Then Anwar kisses me.
And I am reduced to a puddle of a person.
This kiss might last a second or an hour, I cannot tell. But what I can already tell, without a shadow of a doubt?
Today is going to be an absolutely above-average day.
Click here
“Then let’s get moving,” Anwar says with a smile.
If he’s at all disappointed I asked to cut into our alone time, he certainly doesn’t show it. He just seems so… enthusiastic. It makes me wonder, as we start walking, if I owe him another warning about the detours our trip has taken.
“I know we’ve messaged about it a bit,” I start, “but if you’re really coming with us for the next leg of the trip, you should know—”
“Amelia, are you trying to talk me out of joining you?” Anwar asks. “Because if I’m intruding on your friend time, I don’t—”
“No!” I blurt. “It’s not that at all.”
“Then trust me when I say I couldn’t be more excited to meet your friends and get to hang a bit. With them… and especially with you.”
My cheeks feel flush, warming from the heat of Anwar’s words. “Then it’s settled. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
We round the next corner and end up finding Chase, Logan, and Cleo strolling toward us.
“Miss us already?” Chase asks, surprised.
“Anwar let me in on a local dessert secret, so I needed to report back. Cleo, you’re going to faint over how good these pancake balls are.”
Cleo gives me a smile, but it feels slightly dimmed. Or maybe distracted? She seems preoccupied studying Anwar, like she’s searching him for something.
“Well, I can actually propose a trade,” Cleo says, snapping herself back. “I just finished a fresh doodle of the four of us in front of that windmill over there.”
Cleo holds out the sheet of ripped sketchpad paper, and indeed she has drawn us all in full cartoon color: Logan in his standard athleisure, Chase in his young professor uniform, Cleo in her romper, and me in my pastel linens. We stand on either side of a bright windmill—Chase with Logan, and Cleo with me. As usual, the doodle feels perfect, capturing something essential about our afternoon here.
“Wow, that is deeply awesome,” Anwar says, taking in the doodle. “Think there’s room for one more in the middle there?”
Anwar smiles at Cleo, and she returns the gesture, but something about it feels… hollow? Or am I still just being paranoid about Anwar fitting in?
I already invited Anwar along, so there’s no backing down now. Besides, the others will really like him once they get to know him. And we came all this way, we can’t just leave it at twenty minutes. I want to get to know Anwar better myself, after all.
Still, I make a little mental note to keep an eye on Cleo, to make sure she doesn’t feel left out. The last thing I’d want is for her to feel like a fifth wheel, because as far as I’m concerned, she’s the whole damn car.
Click here
When I told the others Anwar was joining us for the day, the only one to protest vocally—and predictably—was Chase. But one stern glance reminded him that he owes me a command decision or two, after last night. Besides, our first detour pulled me out of my usual Empress ways, so I was due for her to reemerge.
I had to agree to sit on Charvan’s back bench to make room for Anwar, but I don’t care. I don’t care about the lingering fast-food smell or the unanswered questions still left at our feet. I don’t care about Cain and the Prince. I don’t care about wandering the desert or my night soaking in panic. Right now, I let it all go.
Because right now, we are simply all princes and princesses, riding our chariot over the great hill. We have just come through the mountain pass out of Solvang and now drive down the winding road to the coast. The ocean sparkles miles below us in the distance, glistening in an endless blue stretch of possibilities.
I remind myself that despite whatever challenges we still face, we are blissfully young and free. And right now we all sing at the top of our lungs to Logan’s music selection. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” blares at top volume, the perfect song for this super-shot of road tripping. Cleo’s pick, Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Run Away With Me,” will come next. Then for my turn I will insist on Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” my favorite sing-along anthem of all time.
I know Chase will then insist on his own favorite karaoke epic, Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” It wouldn’t make my own list, but I have to admit, I’m quite curious to see how Anwar handles this particular ballad.
Almost as curious as I am to see what this glorious chapter of overflowing cups and shimmering beaches has to offer us next.
CHAPTER SIX
CHASE
WE MAKE SURE to park Charvan around the corner from Azure Tarot, just in case any Wanderers do come looking for us here. Amelia’s new companion seemed amused by our trend toward caution, so we had to waste another fifteen minutes walking him through the details of our trip so far. Absolutely zero part of me thinks a stranger like Anwar should be joining us on a day this important, but as Amelia silently reminded me, I owe her one. At the very least, Anwar seems kind and respectful enough not to interfere too much.
We find Azure Tarot on a corner of Summerland’s main street, a sleepy stretch of beach town paradise. Inside, everything is cast in cool tones and smells of fresh soaps and salt spray, with doors kept open to ocean views. It’s like we’ve entered another reality, yet again. Where Maggie’s Mother Earth Occult was all dust and decay, Azure Tarot is all bright and breezy. The shop is uncluttered, offering only a few products: healing crystals, assorted turquoise jewelry, and several copies of The Azure Tarot—an original deck, advertised for readings with the creator herself.
Lauren “Lady Azure” Baxter stands behind a glass counter wearing an aquamarine caftan and a necklace that bears Perilli’s signature symbol, recreated with sapphires on a platinum cup. Being in Lady Azure’s shop I feel a deep resonating calm, paired with an even deeper sense of illusion. It’s like we’ve suddenly dived into an ocean trench, our surroundings both serene and filled with the unknown.
