The Hanged Maiden: A Reverse Harem Romance (Rise of the Ash Gods Book 1) Read online

“What... what are you doing?”

  Was it possible that her friend had gone bonkers? Piper’s huge, brown eyes grew wide as she watched Valentina stop in front of every wall of her room, make weird gestures with her hands in the air, and mutter indiscernible words under her breath. When had Val gotten into Reiki? No, that couldn’t be Reiki... Piper had looked up some of the basic Reiki symbols online for an obscure high school project ages ago, and what Val was doing seemed much more complex. She watched her in complete awe as she moved from the walls to the corners, then to the closed door and the windows. When she was done and sat back down on the bed, Piper could feel the air in her room had changed. But she couldn’t say how. She just felt more at peace. Like nothing could ever go wrong in the world.

  “I hope this will keep them away,” Val whispered. She’d never felt so tired in her life.

  “Keep who away?”

  “Th-them...” She motioned randomly toward the windows, then her eyes dropped, and she collapsed on the pillows.

  “Valentina?” Piper shook her lightly, then poked her in the ribs. “You’re kidding me... Who falls asleep like that? Did you drink without me? Are you hungover?” She poked her in the ribs again. Nothing. “Well, okay then. It’s a sleepover party.”

  She took off Val’s boots, dragged her to the middle of the bed, and started covering her with the duvet when she noticed the leather box attached to her belt. She shook her head, smiled, and unhooked the pouch.

  “You never go anywhere without your tarot deck, do you?”

  She placed the box on the nightstand and went downstairs to make herself a sandwich.

  CHAPTER TWO

  She was spinning, spinning, spinning, then floating above a river so dirty that she couldn’t even see her own reflection in the water. She blinked the blur and confusion away, and when her vision refocused, the colors were so intense that they took her breath away. The perfect blue of the sky, the colorful people crowding the bank of the river, a golden temple in the distance… “I’m dreaming,” Valentina thought. “I’m dreaming and I’m awake in my dream.” Her heart fluttered at the thought of all the endless possibilities. She’d had lucid dreams since she was a child, yet it still took her by surprise when she found herself in one. “Must explore.” She turned around, because it was always exciting to see what would materialize behind her and whether it had anything to do with what was before her. She gasped in awe at the sight of a huge, magnificent statue emerging from the muddy waves. It was the statue of a god. His skin was deep blue, his hair was black and flowing over his wide shoulders, he had four arms instead of two, and he was sitting in lotus position. The statue rose and rose toward the sky, throwing a long, wide shadow over the river and Valentina’s tiny form. A golden serpent was wrapped around the god’s neck, its head resting on his chest. Val blinked, and the serpent moved. It slithered down his chest, arched its thick body in the air, and slowly floated toward her. The creature looked into her eyes, and Val felt like she was frozen in space and time. This was her lucid dream, so why couldn’t she control it? Then the snake opened its mouth, stuck out its long, undulating tongue, and whispered: “Do you have five rupees, friend? I haven’t eaten in days…”

  Valentina jumped wide awake and barely contained a scream when she realized she wasn’t in her own bed. With trembling hands, she pushed the duvet off her sweating, shaking body, and started patting her chest and neck. She could swear that the golden snake had gone for her throat after asking for five rupees.

  “Hey, hey… You’re okay now. Bad dream?”

  Piper was sitting at her desk. There was nothing she wanted more than to snuggle against Valentina’s side and whisper reassuring words in her ear, but it just wasn’t a good idea. For the sake of her own heart, she had to keep her distance.

  “Pipes? What… what am I doing here?” Val ran her fingers through her long black hair and started pulling at some stubborn knots. She hated it when her hair was all sweaty and tangled. “I think I have a fever.” Instinctively, she patted down her belt, looking for the leather pouch she always wore attached to it. She jumped right out of the bed when she realized it was missing. “My tarot cards! Piper, I lost my tarot cards!” She fell to her knees and started looking for them on the floor and under the bed.

  Piper laughed out loud.

  “Chill, crazy! You haven’t lost a thing. They’re on the nightstand.”

