Page 174 of Mayhem and Minnie

“My family’s codex. You don’t need to concern yourself with that,” she adds snappily. “Follow me.”

She continues walking past the library and into a small study. I don’t know what I expected, but there are no magic bowls and the like. Instead, there’s only a desk with a computer and a sofa. Quite normal for a witch—may even be the most normal part of the house.

She takes a seat at the desk and invites me to do the same opposite her.

I do as she says, and to my surprise, instead of asking me to give her the vial, she opens a drawer and removes a deck of tarot cards from it.

“Touch this for me,” she says and hands me the deck.

I lay my hand flat on the top of the deck before she pulls back and starts shuffling. She barely spares me a glance as she places five random cards on the table face down.

She turns the first one.

“Seven of swords. There’s a secret in your past. Something that haunts both you and your family. I see dishonesty.” She frowns. “But it’s not all of your making. There’s an external force.”

I swallow hard.

I didn’t expect her to start with the hard truths.

“Go on,” I say.

“Something isn’t right.” She looks at me pointedly. “It’s something that goes against the natural order.”

Yeah, I suppose I have done plenty of things that go against the natural order.

“Death. Change. Everything you’ve known so far has changed. And it will continue to change.”

When are we going to talk about the spell? I’m getting bored of this vague shit.

The next three cards are The Tower reversed, The Chariot, and The Magician. She doesn’t read them individually. Instead, she just stares at them. Then at me.

“The strand of hair. Hand it to me.”

I hand her the vial, but as she takes out the strand of hair, she drops both on the desk. She pulls back, as if burned.

She gets up, her eyes wild as she looks right and left.

“You need to get out of my house. Now.”

“I need to know if she’s a witch and if I’m under a spell,” I grit out. It’s what I came here for and I’m not going to leave without that knowledge.

“She’s cursed, as are you. The fires of hell would never be enough to cleanse either of you,” she spews at me, the hatred in her voice evident.

“What are you talking about?”

“Leave!” she yells, her voice so high-pitched the entire structure of the house starts to shake.

What the…

She walks toward me, backing me out of the study. Her expression is crazed, and there’s a strange aura surrounding her.

“I’ll give you ten times your fee if you tell me what I came here to find out.”

“Get. Out,” she bellows. This time, a whoosh of air hits me in the chest. It’s not enough to hurt, but it’s enough that I feel it.

Sarah’s eyes have turned a shade of white as she glares at me with burning hatred.

I back away, continuing to make her offers, but she doesn’t even consider them.

---