A quick text to Liz to meet her at the fortune teller’s was met with crying-faced emojis in three successive rows. She didn’t feel much like facing it herself, but if it got her dad back, she had to try. She glanced up at her mom smiling and humming something to herself as she made eggs. Part of her wanted to tell her mom. The other part knew she wouldn’t be allowed out of the house to do what she intended. Maybe her questions had to wait too. At least until she saw the fortune teller.
“Morning, Mom.”
“There’s sleeping beauty up finally. I let you sleep. Figured that tired teenage brain could use it. Made you some eggs with cheese and bacon. Putting salsa on mine, you want?” Her mom let a spoon of her homemade fire hazard hover dangerously over Riley’s eggs.
“No, mom, I don’t want to die this morning, thank you very much.”
“Suit yourself.” Her mom brought the spoon to her lips. “My best yet if I do say so.”
Riley grabbed her plate and forced the food down. She tore off a chunk of biscuit and studied her mom’s face. Those dark circles made her look older than she was. Shame. Her mom was beautiful. In a sad way, the haunted look in her eyes made her even more attractive. Which was why there was no end of men lining up to mow the yard or offer their services for whatever manly tasks they could come up with.
How her mom had managed to both let the men do the work and be friends with them when she shot them down Riley didn’t know. Her mom caught her staring and pulled the spoon back mid-bite.
“What is that look? Something on your mind, kiddo?”
Riley focused her gaze back on her mom’s eyes. “No. I mean, yeah. I need a ride to the fall festival.”
“I thought you went yesterday. And you weren’t too keen to go then, or was that just teenage lies to be cool?”
“No, no lie. But I promised Liz we’d go back since we had to leave early yesterday.” Riley felt a stab of guilt at the lies falling so easily from her lips. “I had left my money at home.”
“I guess I can drive you. I can run some errands and pick you back up. Could use a trim.” She held a strand of hair up close to inspect the ends. “Been a while. When you going?”
Riley gave her mom a too-big grin and shrunk back in mock fear. “Now?”
“Now? I’m not even ready.” Her mom clutched at her robe and dropped her spoon into her plate with at clatter. “Are we taking Liz? I guess they’ll wash my hair at the salon, but still.”
Her mom dusted her hands and headed toward her bedroom, still talking.
“And I suppose you need the shower too? The things a mom does. This better mean you’ll clean the house this weekend.”
“I promise,” Riley called out.
Her mom waved her hand dismissively and disappeared into her bedroom.
Now to find something of her dad’s.
* * *
"Why did I let you drag me here?" Liz tugged her coat tighter and closed her eyes like she could make the festival disappear by not looking. "I get to wait outside, right?"
"Déjà vu much?" Riley wanted to shoot a self-satisfied look in Liz's direction, but it took all her concentration to keep her shaking hands from touching her necklace, which she had hidden under three layers. The first, a turtleneck she'd borrowed from her mom’s closet, had her mom's eyebrow-raising radar on high alert. It had netted Riley a sex talk and a one-sided conversation about respecting yourself that nose-dived into a moment where words she'd never wanted to hear coming from her mother's mouth were buzzing in the air around her like angry bees. Angry spelling bees judging from her mom's insistence on whispering S-E-X each time she mentioned it.
"I guess you want me to go in then, huh?" Liz toed the gravel into the clay dirt. "I will if you want. Just yesterday…"
She understood. Yesterday… yeah. They both glanced up at the tent and the darkened neon light that had welcomed guests before. Now, a handwritten sign was posted in front. Purple marker noted that she had Gone Fishing. Riley pushed her shoulders back and clutched the whittling knife that had been her father's. "I guess she's in there."
"Only one way to find out." Liz jerked her head toward the tent and then stepped back. “Ugh. Look out, Riley!”
Liz tugged Riley back just as a giant crow landed a few feet away, its beak open and its darting tongue tasting the air.
Liz shrank even further back. "Gah, this place is giving me the creeps."
