Page 112 of Off the Rails

“What about the swords in my back?” Tess licked her teeth, meeting my eyes.

Shit.

She was too smart, too aware.

Of course it all meant something. I knew it, and so did Blade.

Shaking her head, Tess’s gaze intensified. “I want a real reading. Not bullshit.”

I could see in her blue eyes that she meant it. Whether I believed it or not, she was ready for the truth. At least as much of it as I could give her.

Looking closer at the cards, I let my fingertip graze the back of the illustrated character. “They aren’t in your back. They appear to be. That’s different.”

There was no stopping the reading now. “Questions plague you. They keep you up at night, what could have been. The betrayal you feel may be real to you but the swords haven’t yet pierced your back. Even if they might. You’re getting ahead of yourself, letting past wounds shape your current mindset.”

Scoffing, Tess rolled her eyes. “And what’s the solution?”

Despite the first two cards’ insistence on making me reveal the truth, I had hope that a solutions card would leave me more wiggle room.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes before I flipped the card.

“Fuck.” Blade mumbled before I could even look at what had been revealed.

Tess’s brow furrowed, recognizing it immediately.

The Three of Swords.

The symbol that rested on my knee, the one that faced her right now. Three swords stabbed through a bright red heart, clouds and rain pouring down behind them.

My throat tightened like I’d been stung by a bee.

Tess’s eyes jumped from my knee to Blade’s arm. If she hadn’t known what it was now, she did now.

“What does it mean?” She spoke through gritted teeth, wanting her answer.

Despite my own hesitance, it was hard to deny the pull of the deck. Why they had chosen to show her this card now, I couldn’t understand. It was the most obvious card in the deck, its meaning almost impossible to obscure.

It was betrayal, especially by separation. The image depicts the struggle itself: destroying the thing that hurt you even if you still adore it.

“Nash, seriously.”

My gaze flicked to Blade, whose green eyes shone under the candlelight. But all she could do was shrug.

“Cut it out.” Tess pressed. “Just tell me.”

Wetting my dry lips, I shook my head. “A return. Revenge.”

63

TESS

Revenge? For what?

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the card.

Whatever it meant, I didn’t like the sound of it. Was I supposed to take revenge on my three captors? They’d left me in their dust in the group home, lied to me here. There was plenty of betrayal there.

Getting revenge on Cyrus didn’t sound half bad after the way she’d treated me over the last few months.