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“You’re hiding it beautifully.”

She sat across from me again and unwrapped the cards.

She touched the deck and went quiet.

“What do you want to know?”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to influence the cards.”

“That was Antonio’s theory. I prefer a question.”

I considered it.

“What am I carrying that I should’ve put down?”

Stella’s eyebrows lifted.

“That’s almost poetic for you.”

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“I’ll protect your reputation.”

She shuffled.

Her hands moved through the deck in smooth, practiced passes.

After a few passes, she set the deck down.

“Cut it.”

I did.

She drew the first card and placed it between us.

A skeletal figure rode a pale horse.

I read the title.

“Death.”

“Reversed.”

“That improves it?”

“Not necessarily.”

“Good. I was worried this might become cheerful.”

Her mouth curved briefly.

She drew the second card: Five of Cups.

The third was Justice reversed.

Stella didn’t speak immediately.

Her fingers rested beside the cards without touching them.