The Sacred Maiden Read online

“Come,” Adelle pushed herself to her feet. She was wobbly at first, but then she reached out to take Valentina’s hand. “Let me see what I can do about that scar. Does it hurt?”

  “Not anymore.” Val followed her mother downstairs. “You should see the other guy,” she tried to joke. “Anyway, it’s fine.”

  “I can fix it for you. I’m a little dizzy…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “But I still have my magic.”

  “No, Mom. I don’t need it fixed. I like it the way it is.”

  Adelle stopped in her tracks and turned to her. “But… it’s not pretty.”

  “Mom!” Okay, there was the cold-hearted woman who only cared about appearances. If there had been any doubt in Val’s heart about successfully having exorcised the Walk-In, it was gone. This was Adelle De Rossi alright. “It reminds me of how far I’ve come. It stays.”

  Adelle sighed and eventually acknowledged her daughter’s wish with a nod.

  “We’re wasting time.” As if out of nowhere, Valentina felt a tremor of unease shake her to the core. She studied the empty, morbidly silent living room for a second. “We shouldn’t be here. Dad escaped. I mean, not Dad. The thing that has taken over his body. They know where we are. All of them. They know I’m back and that I have the Suit of Swords with me.” She looked into Adelle’s eyes before saying the next words. No matter how hard she wanted it to be different, Val still wanted her mom’s approval and appreciation more than anything. “And the Suit of Pentacles, and the Suit of Wands. I also have the Trionfi Scuri and the Trionfi Chiari. Granted… not much is left of the Major Arcana… But I’m working on it. I have everything under control. That’s why it’s so, so important to get out of here and find a safe place where we can talk and come up with a plan.”

  Just like she’d expected, her mother was speechless.

  “Score!” Ravenna cheered sarcastically in her head.

  Val mentally rolled her eyes at her.

  “You… have the Wands and the Coins? Oh my God, what happened?” She grabbed Val by the shoulders. This time, when she looked into her daughter’s eyes, it struck her how much she’d changed. How much she’d grown. And where had she been? “Valentina, you have to tell me everything. Not much is left of the Major Arcana… What does that mean?”

  “It means that we have to go. Now. My friends are waiting for us outside. Maybe Piper can hide us.”

  “Piper? She knows?”

  Val nodded. “Please don’t be angry…”

  Adelle shook her head vigorously, then gave Val the biggest, most honest smile she’d ever given her since she was a tiny baby in her arms. “I’m not angry, honey. I could never be angry at you. I mean… look at you! You saved our suit, you saved two other suits, and you protected the Major Arcana with your life. I’m glad Piper helped you. I’m glad you told her about us, about who we are and what our mission is, and I’m glad she was there for you. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Knowing that you were not alone, that you had someone you could trust… it fills my heart. And at the same time, it makes me feel so guilty that I wasn’t there.” She choked a bit on those last words. “That I succumbed to that… that terrible creature and didn’t fight it…”

  “Mom, no. Don’t say that. You fought. You and Dad both. I know it.”

  Adelle shook her head. “It wasn’t enough. We should have fought harder.”

  “It doesn’t matter now, okay? I’m here, and you’re here with me. I know how to save them all. How to drag those things out of their bodies and exile them back to the fourth dimension. And I have you, now. You’re more powerful and more experienced than me. Together, we will rid the world of all Walk-Ins, of each and every being that has crossed dimensions against all the laws of our universe.”

  Adelle was silent for a minute. She couldn’t believe how mature Valentina was. Only a few months had passed since she’d last seen her, since La Congrega di Spade had been attacked, but it felt like years.

  “All right. You need to tell me everything, but not now, and not here. Let’s go find Piper.”

  Val’s whole face lit up. Her mother was on her side and agreeing with her. Well, that was a first!

  As they rushed into the garden and headed toward the back gate, Adelle squeezed her daughter’s hand to get her attention.

  “They know about Piper, Val. They didn’t touch her because they hoped you would come back for her. But now that we’re here…”

  Fear froze Val’s blood. “We’re all in danger.”

  “I have a safe place.”

  “You do? But if Dad knows about it, then…”

  “He doesn’t.”

