Chapter Nineteen

Iris/Crina

Crina stood in front of the upright mirror in the corner of Iris’s room, spinning around to see how she looked. She wore a long green skirt and a lacy corset of the same color. Under her left eye was a swirly inked rune. Her lashes were heavy with winged liner and fake eyelashes. Bloodred lips, ratted platinum hair, and long black press-on nails with sharp points finished the look.

“Tonight, you shall have a fun show. When I’ve completed dealing fates out to the seven who represent the cardinal sins, you will die, and I will completely take over your body.”

I don’t understand. What sins? Iris was tired. She’d come in and out of control of her body all day.

“The seven deadly ones, of course—greed, envy, pride, sloth, gluttony, lust, and wrath.”

You’re not making any sense.

“I have chosen your friends wisely. Not randomly. Lauren has always been envious of your friendships and popularity. That is why I gave her the Hermit card.”

She spun around again. “Don’t I look amazing? Anyway, then there was Perry. He never shared anything. Refused to help those less fortunate than himself. He had taken from others before, untrustworthy himself—ridiculing and hurting others. Full of greed, that one. So naturally, I had to give him the Justice card.”

Why are you telling me this?

“Because when I was alive, I possessed all the sins. We all do to an extent, but some of us give in to them at the cost of others. My hatred consumed me. I cursed an entire family because of it.”

You almost sound like you regret it. Iris wasn’t sure what to think. She wanted to know more. There was something to all this. Something she was scared to hear but believed she needed to know. To get her life back. And the others. They weren’t bad, but you gave them cursed tarot cards.

“Dena,” Crina said. “Her pride kept her from telling Violet that she had accidentally sent that photograph to Carys. So the Hanged Man is what she got. He stands for inaction, getting caught.”

Crina brushed some white powder on her face. “There. I look paler—like death.”

Why Carys?

“Her sin is sloth. She did nothing. Wouldn’t tell your sister what truly happened. So it was the reversed High Priestess card. Mistrust.”

And Marsha. The Devil card.

“Naturally. She is evil to her bones. That one is gluttonous.”

And Josh. The Tower card you gave him, what does that do?

Crina heaved a sigh, and Iris wondered how she could even breathe in that tight corset. “I am tiring of your babble in my head. Josh’s sin is lust. He lusts for power, for material things, and for females. He will fall from his tower.”

A scary darkness squeezed against Iris. There’s one sin left. Wrath. Whatever the hell you’re doing—righting your wrongs? Passing on your bad deeds?—I will stop you.

“I haven’t a conscience. And am not in need of atonement.” Crina picked up the tarot deck from the bed, took one, slipped it down the front of her corset, and stuffed the rest between the mattress and box spring. “I must rid our body of the curse so I can grow stronger. You get weaker as I increase my strength. You can’t stop me. Once all the sins are dealt and fates played out, I will be free of you.”

She spun around one last time, checking herself out before leaving the bedroom and going downstairs. Violet and Dena were deep in conversation when Crina came out the back door. Dena was dressed like a zombie police officer and Violet looked like a corpse bride.

Violet frowned at Crina’s outfit. “You were supposed to be a scary witch,” she said. “Not a sexy one.”

“Not to worry,” Crina said. “I will be a nightmare.”

Iris noticed the flash of fear in Violet’s eyes. She tried to keep that thought from Crina so as not to alarm her. Because why would Violet fear her sister unless she suspected an evil spirit possessed her?

Daisy came out of the makeshift tent dressed as an ancient tarot card reader or an ultra–covered up belly dancer.

No, Daisy! You shouldn’t be here. Iris waited for a response from Crina, but none came.

Daisy’s skirt jingled as she crossed the driveway. “Would you like your fortune read?” She held a deck in one hand and a few of the cards fanned in the other.

Iris’s gut clenched right before Crina barked, “Where did you get those?”

Daisy un-fanned the cards and returned them to the deck in her hand. “No need to get so snappy. We bought several for the game. Want to taste the punch Carys made? You can hardly taste the alcohol in it.”

Violet put her fists on her hips and looked sternly at Daisy. “Have you been drinking it?”

“Jeesh, calm down,” Daisy said. “I only tasted it. Carys needed to know if there was enough punch in the vodka.”

Crina forced a smile. “Lead the way, Daisy. A strong drink is just what I need.” She followed Daisy into the tent.

Lauren, dressed like a patient with a fake cut across her throat and a large bloodstain drenching the front of her, was holding a vodka bottle while Carys, wearing bloody scrubs with a stethoscope draped around her neck, fended her off with a spoon. “We don’t need any more of that. It’s too much already.”

“You can hardly taste it,” Lauren protested.

“It’s vodka,” Carys snapped. “It’s tasteless.”

“I’ll be your taster.” Crina’s heels click-clacked across the concrete drive as she went over to the punch bucket and picked up the ladle. “What’s that floating in there?”

“Skulls,” Carys answered.

“And fingers,” Daisy added. “A real witch’s brew. I added a few cockroaches, too.”

Crina dropped the ladle and wrinkled her nose at Daisy.

“What? They’re plastic.” Daisy took a red cup off the stack by the bucket and handed it to Crina. “Did you think I put real ones in it?”

“No.” Crina snatched the cup from her. “It just sounded gross.”

Wade came around the flap separating them from the main area of the tent. He was dressed like a mad scientist. His hair was a mess with gray paint at the sides. Green gook and blood stained his lab coat. “Hey, Violet said there was punch. I could sure use a cup.” He went to Crina and slid his arm around her waist. “You look way too sexy to be an evil witch.”

