All That She Can See(28)

‘No, thanks.’

‘I insist,’ she said, pouring a second cup.

‘Really, I’m fine,’ Cherry said.

‘She insists,’ Danior said with a glare.

‘Okay…’ Cherry took the cup from Velina. It smelled like normal green tea but when she took a sip it tasted exceedingly grassy, as though the tea leaves had been left to brew for too long. Cherry tried to turn her grimace into a smile but the gag that caught in her throat couldn’t be stifled. She put the cup down, ignoring the disapproving look Danior gave her before she sank back into the shadows.

‘Feeling better?’ Velina asked.

Cherry didn’t know what to say. Surely they hadn’t spiked the tea? She felt normal but still, she nodded her head.

‘Good,’ Velina said and Danior’s lips smacked as they cracked into a smile. ‘Have you ever had your palm read before?’ Velina looked her straight in the eyes.

‘I can’t say I have,’ Cherry said, rubbing her cold yet sweaty hands together under the table.

Velina placed both her hands face up on the table and raised her faint, real eyebrows, the drawn ones fixed. Cherry’s hands twitched as she hesitated.

‘We haven’t got all night,’ Danior said from the shadowed corner of the room.

Reluctantly, Cherry placed her hands, palms up, in Velina’s, and she was transfixed by the contrast of her dark skin against Velina’s white skin. Their hands created a yin-yang of sorts.

‘My, my, someone’s nervous. Got something to hide?’ Velina said, slipping her right hand out from underneath Cherry’s, picking up the end of her blue scarf and wiping Cherry’s palms down. Cherry tried to pull her hands away but Velina closed her fingers around her wrists.

‘Definitely got something to hide.’ Velina smiled with her invisible lips. Cherry unclenched her hands and Velina’s fingers relaxed. ‘Hmmm.’ She hummed as she closed her eyes.

Cherry suddenly felt very exposed. She’d just wanted to find out about Chase. She hadn’t expected this kind of supernatural interrogation from the sisters.

‘You’ve a strong aura, Miss Redgrave.’

‘How do you know my last name?’ Cherry asked, her heart starting to thump harder.

‘Darling. Look around you,’ Danior drawled in a bored voice.

‘Oh, yes. I suppose that was a silly question,’ Cherry said but it wasn’t a silly question. She didn’t believe in what Velina and Danior did. It wasn’t real – it couldn’t have been.

‘Now. Let’s see.’ Velina finally looked at Cherry’s palms. ‘Oh… oh, my dear. You’re a mess.’

‘No, I’m not,’ Cherry said defensively. Velina looked up at her through her rows of eyelashes and Cherry met her gaze with her own steady one.

‘According to all these broken lines on your left hand, you are.’ She tutted. ‘So sad.’

‘Okay. Why am I a mess? What do the broken lines mean?’ The more Velina went on the more Cherry fought the urge to roll her eyes. Velina sucked in a sharp breath.

‘Your heart line is split perfectly in two. See? Right there?’ She took her left hand out from underneath Cherry’s right and pointed to a crack in the line that ran along the top of Cherry’s left palm. ‘You have a habit of putting other people’s needs before yours. Your… emotions sit on the back burner. You know how everyone else feels but they rarely get to know the real you in return – do they?’ Velina didn’t look up so Cherry took the opportunity to swallow. ‘This line here,’ Velina pointed to the next line down that swept in from an inch below her index finger and ran right through the centre of her palm but, yet again, was broken. ‘You’re a sensitive soul. You’re so easily swayed by how other people feel. It’s a long and deep line though, Cherry. You’re a clear thinker. Focused. I’ve heard people appreciate that about you.’

Cherry had almost forgotten about Danior but suddenly she coughed and spluttered and Velina stole a glance in her direction. Cherry looked up and could only see the light glinting off Danior’s jewellery but she was sure that cough wasn’t anything to do with clearing her throat. It was a warning to Velina to tread carefully, Cherry was sure of it.

‘What else have you “heard”?’ Cherry asked, but Velina just stroked Cherry’s palms.

‘This line here is your life line.’ Velina ignored the question and instead gestured to yet another broken line, this time in two places. ‘Did something bad happen to you as a child, Cherry?’

‘What does my hand say?’ Cherry raised her palm a little.

‘Each break represents a traumatic experience. There are two breaks – both are near the start of the line but there’s a significant gap between them. Something bad happened as a child and then again later on, perhaps when you were in your late teens.’ Cherry clenched her teeth as memories of one father leaving and one father dying ran through her mind. Velina closed Cherry’s palm and stroked it with her pointed red talons. ‘Not all just… smoke and mirrors, now is it?’

Danior coughed again, louder this time, and Cherry was now certain it was a tell. She was hinting to Velina to stop talking.

‘How did you know I’d said —?’