And based on what she just told me, she's insinuating that I must stand up to my mother. I must face the devil in my life without backing down.
The very thought of it fills me with dread. Tears rush to my eyes.
"You mustn't let yourself forget," she says, tapping back on the first card. "You're not alone. You're never alone."
I tear my eyes from The Devil and look at The Lovers. The gorgeous card depicts two skeletons embracing. They're surrounded by red roses, and it feels like the kind of love that lasts forever. The kind of love that finds you in every lifetime.
"Do you understand what I'm saying, Grace?" she asks.
I blink. I don't remember telling her my name.
A soft meow comes from the corner of the tent. It's the calico cat. She's watching me as intently as her owner.
"I think so," I say cautiously.
"You'll understand it better when the time comes," she says.
Her words feel ominous. I can't shake the feeling now that something bad is about to happen. And it gets worse as I look at the final card.
Death.
"Everything occurs in cycles," she says. "Old things must die to make space for the new. This emphasizes that you must not get in the way of the transformation that is required of you."
"And...that's all it is?" I ask. "It doesn't mean anything else, does it?"
"It doesn't mean a literal death, if that's what you're worried about," she says. "This just means that your new life is going to cost you your old one."
I watch as she shuffles all of the cards into one pile.
I never believed in cards and destinies, but I believe everything this woman is telling me. Being in her presence, I feel like she knows things about me I don't know myself.
"I should probably go now," I say. "Thank you for the reading."
She smiles at me. "We will meet again."
"We will?" I ask.
"Our paths are meant to cross again," she says. "Grace?"
"Yes?"
"Grace?" she calls again.
Her voice shifts now, changing into a lower baritone.
"Grace?" It's the voice of a man.
Everything turns a shade of orange and black. I jolt upright. I'm back in the audience. I never left.
"Grace, are you okay?" Dante cups my face and makes me look at him.
I take a deep breath. "What happened?"
"You fell asleep," he says. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine," I whisper, glancing at the place where I saw the red-haired woman. The show is over. Everyone is leaving, but I still search for her. She's nowhere to be seen.
"What are you looking for?" he asks.