Riley pushed Liz behind her and stomped the ground. It didn’t budge. She finally swatted at the bird, hesitantly inching forward. "Get. Go on."
The bird hopped toward her, cocked its head, and flapped its wings.
Liz gasped. "Um, that's a display of aggression, right? I think it's going to attack you or both of us if we don’t get out of here."
"We’re not leaving. And he’s not attacking me. Not if I attack him first." She spread her arms. “Go away!’
Nope. It wasn’t going anywhere judging by the complacent pecking at the ground.
"Allow me."
Riley jumped at the gypsy's voice. The woman was standing beside her, deep purple robe corseted and tied with strips of leather and her hair braided into a blue-black plait snaking down to her sucked-in waist. She lifted her upper lip in a half smile that put the mystery of the canary to rest and didn't bode well for the crow either.
Liz clutched at her chest. "She's going to do magic."
The gypsy raised a velvet draped arm toward the bird. "Flee, you bedeviled messenger."
She snapped her fingers, and the crow's wings beat the air in a flurry. The wind they created wafted across Riley's face, and the scent of ash and some spice she couldn't name teased her nose.
"They are the goddess’s messengers. For good or not, and we don’t have the luxury of knowing. Now, we go inside."
"Um, I'll meet you at the dunking booth." Liz opened her mouth again and abruptly shut it, like she was about to say something and thought better of it. She turned and walked away with her shoulders drawn close to her neck. Riley stared at Liz heading down the path for a moment, a nagging sense of finality pressing against her own neck.
“You know they are yours to command too.”
She turned to the gypsy. “What?”
“The black-winged messengers of the goddess.” The woman had dropped her accent completely today. “They could be your messengers, loyal to their mistress to the death. Me, I personally prefer owls and doves, but there is something to be said for ravens. They just know things. And they bring you good fortune.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m Romani. We know everything.” She held up a henna-tattooed hand that looked just like her spinning talisman in the tent. That hadn’t been there yesterday. She smiled and shoved her hand inside her robes. “We see all.”
“Have you seen my dad?” Riley clutched the knife in her pocket. “I brought—“
“Inside. We’ll talk there.”
The woman looked around as they headed toward the tent and made several complicated gestures with her hands.
Riley glanced at the fair going on around them. Normal, small-town troubles like irritated toddlers and sunburns. She wished that was all she had on her mind.
They reached the tent, and Riley glanced at the decorations that were gone. A few boxes marked Fair were all that remained of the display.
“You leaving?”
“As soon as you do.”
“Oh.” Great. She didn’t even know how to find her again. “Why? Where are you going?”
A sense of foreboding settled over her.
The gypsy raised her palms up as if calling the universe to her. “You found me for a reason. I was meant to see for you, and in seeing for you, my own threads are woven to yours. We’ll meet again. For now, I must go. Those watchful eyes follow you. I do not want to meet them again.”
“How will I find you? I don’t even know your name …”
She smiled, “Did you not read the sign? I’m the Gypsy Tsura.”
“I t
hought that was just your shtick.”
“It is. But I am Tsura, and yes, I make my living on clichés. But it lets me see the world and hide in plain sight from those who wish me harm.”
“Are you on the run?”
Tsura faced her suddenly. “Yes. There is no rest for my people. We flee an ancient evil, always looking over our shoulders, never able to simply stay.”
Tsura looked pained for a moment, her beautiful face full of longing. Then she was back to business.
“So, I embrace being a gypsy, a wanderer, traveler, wayfarer, and the magic of my people is my only baggage.” She grinned. “That’s the poetic answer, and true, except I have my worldly possessions and this…” She gestured around the tent.
“I see.” Riley shifted uncomfortably. The woman clearly cloaked more than herself in this disguise.
Tsura pointed to the one remaining item from the reading. The table and crystal sphere. “Sit. And give me what is his.”
