The High Priestess (The Tarot Club 3)

By the time late afternoon crept around, I knew that I had to call it, and so I caved, dialing Charlain's number to get his input on the matter.

"And so the Demon calls once more."

I never knew how Charlain would answer my calls, but not once had I been disappointed.

"I need you to check your cards, I think we may have found our High Priestess an eligible match."

There was a tick on the other end of the line followed by a soft hiss and I wondered what The Mage was up to - what kinks he explored to keep his own darkness at bay.

"Who?" Already his voice had taken on that soft distant tone that told me he was already halfway between here and his connection - the state he seemed to slip into each time he sought answers.

"Nicu Baciu."

"He's a shepherd and a king." Charl's voice was thready and soft, and I knew that he was so far gone that he wasn't even aware of the words he spoke.

Still, I hummed in response, providing The Mage with an anchor to come back to this world. Almost instantaneously Charl seemed to pull himself back into the current present state.

"That's a powerful pairing." His voice was gruff and a little awed, and something about the notion of the two of them being powerful together irked me. It shouldn’t, but it did.

I had learnt that denying one's true emotions always led to disaster - to misalignment, and so instead, I embraced the malevolence within, painting myself in its various hues and tones.

"Powerful, maybe, but will such a pairing work? Will it be enough?"

Once more Charl fell silent and I knew that he was sorting through answers - images.

"It may work, but it seems that the relationship has some obstacles - something holding Marie back from committing."

"We eliminate the obstacles then. What are they?"

Sometimes Charl's connected state frustrated me, now was one of those times.

"That answer is veiled."

This was the problem with Magick wielders, they provided you with only slivers of information that were helpful, but could never follow it up with something in depth - something concrete.

"Then I'll move forward and push the relationship. It's the only way."

"It's the only way." Charl repeated the phrase back to me and I couldn't tell if it was merely recursion due to his connected state, or if The Mage agreed with me.