Card walked down the stairs, and I followed. My axe and blade wouldn’t do anything against a god, so I put a little faith in Fate keeping her word, and trusted in the magic of the Crossroads to have my back.
We walked across the field and about a quarter mile down the road to where Fate had set up her camp.
The van was strung with little golden star lights. A canopy winged out from one side, offering a nice spot out of the direct sunlight. Soft couches and chairs were gathered there, much too large to have actually fit in the van. Soft silks, pillows, and velvets further added to the comfort.
The delicious smell of cooking peppers, onion, and lamb grew stronger the closer we came to her camping spot.
Atropos was at the grill, a spatula in one hand, and her sharp gaze on the food. She’d taken off her leather jacket and wore a black tank top over which she’d donned a frilly pink apron that said: killin’ & grillin’ across the front of it.
“Morning!” Clotho stepped out of the van, dusting her hands on her skirt. “How did it go? Did you find our coins?”
“Yes,” I said. I could have let Card speak for himself, but we’d agreed yesterday that I’d be his voice. I’d also given him my protection, so it just seemed natural to take the lead.
“All three?” Atropos called out. “We agreed on all three.”
“They know the agreement,” Lachesis said, walking around from behind the van. She wore flowing, wide-legged gauzy pants and a matching top, both of which were covered in watercolor birds.
She stopped in front of us, gave Card a hard look, then held her hand out to him. “If you please, Cardamom Oak.”
“We have been diligent in fulfilling our side of the bargain,” I said. “We expect you to remain so also.”
Clotho nodded. “Our agreement is sealed,” she said. “I mean, it could change, but as it stands now, we’re still agreed that if we get all three coins back—”
“—by noon today, which is only an hour away!” Atropos yelled.
“—by noon today,” Clotho added, “we’ll leave his tree in peace.”
I looked over at Card. He gave me a nod, then stepped forward and placed the coins in Lachesis’ hand.
“Ah,” she said with something like sorrow in her voice. “Mine, the silver. Atro, yours is here too.”
“As if I didn’t know.” The crone stumped over and snatched the gold coin out of Lachesis’ hand. “He just gave it to you?” she asked.
Lachesis nodded.
There was something they weren’t saying. Something going on beneath the words they shared.
“How about mine?” Clotho asked with a tremor of what might be hope.
“I have it,” I said.
She nodded. “Well, it’s generous of you to offer to give him a hand. How rewarding.”
Atropos sighed, and Lachesis muttered, “We talked about this, Clo.”
Clotho’s words sounded an awful lot like the paper Dad had sent with Val.
Never for self, as that life thread has been spun, allotted, and cut, but for another does Fate’s coin spin. A generous heart and a giving hand are rewarded.
It was talking about the coins. How to spend Fate’s coins. Which had to be done with generosity and giving. A gift.
The siren has said something like that too, that of course the coins hadn’t worked for Card. Because they never would work for the person who took them for their own use.
But maybe they would work if they were given. If they were a gift.
“Crossroads?” Clotho said. “Are you going to give me my coin?”
“No,” I said.
Card turned to me, his eyes wide. “Ricks? Please? Whatever is between us... I understand your anger...but please?”
“Cardamom Oak. I have one of Fate’s coins,” I said. “It was given to me by a swamp siren named Lilt Keyva. As a gift. I never stole it. I never took it. I never completed a task for it. I have not spent it. It is not mine. I do not have it for my own use. But now, as I return it to Fate, I will ask one question for someone else. As a gift.”
He held so still, he wasn’t even breathing. I didn’t think Fate was breathing either, but I wasn’t all that sure gods had to breathe.
My heart was in a full-out sprint. I was going on hunch alone here, and I hoped I wasn’t setting him up, setting us up for failure.
Or worse.
I faced Clotho.
“Fate,” I said, my tone humble, “as I return this coin to you, may I ask a question for the good of someone else?”
Clotho’s eyes twinkled, and she nodded. “Yes, Crossroads.”
“Will asking this question cause harm to Card’s tree? Or to anyone I care about?”
“No. You are returning our coin that was taken, then gifted. Since it was a gift to you, I will gift to you an answer to your question.”
Card sucked in a short breath. I thought he was going to pass out if he didn’t start breathing normally.
There were a lot of things I could ask. So many things I wanted to know. Did Card love me? Should we try a life together? As friends? As lovers?
Was Stel vowing revenge and about to turn out the Halls of Wizards to kill me?
What about my friends? Val and his unfixed relationship with the werewolves? Lu and Brogan’s curse to wander Route 66?
But I knew what this coin should be gifted for.
“Is Cardamom’s sister still alive and on this earth?”
Card exhaled like someone had just kicked him in the kidneys.
Clotho’s smile was brighter than a hundred suns. “Yes, Crossroads. Thistal is alive. On this earth. Rooted and sleeping.”
“Thank you,” I said. I placed the copper coin into her hand, and she chuckled.
“I wondered if you would understand the ways of the coin,” she said.
“We made it too easy,” Atropos grumbled. “There’s too much information out there that the Crossroads could find.”
Lachesis shook her head. “Very little information exists on the nature of the coins. It has always been that way, and it always will be. I am curious, though, how you knew.”
“I had allies,” I said, because she had told me I would, even though I hadn’t wanted to listen to her. “Some of whom I do not like. But I let my journey take me forward instead of dwelling on the past.”
“And did you find gifts?” she asked.
Card’s fingers on my skin, his laughter as he walked a tree, his singing in my kitchen.
“Yes.”
“Good then,” Lachesis said. “Thank you, Crossroads.”
She turned to Card. “I assume this will be the end of our paths crossing?”
He swallowed hard. “Yes.” The word was barely a whisper. He sounded like he was light headed. As a matter of fact, he looked a little unsteady on his feet. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank us,” Atropos snapped. “We weren’t pleased with you. Stealing from us.”
“Thank the Crossroads,” Lachesis said.
“Yes,” Clotho added, her voice light. “Isn’t this just amazing how it all worked out? We got our coins. You and the Crossroads found time to talk, to maybe find understanding. And I see there is a new connection between you. That’s so nice. Isn’t that nice, Atropos?”
“Fine,” the eldest growled. “You won the bet. You don’t have to rub it in.”
She turned and stomped back to the grill, grumbling about twisted threads and the dewy-eyed optimism of youth.
Clotho laughed, a high, happy burble.
Lachesis just shook her head. “Well, then. Now that this is done,” she put both hands on Clotho’s shoulders and nudged her toward Atropos, “you can help with the food.”
Clotho gave a wave over her shoulder and did as Lachesis suggested.
“Thank you,” I said. “For honoring your word.”
The matron Fate raised her eyebrows. “It is as it shall be, as it always should have been,” she said cryptically. “Good-bye, Crossroads. Until it may be hello again.”
I inclined my head and managed not to ask her why gods had to be so damned cryptic too. “Good-bye, Fate.”
I took a step backward, then realized Card was still standing there, frozen and wobbly.
“Card,” I said. When he didn’t answer, I tugged on his sleeve. “Let’s leave the generous god to her cookout. You and I can return home.”
He snapped out of whatever trance he’d been in and gave a very passable bow before turning on his heel and walking beside me.
His hand reached out for mine, and my fingers locked with his. Our palms squeezed together like a tether in a wild wind as we made our way down the road to the house. Neither of us let go.