The Devouring Gray(28)

“Just because we don’t know what you need to do to gain control of your powers doesn’t mean we can’t help you figure it out,” said Justin indignantly. “We’ve got resources. And we know how this town works.”

Violet forced down her panic. This was not the time to get angry—this was the time to think. “So you said we could help each other. What’s in it for you if you help me?”

The three of them exchanged a glance. “We’re sure you’ve noticed,” Justin said carefully, “that things are…tense in town right now. There are fewer founders than there have ever been, and our ranks are stretched thin trying to protect everyone. We need your help—especially with the equinox coming up.”

“Equinox?” asked Violet.

“When summer changes to fall, and winter changes to spring, the Gray is at its strongest,” said May. “Usually, we can keep it contained. But this year, things haven’t been going so well. And the fall equinox is a week and a half away.”

“You saw Frank Anders’s body,” Isaac said bluntly. “More founders patrolling means fewer deaths. We’ll help you learn to control your powers, if you agree to use those powers to help us keep the town safe.”

“It’s a great honor, you know,” added May. “You should be proud of your legacy.”

But Violet wasn’t sure that was true.

She’d always wanted to feel like she was part of a real family. Coming here had made her wonder if Juniper’s walls were finally falling. But all she’d seen of her mother’s legacy was pain and secrecy. And her father’s family was still as much of a mystery as it had ever been.

Violet wanted to run back to Ossining.

Was she really trapped here? Or did the Hawthornes just want her to believe that?

“I need to know it’s true before I say yes,” she said, locking eyes with Justin. “That I’m really stuck in this town. That you were telling the truth. That I need to do my ritual to leave.”

But it was May who responded. “I figured you might say that.” She rose from her seat and grabbed a wooden box from one of the shelves, lowering it carefully onto the table. Burned into the center of the wood was a symbol Violet had seen before: a circle with four lines crossing through it, almost touching. May added, “And I know exactly how to answer your questions.”

The woodsy smell Violet had noticed in the reading room seemed to grow even stronger as she stared at the box. She turned her eyes on May, whose face had gone ashen, almost wraithlike, in the fading sunlight, shadows pooling like dark pits beneath her eyes.

“What’s in the box?” Violet said hoarsely.

May’s smile widened, revealing canine teeth that seemed a bit too pointed for someone so outwardly polished. “A family heirloom.”

She flipped the box open, revealing a deck of cards the size of Violet’s palms. The outline of a bone-white eye was etched into the back of the top card.

“Are those tarots?” Violet could’ve sworn the portrait on the wall behind May frowned at her as she spoke, but when she gave it a closer look, it was perfectly still. She shuddered and returned her gaze to May, who let out a disdainful sigh.

“They are the Deck of Omens,” she said, drawing the cards out of the box and shuffling them easily in her thin, bony hands. Beside her, Justin gazed at the cards reverentially, while Isaac shrank away, as if he could vanish into the shadows. “Created by Hetty Hawthorne, the first great Seer. She used tarot as a template.” She jerked her head toward the shelf where the silver Fool lay. “But this deck is her own. There are four main suits. Branches, bones, daggers, and stones, each with nine number cards and two trumps, plus two wild cards.”

“Wild cards?”

The shadows of the branches behind May’s back seemed to draw a little closer to her as she smirked. “They show up when they feel like it. Now, my power is tied to the roots of this town. These cards use me as a conduit to answer any questions you might have. They can tell you anything—about your past, your present, your future.”

“Okay, but if the cards said something you didn’t like, couldn’t you just lie to me?”

May chuckled mirthlessly. “No. I can’t. It’s a covenant you make with the deck—it will tell you the truth, but you’re honor bound to pass that on. If you lie…” Her face darkened. “They stop talking.”

“I didn’t know that,” said Isaac softly, from across the table. He was eyeing the deck like it would burn him if he touched it.

May shot him an acrid glare. “Maybe you would if you’d ever let me read your cards.”

Justin frowned at them. “Both of you. Focus.”

May cleared her throat. “Right, then. Violet, this is your chance. Ask a question.”

Violet straightened up, her mind whirling with the possibilities. “Can I ask what my ritual is?”

“You have to ask a question that directly pertains to you,” said May. “You didn’t create the ritual, so no.”

Violet frowned. There was still so little she knew, so much she wanted to know. This question had to be phrased right.

“Is it true that I can’t really leave town?” Violet said slowly. “And how can I figure out how to do my ritual?”