Page 62 of Bound By Fury

Sam and I nod our heads.

“Awesome. I’m just going to shuffle the deck…” Daisy draws out the sentence as she closes her eyes, the stack of colorful cards in her hands. A low humming sound emanates from her chest, and her eyelids flutter. We watch her, enraptured by her process as, slowly, she passes the cards into her left hand and bends them—just barely—so that they cascade into her right. She stops midway and splits the deck, working quickly to combine it once again before repeating the process.

When she seems satisfied, she spreads the cards out onto the table and opens her eyes. Her hands hover over them, scattered across the oak surface.

Her irises are coal as she lifts her gaze and gestures to the cards. “It’s time.”

Sam and I look at each other.

They nod at me.

I widen my eyes.

They point to the cards.

I raise an eyebrow.

Sam huffs, “You do it!”

“Me?” I laugh. “Are you scared or something?”

Sam’s face turns ruddy. “No! I’m not scared!” They run their hands through their messy black/blond hair. “I just figure it’s probably more of your kind of thing.”

I glance down at my phone. I’m supposed to be meeting Missy in the library at two, but I’ve got time.

I shrug.

Daisy smiles at me. “I’ll pick them for you, but you need to place your hands over the cards and give them your intention.”

“Intention?” I ask, anxiously wiping nonexistent sweat from my brow.

I reach toward the cards but hesitate.

Sam’s voice wavers beside me. “Is this bad juju?”

“Seriously?” I squeak. “Let’s not talk about what kind of juju this is while my hands are hovering over the cards. I’m trying to set my intention.”

Daisy instructs me to think really hard about what I want to ask the cards. I close my eyes briefly and picture my grandmother, her smiling face in her garden, surrounded by an infinite spectrum of colorful flowers, and on her lips are the answers she took with her.

Find me.

The words grate down my spine, and I push them away on instinct, an icky feeling of invasion souring at the back of my throat. I’d thought the voice from the café was a fluke or exhaustion, but it hasn’t left.

I open my eyes. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Daisy’s chipped maroon nail polish wiggles with her fingers as she moves her hands above the cards, reaching toward one and then giving a slight shake of her head before deciding against it and roaming to another. Finally she flips a card over. It features a zombie princess holding three daggers to her decaying chest, piercing through a melting heart, a triangle of pain.

Daisy’s lips press together. “Three of Swords.” Some of the color leaks out of her face. “An ominous sign.”

I place my hands in my lap and pinch the soft flesh between my thumb and forefinger.

“So, this card can represent a lot of things, but what I’m seeing for you has to do with heartbreak. Betrayal.” She closes her eyes, head dipping slightly before she opens them again. “Maybe it’s because of your grandmother and the pain there… but I’m not sure. It feels like there’s something else.”

She glances toward the back of the room, but I don’t have to turn around to know who she sees. I’ve felt the sparks across my back from him watching me this entire time.

I mean, she’s not wrong. If anyone has broken my heart, it’s Malachi. At least on my end, the damage has already been done. It’s not like the situation with him could get much worse.

I shake my shoulders to release the tension that’s gathering.