Read Online Samhain (Matilda Kavanagh Book 2) by Shauna Granger - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Shauna Granger
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my chest and stared across the table at the old woman, waiting to find out what the hell I was doing there when I should have been looking for Tollis.
“M,” she said, tilting her head and squinting at me again. Her brow contracted into a bumpy relief map, and I worried that little red jewel was going to pop off and hit me square in the face.
“M?” I said, feeling my brows contract as I stared back at her.
“Your name. It begins with an M. I can see it.” She made a vague motion in front of her face.
“Yeah,” I said with a nod.
She waited, still squinting at me. She squinted so much, I still hadn’t figured out the color of her eyes and I doubted I ever would. I realized, when she didn’t try to discern the rest of my name, that was as much as she was gonna try for.
With a sigh, I said, “Matilda.”
“Mmmm, yes,” she said, closing her eyes and nodding. “Matilda,” as if that was the very name she was just about to say before I’d interrupted her.
I rolled my eyes before she opened hers. “What am I doing in here?” I glanced around again, not worrying about the bite in my tone. I’d come to see Tollis, not to talk to a pseudo-psychic hack.
“Tollis can wait. I have things you need to hear, girl.”
I blinked at her, and a slow, satisfied smile curled over her thin lips. Maybe she wasn’t a complete hack.
“All right,” I said cautiously. “Go ahead.”
“Ahem.” She tapped a shallow gilded bowl on the table between us, her pointy nails making a tinging noise. A faded piece of paper folded into a triangle in front of it said Donations appreciated !
“Gods.” I sighed, shaking my head as I dug into the front pocket of my bag and pulled out a few gold coins. I dropped them into the bowl with a clatter. “All right? Yes? Let’s hear it.”
The gypsy woman snatched up the coins like a magpie, examining them, sniffing them—I almost expected her to bite them. When she was satisfied with their worth, she pulled a small leather pouch from her cleavage and dropped the coins inside before hiding the pouch again.
She pushed the crystal ball out of the way and grabbed the tarot cards. After a quick shuffle, she laid out a complicated pattern on the small table and leaned over them. “Mmmm, yes,” she hissed before squinting at me. “I see you’ve had much heart break.”
I kept my face schooled, reminding myself that pretend psychics got away with their con-jobs simply by reading body language. Besides, how many people had never suffered through heart break? She might as well have told me she saw a great love affair in my future.
She hmphed at me and bent over the cards again. “I see two men and one woman.”
She glanced at me for a clue, but I didn’t give her one. But I had to admit, seeing a woman in my love life was a little strange since I didn’t swing that way.
“Yes, the woman is twined around one of the men, holding him back though his hands are outstretched to you.”
Now that rang a very big bell for me. I tried not to show any outward signs of distress, but inside, my heart was thudding away as I imagined Theodora, Vampire Mistress of all of Los Angeles County, wrapped around my ex-boyfriend Owen. I had loved Owen fiercely, only to have my heart ripped out twice when Theo called him back to her. I was trying to get over him. Again.
“Oh, how he loves you and you him, but here”—she pointed at a card, but I didn’t bother to look at it, keeping my eyes on her face—“here is another. He stands nearer to you, a strong possibility, and a strong heart this one has. You know him, but not well. He is brave and giving and full of life still, unlike this other, who is slowly fading away.”
I swallowed past the lump forming in my throat. Owen wasn’t a young vampire anymore, having been turned a few hundred years ago, and the longer he spent away from the living, the dimmer the spark of life became inside him. But this other man, he was still full of life. A
“M,” she said, tilting her head and squinting at me again. Her brow contracted into a bumpy relief map, and I worried that little red jewel was going to pop off and hit me square in the face.
“M?” I said, feeling my brows contract as I stared back at her.
“Your name. It begins with an M. I can see it.” She made a vague motion in front of her face.
“Yeah,” I said with a nod.
She waited, still squinting at me. She squinted so much, I still hadn’t figured out the color of her eyes and I doubted I ever would. I realized, when she didn’t try to discern the rest of my name, that was as much as she was gonna try for.
With a sigh, I said, “Matilda.”
“Mmmm, yes,” she said, closing her eyes and nodding. “Matilda,” as if that was the very name she was just about to say before I’d interrupted her.
I rolled my eyes before she opened hers. “What am I doing in here?” I glanced around again, not worrying about the bite in my tone. I’d come to see Tollis, not to talk to a pseudo-psychic hack.
“Tollis can wait. I have things you need to hear, girl.”
I blinked at her, and a slow, satisfied smile curled over her thin lips. Maybe she wasn’t a complete hack.
“All right,” I said cautiously. “Go ahead.”
“Ahem.” She tapped a shallow gilded bowl on the table between us, her pointy nails making a tinging noise. A faded piece of paper folded into a triangle in front of it said Donations appreciated !
“Gods.” I sighed, shaking my head as I dug into the front pocket of my bag and pulled out a few gold coins. I dropped them into the bowl with a clatter. “All right? Yes? Let’s hear it.”
The gypsy woman snatched up the coins like a magpie, examining them, sniffing them—I almost expected her to bite them. When she was satisfied with their worth, she pulled a small leather pouch from her cleavage and dropped the coins inside before hiding the pouch again.
She pushed the crystal ball out of the way and grabbed the tarot cards. After a quick shuffle, she laid out a complicated pattern on the small table and leaned over them. “Mmmm, yes,” she hissed before squinting at me. “I see you’ve had much heart break.”
I kept my face schooled, reminding myself that pretend psychics got away with their con-jobs simply by reading body language. Besides, how many people had never suffered through heart break? She might as well have told me she saw a great love affair in my future.
She hmphed at me and bent over the cards again. “I see two men and one woman.”
She glanced at me for a clue, but I didn’t give her one. But I had to admit, seeing a woman in my love life was a little strange since I didn’t swing that way.
“Yes, the woman is twined around one of the men, holding him back though his hands are outstretched to you.”
Now that rang a very big bell for me. I tried not to show any outward signs of distress, but inside, my heart was thudding away as I imagined Theodora, Vampire Mistress of all of Los Angeles County, wrapped around my ex-boyfriend Owen. I had loved Owen fiercely, only to have my heart ripped out twice when Theo called him back to her. I was trying to get over him. Again.
“Oh, how he loves you and you him, but here”—she pointed at a card, but I didn’t bother to look at it, keeping my eyes on her face—“here is another. He stands nearer to you, a strong possibility, and a strong heart this one has. You know him, but not well. He is brave and giving and full of life still, unlike this other, who is slowly fading away.”
I swallowed past the lump forming in my throat. Owen wasn’t a young vampire anymore, having been turned a few hundred years ago, and the longer he spent away from the living, the dimmer the spark of life became inside him. But this other man, he was still full of life. A
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