“So, for Cups, our talismans are chalices. They are chosen and blessed in the same kind of way which gives us some magic to work with.” He slid his chalice over a rune carved into the wooden table. Instantly the chalice lit up. “It allows us to test a potion’s effectiveness without brewing it in a cauldron over a hearth because that takes longer. Talisman chalices let us make a practice round.”

“And once you confirm it works as intended, you take it to a cauldron.”

“Pretty cool, right?”

“Pretty epic.” I grabbed the first vial, the biggest one, and poured what looked like grape juice into the chalice. Then I sniffed. “Smells like grape juice.”

He grabbed the empty vial and scanned the label. “It is. Interesting. Okay, next?”

The second and third vials contained some kind of herbs, but I had no idea what they were. When I poured them into the vial, Seamus nodded and scribbled in his notebook while mumbling, “Interesting. Very interesting.” Then I poured the last vial of what looked like glitter. “Really?” He laughed in a short burst. “So interesting.”

“Okay, why is this all so interesting?”

“I’ve never seen this combination for nausea.” He picked up the chalice and held it up to his nose to smell it. “Incredible. Drink it.”

I flinched. “Wait, right now?”

“That was the whole point, wasn’t it?” He held it out to me. “Go on. Let’s see how you did.”

“Sure. No problem.” I licked my lips, then brought the chalice up and took a sip. The flavor was richly sweet. By the time I swallowed, the nausea I’d been feeling completely vanished. My eyes widened as I sat the chalice back down. “Holy shit. It’s gone. It worked.”

“Hell yeah!” Seamus stood up and yelled, “By any chance is anyone here nauseated?”

Another girl, this one with royal blue hair and a septum piercing, walked over. “Yeah, I didn’t sleep last night and that makes me nauseated. Why?”

“Wanna try a potion to cure it?” I slid the chalice over to the edge of the table. “Just worked on me.”

“Say less . . . Bottoms up.” She closed her green eyes and took a sip, then her eyes flew open. “Whoa, it’s gone. What’s in this?”

Seamus slid his notebook to the middle and the two of them launched into a chat about the nitty gritty details of the potion I’d just made. Movement behind Ms. Blue Hair caught my eye. When I looked I found Constance and Katherine walking toward us. I smiled and waved my arm up high to get their attention.

Constance’s blue gaze spotted me and brightened. She whispered to Katherine, then led the way over to us. “Hi! Bentley sent us.”

I snort-laughed. “Fuckin’ Bentley. I know why . . . it’s for this potion. Constance, please try it?”