Page 4 of Witch's Dawn
2
DEJA
"Do you know anyone namedDiana?"
It took me a moment to realize the tarot reader was speaking tome.
"Huh?" Iblinked.
Nona sat eagerly in the chair in front of the table, awaiting her fortune to be told from pieces of cardstock. The woman continued shuffling her deck with fast, experienced hands. Her smile was directed at Nona but her eyes trained sharply onme.
"Diana," she repeated. "Does the name ring abell?"
Itdid.
Once the fog lifted from whatever the three pretty-eyed men did to me, my mind felt clear again and that name struck achord.
However, I couldn't think of a face to matchit.
Diana. Yes, that name meant something to me. I knew someone named Diana but couldn't begin to remember who or how I knewher.
But even weirder, how did this woman know to ask methat?
She continued shuffling while watching my face carefully. Nona still waited patiently for her to lay out thecards.
I lifted one shoulder in a lazy shrug, feigningnonchalance.
"Nope, can't say itdoes."
The woman's lips pulled into a tight smile as if she knew I was bullshitting but decided to humor me all thesame.
"Well, when you see her, tell her Minerva saidhello."
Ohhh-kay, lady. I’ll do justthat.
She finally turned her attention to Nona as she cut her deck into threepiles.
"Anything specific you would like to know from the cards, dear?" she asked. "Love? Health?Wealth?"
"Oh, I don't know." Nona squirmed eagerly. "I'm open to anything they tellme."
"Very good!" The woman rubbed her hands together. "Pick whichever pile calls to you,dear."
Nona chose the left pile and Minerva--I assume-- brought all three piles back together into a single deck with Nona's selection on top. She drew from the top and laid 3 cards out on thetable.
From what I could see, the cards depicted people in various scenes and interacting with coins engraved with five-pointedstars.
"Ah, the suit of pentacles," Minerva cooed over the cards. "This is very good news! Much earthly abundance will be coming into your life within six months, dear. You'll be sowing the fruits of your labor soon and come into more money than you ever thoughtpossible."
"Really?" Nona's eyeswidened.
"Oh yes! But you will also come into more challenges and responsibility," Minerva said, pointing to one card. "I sense a shifting tide coming your way, one that carries you upward to a very comfortable financial position but it is unlike anything you've ever donebefore."
Nona glanced at me. "Sounds like I'm due for a promotion, boss," shesmirked.
"That or you'll end up leaving me for something better," I retorted, trying to keep the edge out of my voice but it was truly one of my worst fears. I paid her the most I could afford and she still deserved more. Eventually, the time would come where she'd find her dream job and I'd be left trying to find someone to live up to the Nona-shaped void in mylife.
"You know that'll never happen," she answered solemnly. "I love working foryou."
