Misfit Fortune

by Stephanie Foxe

Right now, though, they were all together and as happy as she’d seen them. Pack dinners had become something of a ritual for them. They ate together often but the nights leading up to the full moon always felt different.

  The wolf peered out of Amber’s eyes and huffed in agreement. She wanted to shift and stretch her legs. Maybe they should run after dinner to work off the tension from the upcoming conference. The Gathering had them all nervous.

  Amber glanced at her phone, looking for a text from Derek to let her know he’d be late and miss dinner. He’d skipped the last two, claiming he had paperwork to finish up. She wished he’d just come home and stop being grumpy, but the text was there just like she’d expected.

  Genevieve picked up Captain Jack and almost tripped over his dangling legs.

  “Did…is he bigger?” Genevieve asked, trying to lift the cat’s back paws off the floor, and failing.

  Ceri looked up from the book she was reading on the couch. “He can’t be. He was full grown when we got him.” She shook her head as if that could make it not true.

  “I used to be able to pick him up!”

  “Maybe you’re shrinking?”

  Genevieve narrowed her eyes at Ceri. “So that’s possible, but the cat growing isn’t?”

  Amber walked over and crouched down, sniffing the mangy cat suspiciously. “He’s definitely bigger. The greedy old fart hasn’t gotten into your potions, has he?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at Ceri.

  “Definitely not. I keep my room warded and locked. Besides, I would have noticed if there was a mess in there. You remember what he did to that lasagna.”

  Amber’s face darkened. “Don’t remind me.” She stood and put her hands on her hips. “Maybe we should take him to the vet?”

  “He isn’t sick,” Genevieve said, exasperated. She set the monster down and scratched underneath his jaw, making him purr like a chainsaw. “He’s just our big, growing boy. Yes, he is. So strong and fierce.”

  Rolling her eyes, Amber walked back to the cabinets and pulled out dishes to set the table. “That thing is going to eat us all in our sleep one day.”

  “Not all of us. Just you,” Genevieve shot back with a smirk.

  As Amber tried to close the cabinet door something flew out and smacked her in the face. She dropped into a crouch and growled, whipping around to try and find where it had gone.

  Tommy was by her side in a split second, claws growing from his fingertips.

  “What is it?” Genevieve demanded as fur crept along her jaw.

  Ceri sighed dramatically. “It’s nothing, calm down.”

  A thick, black card bounced off her blonde curls, then did a little shimmy that looked suspiciously like some kind of mating dance.

  “What the hell is that?” Amber demanded, not willing to relax quite so soon.

  Ceri crossed her arms and thrust her chin out stubbornly. “A tarot card.”

  “Tarot cards don’t normally attack people and fly around.” Amber took a few cautious steps forward, ready to dodge if it attacked again.

  “Don’t be so dramatic. It didn’t attack you, it just…” she threw her hands in the air. “It can’t hurt anyone, okay?”

  Despite her remaining hesitation, Amber relaxed and retracted her claws. “Why is it so attached to you?”

  It clearly wanted the witch’s attention. Badly. It hadn’t stopped trying to get her to look at it, alternating between exotic shaking and forlorn little waves.

  “I can set it on fire,” Genevieve offered, producing a lighter out of nowhere.

  “No,” Ceri said quickly. “I think that would be a very bad idea.”

  “Why?” Amber asked, getting frustrated with the deflections.

  Ceri sighed and glared at the card. “Thallan’s new therapist sicced it on me. Apparently it won’t go away until I look at it.”

  Amber stared at her, baffled. “Then why haven’t you just looked at it?”

  “Tarot is complete crap! It can’t actually tell me anything!”

  “And? You don’t have to do anything about whatever it shows you, but if you look at it, then it’ll go away.”

  “Fine.” With a deep breath and a shaking hand, Ceri snatched the card out of the air. Light erupted from her hand and the card in a brilliant display. It wound up her arm and enveloped her body before disappearing with a soft chime.

