Chapter 21 #2
“And now you can have one more.” Violet hurried to her feet and back to the bar cart.
Regina studied her as she poured the other two drinks.
She hadn’t seen Violet like this in a long time, a mix of nerves and a quiet sort of happiness that had disappeared in the wake of their parents’ deaths and Violet’s new responsibilities.
They’d settled into a rhythm over the past thirteen years, one that eased Regina’s heart despite the deep grief that still lived there.
Now, Violet’s eyes were bright, her smile brighter—like a girl in love.
But that was impossible with the spells Regina had been so careful to cast. She sipped her drink.
The hint of guilt she carried because of said spells eased as she realized her sister never needed love to find happiness.
Tillie reappeared with two wrapped boxes in her hands. She set them on the table. Violet handed her a Manhattan, and Tillie took a long drink, almost draining the glass. Regina smirked, glad she’d made it clear who was in charge here.
Violet took up the spot beside Regina on the couch. Tillie set her drink on the table, grabbed the boxes, and offered one to Regina and one to Violet before sitting at the edge of their yellow lounge chair.
“It’s a housewarming gift,” Tillie said.
“Shouldn’t I be the one giving you a gift?” Regina asked.
“I’m open to that,” Tillie said with a laugh, “but since you’re welcoming me into your home …”
Regina tore through the tissue paper with the tip of her fingernail. Beside her, Violet struggled with the tape thanks to her always-short nails. Regina leaned over and pulled it free. Her sister smiled, and they opened their gifts the rest of the way to reveal two wooden boxes.
Regina slid the cover off hers and found a deck of cards nestled inside.
The backs were a rich, deep black with a candle in the center.
She glanced over at Violet’s, a mirror of her own but in green.
She lifted the first card and flipped it over to find a woman standing on a front porch, honeysuckle-wrapped columns on either side of her, in much the same pose as the fool card.
“Tarot?” Regina asked.
“For your magic,” Tillie said. “Both of you. I painted them myself.”
Regina held the card up in front of her and traced the tip of her finger over the steps, the vines, the door in the background.
“Is this …?”
“Honeysuckle House,” Tillie said.
Regina glanced up from the card to find Tillie’s eyes earnest, a small smile on her face. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“They’re a matching set,” Tillie said, with a nod toward the deck in Violet’s hands.
“They’re beautiful,” Regina said, surprise in her voice.
She’d never received such a thoughtful gift.
She pulled the full deck from the box and held them gently in her hands.
A window opened and closed, and she glanced toward the wall with a grin.
“I think the house likes the way you’ve painted it. ”
Tillie flushed, then finished her Manhattan. “Go ahead,” she said. “Pull a card. Both of you.”
Regina nodded slowly as she wondered if her sister was right, if the house had been lonely with just the two of them.
“You first,” Violet said.
But Regina shook her head as she started to shuffle her cards. “Let’s do it at the same time.”
After the deck was fully incorporated, Regina fanned it out in front of her.
She held a hand over the cards until she felt a warmth in her palm that ran all the way up her arm to the center of her chest, so much like the heat she felt when preparing a candle.
She let it sit there, flames brushing up against her heart for a few seconds, a reminder of her power.
“Ready?” she asked.
Violet nodded, and they flipped their cards.
“Oh!” Violet said with a soft gasp. Regina glanced at her sister’s card before looking at her own. In the center, two hands had been lovingly detailed. They held each other, nails cut short and painted bright red, a six along the top. Regina tilted her head, trying to make sense of the image.
“The lovers?” she asked. It was different than the illustration on the Rider-Waite-Smith deck Regina used.
The card most often represented romance, but that was impossible.
Regina had made sure of it, which pointed to only one thing: platonic soulmates.
It had to be about Regina and Violet. For the first time since Violet broke the news about Tillie, Regina felt the fear in her heart melt away.
She looked up to find her sister’s eyes locked on Tillie’s, her cheeks flushed. Tillie bit her lip.
“Regina …” Violet started, but as she looked away from Tillie to the card Regina had revealed, she stopped short.
“So Violet will be lucky in love,” Tillie said, a smile in her voice, when Violet stilled her with a hand on her knee.
Both Tillie and Regina followed Violet’s gaze, and Tillie let out a soft, “Oh.”
Regina lifted her own card to get a better look at it.
Vines entwined the carefully painted heart.
Three sharp thorns dug in deep, dripping with blood.
This might not be the exact illustration she’d grown up on, but Regina knew right away what card she held: The three of swords.
A sign of betrayal, heartbreak, or both.
The last time she’d pulled this card had been the night before her parents’ accident.
She traced a finger over the vines, wishing the card would tell her more. Regina didn’t put her heart at risk, she’d made careful work of that over the past thirteen years. But betrayal? She looked up at her sister.
“I suppose it’s a good thing I’m not in love.” There was only one person Regina loved, and she knew her sister would never break her heart.
“It doesn’t have to mean future heartbreak,” Violet said. “It could be pointing to a past loss.”
Regina nodded slowly. In a few days it would be thirteen years since their parents’ death—half of Regina’s life spent without them. She couldn’t imagine a worse heartbreak.