Sebastian (2 page)

The man smiled and opened his mouth, but then the flap of her tent swept back.

“I was told I could get my fortune told while I was here, and I couldn't resist,” the man drawled, and suddenly the dire atmosphere dissolved as if it had never been.
 

The man-monster dropped her hand as if he’d never pinned her there in the first place. Now he stood, eying the newcomer with something between contempt and disgust.

“Fortunetelling's a witch's art and a woman's art,” the man with the white aura said in his tarry voice. “Real men have nothing to do with it.”

“Real men,” the newcomer said smoothly, “don't talk about women needing to be punished.”

He stood back to let the man out of the tent. With a seething glare first at her and then the newcomer, the man-monster stomped out. When the flap swung closed behind him, Nicolette felt as if she could breathe again. She wanted nothing more than to collapse into a heap and sob with relief. Though she knew she was being stupid, she felt as if she had escaped something deep and dark, something that wanted to drag her down into the muck.
 

Karas pecked gently at her earlobe, a comforting gesture, and she reached up to touch him. He had calmed as soon as the man had left, and now he was putting his own feathers back into place as well as soothing his mistress.

Instead of asking her if she was all right, the newcomer sat down in the chair across from her. He let her regain her composure while ostensibly studying the crow on her shoulder.

“Is that an African pied crow?” he asked.

She smiled at him automatically. “You know your corvids. He is.”

“And young too. At least, he looks all shiny and new.”

Nicolette laughed a little, feeling a little more at ease.
 

“He is. He was just a chick when I found him at a flea market. Some terrible man had him in a little cage with nothing but sunflower seeds. Can you believe it?”

The stranger's eyes crinkled when he smiled. Though Nicolette was always wary of men, clients especially, she felt herself warmed by it.

“And I suppose you found your heart couldn't take it,” he said, “and you rescued him immediately?”
 

“I suppose I must have,” Nicolette said.
 

It was a little more like she had cornered the vendor behind his truck and threatened him with dire hints about something that he felt very guilty about. By the end of it, he would have given her the truck and everything in it, let alone one traumatized exotic bird.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, and pulled some of her professional demeanor back on as she regarded the man across from her.

He was tall and lean, built for strength and dexterity. In the dim light, she could see that his short hair was as dark as ink, and that his eyes were wide and friendly, though she couldn't tell what color they were. Dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt, he looked as casual and unassuming as anyone else on the thoroughfare, but there was something else to him as well.
 

“Do you like what you see?” he asked, and there was a gentle tone of amusement in his voice.

Instead of allowing herself to blush or stammer the way that she would have just a few short years before, Nicolette let her glance travel up and down his body slowly. There was a lot to like. She let a slow smile cross her face.

“I think I’ll keep that to myself until after I have read your fortune. You did me a favor there. Would you like a free reading?”
 

To her surprise, he shook his head.

“Where I come from, we pay people for their talents,” he said softly. “If you care to use your gift to see for me, I would want to pay you. In the old days, we crossed our fortuneteller's palms with silver. I'm short on silver, but I'd be ashamed to ask you to read for me without paying.”

He opened his wallet and set down two bills, and she was surprised to see that they were both twenties. Handsome and apparently rich as well. With only a little bit of wariness, she put the money away in her voluminous robes and shuffled her cards.

The cards clicked in their familiar timeless rhythm, and she regarded him carefully.

“What are you looking for?” she asked. “Do you seek guidance on the future, on your health, on your money? Perhaps it is love that you are after.”

His laugh was short but friendly.

“I am looking for anything you can tell me,” he said, and she could sense no dishonesty in his words. “I am looking for...well, I am looking for direction.”
 

Though men across the country had used her act as an excuse to get far too friendly, some part of her was a little disappointed that he was being so restrained. She swallowed that odd emotion, and set the cards in front of him.

“Cut them three times, please. It is important that the cards get an idea of who you are and what you need.”

A slight smile on his face, he did as she asked. When she went to take the cards back from him, her hand brushed his lightly. There was a shiver of electricity between them so strong that she nearly drew back. But just as quickly the thought of separating from him stopped her. She cleared her throat.

“Let's see what we find for you tonight,” she said, her voice a little husky.
 

She drew the moment out like sticky taffy, and felt his bright eyes on her, watching. Again, he let her look, but his gaze had changed. Though the faint trace of a smile still curved his lips, his eyes seemed lit from within. As surely as he’d said it, his face spoke desire. There was power in watching him watching her. She let it wash over them, something both undefinable but real. Finally she laid the first card down.

It was a young man, eyes cast upwards, and dog at his heels. He would have been the very picture of a man about to have an adventure if he weren't getting ready to step off of a cliff.
 

“The Fool,” murmured Nicolette. “A new beginning. Something unforeseen is approaching you and coming on fast.”

“Should I feel offended?” the man asked.

She smiled. “Not at all. The Fool is a card that opens doors. Anything can happen when you draw him. And that’s a fine place to be.”

She drew the second card, and frowned. It was a tall tower being struck by lightning. There were two people falling from it, their painted faces twisted with terror.

“The Tower. You came from a place of chaos and crisis.”

“Doesn't everyone?”
 

The man's voice was light, but there was a strain underneath it. His eyes seemed fixated on the two figures falling from the height of the tower.
 

“No, not everyone comes from a place of pain,” Nicolette said gently.
 

The presence of the Tower disturbed her. There were no negative cards in the Tarot deck, but the Tower was heavy, immovable. It was disillusionment and ruin, terror and pain.

“It is in your past, but it will inform your future,” she said. “The presence of the Tower is something that cannot, and should not be ignored. If you do, you risk returning to it. You carry that pain with you to this day, and you will until you let go of it or resolve it.”

