Part of me wants to linger beside the tank and soak in my success, but I know it’s time to leave. I stride forward and climb the stairs, feeling lighter with each step. At the top I find a vaulted attic that smells of cedar and sawdust. Moonlight spills in through the windows, making it slightly less dark, but still I shine my flashlight across the space. First I see another staircase at the opposite end, one that must lead back into the house. I gasp, however, when I see what waits between me and that exit.

Lady Azure stands and stares at me, looking almost like a ghost herself.

“Did you secure the Princess of Cups?” she asks, before her eyes travel down to see the card grasped in my hand. That’s when I hear a banging coming from across the attic, traveling up the second set of stairs. I also hear muffled voices and a doorknob rattling. Could that be Lily, Cleo, and Anwar? Why would Lady Azure block them from meeting me this way?

“Carson’s Princess, the source of our powers. The heart of the Isle of Baxter,” Lady Azure begins, tears sliding down her cheeks. “You weren’t supposed to…”

My skin prickles cold. Suddenly I feel sick.

“You must understand, the Princess belongs here,” Lady Azure pleads, her watery eyes boring into me.

“You… you never wanted me to find the card, did you?” I ask.

“Our talents sharpened after Carson hid this card on our island. I would never disrespect Carson’s wishes. I never entered the maze below our feet, but I sat up here often, soaking in the presence of Carson’s hidden card.”

Lady Azure looks away from me then, her eyes falling to the floor. “But I cannot let go of this final gift. I would have preferred it destroyed, its energy resonating here forever.”

A wave of realization crashes over me. Details soak into my skull, running through our time with Lady Azure. Her tarot readings. Our group’s separation. Her “herbal” tea. The flickering lights. Her presence here in this attic outlet, blocking the others. Where do the plans of Carson Perilli end and the plans of Lady Azure begin?

I don’t know the answer to this question. All I do know, with a sudden surge, is that I’m trapped in a dark attic, at the end of a locked maze, with a resourceful fraud, stranded on her desolate island. I flatten the card in my hand against the strap of Cleo’s backpack, because who knows if the Princess is the only thing Lady Azure wants to take from me.

“You know what I expected in return for my guidance,” Lady Azure says, turning from flowing to icy as she creeps forward. “You trust I know what Carson would’ve wanted, don’t you? You know this was his home, his final resting place.”

I recoil backward, trying to get away from Lady Azure. Then, suddenly, there’s a loud bang from the exit door flying open.