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“T his whole thing’s a con, Carol. I told you it was a waste of twenty bucks. Fortune-teller, my ass.”

Destiny Noble kept any retort to herself. Even though the man’s attitude and words stung, she couldn’t afford to say anything that might make the big jerk any angrier than he already was. She needed this job.

So she bit her tongue to stay silent as he pulled on his wife’s arm, dragging her from the tent where Destiny did business.

Still, she couldn’t let Carol walk away without adding one more thing.

“You’re right to be concerned about that spot under your arm. You should get it checked out right away.”

The woman’s head snapped around, her eyes large. And though she didn’t answer, she nodded her head in understanding.

“Just ignore her, honey. They only say that kind of crap to scare you.” The husband’s voice rang with protective defiance as the tent flap fell shut.

Destiny let out a deep breath and stood, stretching her spine after a half hour of nonstop hunching on that uncomfortable little wooden stool. In spite of the ache in her back, in spite of the irritating jangle of the fake coins attached to her cheap gypsy costume, even in spite of the man’s attitude, she felt good about what she’d just done. That woman would go see her doctor, and that visit would save her life.

After all, Carol had never once mentioned any spot under her arm. Destiny had seen it in her vision.

She rarely spoke the whole truth to the people who came into her tent to have their fortunes told. She’d learned right away, when she began doing this, that for the most part people didn’t really want the truth. They wanted a fairy-tale happy-ever-after version of life. For twenty bucks, she gave it to them. But sometimes—like now—the truth was so important, she couldn’t resist.

She’d been able to see things from the time she was a child. Her mother had always claimed it was a gift inherited from her father because he was an enchanted Faerie.

Destiny shook her head in disgust at the memory.

Her mother, Rainbow, had been a true hippie, a child of the Generation of Love, raised in a commune by parents who’d worshipped nature. The experience had left her with some unusual ideas and practices. And then, of course, there was that little drinking problem she’d developed after the Faerie had up and left just before she’d learned she was pregnant with their third child. Maybe thinking he was a magical being forced to leave her to protect his family had somehow eased her pain in those last years.

Destiny remembered her father, a tall blond man with serious almond-shaped green eyes identical to her own, striding out to the field with her younger brother, determined to teach the boy archery and swordplay.

“Bastard,” she whispered, slamming shut the door on her memories.

How any decent man could just walk away after twelve years of marriage and two kids was beyond her.

Even from her deathbed, Rainbow Noble had clung to the Faerie story. “Be thankful for the gifts of your heritage,” she’d told her kids.

Gifts? Seeing what was going to happen to other people had always seemed way more curse than gift to Destiny. Besides, it was a fluke that it even worked sometimes.

Like now, when she really needed to see what would happen? Her gift was absolutely no help at all.

If only she could see her own future as well as she could see that of others. But that wasn’t the case. For her, or anyone of importance to her, the future was hidden in heavy curtains of dark mist. Only in her dreams was anything personal revealed to her.

It was one of those dreams that had brought her here, to this tiny tent tucked away in a far corner of the grounds of this Renaissance Faire. She’d seen herself working here, in this very tent, when the man who would lead her to her sister walked into her life.

She’d do anything that could help her find Leah, even put her faith in those stupid visions. She’d pay any price. Her time, her money, her pride—none of it meant anything compared to her younger sister’s safety.

She tapped her foot impatiently, snatching a quick glance at the small clock she kept under the draping cloth of her table next to her purse and laptop shoulder bag. Only one more hour until she could leave here and get back into town to her little motel room. One more hour until she could check her email to see if she’d had any response to her plea for help.

Of course, it was silly to think a big organization like Coryell Enterprises would pay the least bit of attention to one lone woman seeking a missing teenager. But she’d seen the company’s name in her dream, three nights in a row.

That was always how it worked. The dreams would return, over and over, until she either acted on them or what she had dreamed came to pass. Then, and only then, a new dream would come, like the next episode in a television series.

And as much as she hated to admit it, her dreams had never been wrong.

It had been as if she were standing on the sidewalk in front of their offices. People jostled all around her, bumping into her, until she looked up and read the large black metal lettering printed on the brown concrete building. The company’s name and address were clearly displayed.

She’d written asking for help the very next morning, giving them her email address as contact. When she’d gotten no answer, she’d written again.

After that second letter, she’d had the next dream. The dream about him.

Big and tall, dressed all in black, he would come to help her. She hoped he’d show up before it was too late for her younger sister.

The emotions slammed into her at the thought of Leah, forcing her to drop back down heavily to the hard wooden stool. The memories flooded her mind as she fought against the fear and depsression threatening to overwhelm her.

She had been twelve when Leah was born. From the moment Rainbow brought the new baby home from the hospital, Destiny had felt a strong connection to her sister. That connection had intensified over the years, and when Rainbow’s drinking had taken over their lives, Destiny had slid naturally into the role of mother to her younger sister.

After Rainbow’s death, Destiny had come to feel as if Leah was her only reason to go on. They’d managed just fine for the past six years. Leah was such an innocent, her nose always buried in one of her books. Never any trouble, she did well in school, even if she didn’t make friends easily.

That was how Destiny had known from the moment she’d come home to find their apartment empty that someone had taken her sister. The authorities refused to see anything but a teenage runaway.

From the first, Destiny had known they were wrong.

Then came the dreams, at first only bits and pieces too shattered to be truly helpful. Leah’s voice calling her name. Dark, shadowy figures. When she’d realized there were hints to locations in those dreams, she’d sold all their belongings and started hunting Leah herself.

That had been over a month ago, and sometimes she wondered if she’d ever see…

Destiny forced out her breath in a deep, shuddering sigh, wiping her damp cheeks.

No. She wouldn’t allow herself to even consider that possibility. She’d contacted the company in her dream. She’d seen the shadowed figure of the man who would come to help her. It was only a matter of time. For now, she had to be strong. For Leah.

Outside her tent, she heard hushed voices and the rustle of feet a moment before the flap whipped open and two elderly women peeked inside.

Pasting a patient smile on her face, she lifted her hand in greeting.

“Please, come in. Welcome to the House of Destiny.”