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CHAPTER THREE

Midnight Point had just finished the Imbolc Festival, which celebrated reading, writing, art, music, and healers. It occurred to me that I should run a Valentine’s Day special, given my focus was on love. I still had the rest of my morning latte, so I decided to drop over to the Mocha Express come afternoon. Besides, the lines were long and I didn’t like crashing to the front, even though Crystal never minded.

I parked my new Evergreen Vega in front of the shop and slid out of the SUV. Insurance had come through without much of a problem after the accident. Though it hurt to see the depreciation that only a couple years brought. But it was enough to where I could easily add a few thousand for the new car.

The SUV was on the smaller side, but it had plenty of room for passengers and to haul things, and most important, it had AWD—all-wheel drive. It made it easier to navigate on ice and snow, or when it was raining, the latter of which happened most of the year here.

I’d named my new car Suzy, after Suzanne Vega. I’d grown up listening to her and other women singers, thanks to my aunts.

“You stay put,” I told Suzy, patting her on the driver’s door. She was beautiful, I thought, a gorgeous royal blue color that straddled the line between blue and purple. I’d put reflective stickers on the back and sides, so that in the dark it was obvious that something was on the road.

As I unlocked my shop door, Devon peeked out from Ever After, the bridal shop next door owned by Kevin Sands, a puma shifter with a good eye for fashion.

“Hey, Maisy! How’s it going?”

I grinned at her, juggling my travel mug and purse as I pushed open the door. “It goes, it goes. How are you doing?”

Devon had been in serious danger when she came to me for a reading, but now that danger was gone and she was back on the road to happiness.

“I’m good. You want a cupcake? We have cupcakes in the store today!” She held up a gorgeous pink frosted cupcake with tiny pearl candies on it.

“Thanks, but I had a full breakfast. I’ll hit Crystal’s in a couple hours.” I waved to her and darted inside as big fat raindrops began to splatter on the sidewalk.

As I shut the door, the quiet hush of my shop made me smile. It was painted in shades of mauve with sage and ecru trim, and the chairs matched the dusty rose of the walls, while my desk was a soft white. The other furniture matched my desk. All in all, Married At First Bite gave off a soft, cushioning feel.

I hung my jacket on the coatrack, slid my purse into my desk drawer, and turned on the Open sign. Then I lit a stick of rose-scented incense and settled in at my desk. I had no matchmaking clients yet—Brenda had been my first and only—but Zandre might break my dry streak. The tarot readings had been saving my ass, as far as keeping the shop afloat. I was a good card reader and people were spreading the word.

I’d had at least two to three readings a day, if not more. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but I did enjoy helping people, and most of my readings were about relationships, so they were tangentially related to my line of work.

A glance at the clock told me it was nearing ten, and outside I began to see more people on the street. It was break time, and people were out getting their coffee and snacks.

The bells on the door rang and I looked over to see a tall woman enter the shop. She had flaming red hair that coiled down her back. She was wearing a blue caftan, under a black leather jacket, and her tote bag had so much bling on it that she looked like a walking advertisement for a Bedazzler.

“Hi, I’m Maisy Tripwater,” I said, standing.

She paused, looking around. “I’m Cara Cork. Where should I sit?”

I pointed her to a round table that sat to one side of the shop. “There will be fine. Would you care for some sparkling water or tea?” I served both, though I preferred coffee. But tea seemed to calm people down in ways that coffee didn’t.

“Water, thank you.” She settled at the table and placed her purse on the floor beside her. “I’m looking forward to this. It’s been a long time since I’ve had my cards read.”

I brought her back a bottle of sparkling water and a glass with ice in it. “Here you go. Well, I’m happy to read for you.” I flipped the lock on the door and put up my Reading in Progress sign, then returned to the table. “Well, Ms. Cork?—”

“Cara, please.”

“Cara, what kind of reading do you want?” I asked.

She hesitated, then said, “I want to know how to deal with a false friend. I know she stole my boyfriend, but she’s also been spreading rumors about me and I think she keyed my car. Let’s call her Mary? Anyway, I want to know how to shut her up and stop her from bothering me.”

I frowned. “Well, let’s see what I can find out.” I held the cards and then handed them to her. “Think about your problem, then shuffle them four times and cut twice. Phrase your question to them clearly.”

She picked up the cards and held them for a moment before shuffling and cutting them. She handed them back to me, and I laid out a spread. It had some interesting cards, ones that told me Ms. Cara Cork wasn’t telling me the full story.

“I make it a point to be blunt with my readings so there aren’t any misunderstandings,” I said. “I’m seeing a few odd things here that makes me think there’s a lot more to this than just some woman who has decided you’re problematic in her life.” I glanced at Cara.

She blushed, faintly but enough to tell me that she was hiding something. “I’m not sure what you mean,” she said.

So she was going to play it coy. “Okay, well, let’s start it with this: Mary knew your boyfriend for quite a while, didn’t she?” In my mind, I caught a flash of a little girl and boy playing in the mud together.

Cara blinked. “Um…yes, I think she knew him before I did.”

“In fact, they were in a relationship for quite some time,” I said, glancing at the two of cups. “They were in love.”

As if slowly deflating, Cara shrank back in her chair. “Yeah, they were.”

I hated calling my clients on their bullshit, but I was willing to do it when necessary. “So, how long were they together before you came along?”

