Oh my God.
Oh my GOD.
It’s Riah.
I AM obsessed with him…and the cards know.
My stomach rolled. Nausea bubbled up my throat.
Savannah narrowed her eyes and flipped another card.
The Lovers.
I gasped and people two tables away looked over at me. I slammed my hand over my mouth. My eyes were wide and I felt heat in my cheeks.
Gigi’s mouth hung open. “That is so romantic.”
Savannah wagged her eyebrows. “Saffie, ma’am, let me tell you. The lighthouse in your darkness is a lover, this King of Swords. At first you may feel a sort of obsession with him, after all he is charismatic power and strength. He doesn’t play with emotions, and that is attractive as hell. But in the end this will be a deep bond. A soul mate, if you will.”
They both looked to me.
I couldn’t meet their eyes. I didn’t want them to see the panic in mine. My mind was screaming Riah, Riah, Riah. But that was ludicrous. I’d only just met him – hell, I hadn’t actually even met him yet. I’d just seen him. Sure, I was a little obsessed right now but it wasn’t like that.
It’s not. I’m just confused. I want answers.
That’s ALL.
Savannah chuckled softly. “Okay, let’s move on. Next up is — hmm, interesting. Hold on.” She drew another card and her eyes widened. “Interesting indeed.”
“What? What is it?” I squeaked.
“This card is about you being on the beginning of a journey.” She fanned the three cards out so I could see them. “The Four of Swords is entirely about rest and recovery. Healing time. Which obviously, is where you’re at as we speak. You have amnesia and it’s forcing you to take a break. I’m guessing your life before this was chaotic. So then I asked the deck who or what might help you get through this, to get through to the next level of your recovery…and I pulled the High Priestess and The Empress.”
“Ohhhhh.” Gigi pushed her dark hair back. “What a hype team, dude.”
“Right?” Savannah leaned into the table. “Saffie, these two ladies are the queens of the tarot. The top of the game. They are everything women are and want to be. The Empress is feminine strength and beauty. And the High Priestess is just a bad ass, dude. She is wisdom, intuition, knowledge, and mystery. The Empress will help you grow to your best self. She is the guardian of your night garden. And the High Priestess will help you harness your intuition, to listen to your inner voice. But she also opens the secret book of night for you, to unveil all mysteries.”
My breath left me in a rush. “Okay, but these two ladies are you two? Right?”
Savannah frowned. “I would be honored to have either of these cards represent me, but honestly, I must say they never have nor do I think they do now. Like the other two majors, I think these are two people who are coming for you.”
“But coming to help,” Gigi added. “And that is incredible. Can’t ask for better help than those two.”
I held in a groan. They both believed so earnestly in this, and I wanted to as well. In my heart I did, which was why I felt like I’d run into a brick wall at full speed. But I just couldn’t see how this would happen. Where were these supposed people?
And are they strangers? Or people from my old life?
“Okay, next card talks to us about the heart of your problem.” Savannah flipped a card to lay next to it. She nodded. “Interesting. So the Wheel of Fortune means, quite simply, fate. That whatever your problem is, you were meant to be here. And while that does not sound uplifting, it’s in the Six of Wands that we find the light. The book says, and I am obsessed with this interpretation, flowers are blossoming around me. They should. I deserve it. I fought hard and today is the day of my reward. So whereas you were fated to be right here, you are a fighter who will succeed in the end.”
I sighed. “I better.”
Savannah hung her head and laughed. “Amen, girl.”
“Last card!” Gigi grinned. “This one tells you the outcome of all of this. Pull two clarifiers on this for sure, go deep on it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Savannah winked and flipped two more cards. “The Page of Cups, this purple-haired mermaid here, says this is a time of wonders for you. Expect the unexpected. But then we add these two – The Magician and The Sun—”
“More people coming?”
Savannah paused and stared at the cards, then shook her head once. “Nah, not getting that here. This Magician tells us you will come into your own magic. Your own power and potential. You will manifest your own dreams. Then The Sun is pure warmth and happiness. So the outcome, after all this darkness and battle, you may come out of it in a way you never expected, but you will be one happy, bad ass bitch.”
Gigi cursed and shook her whole body out. “That was intense.”
I nodded then scrubbed my face with my hands. That was intense. And creepy, but I liked it. It was like I suddenly felt stronger and ready for anything, which was maybe the whole point of these cards. But it was working. My heart was racing, pushing adrenaline through my body. I felt like I could destroy mountains with my bare hands. I liked this idea that help was coming. In my heart, I just prayed it was someone from my old life who might be able to get my memory back somehow. Which sounded ridiculous, I knew that.
Don’t forget the Riah thing…
Shut up, brain. We are trying very hard to do just that.
But it was useless. That card may as well have had his face on it for how much it looked like him. Am I reading into this because I want him to be a lover for me? Is this a self-fulfilling prophecy? Or coincidence? I didn’t know. Yet there he was, sandwiched between the Devil and the Lovers.
Savannah stuffed all of her cards back into the box they came out of. “So, what did you think?”
“Still trying to sort that out.” I shook my head. “I think I need more pizza.”
Chapter Seventeen
Riah
Saraphina’s friends had not ceased to surprise me. As Savannah parked her truck at the beach, I found this choice to be most unexpected. Humans did not partake in water activities in the winter, yet here they were with gusto.
I watched as Saraphina threw her door open and jumped out – though it was more of a hopeful, controlled fall than anything else. When she landed gracefully and smiled down at the ground, I had to stifle a laugh. She had always been one of the fiercest souls I’d ever come across but she was also adorably tiny at barely an inch over five foot.
I was supposed to be scanning the area for demons and any other threat to her safety, yet I found myself hypnotized by her every move. A gust of wintry air swept across the parking lot and her friends shivered. But Saraphina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, like the ocean air soothed her – and that made me smile. My chest tightened as the need to hold her tried to pull me under once more.
While her eyes were closed, I glanced around to try and anticipate what they were doing here. Yet all I saw was snow covered rocks, a cloudless blue sky, and ocean waves gently rolling onto the shore. I turned back to Saraphina and found her smiling at the sea.
“What a view.”
What a view indeed.