Page 124 of Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail

Cards that looked vaguely familiar.

“Hang on,” Astrid said, picking up a few and inspecting them closely. They were all illustrated, simple, but something about the drawings, the colors, scratched at the back of Astrid’s brain. Where had she—

Jordan. In the Andromeda theater. Jordan had shown her a card in the exact same style and talked about how she’d drawn that same card for months.

The Two of Cups.

The soul mates card.

“How does this work?” Astrid asked, taking the little guidebook and flipping through it for some sort of directions.

“What, you want your cards read now?” Iris asked.

“Just tell me how it works.” Astrid’s voice was low but shaky, and her friends noticed. Suddenly, she could feel her pulse everywhere.

“Okay, sweetie,” Claire said. She took the cards from Astrid and shuffled them, explaining how she should ask an open-ended question as she did so. Then, she cut the cards into three stacks, put them back together, and drew the top card.

A Four of Wands.

Iris took the guidebook from Astrid. “This card means celebration, prosperity, the gathering of kindred souls.” She grinned at her friends, then looked back at the book. “Could also mean marriage.”

Claire choked and glanced at Delilah, who simply smirked.

“Just saying,” Iris said.

“Want to try it?” Claire asked, clearing her throat and looking at Astrid.

Astrid nodded. She had no clue why, but it had to mean something, didn’t it? That she was in Claire’s house at the exact moment this package arrived, that it just happened to contain the exact Tarot deck that Jordan used? Astrid didn’t believe in this kind of thing—she was practical to a fault, type A, believed your choices were your own.

Or your mother’s, as the case may be.

And she still believed all that.

But what if...

“Yeah,” she said. “I want to try it.”

Claire handed her the cards, instructing her to knock on the deck once to clear the last reading. Then Astrid held the cards in both hands, trying to think of an open-ended question.

Will my mother hate me forever?

Did I do the right thing?

What do I need to know right now?

She settled on that last one, which felt like exactly the right mix of practical and woo-woo.

“Remember, it’s not predictive,” Claire said. “Tarot is just supposed to help you understand what’s already in your heart, choices you’re facing, stuff like that.”

“When did you become such an expert?” Iris asked.

Claire waved a hand. “Since my mother insists on reading my cards—and Ruby’s and Delilah’s—every time she comes into town.”

Astrid shuffled and cut the deck into three stacks, put them back together—instinctively, Claire had said—and then she froze. She stared down at the top card, fingers resting on the glossy blue surface. Maybe this was silly. Maybe this was—

She flipped over the card before she could finish the thought.

There, shining up at her in all its ridiculous, impossible glory, was the Two of Cups.