“Alright, Cupcake,” I said, more than ready to see her smile again. “Here’s the plan. I’ll set up the shots. You shuffle up your little deck of magic cards there and tell Asher his future.”
I grabbed the bottle of tequila and poured two, but Gray bristled.
“I don’t read Tarot for people who refer to themselves in the third person. And I don’t read when I’m drinking, either. It interferes with my intuition.”
Ooookay…
I downed both shots myself, then grinned. “Gray. Will you please give me a reading? Me, as in, first-person me?”
She rolled her eyes at me, but she was already reaching for the deck.
* * *
“So this card represents your past.” She turned over the first card—a tormented creature crammed into a wooden box, ten swords shoved right through it. Right throughhim.
“Damn, girl. Tell me how youreallyfeel.”
“This has nothing to do with how I feel and everything to do with the energy and events in your life.”
“So what’s this energy saying?” I picked up the card for a closer look. Thing gave me the creeps.
“With the Ten of Swords in the past position, it’s likely something you haven’t dealt with. Whatever it is, it’s major, and it’s been haunting you a long time. But this card is all about endings. Whatever it is, it’s done. You need to let it go, or it’s going to destroy you.”
Guilt rippled in my gut, and I dropped the card.
Gray was a little too good at this Tarot shit, and I hadn’t really meant for her to dig that deep.
“Let’s, ah, leave the past in the past. Shall we?”
She narrowed her eyes at me, but thankfully didn’t push it.
She laid down another card in the present position, a smile lighting up her face. “Knight of Swords,” she said, pointing at the image of an armored knight on a creepy demonic horse, brandishing a big sword. “He’s very mercurial. Talks before he thinks. Quick to rush into everything and make a big ol’ mess. Does that strike a chord with you?”
“I don’t rush intoeverything, Cupcake.” I glanced down at her mouth. “Some things are worth taking a very long, very deliberate time.”
She squirmed in her chair, and I’m not gonna lie, that new blush on her cheeks made me hard as fuck.
What was it about this girl? It’s not like I’d never been around attractive women before, but something about Gray was quickly taking hold.
I wasn’t sure if I liked it. I wasn’t sure I should eventhinkabout liking it.
“So, moving on. Let’s look at what lies beneath,” she said. “The essence of the matter, you might say.”
She set down another card, this one showing a naked man and woman standing on the beach, doing exactly what naked people ought to do together. But standing up like that? Facing each other? These two madethatposition look a hell of a lot easier than it was in reality, believe me.
Thing was, a serpent had just sunk its fangs into the guy’s leg. Dude didn’t even seem to realize it.
“The Lovers card,” she said, quickly flipping the next one and laying it crosswise over the sex card. “Crossed by The Devil.”
I stared at the new card—a winged demon that looked a lot like a guy I used to know, actually, dancing on scorched earth. “That… can’t be good.”
She studied the cards a minute longer, brow furrowed in concentration, and then she gasped.
My heart kicked me in the ribs. “What’s that gasp all about? Am I totally fucked here?”
She looked up at me, her pretty blue eyes wide with shock. “You’re anincubus?”
I bit back a smile. “Cards told you that?”
