A Girl's Guide to Vampires

I touched the stones as I thought out the best way to explain what they said. "This stone, Jera, acts as a caution. It says basically, what goes around, comes around. This stone, Fehu reversed, says you will not have the material gain you expect to have unless you take steps to alter your path. The last stone, Othala reversed, indicates that something rightfully yours will be taken from you. Read together, the runes show a strong warning that you must release the plans you have made, and instead use your natural talents to shape a happier result. If you do not…" I shrugged.

"If I do not, what?" she asked in that sickening sweet voice. I shrugged again. I didn't want to tell her that the combined stones predicted disaster on a catastrophic level if she didn't take her future in her hands and change it.

"The stones say you'll regret following the path you're currently on."

"Bah! You think your threats will make any difference to me? They do not!" She slammed her hand down on the table, scattering the stones. I scooped them up and tucked them safely into the bag. While I didn't necessarily hold with the belief that no one but the reader should touch the stones, the amethyst runes were pretty, and I didn't want to lose one.

"What was her question?" Roxy asked Arielle.

"She asked if she would be successful in ridding herself of a threat to her happiness."

We both looked at Tanya. She smiled at me.

"I did not find your demonstration adequate," she said. "You have lost the wager. You will pay the money you owe and never step foot here again."

"Now, hold on," I said at the same time as Roxy cried, "You big cheater! She did so win the bet," just as Raphael intervened between the two of us.

"Dominic, if you can't control your people better, I'll be happy to give you a few tips on how to keep them quiet." He waited until Tanya snatched her arm from Dominic's grasp and rubbed it up and down vigorously. "Joy won the wager. She proved she could read with a reasonable level of accuracy. End of show. Come along, little troublemaker," he said offering me his hand. "I'd like a word with you in private."

I let my lips curl into a grin at the look in his eye. It was part exasperation, part desire, and part something I couldn't read at all.

"I agree that she won the wager," Dominic said as he moved forward. "But she will come with me. It is I who wishes to have a word with her. In private."

The way he said the last two words made my skin crawl.

"Sorry, Raphael asked first," I said as I took his offered hand. "Even if he didn't, I like him better. Thanks for all the fun, kids. Roxy, don't forget to collect your winnings."

I followed Raphael off the stage, my hand still in his, and down the aisle to the opening of the tent before Tanya exploded. She screamed her fury at Dominic in at least three languages, lunging at him as she yelled obscenities and threats until Dominic pulled back and slapped her. I'm certainly not one of Tanya's biggest fans, but I never think it's right when a guy feels he can slap a woman around. I started back toward Dominic.

"Leave them," Raphael warned in my ear as his fingers tightened around mine.

"He's hitting her," I whispered, tugging to free my hand. "I don't like her, but I'm not going to stand by while he beats her up."

"She was almost hysterical with rage and out of control," Raphael said. "He wasn't really trying to hurt her."

I looked back at them. I had to admit Tanya was over the edge. She was still ranting and raving at Dominic, but other than defending himself from her claws, he wasn't striking her. He did shoot unhappy looks our way as Raphael hustled me out of the tent, but he got full marks for staying to deal with Tanya. Christian and Roxy were close on our heels, followed by the silent but eerie-as-hell Milos.

"Hey, did you notice, no catastrophes!" Roxy called out as Raphael was about to steer me away from the tent. "I guess you'll have to tell Miranda she was wrong about that after all. Of course, most of the stuff you predicted last time didn't happen for a few days, so you know, maybe now would be a good time to take out earthquake insurance."

"Oh, hardy-har-har. Where are you guys going now?" I'd been worried about what to do with Christian. I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the fact that he had an interest in me—not in that way—and I was more than ready to believe that his interest was all a put-on like Dominic's, except there was something stark in his eyes that had a little part of me believing he was sincere. If that was so, I wanted to make it clear to him that we had no future together, but at the same time let him know that I wished him well and wanted him to be happy. I know it sounds trite, but I did truly want to be friends with him.