I step away from Logan because that was definitely Amelia’s voice shouting my name from somewhere deeper in the shop. Suddenly all of Logan’s warmth leaves my body. I’m used to Amelia being somewhat dramatic, but I am not used to her sounding distraught.

I spin and begin sprinting toward her voice, barely sideswiping the packed shelves as I go. I rush into some checkout space, filled with tarot decks and astrology charts and quasi-mystic paraphernalia. Finding Amelia there, I stop in my tracks so quickly that Logan nearly crashes into me.

I exhale, seeing that Amelia isn’t hurt or in danger. Still, something isn’t quite right. She looks stunned and Cleo stands at her side, fists clenched.

“Welcome to Mother Earth Occult and Antiques,” the man standing in front of Amelia and Cleo says, turning to face us. “It appears your friends have stumbled into a rather deep well of discovery.”

“And you are?” I ask, walking to join them.

“Why, I’m the owner,” the man says.

Given the name of this shop, I expected a flowing goddess type, but this man is made of ridges, thin as a twig and dressed in black. I can’t quite explain it, but I immediately sense he is a person of absence, not abundance. My guard flies up.

“Chase, he recognized our deck,” Amelia says, her eyes wide. “He says he knows where the cards come from.”

Disbelief ripples through me. We’ve never found anything about Gran Flo’s deck over the years, not even on our deepest research dives. How could we be lucky enough to find answers on our first stop? I then remind myself that anything trading in truth—spirituality, religion, psychics, the tarot, and all the rest—is always riddled with scam artists.

“‘He’ goes by Maggie,” the man says. “And are you four telling me you really don’t know what that deck is?”

“It was my grandma’s,” Amelia blurts out. “She bought it at a yard sale years ago and we never—”

“We’d love to hear what you know about the deck,” I interrupt, stepping beside Amelia. My first rule of tarot engagement? Never give yourself away.

“It really means the world to us. It’s why we came here on this trip,” Amelia adds. She can’t help herself, because her first tarot rule? Open the floodgates.

“Well, I’d certainly like to meet this grandmother of yours, because there’s no way she bought that deck at a yard sale. May I see it up close?”

“Amelia’s grandma passed away earlier this year,” I say, placing my hand over Amelia’s. Thankfully it doubles as a gesture of affection, while also keeping her from giving over the deck. “But why do you say that?”

Maggie passes his cloudy blue eyes over me with a mix of annoyance and respect. He then walks behind the register counter, trying to gain some authority.