Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
“That’s decided, then,” Rosetta said, shuffling the deck.
The cards flashed before their eyes like a magic trick, flying up and over between her hands. They shined bright gold and black and seemed to twinkle in the candlelight. Rosetta’s own milky eyes shined as they flickered across her art. Kierse leaned into her magical intuition and saw the vibrant purple magic that settled across the cards, the scent of rosemary and damp soil. Finally, the cards came together, and she set them before Graves.
“Cut.”
Graves took a deep breath and then split the deck in half.
“I’ll start with a three draw for you—your current situation, the action you need to take, and the outcome of the action. It’ll be a guide like an arrow through your life.”
Rosetta restacked the deck and then set out the first card. “The five of cups.”
A man in a black cloak faced away from the viewer. Five cups were on the ground, and three of them were tipped over while two remained standing. Not that the man could see that as he was draped in despair.
Kierse and Graves both leaned forward. She was more familiar with the major arcana, but even just looking at it, she could see that it meant something bad. Gen always told her that there were no bad cards in a tarot deck, but…this was pretty bad.
“You’ve undergone personal loss and a painful challenge. You’re dwelling in the past with regret and refusing to let go of what you have lost. I won’t sugarcoat it, your situation looks bleak. As if you are missing something that you once had and now there is an empty space inside of you. This lost connection has driven you to loneliness and the inability to see even the good things in your life.”
Graves cleared his throat. “Cheery.”
But Kierse couldn’t stop staring at the card. The loss. The place of emptiness. The regret. Was that all about his Druidic magic? The empty place in his life after giving up his magic to the Goblin Market in exchange for the Sword, which he couldn’t use. All of which resulted in him believing that he needed to be alone in the world.
Rosetta turned over the second card. “Devil reversed.”
Graves managed a laugh. “Typical.”
“You’ve seen this card before?”
“And the Magician.”
“I see,” Rosetta said. “As an action card, it’s a difficult one.”
Difficult was an understatement. On the front of the devil card were two enchained humans before a horned devil. The closer a person moved toward the devil, the more like them they became.
“When the Devil is in the reverse position, it is a card to self-awareness. You have had darkness in your past, and to escape that, you have to go through trials to break free of what’s held you back. This is a time to rid yourself of what has driven you to inaction and forced you into this situation in the first place. You have trouble letting go. Now is the time.”
“We don’t teach that in my culture,” Graves said softly. “There is no amount of time that could allow a person to move on.”
“The cards do not lie.”
Kierse put her hand on Graves. He’d suffered so much for the problems with his Druidic heritage. He needed to see himself as she did.
“Finally,” Rosetta said, setting down the final card, “the World.”
Graves looked even more grim. “Wonderful.”
“The World is a good card,” Kierse argued. “It’s the last one in the deck. Doesn’t it mean completion?”
“It can,” Rosetta acknowledged. “You have to go on this journey to get out of the state that you exist in currently. At the end of it, if you complete the trials to self-awareness and let go of your past, your inner and outer self will become one.”
“And we all live happily ever after,” Graves deadpanned.
“But if you begin and do not complete these trials, you will be worse off than you were when you began. You will continue on the wheel of time and go through these trials over and over again, losing sight of the good that you have in your life until you suffer only misery,” Rosetta said hollowly.
“Fucking tarot,” Graves grumbled under his breath.
“Does that mean you have to get your magic back?” Kierse asked. “And if you don’t, you’ll suffer an even worse fate?”
“Sure sounds like it.”
Rosetta leaned back over the cards, breathing heavily. Whatever sight she’d had drained out of her like a sieve. Or was it all performance?
“Enlightening,” she said softly.
“We have our three questions now,” Graves said.
“Yes. Yes,” Rosetta said, reaching for a glass of water and taking a long drink.
“What were you treating Dallas for?”
“Bouts of memory loss. She would lose whole sections of time. She was speaking with her warlock mentor regularly about this occurrence.”
Graves and Kierse exchanged a look. That had to be Kingston. So he still had been in contact with Dallas all this time.