The Devouring Gray(17)

It was May who had saved him. May who’d pulled him back to Four Paths before the monster in the Gray devoured him, just as it had devoured every other Hawthorne who was unworthy of power.

So Justin had lived, more or less.

And now, because he was powerless to protect the town as the Gray grew stronger, four innocent people were dead.

Across the table, May’s voice had gone as soft and quiet as footsteps over grass. “I’m so sorry.”

Augusta shrugged. “Don’t apologize to me, May. I’m not the dead one.” There was a moment of sharp, stunned silence, like the aftermath of a slap—or a scream. “Now, if you could continue with the reading?”

May cleared her throat, sniffling. “Of course, Mother. Please, ask us your question.”

“Who or what is causing this strengthening of the Gray?” asked Augusta carefully. “And how do we eliminate them?”

People weren’t supposed to ask two questions, but Augusta always did. As soon as she was done speaking, May began to shuffle the cards. They vanished one by one as May’s power took hold, until only four remained.

She laid them out on the table, each all-seeing eye facing a different direction. Augusta never took her gloves off, so May was forced to close her hand around her mother’s wrist—skin-on-skin contact was part of the reading. Augusta’s other glove slid into Justin’s hand; a second later, May’s slightly clammy palm rested against his. They sat like that for nearly thirty seconds before May broke the circle.

“They’re ready.” She flipped each card over. The shadows of her fingers darted across the table like lines of ink seeping into the wood—and then they froze, hovering over the final card.

It was another Saunders card. The Eight of Bones this time. Two skulls nestled nose to nose; one hopelessly cracked, one smooth and whole.

“Isn’t that interesting,” Augusta said, her voice dangerously soft. “Tell us what you see, May.”

When May spoke, there was a slight tremor in her voice. “There is something fundamentally wrong in Four Paths.” She pointed to the first card—the Scales of Balance. Hetty Hawthorne had painted a great wooden frame with two cups hanging from each end. A man and a woman sat inside each one, legs crossed, eyes closed. “You asked how we can stop the Gray from growing stronger. This is part of your answer. It means there’s been an unbalancing in this town—something big.”

“Understood,” said Augusta. “Does it say if we’ll be able to fix that?”

“We might,” said May, frowning. “Whether we succeed or not depends on the Eight of Bones. Either they will be what helps us return to normal, or they will change everything. Permanently.”

Augusta tapped her chin. “So the Eight of Bones is what caused this. A Saunders card.”

“You’d think so,” said May. “But the last part of the reading is more troubling. You asked the question, so this”—she indicated the Six of Branches—“didn’t seem like such a shock at first, since it’s your card.”

The art on the card was a sapling struck by lightning, badly damaged. Two serpents twined around the trunk. Justin could never tell if they were trying to keep the tree together or pull it further apart.

“Readings often tell us the version of events that will directly impact whoever asks the question, so it’s normal for a person’s card to show up. But your card isn’t here because you asked the question. When paired with the Skeleton, it actually…” May hesitated, and Justin realized in a sudden moment of clarity that his sister hadn’t been stalling because of the Eight of Bones.

This was the part of his mother’s reading she didn’t want to talk about.

“You won’t like this,” May said.

Across the table, Augusta raised an eyebrow. “Enlighten me. And I’ll decide on my own if I like it or not.”

“All right, then,” said May. Justin heard the tremor in the back of her throat. He reached under the table and squeezed her free hand. She squeezed back, her palm coated in sweat. “The Skeleton signifies a big change. A reckoning, if you will. And when it’s paired with your card…well, Mother, it answers your second question. This danger to the town has something to do with you.”

Across the table, Augusta’s face drained of color. “That’s preposterous. All I’ve ever done is put this town first. My children should know that more than anyone.”

May’s fingernails dug into Justin’s hand. “The cards don’t lie.”

“Then you read them wrong.” Augusta slammed her hands on the table. May jolted backward, a slight whimper escaping her lips. “Do it again.”

“There is no other way to read them.” May was almost whispering now. “I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear. But you asked two questions. This is how the cards have answered them.”

Augusta’s voice dropped into a coiled, vicious whisper. “A good man is dead, May. How can I possibly know that didn’t affect your ability to do the reading?”

Tears pooled in May’s eyes.

Justin felt a white-hot bolt of fury toward his mother. May had idolized Augusta her entire life. Punishing her for her honesty was cruel.

“I guess you’ll have to trust her,” he said. “Which I know is hard and all, since we’re the only people in Four Paths you can’t use your powers to manipulate.”