The man fidgeted slightly, and she wondered if he was going to refuse to allow her to continue. Some of her clients, when she touched a nerve, simply left. Nicolette felt a slight pang at this man leaving however. She breathed a silent sigh of relief when he nodded to allow her to continue.
 

 
She turned over the next card to reveal a chariot drawn by two fierce lions. The man driving the chariot looked both exultant and terrified, and it was a fair bet either way on whether he was controlling the lions or letting them run wild.

“That looks unpleasant.”

“It's not,” Nicolette promised. “This is an interesting reading in many ways. So many Major Arcana in this reading mean that it is a powerful one. There are many forces at work, and not all of them are friendly, but not all of them are negative, either. The future is what we make of it, regardless of what the cards tell us. What this reading is telling us…” She sighed. “The Chariot is a card of conflicting forces, barely held under control. It's not easy to tell
whether the man is going to rein in his lions or whether they are going to run away with him. Right now, you are facing a time when things are going to feel out of control. You will strive for control, but even if you are reaching for it, there is a chance that you are not going to get it.”

Now the man was frowning lightly, touching the tip of one finger to the card. She shivered to see how finely made his hands were. The monstrous man’s hands had been like wide spades. This man had a delicate touch, and though his hands were strong, they were graceful as well.

“Is there any indication on whether this struggle will turn out well for me and my friends?”

Nicolette shrugged.

“These are difficult things to tell, I'm afraid. Some things will end well, and other things will be lost.”

“That sounds like something you could say to just about any situation.”

Nicolette raised her eyebrow.
 

“You are welcome to have your cash back if you feel cheated,” she said, a little irritation creeping into her voice.

He laughed. “I would never. Just because I don't like what's to come doesn't mean that I'm going to shoot the messenger. Especially not when the messenger is as lovely as you. Please continue.”

As the word “lovely” registered, she nearly dropped the card and made sure to keep her eyes on the table. Slowly, she drew the next card. Both of them raised their eyebrows. There was a leering demon on this card, and at his feet were chained a man and a woman.

“That definitely does not look good,” he said.

“Usually it isn't,” she admitted. “This card tells you why things are happening. If you need a root cause, here it is.”

“The devil is making my life conflicted?”

“No, not at all. Instead, it is bondage and chains that are holding you back. Things that you once used are using you. The chains of the past are reaching forward to your future, and if you want to progress, you must let them go.”

He shook his head. Whether he found truth in her words or not, she could not tell.
 

“Is that all?”

“There's one more card to draw.”

“All right, let's see if it’s fire or flood.”

She laughed, but even as she did, she knew he was right to be a little uncomfortable. The drawing that he had received was a powerful one. Even if she only half-believed the cards herself, they could be right more often than they were wrong. The fact that all of the cards thus far were from the Major Arcana mystified her.

The final card was not from the Major Arcana. Instead it was a young man with a beautiful face holding a small cup in his hand.

“It's the Knight of Cups,” she said, her voice hushed. “This card represents the potential of what is to come. All of this strife, and all of this pain can give birth to something entirely different. The Knight of Cups tells me that from this pain can come love. Pain can have a way of releasing us from things that we were once carrying. Perhaps what you will find at the end of all of this is love.”

The man's laugh was short, an edge of bitterness to it.

“That's very kind of you to say. But finding love…”

“A pity,” Nicolette found herself saying. “Love has so many beautiful faces.”

He glanced at her.

“My name is Sebastian Corcoran,” he said abruptly, offering his hand. “It would seem I have a tough time in front of me, but at the end I might have my…” He seemed to be searching for the words.
 
“My very own fairy tale,” he finished

Nicolette shook his hand, a part of her enjoying how strong it was even as she wondered about his past. She thought about breaking out the Madame Nicole speech, but impulsively, she decided against it.

“My name's Nicolette Erling, and I guess I believe in fairy tales.”
 

For a brief moment, she wanted to check his aura, to see what colors were stirring there. But in particular she wanted to know what their touch had done to it. It was a night of firsts, however, and she pushed her power away. She had been using it regularly throughout the night, and the final encounter with the man before Sebastian had left her feeling nervous and worn. If she used it too much and too often, she would give herself a splitting headache. That was the last thing that she wanted at the moment.
 

 
Obviously feeling that he had been left on his own for too long, Karas coughed and hopped down on the table. He looked up at Sebastian fearlessly, making the man laugh.

“Gorgeous little beastie. Not very afraid at all, are you?”

“He hasn't had much cause to be. I try to make sure he gets what he needs.”

“What a good crow mother you are.”
 

Sebastian's smile was genuine, and she returned it automatically. She tried to think of something else to say, but then Karas was pecking at the deck. Before she could reach for him to make him quit, he deliberately pulled out a card, holding it in his beak.

“How long did it take for you to teach him to do that?” Sebastian asked, and she shook her head in bemusement.

“I never have. That's the first time he pulled a card out of the deck like that.”

She took the card from her pet, and her eyes widened. It featured two people wrapped in each other’s embrace, looks of bliss and adoration on their faces. A banner declaring them the Lovers scrolled across the bottom of the card, and hastily, she pushed it back into the deck.

“Birds can't read fortunes,” she said decisively, and Sebastian laughed.

“What did he pull for you? Death? Disaster?”

“Not far off,” she agreed.

For a wild moment she considered sharing it, and realized that she didn't want her encounter with Sebastian to end. There were a dozen reasons to stay right where she was and to earn some more money for the night, but there was at least one good reason to play hooky. She eyed him up and down one more time and came to her conclusion.