Trinity laughed and gave him a beaming smile. “I mean I’m only thirty-one, so it’s not that long!”

Wait, was she flirting with him? She cut the cards into three piles. “So who am I doing a reading for?”

Her eyes were still fixed on Hunter, who shifted in his chair. “Can you do one for both of us?”

She shrugged. “I mean we can do whatever you want.”

I flashed Hunter a scowl. She was definitely flirting with him, but he was too fixated on Trinity’s shuffling.

“Typically it’s better to do one person at a time though,” she said.

He seemed to be considering this when I stepped in. “Hunter, why don’t you get one first since you really wanted to do this? If you want I can get one after.”

He bit his lip for a moment but then nodded. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

Trinity cocked her head to one side and smiled, “Awesome,” she said, putting the deck back into one pile. “Let’s do this.”

She dealt the cards into groups of two, three, and two. When she was done, she put the deck down and studied the cards in silence.

Trying to get Trinity’s flirting with Hunter out of my mind, I joined him in studying the cards. Or at least I looked at them. I had never seen cards like this in my life. Some of them had numbers and some of them didn’t. There was one upside down in the left group of two and one upside down in the group of three. That was about all I could tell. I sat back and waited for Trinity to tell us what these things supposedly meant. When I looked at Hunter, he was doing the same.

“Mmhmm,” she murmured, breaking the silence. “Fire, air, and a drop of water.”

Hunter blinked. “What? What does that mean?”

I felt the same. What was she talking about?

She shook her head slightly and pointed to the pair of cards on our left. “This is your past.” She moved her finger to the middle. “This is your present.” Finally, she pointed to the other pair. “And this is your future.”

Her voice was an octave lower than it had been a moment before. I supposed this was her fortune telling voice. Hunter and I both looked at the cards anew, then back at her. For a moment I felt stupid, but then I figured there was no reason to know this stuff anyway.

Trinity continued. “The cards tell me something that began recently has you feeling trapped and burdened.”

That could mean anything, but maybe it could be applicable. Confused, I looked up from the cards and found Trinity staring at me intently. More specifically, my boobs.

She looked up and made eye contact, holding it for a second and smiling before I looked away. I turned to Hunter to see if he had just witnessed what happened, but he was too engrossed in his cards.

I looked at him as she moved to the three cards in the middle signifying his present. His expression showed legitimate interest. Why was he suddenly so into fortune telling? And how could be unaware of what was going on with Trinity?

“We’re missing air here,” Trinity mused, as if she hadn’t just been staring at me. “And a messenger has come.”

She pointed to a card depicting a knight with a golden cup. Hunter pursed his lips and looked at me. “Are you a messenger?” he asked skeptically.

I shrugged as they both fixed their gaze on me. “I have no idea. I guess maybe?”

“It’s basically a message of judgment,” Trinity said, pointing to another card.

My brows shot up along with Hunter’s. This was getting more bewildering by the minute. “I have no idea.”

She pointed to the other card in the group of three and pursed her lips, then gave Hunter a small smile. “Things are about to change, I think. Let’s see what your result will be.”

I stared at the card she had been pointing to. It was a picture of a guy dancing with a coin in either hand and a really big hat. How that meant change, I didn’t know.

Shaking my head again, I watched her study the pair of cards for Hunter’s future. She didn’t point to anything this time. Instead, she looked Hunter in the eye. “You will find abundance in the darkness.”

Hunter nodded and looked at me, then back at her. His expression was one of bemusement. “Can you, uh, explain that?”

She shook her head, her expression somber. “It’s what the cards say.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense! Am I going to like, stumble into some treasure while I’m lost in the woods or something?”

She shrugged,a smile threatening to creep over her face. “Maybe.”

His palms were up on the table. “Who the hell finds treasure anymore? Maybe I should go find a time machine and be a pirate? I mean I’m not opposed if you have access to a time machine.”

He turned to me. “Lorrie, do you wanna be a pirate?”

It was hard not to giggle at Hunter’s outburst. He could be such a goofball. I looked over at Trinity to see if she was offended, but it seemed like she was amused if anything. She raised her eyebrows at me and cocked her head slightly.

I turned away. “It sounds like a pretty positive future to me,” I said diplomatically. “And yes, if you want me to be a pirate with you, I think that sounds lovely. Should we get out of here?”

He let out a long breath and then smiled at me. “No way, it’s your turn! If you get the pirate fortune too, we’re going on a time machine hunt. Or at least buying lotto tickets.”

“I don’t think we have time,” I tried, making a show of looking at the clock and at Trinity.

Hunter wasn’t getting my drift. “Come on Lorrie! I’m gonna be a pirate! Life’s awesome!”

The grin on his face was so big I would have thought he was drunk if I didn’t know better. Was that why he had wanted to come here? Did he just want some laughs?

“I can do a simple three card reading for you,” Trinity cooed, bringing the energy of the room back from Hunter’s frenzy. “It’ll only take a minute.”

I sighed and look to Hunter, hoping he would get the message. My attempts to communicate nonverbally were futile. “Do it Lorrie. Three cards!”

“Okay,” I said grudgingly. “But I’m blaming you if it’s bad.”

His face screwed up into a goofy grin and he shrugged. “Deal. I also want credit when it’s awesome, though.”

Trinity smiled at the two of us and shuffled the deck. She cut it the same as she had before, then dealt the three cards out.

“This reading’s easier,” she said. “The first card is the past, the second the present, the third the future.”

My vision narrowed as I fixated on the third card. It was a picture of a hanged man. A chill jolted up my spine. Hunter seemed to notice it too and looked at me sheepishly.

“Mmm, an all water reading,” Trinity said, scanning the cards. “Very interesting.”

“What does that mean?” I asked. I was curious despite myself.

Her heavy-lidded eyes pierced through me as she considered how to answer. “You’re moving, but things are staying the same.”

I nodded slowly, pretending to understand. Hunter had his lips pursed tight.

Trinity’s finger moved to my past. “The ace is reversed. Maybe you felt stable but later found you weren’t?”