Fortunes Told

RHIANNON

I wake up screaming, gasping for air.

“Annie, baby, you’re safe. It was a dream. You’re safe,” Isaac’s voice is calm but tense. He pulls me onto him, holding my body on top of his as we lie in the bed.

“What was happening?” he asks quietly.

“I was chained again, the hooded figure was laughing and walking toward me. He had fangs. I’ve never seen them in a dream before. He had long fangs and his lips were cracked and bleeding.”

“So, it’s definitely a vampire you’re dreaming about?”

“I guess so. I figured it was but I never knew for sure.”

I shiver against him. We lie in silence for a while; he runs small circles on my back with his thumb, comforting me.

“I want to try something,” Isaac says suddenly, nuzzling his face into my neck. “It might not work, but there’s a chance so I think we should try it.”

“Okay…” I sit up to look at him.

“I think we should go talk to a psychic.”

I blink.

He chuckles. “Listen, I know they have a reputation, but some of them are real, you just have to know who to go to.

“We have one here, a legitimate seer. She might be able to help if we can actually decipher the riddles that she speaks in.”

I look at him incredulously as he continues, “She might say something useful. Even if we only understand a portion of it, it might be worth something.”

I’m skeptical, but just a short while ago I learned that vampires and werewolves exist. Psychics don’t seem like such a stretch now.

***

Laren and Noah pile into the car with us. As soon as they heard we were heading to the strip, they wanted in. Laren is particularly excited to go see Amethyst, the seer.

“She is so hard to understand, never mind that she speaks in ridiculous rhymes. And the room is so smoky that you start to feel lightheaded immediately,” Laren laughs.

“I have to go speak to her again. I think I was able to understand some of what she told me but I’m not sure.”

“What did she say?” I ask.

Isaac and Noah groan.

“Oh, be quiet!” She slaps Isaac’s arm. “I wouldn’t shut up about it while I was trying to figure it out.” She takes a deep breath before turning to me seriously.

“~Alpha first, then yours will come~

~when the damage has been reversed.~

~Physically far but nearer to,~

~the truth must be dispersed.”~

I stare at her. That’s what the psychic told her?

“Ridiculous, right?” she laughs. “I’m pretty sure it means that my mate is coming. Isaac had to find you first, then I get to meet mine. I don’t know what all the other stuff means, but…”

I’m starting to regret agreeing to this. If she really only speaks in riddles, how is anything she says going to be useful?

Everything is already mysterious enough. I don’t think adding an actual riddle to the mix will help.

We park in front of a dingy little building with no other cars in the lot. Looks promising.

As we approach the door, the neon “Fortune Teller” sign flickers. The paint is peeling off the door and the stucco has large chips and holes.

Isaac opens the door and holds it for everyone to enter. He steps in behind me, placing his hand protectively on the small of my back.

Laren wasn’t kidding about the smoke. My lungs and throat immediately burn, and I have to squint my eyes.

The walls are covered in old, moth-eaten tapestries depicting very strange, erotic scenes. There is a low, round table at the center of the room, surrounded by pillows to sit on.

There are hundreds of candles burning—they cover every surface, melted wax dripping into puddles on the floor.

As we step further inside, I hear a thick cough from behind a beaded curtain.

A woman steps out. She is even shorter than I am. Her gray hair is curly and wild, full of beads and feathers. She has dark glasses covering her eyes.

Her long purple dress looks velvety. She’s wearing a sheer shawl that drags behind her on the ground.

She doesn’t acknowledge us at all. She walks to the table and sits on a pillow.

When she finally speaks, her voice is like gravel.

“Come sit, Alpha,” she lights a strange-looking cigarette. “Bring your new luna.”

Taking my hand, Isaac leads me to the table, where we sit on pillows across from her.

She holds her hand out to me. I hesitate for a moment before placing my hand in hers. She grips me so tightly that it’s painful.

She jerks my arm forward as she rips the glasses from her face. Her eyes are milky white.

I gasp and try to pull my hand from her painful grasp. The candles flicker, and the room suddenly feels cold.

~You are a rare breed,~

~a spirit that must be freed.~

~Darkness watches,~

~death will try to succeed.~

~A king seeks to find,~

~the blood his powers bind.”~

She drops my hand and pulls her glasses back over her eyes. Without another word, she stands and walks back behind the beaded curtain.

None of us moves or speaks.

Just as Noah clears his throat to speak, she reappears, holding a small vial.

“My payment will be three drops of blood,” she croaks.

“Whoa, wait. Amethyst. Blood?” Isaac stands and pulls me up with him.

“Yes, her blood.” She points at me with a tiny dagger.

“Absolutely not!” He tries to pull me behind him, but she grabs my arm tightly.

“Payment must be rendered!” She makes a tiny cut on my finger, and blood drops into her vial.

Isaac, Noah, and Laren are all panicking. I can hear bones beginning to crack.

“Hey, I’m fine. She’s done. Look, it was just a few drops. Relax, please!” I pull Isaac down so that his face is level with mine, my hands on the side of his face. “I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding,” he takes my hand in his, inspecting my finger.

“The blood is sacred,” Amethyst says calmly.

We all stare at her. I know I just told Isaac that everything was fine, but internally, I’m freaking out. Why would she want my blood as payment?

He grabs my hand, and we rush for the door, Laren and Noah following quickly behind.

“What the fuck,” Isaac growls once we reach the car.

“You’re a rare breed? What does that mean?” Laren asks.

“This was such a bad idea. I’m so fucking sorry I suggested this, Annie,” Isaac grabs my face softly in his hands.

“It’s just a small cut, I’ll be fine. Let’s try to figure out what she meant.”

“A king seeks to find, the blood his powers bind,” Noah says more to himself than us. “She said ‘the blood is sacred.’ Did she mean yours? Your blood is sacred, and a king is looking for it?”

Isaac huffs out an annoyed breath.

“I have a phone call scheduled with Alpha Dylan in Canada in an hour, let’s head home.”

He holds my hand tightly, and I try to rub it gently with my thumb to calm him. It really is a small cut. Sure it is strange, but I don’t want him to be so upset over this.

The car ride is mostly silent. I think Noah and Laren are too afraid of Isaac snapping at them to speak.

I can see the wheels turning in their heads when I look at them. They are trying to figure out what she meant.

I’m hung up on the “spirit that must be freed” part. I think back to my nightmares: my hands are always chained. I wonder if that ties in somewhere.

***

Laren and I sit quietly at the table during Isaac’s phone call, chewing on the strange riddle.

“I just think it can’t be a coincidence that she spoke about blood in your reading then wanted your blood as payment,” Laren whispers.

“I mean, why would she want your blood, unless it’s valuable somehow?”

I can only shrug, completely stumped.

She opens her mouth to speak, but the door to Isaac’s office opens.

“We’re going to Canada. I need to speak to the vampire they captured. Noah will take care of things here. We’ll head up tomorrow and meet up with Madelyn,” Isaac says, his voice tight and tense.

Laren and Noah quietly wave goodbye before slipping out the door.

“Isaac?”

He sits down and pulls his hands roughly through his hair.

I push him back so that he is seated on the couch, then sit down on his lap.

“Talk to me,” I pepper light kisses all over his face.

He gives me a half smile before sighing deeply. “Alpha Dylan in Canada has gotten a little bit of information from the vampire, but we need more.

“What he said is similar to what Hunter said about the vampires that attacked you. They are looking for someone, for a girl. I need to try to get more from that vamp.

“Plus, Madelyn thinks she may have a lead on that Rhodes guy. We’ll join her and try to find him, see if he’ll talk.”

“Okay. Let’s go to Canada.”