Cara let out a little squeak. “They weren’t getting along. They’d been married for three years. I wasn’t the one who started the affair—” She stopped, frowning at me.

“So, she didn’t steal your boyfriend. You stole her husband, and then he went back to her. Am I right?” I looked down at the cards, then up at her.

“All right, all right. Yes, he was married. They were arguing, or so he told me. We started seeing each other and he kept promising he was going to leave her. Then, after two years, last week he broke up with me and told me he’s going to work on his marriage. He must have told her, or she found out somehow, because, last week, I found my car keyed. And now she’s telling everybody in our mutual friend group that I’m a whore.” Cara leaned forward, grimacing. “I suppose you don’t want to read for me now?”

I let out a sigh, trying to keep my judgmental side under control. “Cara, I’m not going to kick you out. I’ll read the cards for you, but you have to be upfront with me. Okay?”

Cara side-eyed the door but stayed seated. “Okay. I still think she keyed my car, and I’m worried that she might be targeting me now, because I found a package in the mailbox yesterday that had this in it.” She opened her purse and brought out a plastic bag. Inside was what I immediately recognized as a charm. As she lifted it out, I shuddered. The energy around the thing was angry—and dangerous.

“Set it on the table,” I said.

As she did, I leaned in for a closer look. I had no intention of touching the thing until I knew what it was for. The charm was a pair of crossed sticks, wound together by some yarn in the center. A string hung off the center, with several beads on them, along with a pewter charm of a mask. The smell reminded me of spice and tobacco and pepper. Hmm…protective herbs. But there was nothing that felt protective about this.

I slowly held my hand over it and closed my eyes. There, under the fragrance of the herbs, there was another scent that seemed familiar to me. I inhaled deeply, focusing on the layers of fragrance. And then, I knew why it smelled so familiar.

“This has War Oil in it.”

“What’s that mean?” Cara asked.

“Used in this way, War Oil will attract negative things and entities to you. It can be used to protect, or to go after someone. It all depends on the other aspects of the charm.” I began to sift through the layers of the charm and began to see just how powerful the witch was who created the talisman. “Is Mary witchblood?”

“No,” Cara said. “She’s like me…we’re human.” She gave me a Bambi look. Deer-in-the-headlights afraid. Despite her no-nonsense demeanor, Cara was scared out of her wits.

“Whoever sent you this is a powerful witch. Leave this with me—you don’t want it around, anyway. I’ll see if I can find out who made it and maybe I can trace it back to who sent it to you. Meanwhile, you might want to apologize. I don’t guarantee it will help, but it’s not going to hurt.” I returned to the reading. There were so many threads here that it was hard to read.

“You’re bound up in chaos right now,” I continued. “The situation is so muddled that I don’t know how you can expect to sort it out without getting away from both your boyfriend and Mary. You need a period of time where you can gain some clarity, and you absolutely have to let her calm down. I don’t know if she hired the witch to make this charm, but she’s angry at you to the point of where I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“She should be mad at him ,” Cara mumbled. “He’s the one who stepped out on her.”

“I agree,” I said, noticing the surprised eyebrow lift. “But the question also must be asked: did you know he was married? If so, you’re also part to blame.”

The last of her sullen look drained away and she just looked sad and lost. “Not at first. He told me they were separated. I found out about four months in that he was still married. By then, I was in love.”

“You’re really lonely, aren’t you? And this relationship hasn’t given you what you need.”

She shrugged. “You never get everything you want. But you’re right. I’m lonely. I guess I never really believed he would leave her for me, like he said he would. But hope can blind you. And it was nice to have someone to love me.”

“I’m sorry to say this, but do you really believe that he loves you? If he really did want to make a life with you, he’d be divorced and with you. From what I see here, he’s a selfish man, and he wants it all—his wife and his lover. And he’s too cowardly to make a choice.” Sometimes, it took the truth to really get through to someone.

Tears started to trickle down her cheeks. “What am I going to do? I’ve wasted two years on him, and we humans don’t live nearly as long as those of you who are Otherkin. And now, she’s angry at me, and some witch is hexing me, and…” She leaned forward, burying her face in her hands. “I don’t know what to do, Maisy.”

I let out a long sigh. “You want my advice?”

She nodded, peeking out from behind her hands. Her mascara was running, and the pain in her eyes hit me hard. Failed love always hurt to see.

“Here’s what you do. First, you tell him you’re done and don’t give him a chance to argue. Second, you apologize to Mary. Third, we’ll try to figure out who’s hexing you and put a stop to it. I’ll need a few days, probably. Can you take some time off of work?”

Cara shrugged. “I think I can. I’ve got a couple weeks coming.”

“Then I want you to take a week, and I want you to go to Seattle, or some other place with plenty of people around. Book a hotel, go visit museums, explore the city. Treat yourself to dinner. Take a friend—not a guy, unless he’s gay—with you, and relax. You need to breathe for a little bit. You’re too close to this.”

I folded the cards. “Meanwhile, I’ll see what I can find out about this charm. I advise your friend drive. I think being away from this charm may help protect you, but I don’t know for sure. Make certain to leave me your number so I can get hold of you, if I need to.”

Cara straightened. “All right. What do I owe you?”

I took her card and ran it, then—as she headed for the door—I lightly placed my hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be all right. In a while, this will be a blip in your life.”

“You think so?” she asked, glancing at me.

“I do,” I said, wishing I felt as confident as I sounded.