  Valentina grabbed the leather box, opened it, and dumped the cards on the floor. With hands that shook harder and harder by the minute, she scattered them, looking for the Swords and the Lovers card. Had all that been a dream, too? She found the Four of Swords and stared at it for a long moment. The imagery depicted a knight lying on a tomb, inside a church, with three swords hanging above him, on the wall, and a fourth one lying just beneath him. Valentina held her breath. If the knight didn’t move, then the attack on the temple had only been a bad dream. If the knight…

  “You look like an army of smoke monsters ran over you.”

  Valentina screamed and dropped the card. “Shit!”

  “What did you say?” Piper cocked an eyebrow.

  “N-nothing.”

  The blonde girl pushed her chair away from the desk, stood up, and approached Val carefully. She was pretty sure she’d just misheard her, but maybe she should check to see if she really had a fever. Valentina De Rossi had always been Piper’s weirdest, craziest, most out-of-the-ordinary friend. But she had never passed out on her bed, slept until after midnight, then woken up to freak out about losing her tarot cards and talk about smoke monsters. As Val was picking up her cards, Piper looked over her shoulder and almost jumped out of her skin.

  “It moved!”

  “What moved?” Val gathered all the cards quickly and stuffed them back into the leather pouch.

  “The card moved. I mean, no. The guy on the card!”

  Val chuckled forcefully. She grabbed the edge of the bed, pulled herself to her feet, and started looking for her boots.

  “So that’s how you’re playing it? You’re just going to ignore me?” Piper crossed her arms over her flat chest.

  “I… I don’t know what to say. The light…” She motioned at the desk lamp. “It must have fallen at a weird angle…”

  “Optical illusion? Really? Val, I know what I saw.”

  Val had already put her boots on and was headed for the door. She stopped with her hand on the door handle, somewhat entranced by the sigil she herself had put there before she’d passed out and slept for almost seven hours. It was fading. She turned around and saw all the other sigils on the walls, windows, and the four corners of the room were fading, too. A blocking spell cast in a hurry could only last so long.

  “Val, seriously. You’re acting crazy. Just tell me what’s going on. You rushed in here, started drawing things in the air, you rambled about something, or some things, that you were trying to keep away... What the hell, woman?! I’m your friend. You can tell me anything.”

  Valentina bit the inside of her cheek. She had to leave, but she didn’t want to. Where would she go? Her home had been turned upside down by an enemy that had popped out of nowhere. What had happened at the temple... She could barely wrap her mind around it. Smoke entities... Monsters with more than one head, made entirely out of black smoke. She’d never heard or read about anything like that. Had Dante made it out safe and sound? Where were her parents?

  “I have to go.”

  Piper sighed loudly and smacked her hands against her hips in frustration.

  Val cracked the door open, looked down the dark corridor, and took in the complete silence of the house. Piper’s parents were surely sleeping, as was Ian. It was way past midnight, and the only reason why her friend wasn’t sleeping as well was because Val had taken over her bed. A sense of dread she couldn’t understand suddenly took over her whole being, and she closed back the door. Leaving now would have been a mistake. She wanted to go look for her parents. She wanted to
run back to the temple and make sure Dante was still alive. She wanted to mourn the High Keeper, and she wanted someone beside her, someone who was more experienced, a Keeper who’d served La Congrega di Spade for more than three measly years and knew exactly what needed to be done in this situation. But there wasn’t anyone. And she couldn’t go look for such a person. What she needed to do was pull herself together, remember her training, and be that person.

  “Do you mean it?” Valentina turned to Piper and looked her right in the eyes. “That I can tell you anything and you won’t judge me or freak out? That I can tell you things I should have told you years ago, and you won’t hate me for keeping secrets?”

  Piper gulped. Okay, she hadn’t expected that. Her naturally pale skin turned even paler, the blood suddenly draining from her cheeks. She nodded, nonetheless. When Valentina stepped closer to her and took her by the hand, she followed her friend and sat down beside her on the edge of the bed. Val’s hands were just as cold as hers.