“Iris didn’t get the memo,” Lauren said. “We were supposed to wear scary costumes, remember?”

“A memo?” Crina looked from Wade to Lauren as she emptied a ladle full of punch into her cup. What is that?

Iris wanted to laugh. You’re not learning how to be me very well. And if you get rid of me, you’ll lose your point of reference.

Stay out of my thoughts, Crina fumed.

Wade laughed. “Way to play dumb.”

“I’m not dumb.” She tipped her cup to her mouth, draining the liquid inside.

“Hey, go easy there,” Wade said. “It’s a long night. You should pace yourself or you’ll get sick.” He took the cup from her. “So how does my costume look?”

“You could use some more black around your eyes,” Daisy said. “You don’t look insane enough.”

Wade squeezed Crina’s waist. “You want to do me up?”

She gave him a quizzical look. “What?”

“Can I use your eyeliner?”

“Oh, that.” She glanced around at the faces staring back at her. Iris could feel a headache coming on, and she was pretty sure Crina was beginning to suspect something.

Trying to keep her thoughts from Crina was making Iris tired. She prayed the drops in the punch would work soon and she could come through. She worried it wouldn’t be long before Crina caught on that she was being drugged. And Iris was running out of time. Her spirit was slipping. She could feel it weakening and withering like the old flowers left in the vases around her house.

The crisping petals made her miss her mom and Gram. If they were there, could they stop Crina? Iris doubted it. Their presence would only put them in danger. Hopefully Aster would make it home. It seemed that she was Iris’s only hope. Everyone’s only hope. Because there was no way she’d let Daisy have a face-off with Crina.

Iris’s control at hiding her thoughts from Crina was slipping again. She pulled old memories from her mind to keep Crina from knowing what the others were up to.

Why do you always live in the past? Crina sounded irritated, and Iris chose to ignore her.

Crina took Wade’s hand in hers and led him up the stairs. Iris could just barely sense the touch of his skin against hers. She longed to hold him. To feel him breathe against her. To nuzzle her nose into his neck and smell the light cologne that was always there.

A few car doors slammed outside. Their guests were arriving.

When they reached her room, Iris felt a release of power. An invisible rope untying from around her. Crina was losing her hold. She draped her arm around Wade’s neck and slid her hand into his pocket.

Is that a card in your hand? Panic consumed Iris’s thoughts.

Wade noticed she had put something in there, too. Iris wanted to scream for him to stop as his hand went in and he flinched before pulling out the card.

What did you do?

Iris caught a glimpse of the card as Wade brought it up from his pocket. The Death card. He gave her a surprised look before shoving her away from him. “What is this?”

“A tarot card.”

NO! Leave him alone. Take it back!

I won’t, Crina thought. He is my final sin. Wrath. He must die so I can live.

No, no, no, no, NO! Please don’t do this. You can’t do this.

He extended the card out to her. “Don’t you need it for the game?”

She took it from him and tossed it on the bed. “Daisy purchased some other decks. I was trying to pull a joke on you.” She flashed him a smile. “You ruined it.”

He chuckled, but it wasn’t genuine. She knew each of his laughs and smiles and could spot a fake easily. “You should be less obvious next time,” he said.

The room spun and Crina swayed. What did your friends do to me? she asked, closing her eyes.

Iris could hear the blood rushing through her veins. Her hand came back to her as if it had been frozen and now thawing. She was gaining control of her body. Taking a deep breath, she willed Crina back into the dark corners of her mind.

Wade’s smile slipped. “Iris?”

She rubbed her temples. “It’s me.”

“You okay?” he asked.

“My stomach’s woozy.” She dropped her hands.

He pulled her into a tight hug. “We had to use more of that stuff Miri made. It’s becoming harder to get rid of her.”

Voices outside seemed to be multiplying.

Panic fluttered in her chest. “She gave you that card. You’re wrath.”

“Hey, it’s okay. She’s gone for now,” he said and pressed his lips against her temple. “What do you mean, I’m wrath?”

“To get rid of me completely, she has to hand out cursed cards representing the seven sins.” She swallowed back the emotions clogging her throat. “When all of them are finished playing out their fates, I will die. And I think she’s going to kill you. She gave you that Death card.”

“And I’m wrath?” He backed away. “I don’t hate others and I’m not violent. She has it wrong.”

“I don’t think you are, either. But you have to be careful.” She took a step in his direction, placing her hand on his arm. “It doesn’t make sense how she twists things. It could be anything.”

“We’ll just have to get rid of her before anything happens,” he said. “Do you know where she put the tarot deck?”

She rushed over to the bed, retrieved the deck from under the mattress, and handed them to him. “There’s one problem—”

A sharp pain in her head cut off her words. Her knees thudded to the floor, and the cards slipped out of her hand, spreading across the carpet.

Wade dropped to her side, picked up the deck, and shoved it into the pocket of his lab coat. He brushed the hair from her face. “I won’t let you go, Iris. I have to get these to Daisy. We can’t wait for Aster.” He grabbed the Death card from the bed and darted out of the room.

No. Not Daisy.

Iris watched his departure, tears escaping from her eyes.

Why him? Why wrath?

Crina groaned deeply. He will do anything for you. How far will he go if someone hurts you?

Leave him alone. Leave them all alone. Iris was losing command of her arms and legs, becoming a spirit floating inside her own body as Crina retook control.