  “That was pretty,” Tommy said, walking over to her. He leaned in, inspecting the card. “Does that say Devil?”

  “Yes,” Ceri said quietly.

  “Does it being upside down mean something?”

  “Probably, but I don’t know. I don’t mess with this crap.” She handed him the card and plopped back down on the couch, picking up her book.

  Tommy shrugged and handed the card to Amber as he hurried back to the stove.

  She turned the card over in her hands. Despite the skill of the painting, it wasn’t pretty. A fat creature that looked to be half-goat and half-man with long curved horns and the wings of a bat perched on a stool. A naked man and woman, chained by the neck to his seat, stood on either side.

  The image was ominous and dark. She flipped it upside down trying to see if it made more sense that way, but she still had no idea what it meant. “You said the new therapist gave this to you?”

  Ceri nodded and flipped a page in her book without looking up.

  “Are you going to ask him what it means?”

  “No, I don’t care.” Ceri paused for a moment. “I know you’re going to go ask him yourself now, but don’t come running back to me with whatever insight that quack thinks he has. I don’t want to hear it.”

  Amber raised a brow at Ceri’s tone but didn’t argue. “Alright.”

  She absolutely was going to talk to this alleged therapist. For one, she didn’t like him making the card follow her packmate around, but she also didn’t like the look of this card. If it did mean something, she wanted to know what.

  “Dinner is almost ready!” Tommy shouted.

  Captain Jack meowed enthusiastically and trotted toward the dining room. Amber watched him go. His back was as tall as the seat of the chairs now. He really was growing.

  She frowned and followed him.

  Chapter 6

  Kadrithan (Angel)

  Kadrithan stared at the prostrate man. The sort of people that were willing to take a demon mark fell into two categories. Desperate and prideful. This imbecile was desperate, and even worse, pathetic. At least some of the people he had marked didn’t cower in fear every time he appeared.

  “P…please don’t hurt me. I swear I won’t screw it up again,” the man keened, a high pitched whine escaping his lips as snot dripped from his upturned nose.

  “Get up, you sniveling little rat, or I will hang you up by your toes and eviscerate you.” He took a deep breath to rein in his anger. This particular mark was becoming more trouble than he was worth.

  The man rose on shaking legs and shuffled backward, pressing his back against the wall. “I swear, I swear I can do it.”

  “You have one last chance,” Kadrithan said, pressing in far closer than he wanted, to put just the right amount of fear into the man. “Do you understand how much it will hurt if I take your soul? They call it the greatest agony a man can know. Some even say the torture is eternal.”

  That was total crap. No one ever said anything about it considering they were dead afterward, but this idiot didn’t need to know that.

  The man trembled, his face going pale. “I swear I’ll do it.”

  Kadrithan took an abrupt step back. “You have thirty-six hours.”

  Darkness rose from the ground, enveloping his body and he disappeared from the man’s view. He could still see him, however.

  The man slumped in relief, rubbing the demon mark on his chest like it ached. It probably did considering how much energy he’d drawn from the idiot in order to strike the proper amount of fear into him.

  They always thought he couldn’t see them once the demon mark we
nt dormant, but that was a misconception. He didn’t often linger and spy on them since he generally had something better to do, but sometimes he did.

  His thoughts strayed to Amber. The betrayal the elf had planned had been a surprise. If it hadn’t been for the complication with Evangeline he would have been following the alpha werewolf, and he would have discovered the half-baked plot. Luckily, Amber hadn’t seemed to intend to follow through with it.

  Still, he should probably keep a closer eye on her. Something told him she would have a greater role to play than any of them could guess. One of his many talents was being able to see who had the greatest potential. Amber and her little pack of misfits were a group to pay attention to, and he never neglected his duties.

  For now, though, he needed to rest. Closing his eyes, he focused on his physical body. While his spirit could travel anywhere, his actual body was trapped in a realm far removed from this one.

