The Price Guide to the Occult(42)

“Burden,” Nor finished for her.

Charlie shrugged. “Depends on how you look at it, I guess. Do me a favor, though, and try not to take Gage too seriously. He does enough of that all by himself. But like the rest of us, there is a part of him that’s glad you’re safe. Granted, it is a very small part,” she admitted, “but I believe it exists.”

Nor looked up at the monstrous figure looming over them. From this angle, the statue seemed to block the entire sky. “Sure it does,” she replied softly.

All too soon, Nor found herself cloistered in the finished basement of Dauphine Coldwater’s house. From the few windows that sat high along the basement’s walls, Nor watched night fall; every half hour or so a pair of feet passed along with the sweep of a flashlight.

Pike and Sena Crowe sat on the stairs, spitting sunflower shells into an empty Coke bottle. Dauphine’s wolfhound — whom they ridiculously referred to as Steve — was stretched out at the bottom of the stairs. To the common observer, the great beast appeared to be sleeping, but his ears were pricked, as if all his energy were being expended on listening.

The basement was crowded with old boxes and mismatched furniture. Worn couches were draped in colorful tapestries. There was a pool table, a rip in the center of its green felted top. A broken-down piano sat in a corner. A casbah lantern cast elaborate diamonds across the walls.

Gage flopped onto one of the ancient couches, and Charlie settled herself on one of the pillows littering the floor. She pulled out a deck of tarot cards from her pocket. The cards were soft with wear. With expert hands, she quickly shuffled the deck and then drew out three cards and set them in a row on the ground in front of her. “The first card represents what’s happening now,” she explained to Nor, flipping it over. “The Five of Swords typically points to conflict, tension, and betrayal. Sound about right so far?”

Nor nodded skeptically. Gage let out an exasperated sigh.

Charlie ignored him. “This one will tell us what we need to do about it.” She flipped over the second card and furrowed her brow. “Hmm, the Hanged Man is the willing victim. It typically represents self-sacrifice, but,” she was quick to add, “that shouldn’t be taken literally.”

She moved to the third card. “And this should tell us the outcome.” Charlie flipped over the card, revealing a picture of a burning tower. The color drained from her face. She plucked the cards off the floor and stuffed the deck back into her pocket.

“What is it?” Nor asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Charlie’s face had turned from white to pink. “It’s just a silly hobby. I obviously have no talent for tarot whatsoever.”

Something told Nor she did, but she didn’t push it. Whatever that card meant, Nor could bet it wasn’t anything good.

“But I promise you don’t have anything to worry about,” Charlie said to Nor, smiling. “You’re safer here than anywhere else.”

“Anywhere else on the island, you mean?” Nor asked.

Charlie waved her hand in the air. “I mean, anywhere else anywhere.”

“It’s charmed,” Gage explained. “Undetectable. Another gift from the benevolent Rona Blackburn.” The sarcasm in his voice was so thick, Charlie hit him with a pillow.

“If someone were to seek us out without having been invited,” Charlie continued, “they’d just drive around and around the lake until they mysteriously found themselves back on the main part of the island.”

“So even if Fern wanted to find me —”

“She wouldn’t be able to.”

“I gotta say,” Pike said from the stairs, “you gave her a good fight. Don’t you think, Sena Crowe?”

Nor thought of her magic guiltily. Though it seemed to be subdued for now, she could still feel it vibrating underneath her skin. Like the wolfhound, it too was on alert. Why Nor was able to resist her mother’s coercion was something she didn’t want to talk about or have examined too closely. Nor searched for a topic of distraction. She pointed at the wolfhound lying at the bottom of the stairs. “You do know that Steve’s not his name, right?”

Pike patted the dog’s large head. “Of course it is. We gave it to him.”

“What is it then?” Charlie asked anyway.

“Burn,” Nor said simply.

“Burn?” Pike repeated.

“Yes, Burn. He’s over a hundred years old, and you all seriously thought his name was Steve?”

The room was silent for a moment, then erupted in laughter.

“Burn. No shit,” Pike exclaimed. “Well, that is a lot better than Steve, isn’t it, boy? To Burn!” he toasted, holding the Coke bottle full of sunflower shells in the air.

“To Burn!” they all exclaimed.

“So what’s he thinking now?” Pike asked Nor excitedly.

“That you’re an asshole,” Sena Crowe answered. “You don’t need to be able to read his mind to know that.”

While everyone else in the room laughed again, Nor climbed into a musty-smelling sleeping bag and snuck a peek at her phone. She’d forgotten to plug it in. Of course. There was no easy way of getting in touch with Savvy. Or with Reed.

It wasn’t much later when the lights in the room went out. Charlie and Gage had both returned to their own houses to sleep in their own beds. Gage had left without saying a word.