Riley handed her the knife as she sat. She was painfully aware of the charm necklace at her neck, but she dare not touch it. Somehow everything felt very dangerous when she was with Tsura. The woman had the same look as Riley’s mom, haunted. But there was a sense of impending darkness around her.
“I can feel you trying to sense more. Your mind reaches out like a child wanting candy. Has no one taught you to shield yourself?” Tsura was staring at her.
“Like in a fight?”
“The biggest battle you’ll ever face. How old are you?”
“Eighteen tomorrow.”
“On All Hallow’s Eve? Auspicious.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure.” Tsura swept her hand over the sphere. “It’s a time when the veil is thinnest, and the other realms, spirit and otherwise, are as close as you and I.” She touched Riley’s arm. “I’ve never met someone like you. In all my travels, I’ve never encountered an aura like yours, especially in someone so young and ill-informed.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Riley narrowed her eyes.
“It’s not an insult. I’m afraid for you. So much power with no knowledge is dangerous. To you and anyone in your way.”
She tapped the crystal ball and held out her hand for Riley to take. The other held her dad’s knife.
“Close your eyes and concentrate on your father, everything that defines him. How he looked, what he wore, how he smelled, his voice, his laugh, his essence.”
Riley took a deep breath and tried to quiet her mind. The silence pricked against her skin. Finally, she saw him as he was when he trained her in martial arts. Always encouraging, always pushing, never critical. In her vision, he was standing behind the training mannequin. She heard his coaching voice promising her she could land her kick. Tears crowded her eyes, slipping down her cheeks as she struggled to hold the image in her mind.
“That’s good.” Tsura’s soft voice broke slightly and Riley opened her eyes to find her staring at her with tears in her own eyes. She shrugged. “Empath. The roaming around helps with that, distances you from … people.” The last word had a hitch in it. It feathered off, and Tsura cleared her throat. “I can feel him in many places. It’s like he’s straddling dimensions.”
“Dimensions? Is he dead?” Her heart squeezed and froze.
“No.” Tsura looked at her questioningly. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“What you are.” She pulled Riley’s hand forward and placed it on the ball. “Think about any place in the world. Where would you go?”
Her thoughts went immediately to their old house, the apartment in New York.
“Look.”
The ball showed an upside down version of their old home beneath her hand.
“How did you do that?”
Tsura shook her head. “Not me, you. But there’s so much more untapped power inside you. It’s teetering on the edge. If you don’t get it under control, it will consume you. I’ve been there. I know.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Riley grabbed her dad’s knife off the table and stood. “I have no power or whatever. Maybe this was a mistake.”
“Oh, sister, believe me, you have untapped power that have the eyes of the magical world upon you. That’s why I must go. There is something stalking you, a darkness. You’re on their supernatural radar, and I don’t want to get caught in the crosshairs. But I want you to have this.” She pulled out a ring with a hamsa design. “Wear this to protect you from the eyes of the many. If you need me, I’ll come if I can. I will watch for you in the shadows.”
Riley started to speak, and Tsura held up her hand with the same design. The eye on her palm blinked and Riley stumbled back.
“Be calm. There is nothing to fear. Let me see for you. It is a parting gift.”
Riley’s instincts were practically forcing her forward. She placed her palm against Tsura’s. A calm settled over her. Her eyes yielded to the desire to close.
Tsura’s voice sounded far away as she spoke. It was like walking in a black velvet room and hearing things muffled and distant. Tsura’s soothing voice caressed her. “And when you come into your powers, remember to give them to the universe to hold or they will destroy you. I see that your life will end if you did not accept your fate, whichever fate that is. So many lines drawing to you, paths changing with each step. Such power cannot rest in a mortal body. You are fae, born in the veil of the world, but even you cannot hold life and death in this form, in this dimension.”
Riley closed her eyes tighter, seeing something vague in the black velvet around her. It was taking shape, closer and closer, until she saw a door with the face of a dog carved into it. Tsura’s hand pushed against hers as she spoke again. “Find this place, and you’ll find what you need to defeat what is coming for you.”