  With close attention to the rhythm of his breaths, he pulled his spirit back. Every inch was painful but he had grown used to the ache. It was no worse than a migraine. The backlash was what was really annoying. For a few minutes after returning, he would be vulnerable. Even more so if he had pushed to take on a solid form in the human realm.

  The toll that took on his body and magic was extreme. Of all the indignities the angels had forced upon his race, this one galled him the most.

  His breaths grew deeper as he slowly settled back into his body. Sweat trickled down his brow and he forced his eyes open. The ceiling was blurry until he’d blinked a few times. With a crack, the last of his spirit snapped back into place. Magic rushed through him, stealing his breath for a moment.

  Once it had passed he forced his body to move and sat up, curling his stiff fingers into a fist. His joints ached from laying in one position for so long but it was easier to visit all his marks at once rather than making several trips a day.

  “You look rather worse for the wear, cousin,” an unwelcome voice said from his study door. A door that had been locked.

  “You’d look the same if you were doing your job,” Kadrithan snapped as he pushed off the chaise lounge and stood to face his unwanted guest.

  He’d intended on meeting the ingrate in a more neutral location, but of course the idiot knew how much he hated people being in his study. His cousin would never pass up an opportunity to needle him. Jealousy and ineptitude had made him petty.

  Venali adjusted the lay of his cuff, as if bored. He wouldn’t have to constantly tug at it if it hadn’t been poorly made, but he didn’t have the money for anything better. “You summoned me, what can I do for my dearest cousin?”

  Kadrithan wandered over to his desk and poured a finger of his third-favorite elven whisky. He was out of all the rest with no way to get more. It was possible to move an item from this realm to the human realm, but the reverse was beyond his power. For now. “Tell me that you’ve completed the simple task given to you nearly a fortnight ago.”

  The other demon scoffed. “Simple? It is everything but simple. All the intel I was given on the target has been wrong.”

  Kadrithan took a sip before turning back to face Venali. The cool facade was gone and he looked petulant and scared. Some days he wished he could just cut him loose, but they couldn’t afford to lose even one more of their army.

  “Wrong? I hadn’t heard anything about this. Did you report it?”

  “Of course I did! The captain you so graciously put in charge of me wouldn’t listen though. He’s ignored everything I’ve told him.”

  The amber liquid swirled in the bottom of the glass as he tilted it back and forth to calm his irritation. “I’ll deal with him. Tell me, now.”

  Venali was agitated, and when he got agitated, he rambled. Leaning against the edge of his desk, Kadrithan listened and tried to parse through the whining to find the important information as his cousin paced back and forth in front of him.

  His head snapped up when Venali mentioned something that caught his attention. “Stop.”

  “What?” Venali asked, freezing mid-step.

  “You said a name. One of target’s acquaintances that wasn’t in the file. Repeat it.”

  “Rafael Vida,” he said slowly, confusion apparent on his face. “That’s hardly the most important issue here. Your intel people said he took lunch at the country club on Tuesdays, but clearly, it’s Thursdays. He also likes cigars, not cigarettes.”

  “Shut up,” Kadrithan said, turning back to his desk. That name. It meant something. He’d heard it before.

  If Venali was right, and this person was involved, it changed everything. This was no simple target. This was the key to their success, or downfall.

  Chapter 7

  Amber

  Amber flipped the card over in her hand, inspecting the details critically. There was no way she was leaving for The Gathering with something like this hanging over Ceri’s head.

  Ceri had gone inside to get Thallan cleaned up and insisted she wait outside. He didn’t like any of them, but seeing her sent him into a rage because she reminded him of the demon.

  The rumble of a motorcycle drifted down the driveway. She rose from the front steps of Thallan’s dingy, old mansion and watched the strange therapist park a few feet away. His scent was nearly buried under gasoline and leather, but what she could smell indicated he was a human.

  However, humans couldn’t use magic on their own. They could use some enchanted items, like elf-spell air conditioners, but the magic had to come from somewhere else.

