Tarot Cards

Nine

"Desi, this is now the eighth message I've left. Where are you guys?" I growled in my cousin's voicemail before hanging up.

It had now been an hour since Zachary and I had left the club to find the twins and we were running out of spots to look. Zachary had suggested a few bars earlier we'd checked and no luck.

"Still no answer?" Zachary asked next to me as we stepped out onto Royal street.

"Nope." I huffed.

"Let's go back to Club Wick'd and check again-"

"Listen, Zachary, I appreciate the concern but I can look for my cousins alone. You don't have to help me."

He frowned at me and his molten blue eyes blazer with disappointment.

"You shouldn't go walking these streets alone at this time of night." He said.

"I'm a big girl. I can handle myself."

"The fact that you actually believe that proves that you need me around." He cocked a brow up at me.

Images of the shadows chasing Marshala and I played in my head just then. Was I truly safe on my own? Was I better off with Zachary's help? Why was he so interested in me? All these questions flowed through my mind as I stared back at him.

A quick surge of lightheadedness stunned me. It came at random though as quickly as it came, an image popped into my head. The image was of an old cemetery; a series of mausoleums filled the space for as far as the eye could see. The images flicked quickly. And just as quickly it was gone.

I held my head and caught my balance on the balls of my feet again. Zachary's arms shot around me and supported my small frame. He asked if I was alright and I nodded slowly.

What made me think of a cemetery? I had no reason to think of one right in this moment or at all even. Yet it was as if the image was planted into my head...deliberately.

Amara.

Amara help.

Alert the others.

Shadows are coming.

They're here.

Not safe.

HELP!

Delphine's voice tore into my skull like a raging fire. It was a cry for help. How did she do that? How could I respond?

"Cheré, you okay?" Zachary's voice was close and I realized he was holding me again.

My eyes grew wider at the realization of the situation. Delphine and Desire were in danger. I had to call the family. I had to help them.

"Zachary, do you know anything about voodoo?" I asked and his face grew dark.

"Why?" He asked, warily.

Just as I was about to respond, a feeling of certainty pulsed through me. I looked up at the moon and knew what I needed to do. I don't know how I knew, it was simply instinct. Like the answers were written into my DNA. And then something Seraph said to me as we spoke at the boardwalks of the Bayou rang out to me.

"Spirit using is about the balance of energy. You take an object and trade an element for the power. Without an element to take the place of the power you're asking, you alone may pay the price." She said

I needed an object. No I needed a spell or an enchantment. Something to alert my family of the danger that was near but also some way to get me to the girls.