Free Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelley Hall Page A

condescending Kate could be?
    “Rebecca, you don’t have to—” Maddie stammered.
    Cordelia interrupted, “No, Maddie. Let her. I’m curious to see what’s in store for the infamous Kate Endicott.”
    Rebecca tentatively took the bill, shifting her gaze from Maddie to Kate to Cordelia. “Come over here,” she said to Kate, leading the way to a table covered in black velvet.
    The other girls crowded around as Kate took a seat directly across from Rebecca. Kate placed the apothecary bottle down on the table. When Rebecca saw what Kate had chosen, her eyes widened slightly, and she regarded Kate quizzically. Cordelia hopped up onto the oak counter, swinging her legs back and forth. The sound of feet banging on the counter filled the brick store like a hollow metronome.
    “Where’s your crystal ball?” Kate asked. The other girls giggled, and Rebecca’s eyes clouded over as she realized that these girls were not serious about the reading. They were here to make fun of Rebecca, Cordelia, and this store. Maddie gave Rebecca a pleading look, hoping to impart that she had nothing to do with these girls coming to the store that afternoon.
    Rebecca’s voice lost its friendly tone. “I don’t use one. I use other…tools.”
    “Like from Home Depot?” Kate said, again with an innocent tone. The others snickered.
    Rebecca raised one eyebrow, sat up very straight, and grabbed Kate’s hand suddenly.
    “Ow,” Kate said, laughing. “Boy, this really is a hands-on reading.” Maddie wasn’t sure, but she thought she could almost detect hesitation in Kate’s voice.
    Rebecca placed Kate’s manicured hand over a well-worn stack of tarot cards. She grabbed a bag of rune stones and dumped them onto the table, arranging them around Kate’s down-turned hand.
    “Pick one,” Rebecca ordered. Her easygoing demeanor was now replaced with a more serious focus. Rebecca, like Tess, had the ability of seeing through people to their core. She obviously didn’t like what she saw when she looked at Kate. Her aunt’s beautiful face, typically characterized by a wide smile and relaxed expression, had hardened and drained of color.
    Kate tried to look serious as she dug down through the pile and pulled out a card, but then she glanced at it and quickly shoved it to the bottom of the pack. She pulled another card, looked at it, and seemed pleased as she handed it to Rebecca.
    Rebecca remained expressionless as she placed the card—the Queen of Pentacles—in the center of the rune stones and looked at each one closely. Then she instructed Kate to select four stones. Kate hesitantly pointed at four onyx stones with different, unusual shapes on them. Rebecca arranged the card in the center of the four stones. She pointed to the card and said, “This is you.” Kate reached to turn the card around, but Rebecca stopped her. “Don’t move the card,” she warned. “Part of the meaning is tied to the direction in which the card is pointing.”
    Kate seemed pleased. “I’m a queen!” she said, turning to the other girls. “I always knew I was royalty.” She laughed as Rebecca regarded her with narrowed eyes. “What does the Queen of Pentacles mean?”
    “Well,” Rebecca said hesitantly, her eyes fluttering up to meet Cordelia’s. Maddie knew that the card was reversed—or upside down—which almost always had a negative meaning. Typically, it would be the opposite of whatever positive fortune was held within the card. But Maddie wasn’t sure how much Rebecca would reveal to Kate. Usually, she didn’t like to share anything bad with her customers, and despite her obvious dislike of Kate, it appeared that she was going to remain professional. “The Queen loves beautiful things and has an artist’s eye. She enjoys material comforts and surrounds herself with people who give her what she wants. Her home is impeccably and lavishly decorated. Everything about her is beautifully and tastefully maintained: her clothes, her