  “Piper, I’m a witch.” Valentina paused for a second, expecting the blonde to burst out laughing, as she often did when she accidentally betrayed herself. But Piper didn’t say a word, nor made a gesture. Maybe that was why. Val had accidentally given her so many clues, that Piper had somehow sensed this moment would come. “I come from a long line of witches, just like my mom and dad. My ancestors immigrated to the US in 1872, but not for the same reasons as all the Italians who were running away from war and poverty. It was just the perfect time for the De Rossis to come here without raising suspicion. My family belongs to... well... what we call La Congrega di Spade. In fewer words, it’s a coven. My coven is sworn to protect something very valuable.” She pulled out her tarot cards, went through them, and laid out the fourteen cards of the Suit of Swords and the Lovers between her and Piper. “The Suit of Swords.”

  Piper’s jaw dropped. The characters and objects in the cards were moving and whispering as if they were alive. When the Page of Swords swung at her, Piper leaned away, ready to run across the room if the woman decided to jump out of the card. The Page started laughing, and Piper relaxed, but still felt it was wise to put some distance between herself and the cards.

  “What are you doing, Keeper?” The Queen of Swords rubbed her temples as if she was dealing with the worst headache of her eternal life. “You can’t reveal these things to an Ordinary. You’ve put us all in danger.”

  Piper furrowed her brows. “An Ordinary? That’s so rude! I’m not... ordinary.”

  Valentina bit the inside of her cheek. “Of course you’re not! It’s just... it’s a word. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s what witches call people who aren’t witches.”

  “Do you call me Ordinary, too?”

  “Oh my Goddess! No, no, no! Never. Pipes, you’re my best friend. I would never...”

  Piper didn’t seem convinced, so Valentina took a deep breath and held the Queen of Swords up, so she could look her in the eyes.

  “Look, Roxana…” It was the first time she was calling her by her real name. She felt uneasy at first, but then again… she needed to establish some ground rules here. She was the one who had saved the Suit, so queen or no queen, Roxana of Bactria had to show some respect. “I know my approach is highly unorthodox, but these are strange times. Piper is my friend, and she wants to help. Whatever attacked us at the temple, it went for all the witches in town. The De Rossis, the Contis, the Jeffersons, the Princes, and the Byrnes… they were either at the temple, or they were at home, and those things made of smoke knew exactly what they were doing. I’m starting to believe that the only reason why I’m alive is because I came here. And don’t forget that you’re alive because I’m alive, so cut me some slack here. I’m doing the best I can, but what comes next... I can’t do it alone.” She set the card down and looked up at her friend. “Piper, you’re the only one I can trust. I want to tell you everything. I need your help, but first I need you to know what you’re getting into.”

  Piper nodded and scooted closer. The Queen had fallen silent, and the other cards were more interested in studying her than in contradicting their Keeper. The Page had tucked her sword away and was waiting to see what would happen next. The King was awfully peaceful for someone who was supposed to be a true leader.

  “How... how is this happening?” Piper motioned toward the cards. “Is it some sort of magic?”

  Valentina pursed her lips and thought for a second. “Kind of? Okay, I’ll try to explain. These are the original cards of the Suit of Swords. The first ever created. They are as old as the human race itself. Normally, you wouldn’t find them in an average-sized deck, in a Keeper’s pocket. They are kept in the temple of the coven and guarded by Keepers day and night. But if the temple is attacked and the cards are in danger, one way of protecting them is to absorb them into a common deck and take them away, as far as possible from the threat. I drew the short straw yesterday.” She chuckled sadly. “I was the closest to the altar, so I had to cast the spell and absorb the cards into my deck.”

  “Okay... Okay.” Piper was doing her best to keep up with Val’s story. “And what’s the next step? According to... err... protocol...”

  Valentina blew out her cheeks, then exhaled loudly. “Find the Major Arcana.”

  “What? Why? Where is it?”

  “I don’t know, but the Lovers will tell me.” She held up the card. “Piper, meet Tristan and Iseult. Tristan, Iseult, meet my best friend, Piper Chase.”