  Val cocked an eyebrow, disbelief painted all over her features.

  “It’s not what you think,” Adelle rushed to assure her. “It’s an apartment he doesn’t know about. But I promise you, it’s not what you think.”

  “She doesn’t know what you’re thinking right now,” Ravenna offered mischievously.

  Val ignored her.

  “Okay, Mom. I trust you.”

  “Good. I will never let you down again.”

  That was more than Valentina had ever hoped to get from her mother. Piper, Sia, and Magny were waiting for them in the back alley, hidden behind a neighbor’s truck. She couldn’t help but giggle at how silly they looked.

  “Hiding from evil beings from another dimension behind a car,” she mused silently. “I wonder whose idea that was.”

  “Take a wild guess,” Ravenna chuckled back.

  Magnus Luchtar’s idea, of course. There could be no other answer.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Adelle’s apartment was small, but tastefully furnished. As she stepped over its threshold, Valentina tried to stay calm and not make any assumptions. It was hard. Almost impossible. After all, why would a married woman own an apartment in town that her husband didn’t know about? Usually, there was only one logical explanation to that question. But no. It couldn’t be. Adelina loved Cosimo, granted he was a bit too old for her, and she was a beauty queen when he had belly.

  “I like it,” Val said, trying to break the unbearable silence with some positivity. “It’s… quaint.”

  Adelle motioned for everyone to make themselves comfortable.

  “I will take a shower. Ten minutes. I just need to…” She ran her hands through her long black hair, scrunching up her nose. “I feel dirty. Like my body doesn’t belong to me anymore. Hot water should help.”

  “Take all the time you need, Mrs. De Rossi,” Piper encouraged her. “I can’t even begin to imagine how you must feel. That thing inside your head, taking over…” She stopped when Sia shot her a warning glance. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be inappropriate.”

  Adelle gave her a forced smile and disappeared into the tiny bathroom.

  “What were you thinking, Pipes?” Sia admonished her. “She’s not ready to talk about it.”

  Piper made herself small. The only Ordinary in a world or Extraordinaries… No matter how hard she tried, she still ended up doing or saying the wrong thing.

  “Don’t worry about her, guys,” Val said. “She’ll be fine. Mom is the toughest woman I know.” She turned to Magny, who’d poofed himself in the kitchen and was rummaging through the cupboards. She rolled her eyes as she called out to him. “Anything edible or drinkable? I’m thirsty.”

  Magny poofed himself on her shoulder to whisper in her ear: “There’s a suspicious amount of alcohol in there.”

  “Water will do.”

  The hobgoblin shrugged and proceeded to poof glasses of water right into everyone’s hands. Piper yelped and almost dropped hers.

  “So, are you going to tell us what happened in Thailand?” Sia asked.

  Of all people, of course Sia would be the one to cut right to the chase.

  “I found the Suit of Wands, that’s what happened. Now, I just need to figure out where the Suit of Cups is, and we’re good. We might stand a real chance at saving the
Mysteries of the Tarot.”

  Sia motioned toward her own cheek. “No, witch. The scar. How did you get it? It looks nasty as hell.”

  Valentina took a sip of her water. It was a long story, and just like Adelle, who wasn’t ready to talk about the entity that had possessed her, she didn’t feel ready to talk about how much she’d failed in Thailand, either. That was why she wanted to keep her scar. She’d lied to her mother earlier. It wasn’t because she wanted to remember how far she’d come. She wanted to remember how hard she’d fallen, how awfully she’d failed to protect the ones who’d put their trust in her. She cleared her throat, parted her lips to say something, then glued them shut again.

  “Well?” Sia pressed.

  “Maybe we should just wait for Mom.”

  The bathroom door creaked open, and Adelle stepped in wrapped in a bathrobe, water dripping from her hair.

  “Thailand?” She asked, surprise written all over her face. “How did you get there?”

  “Plane,” Val chuckled.

  “You know what I mean.” Adelle went into the kitchen and came out with four glasses and a bottle of red wine. “I need a drink, and you can’t blame me.”

  Piper’s jaw dropped when the woman started pouring for everyone.

