Duke of Darkness (Empire Of Storms #1)

Chapter 4

Virgil thanked the mundane, but as he turned away his face was riddled with sadness. Ella caught his arm, he was her best friend after all. Her parabatai.

"You good?"

"Yeah just...a little freaked out." He replied, a small smile stretched upon his face "It's a weird feeling...like she actually knows what she's doing. Almost...like if she were there when...when-". Ella stopped him with a light squeeze of the arm. She knew how painful it was for him to think about his parents. How he truly believed that his seven year old self could have actually saved them if he had been there. It was absolutely ludicrous, but Ella never fought with him about it. She loved him after all.
It took her a second before she could register Keegan's scruffy brown hair, whipping his head around for the counter top.

She slipped in-between him and the mundane. After seeing Virgil's reaction, the last thing she wanted was for a rookie fortune-teller snooping through her boyfriend's head. "I'll go next." She said, looking between the two of them.

Keegan frowned a bit, but shrugged it off "Fine, but you owe me line-cutter." He poked at her with that sharp smile of his. The mundane didn't seem to care and began to shuffle the deck again.

The routine was exactly the same as before; shuffle, split, pick, place and read. The mundane seemed hesitant from the start, like she had to preform in front of an audience. She took her time flipping the first card, but before Ella could make a single sound the exact same card from Virgil's reading came to place. The card read "Tower", but Ella knew it wasn't good. It couldn't have been, not after Virgil's prediction, only this time it spoke for her past, not her future. "You're past...you don't know it."

Ella swallowed "What?"

"Well not as well as you think you do. There's pieces missing, you're being lied to."

Ella was more eager then ever. What did she mean she was being lied to, yet another ridiculous accusation. The second card read "Strength" and the mundane scoffed. "You're going to need this. You're too focused on your mission or whatever, you need to pay attention to your surroundings or else you'll never finish."

If she wasn't confused yet, Ella would've been considered crazy. Just what was this mundane taking about?

The final card read "Emperor" and the mundane nodded. "This makes so much sense now. You need to ask your father, he knows your past. "

"Of course he does, he's my dad!" Ella roared, irritated. "What kind of BS is this?"

"He's lying to you." She replied with nerves of steel. "I know he is."

Just as Ella was about to grab the mundane by her sad excuse for a collar, a large draft of herbs swallowed the area whole.

~

Madame T always had a knack for saving the day. She always showed up when Alison truly needed her like when she fell down the stairs as a child. As if by magic, Madame T always appeared by her side with some sort of ancient remedy. "And what do I owe the pleasure of having such young customers." She croaked as she waddled to Alison's side. "Getting yer fortunes read? Like what ya hear?"

"For the most part." The delinquent's head pryed back with a smirk only the smartest of asses could pull off. "My friends need a bit more convincing maybe."

"Cut the crap Blake, let's just finish this already." The girl barked at him.

Alison could tell she was not happy with her reading. She couldn't control what she saw. No one could. Alison had always felt pushed around by her gifts as if they locked onto her, forever bound by the gift of sight and a bit of style.

The scruffy blue eyed male came closer to the counter, close enough for a whisper. Madame T pushed Alison out of the way and came around the side. The boy handed her a letter, a red wax seal lay faced up. The exchange was brief, but had a historic feel to it. Alison had never seen a sealed letter before, at least not sealed by candle wax. The inner nerd in her was half tempted to whip out her phone and take a picture, but not while that girl was around. She had her eyes glued on Alison, if she even breathed out of term, she'd know.

Madame T croaked a laugh "That all deary? Not going to bring me in fer selling remedies to mundanes?"

"No no just the letter Madame." He stated awkwardly as he flashed her a smile. "Think of it as an invitation t-"

"Oh I know what it is." She interupted "But I ain't going no where without my assistant over here. She's too precious to leave on her own."

Alison sighed "Madame T, I really don't think I need to come with you to...where ever it is you're going. I'll be fine, plus there's my parents and-"

"Oh pish-posh, don't worry about them." She waved Alison off before turning to face the dance squad. "I'll contact Hadriana, meet us at the airport by noon."

The four of them exchanged glances with each other, the girl seemingly had clenched her teeth the whole time. "We'll keep in touch." The delinquent added as he slapped some money down on the counter.

Alison counted the money and placed it in the register. He payed enough for four readings despite only receiving three. As the door closed behind them, Madame T flipped the sign from opened to close. Before Alison could say anything, the blinds closed, snuffing out the light.

She jumped and shuffled away from the register. "M-Madame T?" She called out before bumping into something squishy.

"Alison do you remember what I asked you when you were a girl?" An ancient voice croaked.

Alison wanted to protest, but knew it would get her no where, like in the books. "You asked if I um believed in magic.."

"And do you? Do ya still believe?!" She roared as the whole room began to shake.

Alison could have sworn that a piece of the roof cracked and fell by her. Dust flied everywhere, the jars and boxes danced on the shelves. "Yes! Yes I do!" She yelled back as she dropped down to the balls of her feet and covered her head.

A flame appeared in the middle of the room, the only source of light in a sea of black. The room stopped shaking and Alison slowly lifted her head. As if on queue, the the candles lit up in a synchronized dance. She couldn't explain what just happened. This wasn't just some parlor trick you could have pulled out of thin air. Only one explanation could come to mind, magic.

"Oh deary..." Madame T stood in front of her, lending her a calloused, wrinkled hand. "I have so much to tell you."