"I'll be right back," I whisper to Dante.
He nods. I walk around the edge of the stage until I reach the exit. The red-haired woman is a few feet ahead but glances back at me. She doesn’t smile, but she still feels like a warm presence.
There's a twinkle in her eyes as she turns and leads me toward a purple tent in the distance. We're still in the temple premises, but I don't remember seeing this tent here before.
I glance around at my surroundings. The monkeys are watching me from the trees. Not a single person is in sight. I guess that's because everyone's still at the show.
The woman disappears inside the tent. I hesitate for a moment when I reach the threshold.
And then I step inside.
The sweet scent of sage lingers in the air. The older red-haired woman is sitting behind a desk, shuffling a deck of cards. Her piercing green eyes are contemplative as they watch me.
"Sit down, child," she says, fanning the cards out on the table before her.
There's a floor fan in the corner circulating the air inside the tent. A calico cat naps beside it.
"Who are you?" I ask, remaining at the threshold.
"You can call me Zelda," she says, gesturing for me to sit.
I know I should be distrustful of strangers, but it feels like I'm being tugged by an invisible string. I'm in a trance as I walk toward her and take a seat.
"Would you like a reading?" she asks, locking eyes with me.
Her eyes are the bright green of an untouched forest. They seem to glow from within. I'm frozen as I stare at her.
She raises her eyebrows. I remember that she just asked me a question.
"I don't really believe in these things," I say, glancing at the cards. "I'm sorry."
"That's okay," she says. "But the cards seem to have something to say to you. Would you still like to know?”
I shrug. "Sure."
When I glance back down at the pile, I see that three cards from the deck have been flipped over. I didn't even notice the movement of her hand as she flipped them.
Her fingertips glide across each card as she reads them out loud.
"The Lovers," she says. "You have a union in your life that's destined. From this point forward, you won't have to walk any path alone."
A warmth blooms in my chest as I think about Dante. A part of me still feels like it's too good to be true, but our hearts speakthe same language. I can't help but smile every time I think about him.
The smile freezes on my lips when she pulls the second card.
"The Devil," she says. "While the card itself isn't always negative, I can sense that you have a dark force in your life. And it appears like it still has a hold over you."
I stare at the card. It's so eerie.
The card is called The Devil. Instead of showing a monstrous creature with horns, this card shows a stunning woman with cold violet eyes. Just like my mother.
She's beautiful, but it's only skin deep.
"In order to fully step into your new life, it requires a sacrifice," she says. "You must do the work yourself. When the time comes, you need to break old patterns. You need to break the shackles that bind you to your past."
My stomach churns.
This woman is a stranger. But she's speaking to me like she knows everything about me. She's looking at me like she knows my past and my future.
