Doreen held the cards out to her. “Please shuffle the deck,” she instructed. “Think about what you want to know.”
Semele had difficulty focusing on the task. She ended up shuffling the cards, her mind blank, and handed them back.
Doreen laid a series of cards out facedown in a crosslike pattern. She turned over the first card.The Hanged Man.
“You are in a place of great confusion… questioning everything about your life. You’re starting to see the world differently.”
Semele was still in a daze but thought that seemed pretty on the mark.
The next card wasThe Chariot.“I see a time of fast movement, travel. You will leave your work, your job. This will happen suddenly.”
Semele’s eyes met Doreen’s. “What do you mean ‘leave’?”
Was she getting fired?
Doreen didn’t answer. She was too caught up in the reading. She turned over the next card.
The Devil.This one was upside down.
“Every aspect of your life is challenging you. You must break free from your attachments to discover your true self.”
What attachments? She had just dumped her almost-fiancé at a cáfe. Semele wished Doreen would slow down. The woman was turning over cards with remarkable speed, and Semele was still reeling from being told her father was trying to reach her from the grave.
The Hermit.“You must walk your path alone, but you are afraid of the knowledge that exists inside you. You must leave the world you know to find the one that waits for you.”
Leave the world? Semele frowned. That didn’t sound good.
Doreen studied the next card with thoughtful eyes.The Hierophant.“You have a teacher in your life. A woman. She has been guiding you. She has much to tell you, but you are not yet ready to listen.”
Semele raised her eyebrows. Did she mean Ionna?
“You are tied to one man. The tie is strong. Trust your heart. Together you will grow stronger.” Doreen pointed toThe Loverscard.
Semele stared at it, thinking Doreen had made an error. She wasn’t tied to anyone, not anymore. An image of someone did appear in her mind, but Theo was a client and an enigma—
The Tower.“You will lose something precious.” Doreen stared at the cards for a long moment. She looked confounded.
“What?” Semele leaned forward.
“I’m sorry. It’s just you’ve only drawn Major Arcana cards and nothing else.” She studied the spread, bewildered. “The odds of that are highly unlikely.”
Semele wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but she was becoming more unnerved as the minutes passed. She was beginning to question her sanity for even coming here.
Doreen turned over another card,Strength.This one faced upside down too.
“Aren’t upside-down cards bad?” Semele had to ask.
“Not in the way that you think,” Doreen said, trying to continue. “You are full of self-doubt and afraid to embrace your true self. You must have faith. Gather your strength.”
Okay, this woman is going off the grid.This was starting to sound fifty shades of weird. Semele checked her watch, ready for this whole experience to be over with.
Wheel of Fortune.Upside down again. What was it with the upside-down cards?
“There are negative forces surrounding you.…” Doreen trailed off.
Semele watched Doreen turn over the next card.
Death.
