Page 42 of Cursed Sight
“This is all you, angel,”he said.
Chapter 24
Shit,Serena thought as both Brandy and Ryan stared at them with equal measures of surprise. Brandy’s expression held more excitement, while Ryan seemed to have smelled a skunk.
Serena raised her shoulders and dropped them. “Cat’s out of the bag.”
“When did it happen?” Brandy asked, and Ryan groaned.
“Bran!”
“What?” she asked before her lips formed an O. “Never mind. Congratulations to you both,” Brandy said with a grin.
“Thanks, it’s all new and different, so we’re trying to figure it out,” Serena said before turning toward Ryan. “Does this bother you?”
Ryan met everyone’s eyes at the table before a look passed between him and Brandy. Ethan’s arm came around Serena’s shoulders in silent support.
“No, it’s not that it bothers me. Serena, you’re my—ourhigh priestess, and since you and I stopped blurring that line long ago, I’ve done my best to see you only that way. I’m happy for you two, truly. I guess now I’ll be seeing you as not only our high priestess but family.”
Serena studied him a moment before nodding. “I get that.”
They ate their cheesecake in silence and leaned back in their seats.
“Damn, Amanda Jo knows her cake,” Ethan said and kissed Serena’s temple.
“Yeah she does.” Serena stood and looked at Ethan. “Let’s clean up dessert so we can have a lesson in oracle cards.”
Brandy and Ryan tried arguing about them being the hosts, but Serena countered with: “Family.”
Once the table was cleared and the two couples sat facing each other, Serena removed the cards from the box. “Oracle cards, unlike tarot, have no predetermined structure. They’re a tool to connect with the self, soul, and your higher self. They are a great tool to use to decode messages. Babe,” she said, looking up at Ethan. “As an oracle, you’re going to receive hundreds of thousands of messages. Not all of them will make sense or be clear. Then again, it seems you Brodericks don’t live inside the box.”
Everyone chuckled, and she handed the deck to Brandy. “This deck is yours. Shuffle it, feel its energy, and allow it to get to know yours. You can store it in this box, or I can give you a silk or velvet bag next time you come by the store.” Serena went on to explain how to cleanse and charge the deck.
“The spreads for oracle cards are really simple, or if you want to get more complicated, you can do that too. As you shuffle them, think of something you want to know, and when you’re ready, pull a card.”
Everyone remained quiet. The only sound heard was the cards being shuffled.
Brandy set the deck down and flipped the top card. “Protection.”
Serena nodded. “What were you thinking about?”
Brandy glanced at Ryan and smiled as he reached for her hand. “The baby and my family.”
Ethan sat forward. “You’re worried about everyone’s protection, especially if I saw Volark.”
At his words, the elephant in the room burst through the veil of pretense. Serena watched Ryan tighten his hold on Brandy, and her gaze moved to Ethan. In the short time with him and even more so now that they’d united, she felt an overwhelming urge to keep him safe and at her side.
“After you…” Serena let the words hang awkwardly, unsure how to describe the moment Ethan had charged toward them. “Well, I went and saw Peter.”
Ryan cocked his head “You did?”
“I told him what happened. Neither of us have heard of a higher-level demon coming back to life. From there, I went home and searched my grimoire and my grandmother’s journals for anything that could explain what Ethan saw.”
“And?” Brandy asked.
Serena felt her cheeks flush as memories—of what had happened after her research—flashed through her mind.
Ethan wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head.
