“Is Rosa obsessed with Pentacles from the tarot?” I ask, breaking my silence. Amelia tenses beside me, but I know what I’m doing. “It’s just, the emphasis on a green and female space. The magical vibes rooted in physical senses.”

“Actually, yes,” Sherwin answers. “And as Mama Ro would say, collecting them coins. Pentacles are all about the transactional as well. But honey, how do you know so much about Pentacles?”

“Oh, I’m writing a thesis on tarot cards,” I lie, surprised by how effortlessly it flows out. “It’s why we’re on this trip—I dragged my best friends along for one last occult research hurrah before the semester starts. A kind of ‘taroad’ trip, if you will.”

I wink at Amelia, hoping this inside joke makes her smile. I’m not sure I recognize this smoother version of myself, but I don’t hate him.

“You might have actually come on the perfect day,” Rowe says. “We were just in the middle of solving a tarot equation and we hit a wall.”

“Tarot equation?” I feign. “What does that even mean?”

“It’s a little bit of a deep dive, if you’re really interested,” Rowe replies. “And it might seem kind of… out there.”

“Try us,” I say.

Sherwin then shoots Rowe a look: What are you doing? But Rowe just shrugs him off: What? These three are harmless. Meanwhile, I see Cleo and Amelia exchange a look of their own: Here we go again with these “secretive” Perillians spilling the tea.

“Rosa acquired a new tarot deck, a bit of a lost artifact to aficionados like my stepsisters here,” Supriya picks up. “It’s interesting, but a touch weird for me. The guy who made the deck was some kind of underground artist with a cult following. Apparently he liked to hide some integral missing cards behind elaborate puzzles.”

“You’re not talking about someone named… what was it?” I pause for effect. “Carter Perry? I read a little about him in my studies, but he seemed pretty obscure.”

“Carson Perilli,” Sherwin corrects. “And yes, he would be.”

“Anyway, maybe some fresh eyes would help these two?” Supriya asks, brightening to soften the edges in Sherwin’s voice. “I have to admit, I’ve been pretty useless. Unless you came here for something more specific?”

“I, for one, could stand for a flower crown like yours,” Amelia gushes.

“And I could go for some magic coffee, for sure,” Cleo adds.

“Well, I forced us to stop in for some research scouting, since we’ve been visiting notable tarot shops,” I say, sealing the deal. “So an obscure tarot puzzle sounds right up my alley. Lead the way?”