that summer |percabeth au| ✔︎

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Cards

"Tears mean the tarot cards are doing their job," Candy said gently. The group of women gathered in the gallery were enraptured. "There's no weakness in crying, Sally. Only illumination."

As quietly as possible, I crept into the kitchen. It was dark by the time Percy and James had dropped me off, and now the gallery was lit with candles, golden light mingling with the full moon outside, dancing through the leaves of the sea glass tree.

Witchcraft afoot.

Candy's coven met here monthly—the ladies liked working with the power of the sea, and Candy had the closest access—but this time Mrs. Jackson had joined them, along with another woman I recognized immediately as Mrs. Olympia. She looked exactly like Artemis, only older. The same warmth and confidence emanated from her smile.

"I should've been honest with him," Mrs. Jackson said, drawing my attention back to the card reading.

"Maybe," Candy said. "But there are a lot of layers there, a lot to sift through with your marriage. Right now it's more important to be honest with yourself. Honest about what you want, what you need, and where there's room for compromise."

"Can we ask the cards for specific instructions on that? A manual, maybe?" Mrs. Jackson ran her fingers under her eyes, laughing through her tears. It reminded me of what Candy had said about her soul, ­hiding there beneath the surface.

"There you are," Katie called out from the hallway, scattering my thoughts. She and Artemis crossed into the kitchen. "We've been ­texting you forever. It's ladies' night. Where were you?"

"And we know y'all weren't working today," Artemis said, "since I ended up having a picnic lunch with an electrician. A cute one, but still. Spill it."

"What happened to your pants?" Katie's eyes widened when she finally noticed the mud caked to my cargos. I'd rinsed what I could at the water pump and park restroom, but my clothes needed serious laundering, and the mud was hardening into the ends of my hair.

I took out my notebook.

Hike at Devils Elbow. James started a mud fight.

Katie squinted at me, one hand on her hip. "What's with all the extracurriculars?"

Artemis laughed. "Give the girl a break."

"Me? You just told her to spill it."

"Because I relish the details, whereas you get all judgy."

"I'm just looking out for her. You know that boy is bad news. And now they're hiking? Mud fights? That's, like, the gateway drug to making out."

Hello! I waved my hands in front of her. I'm right here.

"Katie, seriously. Loosen up!" Artemis winked at me and said, "Anyway, you're here, mud queen, so come meet my mom—she's been bugging me all night. Gotta warn you, she's a little over the top. But she means well."

Ambushed by Artemis and Katie, official social committee of Amatheia Cove, I was powerless to resist. I let them lead me into the gallery, where Candy's friends were consoling Mrs. Jackson, offering further analysis on the tarot reading Candy had just completed.

I wondered what the cards had told her. Hopefully something about sticking up for James. Or sticking up for herself, putting her husband in his place.

"Mom," Artemis said. "Come meet Annabeth."

Mrs. Olympia turned away from the cards, her smile widening when she saw us. She approached with quick, intentional steps, and I could tell immediately that this was a woman