She started her day by incinerating her alarm clock with a spell. She cast another to make breakfast, burning a three of spades, and another with a ten of hearts to conjure a cute outfit. The cards burnt themselves in a puff of smoke, and Mars noticed she was almost through this deck, and had no idea what cards she had left. She was getting sloppy.

She checked her phone on the counter and through the cracked screen, saw she had no notifications. No messages, nothing from him. She burned a few more cards making the apartment clean itself and changing her hair color a few times before settling on a ruby red that complimented her outfit and the crusted blood on her boots. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was lanky but sharp in her high-waisted shorts and flowy top, haircut to follow her jawline; right between chic and dangerous. She was also already starting to feel the itch to cast another spell. Problem was she only had one card left. It was a four of diamonds, just strong enough to get across town and get more. …