Page 111 of Off the Rails

“You’re relentless.” My tongue teased my lips, almost able to taste her on me.

Leaning over the table, Tess’s voice was a sexy grumble. “That’s how you like it, Nash.”

“True, Sweet Lamb.” Wiping my hands on a few napkins, I sat up on the couch and rolled my shoulders back. Nodding to the space on the floor opposite to the couch, I commanded her. “Sit there. I need to be able to look into your eyes.”

I could see in her clover-colored eyes that she wanted to resist me, to challenge the authority I’d adopted.

But instead, she knelt down and got comfortable.

Blade rose from the couch, moving around the living room and lighting candles before flicking off the lamp behind the couch.

Under the candlelight, I sucked my teeth. “You’ll get three cards.” For each word, I pointed to the corresponding card from her left to right. “The situation. The obstacle. The advice.”

“Should I ask a question?” Tess met my eyes.

But it was Blade that answered. “Nah, see how good she is. Keep it a secret.”

I shot her a deadly glance. “Dickhead.” Turning back to Tess, I nodded. “Keep the question in your head as I shuffle the deck.”

Pulling the cards from the wooden box, I felt the weight of them in my palm. Heavy today. A scale would call me a liar, but there was something different about how the stack felt in my hands.

Shuffling the cards, I let them fall into each other.

Please hear her question, provide us with clarity.

Tess’s eyes stayed on the cards, watching my fingers as I bridged them and let them fall into one another.

When I was done, satisfied with the shuffle, I held the deck out to her. The blue tartan pattern on their backsides hid the cards’ meaning. “Tap the deck and ask your question in your mind.”

Hesitant, Tess reached out her hands and pressed the tips of her fingers into the worn paper. For a moment, her eyes closed and she sucked in a deep breath. Only when she released it did she pull her hand away.

“Good, Sweet Lamb.” I split the deck in half, taking the top stack and nestling it under the bottom. The ink-blackened tip of my finger touched the first card, sliding it off the deck and face-down onto the coffee table. A second followed. And then the third.

My chest tightened at the spread on the table — its meaning still obscured.

A part of me hoped that I was a quack. That none of this was real and we’d made it all up.

In the dead silence of the living room, I flipped the first card. “High Priestess, reversed.”

The knot in my stomach subsided just a bit. I had no idea what she’d asked but this card was vague enough to keep it light and fun. If she’d asked a deeper question, I wouldn’t give her a better answer. Not yet.

“You’ll notice that the Priestess rests on a throne between two pillars, one light and one dark. In its upright position, this is meant to symbolize balance and harmony. In some sense, it’s almost as if she served as the third pillar.” I watched the cards, my eyes searching for more meaning.

“Reversed, it’s a little more complicated. Not the opposite but something intensifying. I would interpret it as an instability, a hesitance to follow your intuition or trust your gut. Could be about work, or friends maybe.”

Looking into her blue eyes, I could tell she was interrogating me. There was a part of her that knew I was giving her a lighter reading.

Despite her prying eyes, I went on — praying the second card kept this light.

But as soon as my lightning soaked fingertip hit the paper, I knew it wasn’t. The cards wouldn’t let me off easy. Not tonight.

“Nine of Swords.” I swallowed hard as my gaze dropped to the depressing card. A person sat upright in a bed, their head buried in their palms. A wall of swords hung overhead, towering over their bed.

“Quite the obstacle.” Blade scoffed as she fell back onto the couch.

Instead of relenting, Tess pressed on, leaning onto the table and looking at the card closely.

“If the lack of intuition is your situation, possibilities are your obstacle.” Trying to obscure the true meaning, I dug for something else. “You feel lost. Alone.”