Page 96 of Tricky Magic
Devon had spent each night in Ellea’s cabin. They were supposed to spend the past few days training. Instead, they started their mornings reading and it transitioned into Supernatural or Harry Potter marathons, binging on snacks, and eating all of the worst dinners. They either fell asleep in a pile on the couch or Devon would spend the night in one of the spare rooms. Ellea was thankful to have him nearby; Billy wasn’t enough to fill the gaping hole the brute had left when he drove away.
Ellea grabbed one of Ros’ shirts she had stolen and a pair of thick socks. They headed down the hall and knocked lightly on Devon’s bedroom door. His sleepy voice rang from the other side of the door. “I’m up.”
Ellea cracked the door open and poked her head in. Devon was still under the covers in the massive bed. She was thankful her nana and uncle had furnished this house with big cozy things. He lifted the blanket, and Billy rushed past her to jump in the bed with him. Ellea followed behind and got under the covers.
Billy’s nose poked out from the thick blanket and her body warmed both of them from her place sandwiched between them. Ellea toyed with her velvety ear before looking at her friend. His intuition was almost as good as hers, and she wasn’t ready to see what he was picking up on.
“Are you as anxious as me?” His light eyes flickered as he studied her face, and Ellea nodded. “They should be home today or tomorrow.”
“Can I be honest with you and you won’t judge me?”
Devon rolled his eyes but his smile was warm and open. “Yes, you can be honest with me. Tell me all you are feeling; I probably already know.”
He probably did. Both he and Sam always had thatno shit, Sherlocklook anytime she asked or brought something up. She had said it to herself a million times, but life was different and nothing like what she expected or prepared for.
“Things are too good,” Ellea said in a whisper.
“No, things are how they should be.”
“It feels like the other shoe is about to drop, I wasn’t prepared for this, but now that I’m here, I don’t want it to end. But I feel like it’s going to end.”
“No matter what happens”—Devon paused and reached for her hand—“I will be here. Sam too. And you couldn’t get rid of Ros if you threw him off a cliff.”
“I just hate not knowing.” She took a deep breath.
“Um…” A sly smile spread across his face. “Aren’t you a seer?”
Ellea rolled her eyes, mostly at herself. She had been so focused on her trickster magic that she hadn’t needed to tap into her seer side. She sat up, and Devon followed. Billy buried herself further under the covers and immediately went back to snoring.
Smoothing out the blanket in front of her, she conjured her favorite deck. The worn black velvet felt smooth in her hands. She gently took out the black and gold cards and took a steadying breath. Devon was quiet next to her, a solid weight of comfort.
“Let’s see what the cards have to say,” Ellea said and shuffled them five times.
“How many are you going to pull?” Devon asked.
Ellea took a breath. “Three.”
Flipping the first card, they both exhaled together. It was the Devil. The black card showed a gold male with a goat’s head, his hand extended from the arm of the throne and his pointer and middle finger pressed together, pointed toward the sky.
“Could be worse.” His grimace was saying something else.
Ellea glared and flipped the second card. They both groaned together. The ten of swords shone bright in the morning sun. The light glinted off all ten swords that were stabbed into a man lying in a pool of his own blood. She shot Devon a look that told him to keep his mouth shut.
Ellea waited five breaths before she flipped the last card, but she knew it wasn’t good. Her magic knew, and her hand shook as the Tower showed upside down. The lightning bolt glimmered menacingly at her from the worn card.
“Fuck,” they both said together.
Ellea pointed at the first card, The Devil. “Negative in both positions, and I can’t do anything to fix what is to come.” She grimaced and pointed to the middle card, the ten of swords. “A fight is on the horizon.” She groaned as she looked at the third card.
“The tower,” Devon said sadly. “Reversed, it usually means complete and utter destruction.”
Ellea looked at her friend, who was trying to look strong as he said, “Maybe it’s just a bad pull?”
The door downstairs opened and she glared at him.
“Zaza?” a familiar voice called from downstairs.
Ellea got to her feet quickly and ran to meet her uncle. She took the steps two at a time and rounded the corner, crashing into his chest. She wasn’t the adult witch who had harmed her uncle with an outburst, she was a small child, happy to see one of her favorite people.