  The doctor pulled off his helmet and set it on the front of the bike. It was an old Harley but it was in perfect condition. The fender gleamed glossy black. Even the tires had a shine to them.

  “Dr. Gunner Stone?” Amber asked, approaching him slowly.

  He nodded. “You must be that witch’s alpha.”

  “Who told you that?” she asked, stopping just out of reach. Dr. Stone didn’t actually give her any bad vibes but he was a burly guy. One she could probably pick up one-handed, but still, it was better to avoid a fight with a human since she was a bitten werewolf. Genevieve had had a hell of a time getting that kid out of jail after he’d gotten in that bar fight.

  “The crazy old coot holed up in that shack,” Dr. Stone said with a shrug. “At least that’s what I made out amongst the angry shouts. He isn’t what I’d call…forthcoming.”

  “Ah.” She extended her hand. “Amber Hale, and the witch’s alpha like you said.”

  He shook her hand firmly while meeting her eyes without a hint of contest. A lot of men had trouble with that. They either tried to crush her hand or went completely limp.

  “Dr. Gunner Stone, as you already know as well. How can I help you?”

  She held up the card. “What is this?”

  “Ah, she looked at it. I thought it’d take longer,” he said, looking a little bemused.

  Amber frowned, biting down on the urge to growl at him. This wasn’t funny. “It flew out of a cabinet and attacked me, then wouldn’t leave her alone.”

  “Oooh, she must have really pissed it off. That one can be especially temperamental.”

  “Dr. Stone.” Red leaked into her eyes, tinting her vision slightly. She was all out of patience. “Why did you make a tarot card harass my pack member?”

  He looked even more amused at her reaction but raised his hands in surrender. “I don’t actually control them. It’s a long story, that started with a curse ––”

  “Is she cursed?” Amber demanded.

  “No, definitely not,” Dr. Stone said, waving her concerns away. “I was the one cursed but I broke it. Well, bent is probably a better way of putting it. The cards are attached to me. I can use them now for my therapy but a side effect of the curse is that they will also appear for anyone that truly needs their insight.”

  Amber frowned at the card, the fat devil staring back at her. “Why would she need the Devil?”

  “The Devil is part of the major arcana. It has several mean
ings that I can explain to you. However, the only person that will really know what it means is Ceri. It’s a message for her,” he said with a shrug.

  “Is it some kind of threat? Or warning?”

  He looked down at the card and shook his head. “Was the card upright or reversed when she finally took it?”

  “Reversed, if that means upside down.”

  He nodded. “This card isn’t a bad omen but it does signify the person that drew it is troubled. Something is holding her back, most likely something unhealthy, perhaps even just fear. There will be things she will have to confront whether she wants to or not. She may be feeling guilty, ashamed, or have some secret she can’t share. The Devil does signify a struggle, but it also signifies an opportunity. It’s calling her to overcome something.”

  “I see,” Amber said, feeling even more worried about her friend. Ceri had been insisting she was fine despite all the evidence to the contrary. She also insisted Amber let her work through it alone. With a sigh, she extended the card back to Dr. Stone. “Well, thanks for the explanation. Here’s your card back.”

  He shook his head. “It’ll come back when it’s ready. I’ve learned not to rush them.”

  She shrugged and tucked it in her back pocket. “Thanks for the help then.”

  As she was turning to leave he stopped her.

  “Well this is odd,” he said, a frown tugging at his mouth.

  Amber turned back around to ask what he meant when she saw a strange light growing near his head.

  “The cards haven’t ever been this active between two closely connected people before.” He reached into the light and pulled out a second card, holding it out toward her. “You can run from it like she did, but if you take it now I can explain it.”

  She bit the inside of her cheek but nodded and stepped forward to accept it. Of course, that was when Angel made an appearance.

  “Dabbling in the fine arts of fortune telling. How unlike you,” the demon crooned, floating around Dr. Stone curiously. “And with such a strange fortune teller.”