I know we both remember: Mama tucked us into bed, wet-eyed, that night at Stökéwood, five years ago. Tears from a migraine, she’d said, shrugging on her favorite gray cashmere housecoat, petal-pink gloves in hand. I didn’t know if she was telling the truth then, and I still don’t. But I never saw her again, so I couldn’t ask.

Tai opens her mouth to answer, but I stiffly shake my head. Dad told us never to share details with strangers. Aunt Marion and Uncle Teddy, too.

“I see her clearest in a hidden tower, extending into the sky,” Madame Morency rasps, when we don’t reply, and even though this means nothing to me, Tai stifles a squeak. She reaches for my free hand with hers, and her bones crunch into mine as Madame Morency speaks. “Otherwise, so many men contaminate her space. How is one supposed to keep a clear head with so many men and their opinions?” She exhales slowly. “Does a red handbag mean anything to you? Cut from the skin of a creature that crawls?”

My stomach falls, but I feel weightless and chilled. I hear the news report in my head: She took with her a red crocodile handbag with a pearl clasp—

But anyone could know that.

“I need as much information as you can provide,” Madame Morency continues in a strange purr. “Don’t be afraid, girls. This is all part of the process.”

Tai’s eyes beg me to let her spill the truth. But I’m already wrenching my hand from the psychic and standing up. In my mind, halfway out the door. This woman is a trickster, a liar, a fraud. My blood rings in my ears. I’m the big sister, and I should’ve known better. I’m trembling with barely contained hurt, tears bubbling into my eyes. I take Tai’s wrist, and she gapes at me.

“Where are you going in your brown wig, little one?” Madame Morency says, a wicked smile coming to her face, eyes still closed. “You can’t hide the truth from me.”

“We’re going.” I pull Tai toward the curtain. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fine. Run off. But you will find no answers until you go back there,” Madame Morency calls after us. “To the place where you both saw her last.”