  “We can’t drink…”

  Adelle laughed out loud. “Really? You girls faced evil entities from the fourth dimension, and God knows what else. You’ve grown in a few months more than others grow in years. Age is just a number.” She raised her glass, encouraging Piper to pick up hers.

  Sia grabbed her wine. “I’m from Europe. Been drinking since I turned eighteen. I’m good.”

  Valentina raised her glass to her lips, and before taking a sip, she looked at Piper over the transparent rim. “Come on, Pipes. We’ve gotten drunk together so many times…”

  “This is different,” Piper hissed. “Your mother is here!”

  Adelle ignored her. She’d said she was fine with Piper, an Ordinary, being part of her paranormal family now, and there was a part of her that believed it, too, but deep down, she was still the traditional witch she’d always been. She wasn’t going to waste time on Piper – not more than it was absolutely needed. She turned to her daughter. When she saw the hobgoblin perched on her shoulder, sniffing her wine, she furrowed her brows.

  “And how did you two meet?”

  The hostility in Adelle’s voice wasn’t lost on Valentina.

  “Mom, this is Magnus Luchtar. He’s saved my life at least two or three times.”

  Magny bowed respectfully. “Lovely to make your acquaintance, Valentina’s mother. Now, I think I’d like a glass of that, too.” He snapped his fingers, and a glass that was more his size materialized out of thin air. Using his magical skills, he made the bottle of wine float toward him and tip over to fill his glass. He was putting on a show. Adelina De Rossi was a renowned witch, and Magny wanted to impress her. He could feel she was a bit of a pain in the ass from the way she treated Piper. If he could get into her good graces, he would be more than satisfied. Maybe he’d even ask Valentina for a short leave of absence to visit his family of hobgoblins to tell them all about how Adelina De Rossi and he were all buddy-buddy.

  “I don’t trust hobgoblins.” Adelle’s harsh words cut his enthusiasm short. “They’re unreliable, two-faced, and always have a hidden agenda.”

  “I beg your pardon!” Well, it hadn’t taken long for him to change his mind about Dear Mom. “Didn’t you hear your daughter? I saved her life! You know, these outdated preconceptions are everything that’s wrong with the world.”

  Adelle huffed. “Big words for such a tiny, annoying creature.”

  “Mom!” Val couldn’t believe this was happening. “Magny is my friend. You will not talk to him like that.”

  Adelle sighed and looked away from Magnus, who was now sipping his wine loudly, as if to intentionally reinforce her belief that hobgoblins were all annoying little jerks. “Fine. Then tell me what happened in Thailand.” She’d heard Sia when she was in the bathroom. “How did you get that awful scar?”

  Valentina dragged in a breath. It was time. She couldn’t avoid telling this story anymore.

  “When I arrived in Thailand, La Congrega di Bastoni was gone. The Walk-Ins had taken over. The Keepers and the Apprentices were all possessed. The High Keeper was dead.”

  Adelled pursed her lips. She was very good at controlling her emotions.

  “If the Chariot hadn’t told me exactly where he’d hidden the Suit of Wands before taking his own life, no one would have ever found the cards.” She took her deck out and spread all the cards she had on the table. She set the Suit of Cups aside, since that was the only one she didn’t yet possess.

  The characters in all the other three suits that were still active moved inside their cards and whispered amongst themselves as the Queen and the King of Swords greeted Adelle respectfully. After all, she was one of the most powerful witches entrusted with their safekeeping. Adelle nodded and exchanged some pleasantries with Alexander the Great and Roxana of Bactria, then her attention went to the Major Arcana. The ladies in the Trionfi Scuri were sleeping peacefully, while the Trionfi Chiari were short of five cards. She set her glass down and took the Magician, the Hanged Man, the Emperor, and Death in her trembling hands. Tilting the cards toward the fading light coming through the windows, she realized the men inside them were strangers to her. As a high-ranked Keeper, she’d always had access to the Trionfi Scuri and the Trionfi Chiari every three years, when the covens assembled to pass the Lovers from one side of the Major Arcana to the other.

  “Valentina, what’s happening here? Where are the rest of the cards?”

