Page 94 of Forbidden Fate

I let out a huff. “There you go.”

Robin turns to me.

I keep my voice calm. “Any card can mean anything if you’re creative enough. Ace of Spades can mean death, or finality, or change, or maybe that someone drops a black umbrella on a Sunday and decides it was destiny.”

Mercedes narrows her eyes at me. “You’re mocking sacred things.”

“I’m mocking things that scare people who have already been scared enough.”

That shuts her up.

I look at Robin. “You’re not going to die.”

She sighs. “You don’t know that.”

I scowl. “And I’m not going to fall in love because they pulled a heart out of a deck.”

The words taste like acid on my tongue.

Because I want it.

God help me, I want it.

Not the card. Not the prediction. Not the ridiculous performance Mercedes and Esmeralda made over the Ace of Hearts.

I want what they said.

I want to fall in love.

Worse than that, I want to fall in love with Robin.

I stand, forcing the thought out of my mind. “Robin and I need to discuss our plans.”

Her expression shifts. “Our plans.”

“Yes.” I arch my brows. “For how we’re going to smooth things out with your family.”

“Right,” she says. “Smooth things out.”

Esmeralda sighs. “Families can be so dramatic.”

“You have no idea.” Robin stands. “Thank you. For the conversation. And the company.” She pauses for a few seconds, her lips thinning. “And the reading, however harrowing it was.”

Esmeralda rises, comes around the table, and takes both of Robin’s hands in hers. “You’re very brave.”

Robin stiffens. “I’m really not.”

Mercedes joins them. “You are. And very beautiful. Even tired.”

“Thank you,” Robin says.

Esmeralda squeezes Robin’s hands. “I hope everything works out for you.”

Her words hit me hard.

Working out means so many things now.

It means Robin getting home alive.