Crack the Spine by Wade Lewellyn-Hughes

Author:Wade Lewellyn-Hughes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: lgbt urban fantasy, black lesbian protagonist, transgender pansexual witch, dark fantasy mystery, found family, Queer gay supernatural, witchcraft spells pantheon
Publisher: Wade Lewellyn-Hughes
Published: 2023-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15: Eight of Wands

The clouds cleared away in the afternoon while Kendall napped. When she came downstairs, Frankie was working away at her computer in the kitchen. Kendall decided it was best to let her work in peace and went to the living room in her search for the others.

Dressed as Rita, their hostess came in from the front porch with empty wineglasses in her hands. Diego came in behind her. Rita beamed. “There’s our sleeping beauty! You missed Sheriff Calhoun’s visit. That girl you saved, she’s going to be fine. A few days in the hospital, and she’ll be right as a greasy breakfast after a thirsty Saturday.” She looked at her glass. “Speaking of . . .”

As she passed Kendall, she said, “I’m going to do a few more readings. Diego, dear, do you want to try? Your Auntie Rita can teach you.”

“Does Ryan Reynolds love Canada?” He chased after her through the beads for his refill.

“Marvelous!” Rita yelled from the kitchen. “Kendall, take a seat at the table. We’ll start with you.”

“Oh, I don’t need a reading. Thank you!”

Tapping her nails on her significantly full glass, Rita rattled her way through the beads and dropped her chin. “Nonsense, and you know how I feel about nonsense.” She smiled and took her seat at the fringe-lined table where she made her money. “Don’t dawdle! You’re doing it for Diego’s education. Education is so important these days. Between vaccines and racism—ugh, and don’t get me started on white privilege, or I’ll never stop!”

“You mean white privilege like flirting with a sheriff via text message?”

Rita’s face drooped in an unreadable yet clearly bothered manner. If Kendall had had to guess, she’d have said the expression was trapped somewhere between rebuttal and reprimand. Regardless, it vanished in an instant. “Oh! Where is that damn phone?”

With a grin, Kendall sank into the lush purple velvet chair. “Never mind that. Tell me my future, Miss Fortune.”

“Good girl.” Rita gulped from her glass and set it down. Wrapped in black silk, her deck of tarot cards received eight French tips. Rita’s long fingers stood there, displaying their hefty amethyst rings as Rita cleared her mind. Then she unwrapped the deck and considered Diego, who was dragging a chair over. “Your hands aren’t sweaty, are they? I have some gloves if you need them. Nothing personal, my darling. My cards are my livelihood, you understand.” She sharply eyed his opened hands. “Maybe you just watch this one. See how your auntie does it first. Let’s see, you’re a Pisces. I’ll get you a deck for Christmas. It’s sooner.”

Upon receiving the deck to cut, Kendall closed her eyes and tried to focus on a question of consequence. Tara’s location. How to avoid the Lyceum. Anything other than Lacey. She split the deck three times evenly, shuffled the cards, and passed them back to Rita.

Rita laid out the top ten cards. “You see, I prefer the Celtic Cross spread,” she explained to Diego. “It’s easy for the querent to follow.

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