The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 166

Liora’s POV

The fortune teller’s shop was located downtown, not far from the local shopping center. Despite being a Tuesday, the market street was surprisingly bustling with people. I spotted quite a few other students milling about, hanging out with their groups of friends and window shopping as Zane and I approached our destination.

The shop was small but quaint even from the outside, nestled between two other storefronts. A circular stained glass window glowed from within, and as I climbed the steps to the front door, I could already smell the herbs and incense coming from inside.

“Madame Ellen,” Zane said, looking up at the sign that hung above the door. “I’ve never visited her myself, although opinions of her seem to be split down the middle.”

“How so?” I asked, lifting my hand to knock.

“Some people say she’s a fraud. Others say their lives have changed after visiting her for a reading.”

“And as for you?”

“As with most things, I tend to err on the side of ‘I have no clue’.”

I rolled my eyes and knocked. A moment later, the door swung open, revealing a young girl around our age; she had light brown, almost amber-colored hair like mine, and was maybe an inch taller than me.

She froze when she saw us standing there.

“Zane?”

I looked over at my companion, who looked just as shocked as the girl did. “Bella,” he said, scratching his head. “I didn’t know you were back from your trip.”

She pursed her lips and folded her arms. “Of course you didn’t. It’s not like you checked in on me or anything after…” She shook her head, then looked at me. “This your new girlfriend?”

I lifted my brows, lips parting. Before Zane or I could answer, a gravelly woman’s voice called from within, “Bella? Who’s there?”

“A customer, Madame Ellen,” Bella called over her shoulder. She shot me and Zane another sidelong glance. “I think.”

“I know what you’re here for. Sit.” She pointed one gnarled finger at the chair opposite her. I perched on the edge of it with my hands clasped in my lap. For a long moment, she continued to shuffle her cards without looking at me. The only sound was that of a cuckoo clock ticking on the wall behind her. Several minutes passed, and the clock nearly hit seven.

“Um, Madame—”

“There.” She finally finished shuffling her cards and looked at me. My throat bobbed when I saw her eyes—rheumy and blind with cataracts, and yet, somehow, I swore she saw right through me. “You’re here to restore your wolf, correct?”

I nodded, too stunned to speak. I hadn’t called ahead or given her my name, so I wasn’t sure how she knew why I was here. Then again, I supposed that was her whole shtick, wasn’t it?

Madame Ellen muttered to herself and leaned over her crystal ball, swirling her weathered hands around it. Her hair fell like a curtain around it, blocking my view, but I thought I heard something buzzing. Like one of those electrical balls at the gift shop that you put your hand on and it makes lightning inside.

“Hmm…” She sat back and brushed her hair out of her face, then fanned out the tarot cards and held them out to me. “Pick one.”

Hesitantly, I took a card. The image depicted a man and a woman, nude, locked in an embrace, floating in front of a night sky. Behind them, a red moon hung full in the darkness. I’d pulled it out of the deck upside down.