Page 106 of Starrily

He probably shouldn’t test Madame Fortuna’s patience. “General will do.”

She shuffled the deck and fanned the cards out, swiftly and precisely as a croupier. “Pull three, the ones that speak to you.”

Raleigh did so, and once the cards were selected, Madame Fortuna put away the rest and flipped the first card. The mysterious smile spread across her face again as she tapped the first card, featuring a fine gold-ink drawing of a young man in jester’s clothes gazing up at the starry sky. “The Fool. Ranked zero for a reason—it has unlimited potential. It can be the beginning or the end. He’s the change and the consistency; in that he always follows you through life.”

She flipped the second card. It showed a man sitting on a throne, a scepter in his hand, rays forming a halo around his head. “Curious. He chases you even to here—the Emperor. He’s not you, but he is connected to you. Perhaps the last card will reveal how.”

Callie resisted rolling her eyes. Of course, Madame Fortuna knew which cards to pull—the first one was neutral enough, and the second one related to the palm reading. It was like a horoscope; make sure it was generic enough, and those who wanted would see themselves in it.

She supposed it was fun for those people—Madame Fortuna’s readings used to be fun for her—but that didn’t make them any more real.

Madame Fortuna flipped the last card. It displayed a man hanging upside down from a tree with mirrored branches and roots.

“I don’t like the look of this one,” Raleigh murmured.

Callie gulped. One didn’t spend eighteen years with the Guidry Witches and not know tarot card names—and meanings—by heart.

The Hanged Man.

“You’re in limbo,” Madame Fortuna said. “In a period where an important decision about your life needs to be made. A partof that decision might not be made by you, but you’re still in the center of it.” She tapped the drawing of the hanged man. “A sacrifice will have to be made. Others might not understand it, but you will.”

“I think we’ve seen enough.” Callie tugged Raleigh’s sleeve, but she couldn’t move him until he stood up himself.

“Thanks,” he mumbled as Callie dragged him out of the tent. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m tired of the mumbo-jumbo.”

“You don’t think the reading was real?”

She scoffed. “Of course not.” But she could still see the Hanged Man and hated the uneasiness that had crept into her bones.

“Let’s go,” Raleigh said. “It’s getting late, and I think the hot wings are about to demand their revenge.”

Callie had calmed down a bit by the time they reached the inn. They stopped in front of her room.

Raleigh wore the wooden floor with one shoe, his hands tucked into his pockets. “Good night, then.”

Some other night, she would’ve stopped him. She’d beg his forgiveness, tell him how she felt, and ask him if he could be her other half, forever.

But this wasn’t the night. In a few days, when Raleigh’s problem was fixed, and there were no more worries he’d turn into a ghost, she’d do it.

In a few days when, hopefully, she’d forget all about the Hanged Man.

Chapter 25

Two days later, Raleigh and Callie picked up Shanna and headed to the Guidrys for the final verdict. Raleigh hoped whatever ritual they’d cooked up could be done immediately; he hadn’t had more episodes since, but he was looking forward to being free. He even whistled as they drove to the house, though Callie, this time, didn’t join him in singing.

Phoebe invited them in and led them to the living room, where Penny and Iris leaned over Shanna’s book.

“Good morning, ladies,” Raleigh greeted. “Are we ready to turn this man fully material?”

“About that,” Phoebe said. “We have a small problem.”

Callie tensed next to him.No reason to worry yet.Maybe it was just a delay with the ritual?

“What’s the problem?” she asked, her voice tightly controlled.

Penny lifted her eyes from the book, giving them an apologetic glance. “We tried to figure out a ritual, or a combination of two, that would return Simon’s soul to his body and, simultaneously, give Raleigh his own body back. Both issues are connectedto the same thing—a body and soul mismatch. Raleigh’s soul doesn’t belong in Simon’s body, which is now weakening it and threatening to take them both. Simon’s soul in the locket is no better off—honestly, it’s a miracle it’s held on for this long.”