Sam had been listening to Aria and Landon talking. Seeing his chance, he got up and squeezed between them. He then plopped down in the middle. "Mr. ATM's got a point. The middle seat is perfect for me." Landon felt speechless. He then spoke casually as he stared at Sam. "So you do remember what I said in the car." Aria's eyes danced with laughter. "Sam, I'm heading to the Mourne residence tomorrow. Stay with Mr. ATM and do what he says." "Sure thing." Sam cocked his head to the side. "I'll do whatever you say, even if you're asking me to listen to somebody else." Aria got to her feet. "Get a good night's rest. We've got clues to track down tomorrow. You guys should sleep too." The night dragged on forever, but Aria fell asleep not long after hitting the pillow. By the time she woke up, sunlight was already spilling across her windowsill. She cracked her eyes open. After glancing at the time, she hauled herself up to get washed and dressed. "You're up." Landon had woken
Sam did what Aria told him and walked to the center of the manifestation. Aria then gave the order and said, "Now." Sam lifted his foot and stomped down hard. The whole manifestation blazed with blinding red light, then went completely dark. …The moment the manifestation shattered, Sylas' eyes snapped open, somewhere far away. "What the…" Sylas couldn't believe it. The fortune he'd been collecting instantly scattered, all of it flowing back toward the Grissle residence. Sylas looked up. "Who ruined my plans?" Jorrell heard him and rushed in from outside. "Sir, what happened?" Sylas frowned hard. "Someone destroyed the Fortune Siphon Manifestation I set up at the Grissle residence." "Do you want me to send people to investigate?" Jorrell lowered his voice. "Not many people know about your plan, after all." Sylas' eyes went sharp. He had set up that manifestation at the Grissles' years ago. When he saw how desperate Heather was, he offered to help her—as long as she t
There was a glass jar sitting on the altar. A heart floated inside it, soaking in some kind of liquid. The thing had turned completely black. Seven white candles sat around the heart. The melting wax dripped onto the table, making these disturbing patterns. "Are you doing okay?" Aria glanced back at Landon with a frown. "This place really doesn't seem like your scene." Landon's eyes narrowed. "I'm fine. That heart's been sitting there a while from the look of it." "The whole thing's gone black." Aria kept her voice casual. "This is definitely Heather's work. I just don't get why she's keeping a heart down here." Aria looked up at the wall behind the altar. A black and white photo hung there. It was a young woman in an old-style dress. She had a pretty face, but her eyes were totally blank. Someone had taken a red marker and drawn a huge X right across the middle of the photo. Then Aria spotted someone kneeling in front of the altar. It was Heather. She had her back to the
The whole point of Aria's show was to make Charlotte trust her abilities. If Charlotte could invite Aria over to her house to check the esoteric patterns, it would make investigating way easier. Right then, an older woman came downstairs. It was Jubal's stepmother, Heather Gunter. Heather frowned at him, looking annoyed. "Jubal, what's going on here?" Jubal's tone conveyed zero respect. "I invited everyone over for dinner. Do you have a problem with that?" Heather's voice got low. "Why didn't anyone tell me about this? I'm your father's wife. Don't I have a right to know what's happening in this house?" "You're getting old, so I figured you need your rest." Jubal's words had an edge to them. "Besides, this is the Grissle residence, and I'm the eldest son. I should have some say around here, right?" While they were arguing, Aria scanned the room, looking for something. Then she spotted it—a small door in the hall that nobody would normally notice. It had a padlock on it and a
After Aria said those words, the atmosphere instantly got tense. Even the woman standing nearby held her breath. Audrey's face changed. "Is it..." "That's right." Aria's voice was calm. "Joy and wealth will always find you. You'll succeed in anything you do." Aria's dramatic pause had scared the hell out of Audrey. "Oh, that's what you meant. I thought..." Aria's dark eyes sparkled. "Just wanted to give you a little thrill ride, Mrs. Keating. I hope you don't mind." "Not at all." Audrey smiled warmly. "Good news is worth the wait. I hope it's like you said—wealth and success all around." Audrey turned to the woman beside them. "Ms Beckman, you should get a reading too." Michelle Beckman nodded and looked at Aria. "Actually, I wanted to ask about my son's love life. He's not getting any younger, but he still hasn't found a girlfriend." "I'm not Cupid. People make their own fate." Aria looked away and started to leave, but Michelle grabbed her quickly. "Please, Ms. Carv
Aria had to keep her character consistent. She pretended as if she was only helping because Charlotte seemed interesting, not because she was trying to get close. Without hesitation, Charlotte said, "Forget 10,000 dollars—I'll pay 50,000 dollars if you can solve what's troubling me." "It's not about money." Aria looked up slightly. "I have my rules. Each person gets one reading per day. Like they say, revealing too much of heaven's secrets will take a toll on me." "I understand." Charlotte nodded quickly. "Ms. Carver, how about this—I'll book you for the next few weeks. I'll transfer you 100,000 dollars. Would that work?" Aria pretended to think about it. "Fine. Since you're so sincere, I'll cancel my other clients. But only for five days. After that, I'm leaving town." Charlotte lit up. "Perfect! Are you free right now? I'd love to introduce you to my friends. They're all into this stuff too." "Sure." Aria looked up at her. "When?" "Right now!" Charlotte stood up. "My ca