She didn’t smile or greet me.She just watched, slow and piercing, like she was mapping every sin tucked under my ribs.
I stepped inside.The beads rattled a warning against my shoulders.
She set the deck down.
“You’re not here for the cards,” she remarked, voice low and rough.
“No.”
“You came looking for someone.”
I stopped a few feet from the table.“I need information.”
She tilted her head, eyes narrowing with knowing weight.“Everyone who comes to me needs something.The question is what you’re willing to give in return.”She paused for a beat.“Tell me what you want.”
I inhaled slowly.“Neve.”
She leaned back.
My jaw clenched.
“What do you want with her?”
There was suspicion in her voice.And something else—something protective.It made the back of my neck prickle.
“I’m looking for her.”
“You are not the only one.”Her voice went tight.“And the others… they are not kind men.”
Cold spread through my chest.“You know something.”
She stared at me, her eyes unmoving.“Sit.”
“I don’t have time?—”
“Sit,” she repeated.“If you want answers, you sit.”
I lowered myself into the chair across from her.
She shuffled the deck with smooth, practiced hands, then placed it between us.
“Cut.”
I didn’t believe in this shit—but I did it anyway.
Her fingers hovered, choosing without hesitation.
One card.
Then another.
Then a third.
Her face drained of color.
I watched her intently, my eyes never wavering.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.“You.”