Page 65 of A Fool's Game

I want to ask more questions about that, and about the fact that he’s clearly given it some thought, but my attention is drawn to the tall, narrow bookcase in the far corner of the living room where Ainsley has neatly arranged his bounty from The Stone Moon. The decks and crystals call to me, and I answer, walking toward them and taking the first facedown deck in my hands as soon as it’s within reach.

The Illuminated Waite Smith deck.

I glance around for some source of cleansing smoke, knowing full well that Marisol never would have sent him off that day without a way to clear the decks. I find a small bundle of sage mixed with lavender and bay, a stick of Palo Santo wood, and a cone of frankincense.

Turning to Ainsley, I hold up the incense. “Do you mind?”

He shakes his head from across the room, where he’s still standing. I have his full attention, but he seems reluctant to come closer.

I turn back to the shelves and find a brand new lighter. I press it to the end of the frankincense cone and wait for the small flame to catch before setting it in the small, round, perfectly clean rose quartz dish that I know he purchased for this. Then I carry the bowl and the deck to the sofa.

“Join me,” I call out. Ainsley hesitates, but Taylor pushes up off the floor and walks to the couch, followed closely by his new shadow. When the two of them have curled next to me on the sofa, Ainsley finally seems to make a decision, crossing the room and settling into the wide, gray chair on the other side of me.

I smile at him. “I love your collection.”

He turns bashful, smiling down at his hands before turning the sheepish smile up to me. “Thanks. I got it at The Stone Moon.”

“I know.”

His face widens in surprise. “You know? She told you?”

I nod, finishing my cleansing of the cards in the sacred smoke and starting to shuffle.

“She told you…everything?”

I shake my head no, and although I’m very curious which part of that reading he’s so determined to keep to himself, I offer him solace. “Tarot reader confidentiality.”

I know I said the right thing when he visibly relaxes. I continue to shuffle, considering how I could use this particular medium to set him at ease.

Taylor beats me to it.

“Are you going to tell our fortunes?”

I just smile at his characteristic oversimplification. “I was going to pull cards to see what challenges we have to overcome together and where we can look for strength.” It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but I know the deep, serious subject matter will get a rise out of Taylor.

I set the deck down on the sofa and he snatches it up, just as I knew he would.

“I’m going to pull cards to see who’s on top, who’s on bottom, and who has to watch from a chair in the corner.” Hestarts shuffling the cards in his own, much larger hands, making quick work of the movement.

“Fine,” I answer. “As long as you’re prepared for what you might learn.”

He just grunts, setting the deck before me on the sofa once more. “Cut,” he says, as if we were playing poker.I obey and he restacks the cards, pushing them into a messy, uneven line on the soft, bumpy cushion, unbothered by the chaos of his spread.He chooses his first card without ceremony, flipping it right over and laying it below the deck.

The Two of Pentacles.

I laugh and look from Taylor’s creased brow back to Ainsley’s eager face, the two of them only making me giggle harder.

“Stop laughing and tell us what it means, witch. Who gets to be on top?”

I collect myself and reach for the still smoldering frankincense, drawing it up and around myself before I start to speak. “My guess is you, Taylor. But you’ll need to find a way to balance the responsibility the position brings or the whole thing will come crashing down around you.”

“That’s not sexy at all,” he mutters.

I pinch my lips together to keep quiet.

The second card comes just as quickly as the first.

“Bottom,” Taylor says as he flips the card.

---