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My owngrandfatherhad done this.
It might be time for us to remind everyone who we were, and why it was dangerous to mess with us. Not even blood relatives were immune.
It might be painful, but we’d done it before.
We’d always done whatever was necessary to keep order in the world.
It was high time others stopped thinking they could get away with controllingus.
“I think…” Damen began, speaking slowly as his words trailed off. He was rubbing his necklace between his thumb and forefinger as he stared down at his feet. I held my breath, waiting for his response. It felt like eons passed, and when he spoke next, his words held far more confidence. “Ibelievethat something else is going on. We should wait.”
My caught breath escaped in a rush, and I leaned forward in my seat.
What did he mean ‘wait’?We’d been waiting since Bianca first came to us. We stood aside, not wanting to scare her away. But this…
Huo—and Damen, naturally—was possibly the least patient person I knew. It was only Mu who’d ever been able to have him willingly hold back.
“Death.”
A shiver passed through the air, and the word rang loud through the otherwise quiet room and echoed ominously in my ears.
“What do you mean?” It was Miles who responded to Damen’s statement.
Damen put his hands flat against his knees and sat forward in his seat, looking the two of us in the eyes once before he spoke. “I did a reading last night.” His words were heavy and weighted.
I wasn’t sure what the big deal was—Damen played with his tarot cards almost every day.
“OnMu,” he clarified. “On Bianca, and his purpose for being born as a woman. Hedeliberatelydid this, and I’m trying to figure out why. I feel that this is all connected. We shouldn’t act rashly right now.”
“Maybe he just wanted to try something different?” Miles offered. “Does being a woman have tomeananything?”
Damen and I glared at the witch.
“It doesn’tmeananything—not in the way you’re thinking,” I said, because I’d been thinking about this since my confrontation with Mu. “In case you’ve forgotten, Mu has always been androgynous. But he’s also not one to put himself in a vulnerable position without a plan. Not unless it’s for some self-sacrificing scheme he’d thought up onourbehalf. Being born as a woman makes him vulnerable. He wouldn’t choose this without a reason. So, I agree with Damen.” I inclined my head toward the onmyoji. “He did this on purpose. I believe he was trying to trigger the prophecy—and who knows what else.”
Miles crossed his arms, slinking back into his seat in a pout. “I was just playing devil’s advocate. But yes, I agree too.”
“In my readings, Mu is usually The Empress.” Damen ignored Miles’s sulking as he reached into his shirt. “And sometimes, The High Priestess. But this time—for the first time ever—I pulled Death.”
The onmyoji pulled out a palm-sized deck—one of many in his collection. These particular ones were black and midnight blue with—from what I could make out from my seat—inlaid with golden images and lettering. He began to shuffle the cards as he spoke, “I asked what his intentions were toward us and pulled the Ten of Wands and The Sun.”
I glared at the cards, frowning. “So, basically, Bianca is going to sacrifice herself doing something really stupid, while thinking it’s going to make everyone happy.”
Damen stopped shuffling, watching me with wide eyes. “You’re learning!” He sounded pleased.
I scoffed. “No one could sit through lifetimes of endless lectures and not pick up a thing or two.”
“You’re wrong, though,” Damen smoothly replied, ignoring my jibe. “Wearegoing to be happy—The Sun is a major arcana. The Ten of Wands—the part where she’d shoulder the burden—is a minor. It’d only be temporary.”
“But Death is a major arcana as well,” I said. “I don’t want her doing anything that has her shouldering any burden or painful transformations. Iwon’tbe happy if that happens.”
“This is only a reading,” Miles said slowly. He’d crossed his arms, watching the two of us sternly. “About Mu’s intentions. Don’t forget, Bianca is a grown woman and can make her own decisions. Whatever it is that she ends up doing, you don’t have the right to intervene.”
“Screw you,” I spat at the witch. “You mind your own business with Bianca, and I’ll focus on mine.”
My pulse raced with lingering unease. Miles’s statement served as a reminder of the continual brokenness that lay between Bianca and me. While it was true that we’d bonded, there was still a rather large chasm that we’d needed to cross. Until then, our relationship wouldn’t be what it could.
“Speaking of Bianca, I wonder how their mission is going,” Miles mused, glancing at the clock. “Isn’t it getting kind of late?”
