Chapter 3 More Lore

Maeve

The last human left just after nine. I flipped the sign from OPEN to APPOINTMENTS ONLY before carrying two mugs of tea into the little room at the back of the shop. Humans usually came during the day for lucky crystals and scented candles. The ones who visited after dark already knew magic was real.

A vampire came looking for the thief who had stolen an heirloom ring. A sorcerer wanted to know whether a spell he was building would kill him.

“It probably will” I answered honestly after reading his cards.

“Probably?” He arched a brow with a frown. 

“I like leaving room for surprises” I gave him a toothy smile which he definitely found weird. He left looking deeply offended.

The bell chimed again and without looking up, I smiled to myself as I teased. 

“If you’re here to ask whether your ex still loves you, the answer is no”

There was no answer from my new client so I lifted my head. Oh well! 

He is definitely not here about an ex. The man standing near the door was unfairly and ridiculously handsome. His dark hair brushed neatly away from his forehead. His black coat looked expensive enough to pay my rent for the next ten years and somehow still managed to make him look underdressed instead of overdressed. His face was calm to the point of being unreadable. 

But his eyes were very strange too. He looks to be in his early thirties but his eyes look centuries old.  Older than anyone should ever look. The moment our eyes met, the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Definitely Lore! And he isn’t a regular immortal from the Lore either. I just couldn’t tell what he is exactly. He carried himself too quietly to be a werewolf, too solid to be a phantom and most definitely not a vampire. I have been away from the Lore long enough that I wasn’t nearly as good at recognising species anymore.

“You offer fortune readings” His deep vibrating voice broke the silence as he looked around the shop instead of at me.

I swallowed down my unease (the second one in forty eight hours) all from weird beings. I really prefer working with humans rather than immortals. They are far more predictable than the other species. 

“I try” I forced back my smile. 

“Do they work?” His gaze wandered over the shelves lined with herbs and candles before settling back on me. There wasn’t any mockery in his voice. If anything, he sounded genuinely curious.

“It depends” I leaned one hip against the counter and folded my arms. “How honest is the person sitting across from me?”

That finally made him look at me properly.

“I see” His expression didn’t change but something in his eyes sharpened. 

“Well, you’re already mysterious enough to make me curious. You may as well sit down” I nodded toward the little reading table tucked near the back of the shop.

For a moment I thought he was going to leave. But he walked over without another word and pulled out the chair across from mine. That surprised me more than it should have. I slipped into my seat and picked up my worn tarot deck, shuffling the cards between mu fingers while watching him over the top of them.

“You’ve never done this before” I observed.

“No”

“You don’t strike me as someone who believes in fortune tellers”

“I don’t” 

“And yet here you are” A smile tugged at my lips.

“And yet here I am” His voice remained calm, completely unbothered by the contradiction.

“Name” I asked as I finished shuffling and rested the deck between us.

“Eldon”

He watched every movement of my hands with quiet attention. “You joke often” His head tilted just enough for me to notice.

“I charge extra if you want me to be miserable” I gave him a cheesy smile. 

For the first time since he walked into my shop, the corner of his mouth lifted. It cannot be called a smile and for some reason I feel like he doesn’t do it often.  More like he’d remembered smiling existed.

“I’ll survive”

“Good” I smiled back as I squared the deck neatly. “Misery isn’t covered by my business insurance”

“Pick three” I slid the cards toward him and tapped the top of the deck.

He reached toward the deck without hesitation. The moment his fingertips brushed the first card, every mirror inside the shop cracked at once. I froze.

Thin black lines spread across the glass like spiderwebs, racing from one corner to the next so quickly my eyes could barely keep up. Then everything stopped and the cracks disappeared.Every mirror looked exactly the way it had before.

I slowly turned my head toward the large mirror hanging beside the shelves befor getting to my feet. My fingers brushed against the smooth glass. Not a single crack.

“Interesting” I murmured as I looked back at him.

He was already watching me. His face hadn’t changed.

“You expected that?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“No” 

“Liar” I folded my arms across my chest.

“I’ve been called worse” His voice remained maddeningly even.

“So have I”

For a second we simply looked at each other. Neither of us seemed interested in filling the silence. I finally sat back down and turned over the first card.

The Fool.

“Hm”

I flipped the second. The Moon. My fingers hovered over the last card before I slowly turned it over.

Blank. The card was completely white like it was with that old woman which means she’s also another specie in the Lore I didn’t recognize. Oh gods. 

Then, right in front of us, black ink slowly bled across the empty card as though an invisible hand was painting ii until the image was complete.

The Lovers.

I wasn’t sure either of us wanted to acknowledge what just happened. I cleared my throat and forced myself to focus on the reading instead.

“You’ve been carrying something for a very long time” I studied the cards carefully before lifting my gaze to his face. “Something that should’ve been buried years ago”

His expression didn’t even twitch.

“You’re looking for someone” I continued, tracing the edge of The Lovers with my fingertip. “You’ve been searching for a while now but..”

Something about the last card didn’t sit right with me.

“I don’t think you’re going to like what happens when you finally find them”

For the first time since he’d walked into my shop, his eyes settled fully on mine. The room suddenly felt much smaller.

“They rarely do” His voice stayed as calm as ever before he pushed his chair back and got to his feet.

“That’s it?” I nodded. “How much?” he asked as he reached into the inside pocket of his coat.

I told him my usual price. Without looking down, he pulled out a thick fold of cash and placed it neatly on the table between us. I stared at it. Then I looked back at him.

“Either you’re terrible at counting or inflation has gotten much worse since this morning”

“Keep it” His tone left little room for argument.

“I can’t” I pushed the money back toward him with two fingers. “That’s way too much”

“You can”

I opened my mouth to argue again but he had already turned toward the door. Then he was gone.

“The strangest customer I’ve ever had”