Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
“Without an appointment, I’m afraid she is far too busy.”
Graves slid cash through the door. Kierse only got a glimpse to see that it was a sizable roll of hundred-dollar bills. “If she’ll see us now, there’s more where that comes from.”
Well, well, well, bribery instead of violence. That was new.
The guy pursed his lips, but he took the money, slamming the door in their faces. The chain pulled free, and then he opened the door once more.
“Welcome to Madam Rosetta’s Healing Arts. I am Isaiah, Madam Rosetta’s assistant. How can I help you?”
The scent of rosemary and damp moss enveloped Kierse before she even stepped inside. Sparks of purple magic flickered at the corners of the shop, indicating that Rosetta wasn’t a fraud. If Kierse had wondered if this was the right place, she no longer did.
They stepped into the darkened interior of the room only to find it was practically a cliché waiting to happen. Dark, lacy drapes covered the walls. The room was lit solely by candles and incense burned in a brazier. Crystals of every shape and size and color were along one wall along with a collection of oils and moon stones and dried herbs hung from the ceiling and filled a basket in sachets. There were sage bundles, ritual salts, and large handmade candles in colors with labels as to the reason to burn them. A giant cauldron took up the center of the space, and a large spell book stood open before it.
Kierse stepped up to it skeptically, but it was more prop than reality. She’d seen and touched enough magic to know that even spell books had a hint of magic to them, and with her new magical intuition, this thing was dead.
“We’re here to see Rosetta,” Graves said.
“For a cleansing?” Isaiah asked. “Or a tarot card reading? Perhaps a look into her crystal ball? Would you like to see your entangled love lines?”
“No,” Kierse said. “We’re here about her witchcraft.”
“That’s all she does,” he said, gesturing to the room. “Perhaps take a look around and…”
“Magic,” Graves said. “We’re here for her magic.”
“Of which you have none,” Kierse said, pointing at him. Her magical intuition told her everything she needed to know about him. “You’re a mer and trying to siren song us. It usually works, doesn’t it?”
“It won’t work on us, though,” Graves said. “So go tell Rosetta we’re here.”
“Don’t hurt my assistant,” a sharp old voice came from the back of a darkened doorway. Milky-white eyes looked back at them.
“Rosetta?” Graves asked.
“Ask and you shall receive.” She tilted her head at the pair of them, and a dangerous smile curved her lips. “Though I’m not sure you’ll like what I have to tell you.”
Chapter Nineteen
Rosetta’s backroom was much the same aesthetic of the front room. It had all the mysticism Kierse would have expected. A crystal ball in the middle of a black-and-purple-clothed table. A deck of oracle cards with a gold foil outline on the back was face down. Kierse had been with Gen enough times as she took on the moniker of Prophet Genesis to understand the trappings of their craft. Though she was just as accustomed to working with the Covenant witch coven in New York as well.
Rosetta moved with a grace that made Kierse question her age further. Her purple dress was covered in little silver-and-purple beads. The color accented the rich brown of her skin and the hints of purple magic that flared at the edges when she plucked a deck of cards from a tray.
She looked the part of a witch. Her magic said she was a witch. And yet Kierse couldn’t help feeling like she was putting on a performance for them, letting them see her as she wanted to be seen rather than who and what she really was. Did it mean she was more powerful than she was letting on…or less?
“Are you a seer?” Kierse asked.
“Sometimes. When what needs to be seen is seen.” Rosetta’s hands were covered with velvet gloves as she splayed the cards out before her lovingly.
Kierse nodded. “Yeah. I have a friend with a touch of sight, and she mostly can see through tarot when the cards want to show her something.”
“She’s a witch?” Rosetta said curiously. Those milky eyes looked up, seeing. Was she wearing contacts?
“High Priestess.”
“Much the same. Different origin.”
“I have a friend who is a witch at the Covenant.”
Rosetta grinned. “I used to work at the Covenant,” Rosetta said. “For a time.”
“Do you know Dr. Emmaline Mafi?”
“Indeed,” Rosetta said. “What a clever doctor she is, mixing her science and the craft together. I thought I would go that direction once, but…” She trailed off as she touched the bun at the top of her head. “Witches. High Priestesses. I’ve worked with them all. Taught most of them.”