Page 67 of Death

“I’m just talking out of my ass,” she says, waving a hand. “Some people get some inspiration out of it. Some don’t.”

I breathe a laugh. “Do you even believe in this stuff?”

“I do,” she says. “But at the end of the day, the cards have no power over me or you. They’re merely a guide, something meant to point us in the right direction like...” Her lips twitch. “Like a kind of escort.”

I hold my breath as she lays three cards face down between us. Her hand hovers over the first card on her left as she looks at me.

“Now, let’s see the state of things...” she muses.

She flips over the card and grins.

The Lovers.

“Well, now!” she says. “That’s a contrast.”

My cheeks burn. “It’s not what you think...”

“Oh, but it is,” she says. “It’s love and devotion. Mutual respect and loyalty. Explosive sex, once you’re ready.” She shakes her head. “This new change in your life might not be the nightmare you fear.”

“I’m not afraid,” I say.

“Your eyes tell me differently.”

I press my lips together as she turns the second card.

The Tower.

“And so does this,” she says with a hard edge in her voice.

“What does it mean?” I ask.

“Destruction,” she answers. “Full, inevitable collapse of something dear; something taken for granted.”

Like the air in my lungs, perhaps?

My shoulders sink.

Cassandra’s eyes wander my face. “But once the tower falls, there’s hope. Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, something stronger crawls out of the rubble.”

“And where does that lead me?” I ask.

She stares at me as she reveals the third card.

Death.

I exhale hard as a lump forms in my throat. “Right,” I whisper. “Of course.”

There’s no escaping it.

There never was any escape from it.

“You misunderstand your card, Tannis,” Cassandra says. “Death isn’t necessarily literal. Life and death, it’s all cyclical. It’s the end of one thing so that another can begin. This end you fear...” She tilts her head. “Well, would you rather lie in the rubble or will you spread your wings and fly out of it?” Her eyes flick toward The Lovers and she smiles. “I know which one I’d choose.”

I take a deep breath as that warm ribbon grips my heart all over again.