Phoenix in My Fortune (A Monster Haven Story Book 6) by R.L. Naquin

round. “Holy crap.”
    “No kidding. So, you can see why I’m not thrilled to still see that card.”
    “No, I imagine you wouldn’t be. But there it is. And I have to remind you that before there can be rebirth, there must be death.”
    “So much good news today.” My stomach burned with acid.
    She reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Death isn’t always literal, Zoey. Keep that in mind.”
    I nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” I wanted to believe the cards weren’t being literal, but I’d already lost a lot of people I loved. My gut wanted to take it literally. The gut usually won.
    She sat up straighter. “So, a warning. That’s the Lion and the Unicorn. They’re locked in an epic battle. See how they both bleed? Sometimes the only way to win a fight is not to fight at all. Do you understand?”
    I shook my head. “That sounds like giving up.”
    “Maybe. Maybe not. I can only tell you what they want you to know. I don’t necessarily understand the advice I’m told to give. But
you
will understand when the time comes.”
    Riley took my hand in his, and I felt a little steadier, though no less confused. “I think I could use that blessing now.”
    Sheila pressed her finger against her lips as she examined the card in the last spot. The picture was of a black horse with red eyes rearing up on its hind legs.
    “This one doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, and the voices in my head have gone maddeningly quiet.”
    “It’s a demonic horse,” I said, trying to be helpful.
    “No.” She tapped a blunt fingernail against the card. “It’s the Pooka card. But pookas are bad luck. I’ve certainly never seen this card land in the blessing spot before.” She stopped talking when she noticed me laughing. “How is bad luck a blessing? What am I missing?”
    I wiped my eyes and tried to get my laughter under control. “Would you believe I’ve got a friend who’s a pooka?”
    She glanced at the card, then back at me, her expression filled with doubt. “How are you not dead?”
    Her question made me burst out in laughter again, remembering how close I really had come to dying while Silas the pooka had been in my house. I pulled myself together, took a deep breath and said, “Gargoyle snot.” Then I fell apart again, bent over laughing, trying to catch my breath.
    “Is she okay?”
    Riley rubbed his palm across my back. “Give her a minute. I think she’s hit her limit of ridiculous for the moment. She’ll be fine.”
    I laughed hard enough that I was no longer sure if I was laughing or crying. There’s a dangerous line when there’s too much stress—one emotion can flip to the other between breaths. I wiped my face and sat up, wondering how the hell I was going to survive the days ahead without a complete loss of sanity.
    “Sheila, I am so sorry.” I grabbed a few tissues from a box Andrew handed me. “You have no idea what’s been going on for the last year and a half. The pooka thing was too much. That guy drove me crazy. He refused to wear pants half the time.” I blew my nose and gave her a hard stare. “Pants, Sheila!”
    She frowned. “Why would a horse wear pants?”
    I stopped a giggle in the back of my throat and kept it from bubbling out. If I let myself go again, I might not be able to pull it together. It would be kind of hard to fight Shadow Man in a straightjacket. “Pookas only look like horses when they want to. He mostly looked like a very angry Danny DeVito.”
    Her eyes grew wide. “Without pants.”
    “Exactly.”
    She looked appropriately appalled, and I felt better, knowing I’d managed to get my point across.
    I groaned.
    “What’s wrong?” Riley asked.
    “If Silas is coming, we’re in trouble. I don’t have any more gargoyle snot.”
    * * *
    My emotional outburst left me exhausted, which was fortunate. It meant that when the vision hit me on the way home, I wasn’t the one driving my car.
    The last time this had happened was over four months ago, during all the