“The hanged man. Sort of ironic, but this card represents martyrdom and letting go . . . surrendering.” I watched her set the card on the cushion between us, then lift the other to my sight.
“Death. Again, ironic. This card represents change. Everything must die in order to be renewed.” She set that card next to the other and lifted the final card. I tried making mental notes of everything Madam Tully was telling me. It had to be important or I feel she wouldn’t waste her breath to give me these warnings.
“Temperance. One of my favorite cards. It represents balance, a card of higher knowledge, and soul mates. There is eternal truth in this card.” She set it down, then pushed the three of them in my direction.
“I’m assuming these cards are how to break the curse besides the riddle Jude has been given?” My finger drifted across the cards’ artwork, taking in the extravagance of each detail. Like the house, even the tarot cards had style.
Madam Tully nodded and gestured for me to take them. Her hands made mine scoop them into my palm. They were delicate as expected, but for something so light a heavy weight came from accepting these cards. Three pieces to a puzzle of Jude’s fate and the cursed dead.
“It’s a lot to handle, child. I understand. But what I know about you, and trust me, I know a lot, is that you are strong, and despite having a hard time in the past, you believe in the power of love. You believe in not wasting this precious life that each of us are gifted.” Her hand reached up to push my hair back one more time, and her fingers caressed my cheek. She lifted my chin so I would look her in the eyes.
“You fight the weight of your mind every day, and while you may let it get you down for a day or two, you always get back up and fight another day. You are the knight in this story, Selene.” She smiled in a motherly fashion with pride, a smile I hadn’t seen in a while. My mother loved me, and thought highly of me, but she didn’t understand the struggles of depression. She didn’t understand how hard it could be to feel the pure hopelessness pull you too far beyond anyone’s reach. Nor did she know how difficult it was for me to drag myself out of it as often as I did. The woman before me saw that struggle. She saw what lingered beneath my skin, and it wasn’t my power as a reaper. She saw the pain, the sadness that waited for the opportune moment to strike and leave me useless.
Tears I didn’t know needed to be released leaked from my eyes. It was nice to be seen . . . to be truly seen, heard, and appreciated.
“Jude is very lucky to have you in his life, and as much as I hate to say it, I’m glad the curse stuck you here. I haven’t met any of Jude’s other family yet, but it’s obvious to me who he truly admires the most if he brought me here first.” I spoke through my happy tears, completely unabashed as they flowed gentle down my cheeks.
“I knew I would like you. Now as much as I want you to myself, we’ll have to do it another time. You and Jude need to finish the tour and get out of here.” She smiled brightly and I suspected she was pulling a “Phillip” on me and orchestrating some one-on-one time that would most likely end in fucking.
Chapter Twenty
Selene
Jude showed me the rest of the glorious house with kitchens and a ballroom that used to house beautiful parties every night in its prime. Now anything not used regularly by Jude had a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. I joked it was a miracle he didn’t suffer from a respiratory problem because of the allergens coating the house. He laughed and shook his head.
As we walked, the souls around us stared for a short time before they resumed their celebrations. None of the few we talked to jumped out as a killer to me either, but I needed to see them in their regular lives and not in the high from the show.
The mansion seemed to be lost in time. So much history rested within the walls, so much heartache, and so much sadness. We’d looked out to the vast cemetery from the back section of the wraparound porch and I still couldn’t fathom the number of ghosts there. This place was a hub for souls who could not go on. The majority didn’t wallow in their predicament. Instead, they enjoyed the time they had left on Earth.
The moon shone over the many tombstones and mausoleums in the mansion’s backyard. It was getting late, and I needed to get some sleep before working on my last draft for the paper tomorrow. I turned to Jude, and he guessed my thoughts before I even said them.
“Time to head home?”
“Yeah.” A yawn followed my words, as we began our walk around the porch to where his car was parked.
“Rudy?” Jude took a step ahead of me toward a shimmering ghost sitting on the railing. He looked young and similar to Jude in a way. There was a heaviness on him, which would also explain why he sat out here instead of joining the rest of the joyful souls inside.
“Hey, sup man.” Rudy stopped frowning, clearly putting up a front.
“You doing all right?” Jude asked.
“Yeah, I just thought with the power to touch and all tonight that she would have chosen me. But I’ll be all right. You two lovebirds get out of here and do the horizontal tango, if you know what I mean.” Rudy’s eyebrows waggled at Jude, then he winked at me.
“I’ll be back,” he said in a remarkably well-done Terminator voice and jumped off the railing only to disappear before hitting the ground.
“He’s a joker. Always trying to make people laugh, but I had a feeling he’s been in love with Lucy for a while. Tonight confirms it.” Jude’s hand reached out to the small of my back and lightly nudged me forward, moving us away from where Rudy had made his dramatic exit.
“The girl from earlier?” The image of her hate-filled eyes directed at me made me shiver.
“Yeah, they usually hang out together. He does stunts to make her laugh and she likes it. But as far as I know, they never dated or hooked up. Looks like he wants out of the friend zone.” Jude helped me down the stairs and clicked on the top of his key to unlock the car ahead.
“Maybe you should help him out. He’s a friend and all. Isn’t there some kind of bro-code for this stuff?” I bumped my shoulder against his and chuckled. I could totally see them plotting a way for Rudy and Lucy to get together. Jude could even give them the power to be human-like for the night, which was kind of weird.
“What are you laughing at?” He pulled me around so my body became flush with his. He was so hard and warm beneath his ringleader’s attire.
“That you have this incredible gift that can probably control an army of the dead but instead you use it to let ghosts fuck for the night.” I giggled. I know he did more than that, but this moment to tease him became too great to pass up.
“You have quite the mouth on you.” He smiled while his gaze settled on my lips. My giggling died and was replaced by a consuming desire to use that mouth he spoke of on him.
