Hope Deferred

Hope Deferred is from Cat Tales, and set in the Fifteen universe. It tells the tale of Carissa Masterson, a young woman just shy of twenty-one, coming to terms with her powers over fire as she comes to terms with her role as a member of the Fifteen.

The Tarot card called Strength, depicting a woman who looks very like Carissa. and a lion, comes to life - at least in seeming, and the woman in the card has a conversation mind-to-mind with Carissa, preparing her to accept magic and her role in the coming war against evil.

The woman in the card (Grace) tells Carissa that she was the eighth member of the latter-day Fifteen to join the rest, giving the first Fifteen the way to open the door between their time and hers.