Falling Free: What happens in Vegas... (The Fall Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

just
what I needed, and a good dose of her famous sarcasm brought me back to the
moment. I was laughing, giggling actually, and a flood of emotions ripped
through me. Anxiety. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
    “Yeah, I’m fucked,” I said when I
finally retorted. “I’m also exhausted. Can we talk more about this tomorrow?”
    “Not so fast, Lo. You promised you’d
let Leslie do a reading, remember? Well, it just so happens that I’m at her
house now, and we’ve been waiting for you to call.”
    I groaned. ”Nina, I know you’re
worried, but the last thing I want to do right now…” The rustling sound as Nina
passed the phone to Leslie told me I was about to get a reading like it or not.
    “Lo, you’re in Vegas?” Leslie had
two personalities, crazy and crazier. Crazy was her baseline. She was
overdramatic, funny and full of energy, but I’d become accustomed to it over
the years. When she was crazier, she might try to convince you that her
neighbors were aliens. You never knew what you would get from day to day, but
right now I could tell that she was just plain Leslie, and I breathed a sigh of
relief for both Nina and me.
    “I hope you’re having the time of
your life, Love! Sometimes I swear you’re just like me!” I could imagine Nina secretly
rolling her eyes in the background. It was hard to believe she could be so
normal having been raised by a mother like Leslie. Sometimes she complained,
but the girl had the patience of a saint, and her sensitivity to the fact that
I no longer had a mother kept her from complaining too much. Besides, we both
loved Leslie, even if she was bat shit crazy.
    “Leslie, I’m having the time of
my life.” I told her what she wanted to hear, even if I wasn’t sure it was the
truth. “In fact, I’ve been having so much fun that I’m completely exhausted. Do
you think we could do this reading tomorrow?”
    She sounded serious. “Oh, honey,
no, I’ve had a bad feeling all day. Something’s going on around you, and we
need to get to the bottom of it. I’ll make it quick. I promise.”
    What did she mean by that? I could barely whisper, “Ok.” A
gut wrenching flashback hit me head on as I remembered the last time Leslie
told me she had a bad feeling. Three weeks later my mom was diagnosed with
Cancer. Now she had my complete attention. My head started to throb, and I rubbed
my temples as I waited for her to continue.
    I heard the familiar sound of
cards shuffling, then swirling around, followed by the smack of individual
cards hitting the table as if they were hammering out my destiny one by one. Then
silence…
    When she finally spoke the grave
tone of her voice had me on edge. “Oh. Oh, this is exactly what I was afraid
of.”
    “What, Leslie? What is it?” A few
minutes ago I was planning to get lost in this luxurious bed, but now I was hanging
on her every word, ready to catch the next flight to Michigan. Everything
changing in the blink of an eye was becoming the norm lately, but no matter how
many times my world kept getting flipped upside-down, it never got easier. More
cards slapped on the table, revealing my fate.
    Leslie finally started speaking,
mostly to herself. “Interesting…The Eight of Wands. That makes sense, because
you just flew to Vegas, but it could mean something more, especially since The
Tower is also present. Swift changes are in store for you, Lo.”
    I breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s no surprise. I just hope they’re good changes this time.”
    “Ah. Here’s what I’ve been
waiting to see. We have the Emperor and the Knight of caps, but wait a minute. I
don’t like the looks of this.”
    “What?” Now I was pacing. “Please
tell me. Don’t hold anything back. What is it?”
    “All swords, my dear. Too many
swords.” She clucked her tongue in disapproval.
    “What the hell does that MEAN?
I’m sorry, but I’m hundreds of miles from home, and this is freaking me out,
Leslie. Please translate.”
    “I