to find my sisters.
Two Months Later
I fan out the set of cards face down across the table with a gloved hand, then glance up to meet Finn’s eager gaze. He’s a regular customer, a younger Beta who’s never found his fated mate and is determined to discover where she is. Every week it’s the same question. But who am I to complain when his payment gives me a place to sleep at the tavern and puts food in my belly?
Raucous laughter spills into the small room I rent in the tavern, but Finn doesn’t seem to notice. He’s concentrating on the cards. I make it very clear to the clientele that I’m not a witch. Whether they believe me or not is their choice.
We’re in a town with no name because it doesn’t exist, supposedly. Only the deadliest wolf shifters pass through, those who carry secrets, and others who don’t want to be found. No one asks questions. It’s a safe zone, run by a self-appointed sheriff, an outcast Alpha who is not afraid to use his rifle to take out anyone who challenges him.
Something I’ve witnessed a few times. When the man says to follow his town rules, you damn well better follow them.
I’ve been in this town for two months, waiting for my sisters to turn up at the nearby river, so I sell fortunes people want to hear to make a living. And as long as I keep my predictions vague, those who believe in fortune tellings will make my words fit their circumstances. I stay cloaked when in public and never get close to anyone should someone from the Storm Wolves travel into town.
The candle on the table suddenly flickers despite there being no windows, and the scent of sandalwood is stronger today for some reason.
“Pick a card,” I instruct Finn.
He reaches over, and his hand hovers in the air over the line of cards, waiting for his instinct to select one. His finger falls on one, and he pushes it across the table toward me.
I flip it over to the image of a man lying on a bed with nine swords in his back.
Finn hisses and leans back into his chair, nervously running a hand through his short, golden hair. “That’s bad, isn’t it?”
“No card is ever good or bad. This card represents fear, so that’s stopping you from finding what you really want.”
He studies me, then gives me a slow nod. “What else? Can you look deeper?”
“Of course,” I answer, knowing when he asks me that question, he wants to hear the words about finding the woman of his dreams. I mean, don’t we all want the answers to the universe? I want to find my sisters and not stay up most nights worrying so much about them that I can’t sleep. But no cards in the world will give me that answer.
My fingers dance over the card, and I close my eyes, taking a deep inhale to give him the impression of meditating. I should feel guilty for cheating these men out of money, but I don’t. Not when I know that none would stop at anything to hurt me if given the chance. In this town, there is a “no fighting” rule. Break it, and you’re leaving in a body bag. Since arriving here, I’ve started to discover so many things about the world no one ever told me. Like not all Alphas outside the Storm Wolves’ pack are rogue. That the northern part of Romania is a mecca for all kinds of packs from around Europe, with no one Alpha in charge of the whole territory. Part of the reason has a lot to do with the fact that witches live in these lands too. They are feared by all.
Another deep inhale, and I shuffle in my seat to find comfort.
The air feels thick, like mud, and a little sticky. Or it might be from me having a restless night, or crying by the river this morning, worrying that the worst has happened to Kaira and Jae.
That’s why last month I hired someone to search for them. I figured if I’m mingling with monsters, I might as well hire one to work for me. Ragnar, an Alpha from up in Denmark, insisted he has ways to find lost people. Of course he didn’t elaborate, just like I didn’t expand on how I could help get him through the Poisonous Woods as he requested. If he finds and returns my sisters, I