Page 44 of Death Card

Orion shifts in his chair. “A ‘little problem’?” He flexes his wrists, but they chafe against his restraints. “Someone is dead.”

“She already knows that,” I say, studying Aria. “How is it you know our coven’s business if you’re not involved?”

“We have eyes and ears all over this city. Nothing gets past us.” Aria snaps her frigid gaze to Orion, and he stiffens in his chair. “Stop that,” she commands. “Try it again and we’re done here. I won’t say another word.”

Confusion colors my expression until I spot the sheepish look on my brother’s face. It clicks in an instant.“You did not!”

He kicks me under the table and simmers in his embarrassment.

“I had to try.”

Establishing a mind-to-mind bond isn’t easy. For the most success, the pathway must be consensual. Orion and I have beenable to speak within each other’s minds since we were young. We can only hear what the other chooses to share, but sharing my thoughts with him is as easy as speaking aloud.

It was one thing for me to read Joelle’s mind, but hell would truly have to freeze over before I ever tried to read another witch’s without their consent.

Aria crosses her arms over her chest. Her entire demeanor has changed. Any shred of amusement or indifference she’s shown before is gone. Pure fury consumes her features now.

“You’re searching in all the wrong places and wasting your time,” Aria snarls. “If you come back here again, I won’t be so nice.”

Orion lifts his hands. “You call this nice?”

“Shut up,” I snap at him, turning my gaze back on Aria. “You’re messing with the wrong coven. If you attack us again, we’re going to come for you. You realize that, right?”

Despite all my bravado, my voice trembles at the end. This is all new to me. I’m not sure how far to go with my threats.

Aria’s eyes focus on a distant point past my head. “We’ve survived worse and come out stronger on the other side.” Her eyes meet mine. “I mean it—don’t come back here again. You’re on the entirely wrong path.”

She snaps her fingers and the restraints around Orion’s wrists disappear. He rubs his raw skin and mutters, “Finally.”

“You can leave now.”

I study Aria for a long moment, searching for a hint of vulnerability. Her aura pulses a vibrant shade of green with red streaked throughout. It tells me that she’s going through some serious transformation. Reading her cards would tell me a lotmore about her current state of mind, but she’d never allow me to give her a reading.

She found the courage to question her grandmother in private. Maybe there will come a day when she’ll walk out of her grandmother’s shadow entirely. From the expression on her face, that day won’t be today.

The demonology book rests heavily inside my bag as we leave the shop. I’ll search for more answers within its pages.

19

I haven’t seenJoelle since Saturday. She’s been busy with new student orientation, and I’ve taken days off from work to do research and tail the Hightowers. Even though we haven’t been physically together, she’s been blowing up my phone with cute selfies taken in different places on campus. I tried to resist texting her back, but that didn’t last long.

For some sick reason, I’ve got a crush on my future murderer that I can’t seem to shake.

She’s only been nothing but nice to me, and I haven’t seen anything in her mind to suggest an ulterior motive. I’m not sure how I can reconcile our budding friendship with my vision. I want more than I should, like a real date where I’ll get to kiss her at the end of it.

The photos she’s texted me of Tulane have sent a pang through my chest. That should’ve been me—and it would’ve been if Gran hadn’t died. It still could be someday if I can find a way to survive the month.

I’ve thought about reaching out to Gran, but I’m too afraid to try. Mom has never answered me when I called, so why would Gran be any different? Either the ancestors don’t want to talk to me or I’m not strong enough to reach them.

But if I could speak to her, I don’t even know where I’d begin. I’ve hit a dead end with Joelle, and I haven’t been able to find any information about the crest I saw while scrying. Aria didn’t fess up in the bookstore. While no one else has fallen ill since Mr.Peterson, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The truth is, I’m exhausted. I want to be a normal girl with normal problems. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I’m hoping Gran was wrong. Maybe I won’t die. My vision could have been the outcome of one possible path. Grandma Rose thought she could save that witch’s life by warning her to have a doctor present. What if I can save my own life by befriending Joelle?

I don’t have to work today, so Joelle and I make plans to meet in Jackson Square. She wants me to take her on a proper tour of the French Quarter, and I don’t mind playing tourist for the day.

I wait for her on a bench near the riverfront and watch a stream of people file onto the deck of a steamboat for a brunch tour. I don’t even need to busy myself on my phone; the people-watching is enough entertainment.

This part of the French Quarter is always packed with people from all around the world. Every ten feet you walk, you can hear a conversation being held in a different language. The tourists are young, old, and everything in between. I’ve spotted at least one group of college students wearing matching shirts and taking videos of everything under the sun. And quite a few couples are strolling along hand in hand.