swords.Pain, loss, and all-encompassing finality.

I sucked in a sharp breath then flipped the third.

The Devil.Fear, domination, and bondage.

I swallowed, looking up to see worry seeping into Yenne’s face as she stared down at them.

“So . . . this is bad, right? I mean, it looks pretty fucking bad.”

Yenne hissed, shaking a finger at me as she dragged her eyes from the cards. “Mind ye tongue, girl.” She fell back into her chair. “Zey could mean anythin’, ze cards will ‘elp ye translate ye next vision.”

“So, I just have to wait until a vision comes again to know what they mean?”

“Ye control the sight. If ye want it, it will come. Ye must breathe, relax ‘n let go of yeself. Ye give yeself over ‘n zen you touch ze cards. As ye learn, ye will start ta find ze meanin’ of ze cards in ze tings ye see.”

“Can’t you just”—I extended my hand to her—“put me in a meditative state like you did earlier and pull it out of me?”

“No. Ye must learn ta do zis on ye own,” she snapped, pushing my hand away from her as I groaned.

I was not a meditating kind of person. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I had a tranquil bone in my body.

A huff of breath left my mouth as I shook out my hands before closing my eyes and placing my palm on top of the cards. I took multiple deep breaths in, trying to calm my body and clear my mind.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in—

“This isn’t going to work,” I snapped, looking up at Yenne.

“Zis, is what ye ‘ave a familiar for. Ta ‘help ye wield ye magic.” She lifted a brow in my direction as if I should have already known that.

I glanced over at Cyloe skeptically. She was lying in front of the fire, her chest rising and falling in a slow steady rhythm.

At least one of us could relax.

“Cyloe,” I called, watching as she raised her head to look at me before setting it back down. I rolled my eyes, unsurprised that my familiar listened as little as I did. “Cyloe, come here,” I said again, patting the floor at my feet.

She groaned as she pushed from the floor, begrudgingly padding to my side and sitting at my feet. I scooped the three cards into my hands and fell to the ground beside her, leaning my back against the chair as I laid them out in front of me and crossed my legs.

Hours of my life had been wasted staring into the fire with not a single thought, so maybe it would help. I dug my fingers into her fur, slowly scratching in small circles as I took a deep breath, trying to let her calmness flow into me as I placed my left hand on top of the cards. My eyes locked onto the flames dancing before us as I let that breath seep from my nose.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in . . .

The flames contorted in front of me, my rooms misting into nothing as blackness covered my vision. I took a deep breath to steady myself and my lungs filled with the stench of burning flesh. My hand collided with my mouth as I gagged, covering mynose and lips to keep out the foul air as I slowly turned to see a fire burning in the corner. Black and green flames licked at the walls as the sound of metal rattling rang through the room.

My sight blurred, swirling like the smoke around me to see a woman standing inside a golden cage, looking down over a broken body, her hands dripping with blood. I tried to reach for her, to move closer but my feet would not listen as I watched her rush by me, the ghost of her skidding across my skin as black and green tendrils of magic pulled the corpse in front of me into the stone floor.

My hand flew to my throat as fresh air filled my lungs and I shot from the floor. Cyloe jolted, the hair down her spine standing straight as she looked up at me.

It smelled so fucking real.

None of the visions that I’d had, had ever had such strong sensory detail. It was like I could feel that woman as she brushed against me. A chill pricked at my skin as I pressed a hand to my heart, trying to calm its beating.

“Zat was very good,” Yenne said, standing from her chair with a look of pride on her face. “I must get back ta me shop, I’ll be back in ze mornin’ ta work on it some more wit ye. Until zen, try ta figure out what ye tink it means.”