FUR FOR ALL, Book 5 in FIXED by Christine Warren Read Free Book Online

handed them back to her and twisted them in her hands so that the side that had been on the top when Missy held them was on the top when she held them as well.
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    “Great,” Tess said. “Now, go ahead and ask one question at a time, and I’ll lay down three or four cards to try and get an answer. You don’t have to ask out loud if you don’t want to, okay?”
    “Okay.”
    “All right. Tell me when you’re ready.”
    Missy paused for a second, closed her eyes in concentration, then opened them again. “Okay. Ready.”
    Tess laid down the first card. The Queen of Swords. She felt her eyebrow twitch, and wondered what question Missy had asked. She had assumed the new mother would want to know something about her son or her own future, but Tess didn’t really see Missy as the Queen of Swords type. She seemed too earthy and nurturing for swords. If she’d had to guess, Tess would have said Missy was a pentacles type. The Queen of Pentacles, perhaps, or maybe even the Empress card. If anyone was the swords type, it was Tess herself.
    “The Queen of Swords usually represents a woman,” she explained, “though it could be representing an idea or a situation. Assuming it’s a woman, though, she’s someone who is mature. Not necessarily old, but grown up. Not a kid.
    She’s very intelligent and focused. Willful, but in the upright position like this, she’s not manipulative, which is good.”
    She looked at Missy to gauge the other woman’s reaction, but the blonde just smiled and nodded and kept her question to herself. Shrugging, Tess reached for a second card. Who knew what Missy had asked? Maybe the card made sense to her.
    “The King of Wands. That could be your husband.” She tapped the card with one fingertip. “If it isn’t, Graham is still a good example of what this guy is like.
    He’s mature—again, not old, but grown up—and generally very charismatic.
    He’s energetic and successful and incredibly charming. The kind of man who just 40

    Fixed 5: Fur For All
    blazes through life on sheer force of personality. Like I said, either Graham or someone a lot like him.”
    Missy’s mouth curved. “Yes, it does sound a lot like him.” Nodding, Tess flipped a third card and stared at it for a minute. “The Wheel of Fortune. That’s interesting. One meaning is just what the card sounds like. It’s the turn of luck in your life. Upright like this, it means good things are happening and you’re benefiting from them, which is great. But some people also think that when it shows up in a reading it signifies the influence of Fate on your life. That whatever is happening or about to happen to you is something you really can’t control. You just have to ride it out and see where it takes you, because that’s where you’re destined to be.” She spoke slowly and looked back over the two other cards she’d already laid down. An uneasy sort of feeling had begun to twist inside of her stomach.
    She wasn’t quite sure why, but she thought it might have something to do with this impromptu reading. Her hand hovered over the deck until Missy looked at her and smiled her warm, comforting smile.
    “Go ahead,” Missy urged. “You said you’d set out four cards on the question and see what they said.”
    Tess obediently reached for another card, slipped it off the top of the deck and slowly turned it over. The Two of Cups.
    “Shit.”
    Missy looked at the card, then back up at Tess with an amused expression.
    “What’s the matter? It’s not like it’s the Death card,” she pointed out. “It looks like a very pretty card to me. Isn’t it a good one?”
    “The Death card isn’t really bad.” Tess’s reply came automatically. Her eyes were still glued to the fourth card laid out on the smooth, pristine countertop. “It just means change.”
    “Then what does this card mean?”
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    “True love.”
    “Well then.” Missy looked from the card to Tess as a