Page 10

Sick of men and sweets—two things I thought I'd never get sick of—I wandered through the French Quarter.

Then something caught my eye. It was a Voodoo shop.

Not unusual in that area. Quite common actually.

But I felt drawn to it. I wandered inside, past shelves of dolls, candles, and necklaces geared toured tourists.

Masks hung on the walls, their sightless eyes staring at me. The smell of incense hung in the air.

And a shiver ran over my arms.

“You need a reading?” a woman's voice came from behind me.

I turned, the word coming out of my mouth unbidden. “Yes.”

She was a small woman in stature but huge in presence.

Dark-haired, dark-eyed, and dark-skinned, she had a bright scarf wrapped around her head with braids trailing out of it.

Very Marie. Again, probably for the tourists.

But there was something about her. A gleam in those dark eyes. It spoke to me.

“Come with me, cher.” She waved to a back room, then nodded at a girl behind the counter. “We need some time. No disruptions.”

“Yes, ma'am,” the girl said.

I suppose their interaction wasn't unusual on the surface, but it felt odd to me. I went into a small room lined with shelves. Here, the accouterments weren't fake. I could feel tingles of power from them. How or why I was so sensitive, I didn't know. Must have been Hades. His magic.

“Sit.” The woman waved at a chair. It was one of several tucked under a round table in the center of the room.

The chair was simple but comfortable and an African-esque cloth covered the table.

Beads clinked as the woman sat across from me.

There was no crystal ball. She wasn't a gypsy.

I wondered if she'd pull out a set of bones to throw, or maybe shells.

But no, she pulled a little wooden box close and opened it to reveal an old set of tarot cards.

“You're feelin' lost,” she said. Then she nodded. “Uh-huh. Lost. Because you ain't where you belong.”

I looked from the cards to her face. She was older than I initially thought, with deep lines carved into her skin and jowls hanging around her mouth. But those eyes. They were both young and old at the same time. And they saw too much.

“Yeah. I know. But I don't have a choice,” I said.

“Hmm.” She nodded and took out the card. Shuffling, she said, “Choices. So many choices for you. But no, not that one. You don't belong here, but here is where you need to be. And maybe you will belong. Soon enough.”

I wasn't sure I liked that. So, I just stayed quiet.

She shuffled more, then set the cards down. “Tap them. No more, mind you.” She pointed at me. “I don't want too much of you in them. Hard to get, I think.” She looked me over. “Uh-huh. You hard to get out.”

“Like a stain.” I made a little laugh. “Well, that's one I haven't heard before.” I tapped the cards.

The woman spread the cards before her in an arch and then selected three. That's all. Three cards. If she turned them over and they all had dogs on them, I was gonna bolt.

The first card she flipped over had the image of a happy toddler on the back of a white horse.

His arms and legs were stretched out with his glee, his pudgy face smiling, and a big yellow sun shone behind him.

Oddly enough, the card was called The Sun.

It was about the background more than the foreground.

“That looks like a nice card,” I said.

“It is.” She scowled at the card as if it had misbehaved. “But it don't feel nice today. I ain't sure why.” She flipped the second card. “Ah.”

Death. Yup, it was the cliché tarot card everyone knows. A skeleton in armor riding a horse. So weird. But I happened to know that the Death card didn't mean a physical death. So—

“Death's comin' for ya, girl,” the woman said.

“What?” I waved at the Sun. “But that's a happy card, right? And Death means change, not death.”

“Usually.” She nodded. “But the cards are strange today. Their message is different.” She turned the last card over.

“The Moon.” She tapped the image of a full moon, then she stroked the dog howling at it.

“Now I see. You be that Moon. Your place is up there.

Out of reach. The dogs are howlin' for ya.” She chuckled.

“They always howl at the Moon, but they never get her.

Not till now. Now, they gonna get you. If you let 'em.”

“Damn it. I knew dogs were going to show up on one of those damn cards.” I flopped against the back of the chair.

She shook her head. “Why you givin' them dogs such a hard time? You want them. They want you. The Moon is on Earth at last. Within their reach. But you still deny them. Silly Moon.”

I went still.

She met my stare.

“Who are you?” I whispered. “Are you one of them?”

She shook her head. “You askin' the wrong question.”

I thought about it. “Who's trying to kill me?”

“Closer,” she murmured.

“Why do they want to kill me?”

“Ah!” She smacked the Sun card with her palm. “Now, you're thinkin'!”

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Why do they want to kill me?”

“Yes, why would they?” She picked another card and turned it over. A couple stood, embracing on it. “The Lovers. Yup. Not surprising. It's always about love. Love gotten, forgotten, misbegotten. It's always love that drives them to kill.”

“Misbegotten?”

She leveled her stare at me and nodded. “Miss-be-gotten. Gotten wrongly. Stolen.”

“Are you saying that I took someone's man?”

She shrugged. “I'm saying to be careful, girl. The Sun won't shine for you until you figure out how to shine for yourself.” She swept up the cards and put them back in her box.

“Is that it?” I scowled at her.

She stared at me.

“Fine.” I got up, fished a twenty out of my wallet, and set it down.

She cocked her head at me.

I pulled out another twenty.

She pursed her lips.

“Are you kidding me? Sixty bucks?”

She continued to stare.

“Whatever.” I pulled out a third twenty and set it down.

Walking out, I muttered to myself, “The Moon is outta here. Sunshine and dogs.” I made an annoyed sound.

“What a waste of time.” Then I caught the woman's reflection in the mirror by the reading room door.

Except that she wasn't the same woman. She wasn't a woman at all.

She was three.

I gaped at the three women now seated behind the table, right where the tarot reader had been. But it was just a flash. A second. I blinked, and the old woman was back, staring at me.

A shiver ran down my spine and I hurried out of the shop. Only to pause just outside the door.

There, across the street, stood Mr. Average.

He headed toward me. With a yip, I spun and ran for my car.

While I ran, I fumbled in my purse for my gun.

That weird woman who might be three women had said death was coming for me.

That couldn't be a coincidence. Here this guy was, waiting outside her shop after that dramatic prediction. I wasn't about to chance it.

When I glanced back, the guy was gone.

I slowed, then came to a stop and turned around. He wasn't there. No one was on the sidewalk. That was creepy too. I could have sworn there were several other people around. Another chill ran down my spine.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered as I went to my car. I unlocked it, got in, and started the engine. “That woman has me jumping at shadows. The sun won't shine for me until I shine for myself? What does that even mean?” I pulled out onto the street and drove home.