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.

“Amelia, are you all right?” Cleo asks, running up and rushing to my side.

“We came up here to try to meet you, but the door was locked,” Anwar follows. “It took me forever, but I picked the lock.”

“We need to go,” I whisper back to them. “Now.”

“Mom, what are you doing?” Lily asks, placing herself between us and Lady Azure. “Why did you lock us out?”

“Lily, she has your card in her hands, the source of our gifts,” Lady Azure answers. “Amelia must understand that card belongs to you. To us.”

Lily stares back at her mother, looking horrified.

“No,” Lily says. “It doesn’t.”

Lily’s eyes then flutter, like she is putting the pieces together. Or… listening? Either way, she turns to us next.

“Take the stairs to the basement. Then use the exit down there. I texted Seidon to meet you. He’ll take you and the others back.”

“No!” Lady Azure cries. “We have to see the final deck! Now that—”

Lady Azure freezes, however, as Lily grabs her wrist. She sets her eyes on her mother with a glare so intense, it gives me a chill. “Uncle Carson would be ashamed.”

Hearing these words, Lady Azure appears thunderstruck. In the same second, Cleo takes my hand and walks forward. She knows this is our window, while Lily has Lady Azure filled with doubt.

“You have to let this go now,” Lily adds. “Not everything is yours to own.”

We make it to the stairs before we can hear Lady Azure’s response, or before we can say anything to Lily. As we begin to rush down through Couple Cottage, I can only hope one thing:

That Lily can keep her mother from haunting us any further.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

CHASE