Page 28 of Hell Hath No Fury
I blinked at her, an otherworldly tone coating the air. It was too big for this room.
“Way to kill my buzz, dude,” I muttered, still half tempted to go through with my plan anyway.
Fuck the world. Mortals and men had done enough to break it. How much more damage could one little—well, notlittleconsidering my tits, ass and hips—witch really do?
That was not what gave me pause. At the best of times, I didn’t much care about the world outside of our coven. No matter what mortals and men did to ruin things for themselves, we would endure, we always would. My mother was the one thinking of the bigger picture, trying to save the world, be the good witch. The white witch. Which was rather ironic since she was the head of a coven that also operated as an outlaw motorcycle club. My mother was not afraid of violence, of ending lives of mortals for the greater good of the coven, but she did not relish in it. She wanted to preserve life, both supernatural and mortal.
Me? Not so much.
“I told you I didn’t want you to draw for me,” I replied through gritted teeth.
Nyx hitched her shoulder, unperturbed by the fury in my tone or by the way the air around me vibrated with the power of my irritation.
“It’s not up to me,” she said by way of explanation.
Though most people wouldn’t have been able to take a step, she walked through the thick air of my fury without effort. She was powerful, exceptionally so, even though she possessed only one elemental magick. Water. But water was everything. It was life. It was death. Everything in between. She held a unique and almost unprecedented hold on the famously unpredictable element. That was without her gift of sight.
She was an asset to any coven, yet a target too. There were many who coveted her. Not just for her beauty—which was exceptional, even in our coven where our beauty was a mere tool—but for the opportunity for power she possessed. Oracles were not common. Not even a little. They were born once every sixty hundred sixty-six years. In North American covens, at least.
Nyx held out a card to me.
I considered not taking it, but that wouldn’t have made a difference. She’d already drawn.
Confusion swam through me as I regarded the card. I’d expected something like Death, the Tower, or the Nine of Swords.
Not the two naked figures standing in the Garden of Eden.
“The Lovers,” I scoffed, meeting Nyx’s eyes. “I think your ticker is off today, babe.”
Nyx did not return my grin, her face remaining somber. “The Lovers is not just about a romantic entanglement, though I see that too, but it is cloaked in darkness.” Her brows knitted together in frustration, as if she were trying to see through murky waters. “The Lovers also means you are being faced with a choice,” she continued. “About who you want to be in this lifetime. That your entire basis of who you are is being challenged. That you must take heed and consider consequences before acting.”
I rolled my eyes, tossing the card on the unmade bed beside the letter that had remained there since last night. I had not slept.
“You sound just like my mother,” I muttered, returning to my duffel. If I wasn’t going to war with Ridley, then I’d go on her bullshit errand… If only to spare my sisters and give myself some distance.
“The Lovers is about unifying two seemingly dichotomous forces,” Nyx continued, obviously not done. “It is with the merging of two opposing sides that unity can be established.”
I zipped up my duffel, finishing my drink then slamming the tumbler down on my desk so hard a crack splintered up the side. It made me happy.
“I’ve got to go,” I told Nyx, trying my best to shake off her words. Which was impossible. Despite my outward attitude, I held great reverence for my sister’s sights and predictions, and they filled me with discomfort.
Nyx’s face was scrunched with worry. “I cannot see your safe return. In fact, I cannot see anything beyond your meeting.”
Cue more chills down my spine.
“Let me come,” she said, determined.
“No,” I replied firmly. “I’ll be fine. You’ve got to stay here. You and Minnie are the only ones I trust. I have a feeling that Ridley is going to try some bullshit while I’m gone.”
Nyx pursed her lips. I got the sense that she had seen that.
“I’ll be fine,” I lied, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
I tried to pull away, but she held onto my upper arm in a vice-like grip. Her eyes swirled black and gold.
Though she was one of my oldest and closest friends, it was really fucking creepy when I was this close to her going full Oracle. It was like staring into a black hole.
“Something is coming,” she whispered. “Something that will alter your future, something powerful enough to obscure my visions. Be careful, sister. The night grows long and thick, and things of old creep out of it.”