  “Milady.” Tristan bowed respectfully, one hand held politely behind his back.

  “A pleasure to meet you, Piper Chase.” Iseult smiled and curtsied.

  Piper blinked in confusion, blushed, and waved awkwardly. “H-hi.” She looked back up at Valentina. “They are... they’re not... they can’t be. Tristan and Iseult aren’t even... real.”

  “I beg your pardon.” Iseult didn’t look as pleased as a second before.

  “I’m sorry, no offense. I...” Piper took a deep breath. “You guys call me an Ordinary, so you know what?”

  Iseult nodded thoughtfully. “True, true... You’re forgiven.”

  Valentina couldn’t take it anymore. She burst out laughing, which earned her more than a few angry looks from the Suit of Swords. She masked her laughter with a cough, cleared her throat, and put the Lovers down.

  “This is just a copy of the original Lovers card. The covens protecting the Swords, the Pentacles, the Cups, and the Wands each have a copy of the Lovers. The original Lovers is with the Major Arcana always, either with what we call the Trionfi Chiari, or the Trionfi Scuri. I know, I know.... it sounds complicated at first. To better protect the mysteries of the original tarot cards, the deck was divided into six, with six covens to guard them. One coven for each Suit, then another two, one for the masculine part of the Major Arcana, the Trionfi Chiari, and another for the feminine part of the Major Arcana, the Trionfi Scuri. The Lovers is the only card in the Major Arcana that has four copies, one for each Suit coven. The original Lovers are with the Trionfi Scuri now, and they were supposed to be passed to the Trionfi Chiari during a ceremony that... well... was supposed to be hosted by my coven this year.” She sighed deeply. “This happens once every three years. All the six covens come together in one place, celebrate, and pass the original Lovers from one part of the Major Arcana to the other. That’s to keep the balance.”

  “Why not just keep the Major Arcana together, in one place?”

  “Safety. The Major Arcana is super important. If anything happens to the Majors, the Minors fade into nothingness. We can’t risk having all the Majors in one place, so we separated them, just like we separated the suits, too.”

  “Alright, I see how that could make sense... So, you know where to find the… err… Trionfi Scuri?”

  “Nope. But Tristan and Iseult will tell me. Only the High Keepers know the locations of all the covens.”

  “I don’t get it. If this ceremony happens every three years and the covens take turns to
host it, then aren’t the locations disclosed?”

  “Glamour spell. Aside from the High Keepers, and the High Sorceress and High Sorcerer who are in charge of the Major Arcana, no one can discern where they are even as they walk the streets and roam around the temple. Neat, right?”

  “Huh. Isn’t it frustrating, though? I mean… you’re a witch and a Keeper. You’re pretty damn awesome! It must suck to be kept in the dark. Especially when these things directly concern you.”

  “These are the rules.”

  Piper chuckled. “Yes, yes… and you’re a sucker for rules.”

  “Exactly. But it’s not just that. Because we have safety measures on top of safety measures on top of safety measures, when one of the covens is discovered and attacked, we know that the others are fine. So, we’re just going to let Tristan and Iseult show us the way. We’ll find the Trionfi Scuri, as we should, and the High Sorceress will know what to do. Easy peasy.”

  “Sure. I’m still confused about something. You guys… six covens spread all over the world… unknown locations and a bunch of strict rules… you’re protecting the mysteries of the tarot from… whom?”

  Valentina made herself busy with the cards. She set aside the Lovers and started shuffling the Suit of Swords back into her deck.

  “Val?” Piper crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, you can’t tell me. Because I’m an Ordinary?”

  “No. Because I’m not sure myself.”

  “You mean you’ve dedicated your life to being a Keeper, and you don’t even know what you’re keeping the cards away from?”

  “I do. Kind of. This part of the story is really complicated.”

  “Try.”

  Valentina shrugged and answered in vague terms. “There are things. Beings. Entities. I don’t know. Bad guys who would interfere with the fate of the Earth and the humans here. Not everything that’s out there wants humans to evolve and stuff. The Trionfi is what stands between the bad guys and us, so we’d be left alone to do our thing.”