Page 105 of Starrily

“I can tell from the picture of the crystal ball. Not my point. That said …” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Wanna get lucky?”

“You’re the worst today.”

“It’s the hot wings.”

Callie shook her head and looked toward the tent’s veiled entrance. She and Mila would always get readings from Madame Fortuna, even though Callie’s family could do the same. Callie used to joke she wanted a second opinion.

She wouldn’t believe in Madame Fortuna’s opinion now, but nostalgia reached its long fingers for her, and her feet started moving toward the veil, a little girl dragged into the world of mystery and mysticism.

The inside of the tent was pitch black. Callie wondered if Madame Fortuna had closed already when a candle lit up on the further side of the round room, illuminating the hooded face of an old woman.

Behind Callie, Raleigh jumped. “Whoa. That was scary, but effective.”

“Come, girl,” Madame Fortuna said. “Let me see you.”

Callie stepped closer to the light. Madame Fortuna looked the same as she remembered, perhaps with a wrinkle or two more; but she still had the penchant for gold-embroidered hooded cloaks, flashy rings, and striking green eye shadow.

The fortune teller looked at Callie with a mysterious half-smile. “Sit. Show me your hand.”

The good old hand reading. Callie and Mila would fight for who gets to go first and pester Madame Fortuna with questions.

Callie sat and put her hand on the velvet-covered table, palm up.

“Are you suuure I can’t do better on the test?” little Callie would’ve asked.

Madame Fortuna cupped her hand, gently tracing the lines with her fingers.

“You always can,” the fortune teller would’ve said back then. “The lines only tell me what destiny has in store for you. But destiny can’t compete with your desires.”

“You’re curious,” Madame Fortuna said. “And ravenous. Ravenous to explore, to experience, to enjoy. You …” She followed a line, then looked up. “I know this palm. You’re Callie.”

“You remember me?”

“How could I forget? Your Life always ran long into the Mount of Venus.”

Oh, no.Raleigh didn’t need more ammunition.

“What does her Mount of Venus say?” Raleigh asked from the entrance.

“That she’s currently annoyed with you,” Madame Fortuna shot back.

“You know what, you can do him.” Callie pulled her hand back. “I mean, his palm reading.”

“Oh, can you?” Raleigh asked.

Madame Fortuna gave a slightly tired nod. “Go ahead.”

Callie gave up her seat to Raleigh, and he offered his hand to the fortune teller, winking at Callie.

“Interesting,” Madame Fortuna murmured. “You’re a hunter. In the olden days, you would’ve been a conqueror. A king. Merciless, but efficient. Successful, through your own talents, though not without the contribution of others.”

Raleigh looked at Callie, eyebrows raised in question. A merciless, but efficient conqueror? That didn’t sound anything like him.

“Uh, I may have forgotten to mention a small detail,” he said. “It’s going to sound weird, but this isn’t my body.”

Madame Fortuna blinked once. “Understandable. In that case, a card reading should do instead.” She pulled out a deck of tarot cards. “Do you have specific questions, or would you like a general reading?”

Oh, the questions—he couldn’t see the end of them.Will Callie’s family help me? Will I become a ghost? What will happen to Simon? What will happen to me, if Simon also comes back? Have I lost Callie by being an idiot? Did she ever love me?