Milo pulled his chair closer to me, explaining which parts of the various dishes he’d helped with, and I again resisted the urge to touch him because his enthusiasm was so infectious. I liked how everyone tried to include Milo as we talked—Professor Tuttle getting him talking about classic cars while Kellan involved him in a discussion about the upcoming revue. I waited until Professor Herrera returned to the kitchen to ask Conrad what I’d been trying to get at all evening.

“So tell us, oh Great Odyssey Employee, do you have any inside scoop on getting the Royal Frog Court rares?”

“There seriously isn’t a vault of rares or something we get to raid on our lunch hour. I know some of my coworkers who are collectors, too, and they still have to navigate the secondary market, same as everyone else. But I put out some feelers. I know some people now.”

“We know,” Kellan and I groaned simultaneously.

“I heard George, the jerk who Arthur banned, bragging that he got hold of a set,” Jasmine shared. Next to me, Milo stiffened, and I tapped his foot with mine, trying to let him know that I hadn’t told and wasn’t going to break his trust like that.

“There’s no way to guarantee George’s cards are legit.” Kellan stretched, eyes pinched together, a rare sign of irritation from him. “He’d probably part with them, though. For a price.”

“And no one wants to pay his prices.” Conrad sounded like he knew a thing or two about George’s tactics.

“Is this George criminal or merely underhanded?” Professor Tuttle stroked his chin. I hadn’t meant to include him in this conversation, and the last thing I needed was him thinking we needed law enforcement or something.

“A scuzzbucket, but he’s careful to walk the line,” Jasmine answered for me. “I definitely wouldn’t do something stupid like try to play George for the cards.”

I had been considering doing exactly that all week. I had something he might covet—my ticket for the Odyssey launch party next month, and I also knew I had the skill to at least have a chance of beating him. But Milo tapped my foot hard as he frowned. He wouldn’t be down with that idea, but I wasn’t completely discounting it yet either. I liked the idea of the big rescue, probably more than I should have, but Milo kept making me want to save his day.

“Why play George when you can hunt treasure?” Conrad leaned forward. “One of the people I know at the office told me about these secret treasure hunts. Like geocaching or letterboxing puzzle hunts where you can find rare items as the prize. She thinks there might be one around here with one of the Royal Frog Court cards as the lure. She gave me some top-secret links.”