“Finally, the tenth card which is the Final result.” She turned the card. “Judgment, which means…reflection and awakening.” Eliza frowned. “That may be the most confusing of the cards.”
“If only you were a psychic, then you could tell me what all of this means.”
“I told you.”
“We know what each card means, but as you said yourself, only a mystic can connect them for a full picture of past, present, and future.”
“True,” Eliza admitted. “But it was fun all the same and will help when I write the tarot reading into the book.”
She accepted his explanation without noticing that he’d simply been humoring her beliefs, which meant that a part of Eliza believed in mystics and fortune tellers.
“Are you going to lay out the cards for a fictional character and find out what it reveals?” he asked. Perhaps that was one way to create a character, if you have nothing to go on, and used to build their story.
“No,” she answered. “I will go through the meanings to find the cards accurate to his situation, his past, present, and future. If I pull random cards, then I will have to make the story to fit the reading and I am almost to the end of the book.”
Eliza gathered up the cards and stacked them again then straightened out the sheets of parchment.
Though he may never know what possessed him, Lucian reached across the table and held out his hand, palm up.
“What?” she asked.
“My turn.”
“For what?” Eliza asked slowly.
“You revealed my fortune, it is only fair that I reveal yours.”
Eliza's grey eyes widened and she stared at him before she slowly placed them in his hand.
What could she possibly be afraid of being revealed?
Eliza wasn'tcertain she wanted Lucian to read her cards. Yes, she needed to learn a lot more about tarot reading and how to put everything together, but each of his cards was accurate to the basic meaning. Yes, they can also be considered general enough to fit anyone and their set of circumstances, but that did not change the fact that there was a little truth in each of those cards. Eliza wasn’t so certain she wanted as much revealed to him.
Lucian took his time shuffling the cards, over and over, and she almost objected because they were hand-painted and delicate and she did not want them ruined, but then he held them out to her, and Eliza cut from the middle of the deck, then poured herself a fresh cup of tea.
Lucian took the papers from her, then set the hand drawn diagram of how the cards should be placed in the center of the table.
“You appear a bit pale, Eliza. Are you afraid of what will be revealed?”
She didn’t dare tell him the truth, for he would think her silly. “I am not concerned,” she lied.
Lucian turned over the first card and chuckled. “The Fool, but upside down.”
Eliza glared at him as he searched for the meaning.
“Ah, recklessness.” He grinned at her. “Perhaps these do contain a bit of truth.”
“Are you admitting that your reading was correct?” Eliza arched a brow, daring him to answer.
“I think that we can make each fit our life if we try hard enough.”
“For a non-mystic, I suppose.”
Lucian turned over the second card. “The Moon, also reversed…fear, confusion.” He glanced over at the diagram. “This is your immediate future, which I believe could also be accurate.”
“Just read the cards without deciding if they are right or wrong.”
Lucian paused and studied her. “What are you afraid that I will learn?”