  “Yes, as I was saying. Long, long story. Awfully long. The Trionfi Chiari were in Italy, and I was too late. The Walk-Ins had already destroyed them when I got there. Burned them to ashes. I had the Trionfi Scuri with me. By the way, what the hell was their coven doing in California?!” Adelle shook her head. “Anyway. The Trionfi Scuri were already lost in a deep slumber when the High Sorceress gave them to me.” She swallowed heavily. Oh, she’d almost forgotten, but now it was all back – how Rowena Vale had died in her arms. “She is no more, by the way. I’m sorry. The Lovers was among the cards. Eros was fast asleep, and Psyche used her last ounce of strength to guide me to the Trionfi Chiari. But when I got there…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “The High Sorcerer was ashes. The cards he was protecting – ashes. I had to fight for my life to get out of there. And then I found him.” She smiled as she took the Hanged Man from her mom’s hand, threw the card in the air, and with a sigil and a whisper, made the broody, leather-clad god step out of it. “Meet Loki, the God of Mischief.”

  “I know who the Hanged Man is, Val.”

  “Of course you do. Well, I didn’t. I had to find out who the gods of the Major Arcana are on my own. There was no high-ranked Keeper I could ask.”

  “Mrs. De Rossi, it’s a pleasure.” Loki bowed theatrically, then winked at her.

  Val rolled her eyes. Could her lover simply not flirt with her own mother? Too much to ask…

  “You’re not the Loki I know,” Adelle said.

  The Trickster flopped next to Valentina and threw one arm over her shoulders. Val removed it as quickly as she could. There was no point in her mother finding out she was sleeping with the four gods of the Major Arcana she’d managed to convince to help her save the Tarot.

  “I’m better than him, trust me,” he said cockily. “I’m one of Loki’s better aspects.”

  “Valentina, I don’t understand. You said the cards were burned to ashes.” She pointed at Loki. “Then how…”

  “The Trickster told me there was a way to restore them.”

  “The Trickster?” Loki looked at her, offended. “Ouch!”

  Val ignored him, and motioned toward Sia, instead. “He helped me find a pittore di anime. Mom, meet Sia Harlow. With the ashes of the burned cards, she painted new ones.
Now, all I have to do is find the gods of the Major Arcana, well… aspects of them. And convince them to get carded.” With a flick of her hand, she made the Magician, the Emperor, and Death float out of Adelle’s hand, and Veles, Jupiter, and Nergal stepped out of them. “I have four gods so far. Four cards restored. Five more to go.”

  Veles gave Adelle a curt nod, then promptly shifted into his dragon form. Not his true dragon form, which would have been too big to be contained in this small apartment. He looked like a black, scaly, oversized cat that breathed smoke through his nostrils instead of purring. He crawled into Valentina’s lap, and Val placed a gentle hand on his back. Loki crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed. Maybe he should have shifted, too. Into a bat or something. Then, Valentina would’ve showed him some love.

  Jupiter made an armchair materialize out of nowhere and sat in it like a king. He eyed Piper and Sia suspiciously. He didn’t know them, and even though he was aware they were Val’s friends, he didn’t trust new people easily.

  Nergal gazed at Valentina for a few seconds, and when she blatantly refused to meet his eyes, he sighed and moved to stand by the window. He’d never been to Leavenworth. From what he could see, it seemed like a perfectly boring place.

  Adelle shifted uncomfortably, then with a trembling hand she did her best to control, she poured herself more wine. Maybe she should have gone for the whiskey. Loki was Loki. A Trickster god. A buffoon. But being in the presence of Jupiter and Nergal was no joke.

  “Don’t forget about Hades,” Jupiter broke the silence.

  Val shot him an annoyed glance. “Thanks. I have not.”

  “You have Hades, too?” her mother asked.

  “Not yet, but I’ve met him. He’s supposed to be the Hermit.”

  “Where is he if he’s not here?” She looked at the cards spread on the table to make sure she hadn’t missed him.

  “I’ve no clue, and frankly, I don’t care. He’s a jerk.”

  “Valentina!”

  Loki snickered. Jupiter smirked, though no sound left his lips.

  Adelle glanced briefly at each of the gods present in her cramped living room, sensing like there was something else happening there. She had the feeling she was missing something.