Page 54 of Wicked Bite
A growl rumbled in my chest. “Try harder.”
“I’ll do all that I can.” But all that he could didn’t seem like nearly enough. “Well, while you’re doing that, my best friend is somewhere alone and afraid. You think about that over your next coffee break. Oh, and Sergeant Larceny . . . Larceny is a crime. Fix your damn name for your profession. That’s like a stripper named Edith and not Destiny.”
“Now, just you wait a minute.” He began to wag his finger at me, and I turned for the door.
No amount of finger-wagging was going to intimidate me or get me to budge. If no one was going to leap into action, I would. Piper was my best friend, the only person I had in the world, and I would find her. We were a duo. I shoved the glass doors aside and marched out into the cold air. I didn’t know where I was going or what I was going to do, but I had to think and walk off my anger to keep myself rational and moving. I needed a plan of action, and I needed one now.
I crossed my arms over my chest and pulled my coat tight around my body. Where was I going to go? Back to the empty house I shared with my missing bestie? Or to work, where all I would be able to think about was her, and everyone would just keep asking me if I’d heard from her yet. No. Action was needed. I couldn’t eat or sleep knowing she just vanished. I had to know what happened to her, and I had to know now.
So, I walked and plotted and walked some more until I found myself wandering back toward home. The sun hung low in the sky, telling me it would soon set, but I couldn’t seem to stop. My mind was a whirl of worry, and I just felt sick in the pit of my stomach. I drifted down a wide alley way that led back toward Essex. I’d always loved it down here on Artists’ Row, but now it seems crowded with tents and too many people. Even the restaurant seemed too much. I used to enjoy all the little huts with their sculptures and paints and artists selling their pieces. Now, I just wanted to go home and get ready for my next step.
“Hey, psst,” a deep sultry female voice called to me.
I paused and turned toward her without saying a word. She was tiny, with wavy blond hair that fell past her shoulders. Her lips were a bright red, and she had warm chocolate eyes. Her outfit was low key: plain dark blue jeans, a red turtleneck that matched her lips, and a trench coat that was about four sizes too big. She crooked her finger at me. “You want a reading?”
I rolled my eyes. Salem was the town of psychics. I could take my pick at any given time. I shook my head. “I don’t have any money.”
“This one is on the house.” Her smile was warm and open, but something inside me was on guard.
“I’ve never seen you here before.” Newbie psychics always wanted to try and make their name here.
“It’s my first day, and you’re my first customer.”
I shook my head. “No, thanks.”
I took a step to leave, and she called after me once more. “I can help you find what is missing.”
Ice ran through my veins. She couldn’t possibly know. I whirled around to face her with all the attitude I could muster. “How do you know what I’m missing?”
“Friend of yours?” She winked and crooked her finger once more. “Come, and I’ll show you.”
Was this how Piper got taken? The promise of something intriguing or someone with the answers and she stepped right into a dark tent with no question. I didn’t know, but I was going to do it anyway. Besides, someone so small had no chance of taking me. I’d crush her with one hit.
“Ugh, fine.” I stepped into her tent and was surprised to find two tables set up, one on the right side of the tent and the other on the left. They were small round tables with only two seats set up across from each other. Black tablecloths were draped over them and hung down to the floor.
“I’m Tilly, by the way.” She motioned to the empty table to our left.
“I’m Dice.”
I took a seat, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the guy sitting at the other table. A dark ominous presence rolled off him, and it made me rethink ever walking into the tent. His hair was long and straight and ran down to his chin. He wore a thick black sweater and black army pants. When he met my eye, I could’ve sworn his eyes changed from green to milky white and back again. A set of tarot cards sat on the table in front of him, but he didn’t touch them, just sat there with his hands hovering over the deck.
I continued to stare at him. Tilly cleared her throat, getting my attention. “That’s Maze.”
He gave me a single nod that I didn’t return. Everything about that guy made me want to leave, but Tilly had the opposite effect. She was warm and sunny, almost welcoming. “You said you could help me find what I lost?”
“Oh, yes.” She sat in the chair opposite me and held her hand out to her side. The tarot cards flew from his table and right into her hand.
I jumped back and looked from her to him and back again. My heart hammered in my chest. “How’d you do that?”
“Parlor tricks.” She winked and began to shuffle. “What is it that you’re looking for? Lost love, job, or sense of direction?”
This line of questioning was more familiar. “Let’s see what the cards say?”
“Ah, lost a friend then.” She kept shuffling, and a card flew out onto the table between us. “Three of Swords. You’ve lost something, and it wounds you deeply. It’s heartbreaking. You feel abandoned, and disappointed.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Typical.
She pulled a card from the deck and laid it down next to the other. “Six of Swords. This tells me that your friend is moving on to something new. The transition will hurt you both but, in the end, it will be for the best.”