Riley nodded and then, with her eyes still tightly closed asked, “And my father? I have to find him.”
“You’ll find him in the in-betweens. He’s on the run, like me. I recognize that feeling. You are powerful, Riley. And if you wield it right, I see a future where we can all rest, where good magic doesn’t have to hide. I dare to rest my hope on you, my fae friend.”
Wind rushed over her, and Riley heard Tsura’s voice again, fainter. “The journey will not be easy. Danger lies ahead. When you need me, call.”
Riley struggled to open her eyes. Tsura was gone.
4
The world had turned to shadow. The skies were dark outside the empty tent. Thick black clouds had roiled in, threatening a coming storm.
Above her on the power lines, at least a dozen ravens sat swaying to the rising wind.
They flew off as she left Tsura’s spot, following her toward the dunking booth. She picked up her speed. Relief swept over her when she came in sight of the booth where Liz waited with baseballs in her arms.
The ravens moved closer, the beating of their wings hushed, their cries stolen. Riley moved in slow motion, seeing the world wobble like it was made of Jell-O. Then the whole world was silent and gray and shimmering like asphalt on a desert road. It bent and fluttered.
Even the apparitions cast by the ravens’ shadows were a weak gray. Wraith wisps of wings played at her feet, and above her, the birds circled, making slow arcs over her head as if waiting to land. One swooped nearer and she raised her hands in self-defense, a soundless shriek coming from her mouth.
The tips of its wings brushed her hands and then it was in flight, joined back with the flock above.
There was a final whirling into a feathered vortex, and then they were gliding away toward the woods at the edge of the fair.
Riley blinked again and again, until a faint light fought against her eyes and the gray dissipated, pushed out by the muted colors of the coming autumn dusk.
She raised her heavy head and felt the air play against her face. She grabbed for her necklace, her fingers closing around one of its charms. Her senses were flooded as the world came back to
normal. Streaks of color blurred her vision. Sounds that had been absent invaded her head again. Children screamed. Balloons popped like scattered shot. The baseball her friend was throwing clanged against the booth with a metal thud. After the returning sound, strange scents wafted to her and choked her with their pungency.
The world seemed to lurch again, and her stomach felt like it might empty itself of the breakfast her mom had forced her to eat.
"You sick?" Her friend's voice came muffled to her ears.
Riley risked looking up. Liz's face loomed over her, haloed in the orange glow of the field's towering lights.
"You okay? Riley? Did she do this to you?”
The ground felt steady enough. Riley let go of her necklace. "I'm a little dizzy. I think I might be sick. No, not her. Them."
"Churros?"
Riley shook her head no, a movement she regretted, and placed her arm over her stomach. What had happened was not something she could share with Liz. "There were so many birds, and I looked up and got sort of dizzy, I guess."
"That's what the carnival's all about. Stuff yourself, get dizzy on the teacups, and then unstuff yourself. So, the gypsy thing, that went … okay?"
Riley nodded and forced a smile. “Yeah, fine.”
Liz looked doubtful.
“She said to tell you you’ll have a really long life and not to worry about anything. She was just kidding around. Fortune teller humor.” Riley smiled. “So, let’s do this fair thing, I guess. You win anything?”
“Not yet. The satisfaction of knocking him off his ass would be plenty, though.” Liz grinned and rotated the ball in her hand, fingering the fraying seams. "Look, I've got one more shot. You want to take it?"
Riley eyed the dunking booth. Her ex was taunting her from its Plexiglas walls. It was tempting.
Liz curled her lip in disdain. “Jerk.”
Riley swallowed back a bitter hiccup. Liz was right. He was a jerk. Even now she didn't know what had possessed her to tell him of the nightmares that plagued her or the feeling that sometimes told her she was being watched. She had never told anyone before. Not even her mother. No one, until him. And it had backfired.
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