As usual, Amelia feels no similar instinct for caution, seeming immediately at ease with Lady Azure. Then again, perhaps Amelia is working her just as hard with her burst of openness, retelling select details of our past day’s encounter. Either way, I can’t blame Amelia. Lady Azure radiates maternal warmth, like she stepped right out of a Nancy Meyers movie with her perfect blond hair and blue eyes.
“My dear children, what an absolutely outlandish ordeal you’ve endured!” Lady Azure says once Amelia finishes. She speaks with an accent that feels affected by wealth, like maybe she studied abroad in London or has watched Grey Gardens one too many times.
“You simply must allow me to set things suitable once more. While the power of Perilli’s teachings resonate with many, I’m afraid not all interpret them with the proper intent. I’m sure those Wandering heathens would speak similarly of us Coupled, but let me assure you, not all Perillians are of their kind. Not remotely!”
“Coupled?” Amelia asks.
“There’s so much to explore, where to begin?” Lady Azure says, shifting her gaze upward to the gem-speckled ceiling. “Yes, Coupled is the name of the Perillian Cups Corner.”
Lady Azure points to a Cup charm inside the counter, which rests beside a Perillian toolset, just like the one Maggie gave us.
“The final Perillian toolset is special, but not entirely rare,” Lady Azure explains. “It’s just like that old coward Maggie to use it as bait.”
“Hey, Mom,” a new voice speaks from behind us. “I can come back later if you have customers to read.”
We all turn to find a teenage boy about our age in the doorway, standing with a surfboard and a half-unzipped wetsuit. My eyes don’t know where to start: On the water dripping down his visible six-pack? The sun reflecting off his flawless, light brown skin? The smattering of freck
les across the bridge of his nose? Every one of us tenses seeing him—well, maybe not Anwar, but I still don’t think he belongs here in the first place.
“Seidon!” Lady Azure coos. “These aren’t just any customers! These are the sojourners I predicted would come in the waning days of summer! Those possessing the last, lost Perillian deck!”
Seidon blinks at his mother and I can practically smell his skepticism from here, along with the saltwater and sunscreen.
“Oh, wow,” he says. “That’s a big deal, right?”
“Positively enormous,” Lady Azure answers. “I was actually just going to offer our new compatriots a complimentary reading so that we may all align ourselves in the same Corner. Why don’t you stay before we retire for dinner?”
Seidon nods, waving hello to us as a group.
“It’s true, we have waited eons for your arrival,” Lady Azure continues, turning back to us. “Might you allow me the honor of imparting my gift upon you, so that we may commune with a reading?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I swear I see Seidon roll his eyes. I also notice Logan still stares at Seidon a little more intently than I’d like.
“While I have divined my own unique deck, The Azure Tarot, I’m marvelously desperate to try reading you with your deck, if you’ll allow it. I believe your deep history with the cards will help my own cosmic clairvoyance come through. Though I admit, I’m also quite eager to glimpse Perilli’s final masterpiece. You must know, I was his most loyal benefactress before his untimely passing.”
“I think that’d be all right,” Amelia says in a voice that lights up my instincts.
“I needn’t even lay hands on the cards,” Lady Azure offers. “You can deal for me and I can read from afar.”
Astute, I think. Unlike Maggie, Lady Azure might actually be charming enough to play on our emotions here. Amelia can clearly sense it, too.
“Would you mind if I got the reading instead?” I ask, putting my hand on Amelia’s shoulder. “I have some questions I need answered.”
My favorite part of having one best friend my whole life? Amelia and I don’t always need words to understand each other. She nods at me with relieved eyes, knowing I’m probably better equipped to get what we need from Lady Azure, given my detached and rational approach to the cards.
Taking note of this exchange, Lady Azure then nods herself.
“Marvelous! Let our reading resound into the great beyond!”
Once we’re set up at the cozy reading booth, I try to tune out the audience at our side and focus only on Lady Azure. Despite her grand and breezy facade, I have a feeling this reading is going to be not unlike a game of poker. Lady Azure agrees to let me deal the cards in the Celtic Cross Spread, a configuration I know well. However, she counters by insisting I only use the Minor Arcana Cups cards. All the better to orient ourselves appropriately, she claims. Or all the better to conveniently orient her “gift,” I think now, as I deal out the five face-down cards.
“Normally I’d ask you to set an intention for this reading,” Lady Azure begins, “but I sense your intention is already clear. Where is your missing Princess of Cups, and why have you been brought here today?”
I nod at Lady Azure and flip the first card, trying to keep the pace fast enough that she won’t have much time to think. Usually in a Cross configuration, this first card stands for the current situation or the potential obstacles faced.
“Ah, the Ten of Cups,” Lady Azure says, her eyes focused on the upturned card. “As always, exquisitely drawn by my darling Carson! Oh, how his art and his intuition evolved near the end of his days! But enough about us.”
Lady Azure then closes her eyes and sways, as if accessing some sixth sense.
“The voices are particularly clear here,” she continues. “This is a card of completion, of a cup fully filled. You are summoned to rely on the selflessness of others to complete a great journey.”
Lady Azure opens her eyes, and I can’t help but think how well this “from the beyond” act must work on casual walk-ins. Luckily, there’s nothing casual about me. This is the part when most others would open up, hooking into something they heard and expanding upon their connection to it. I know, however, Lady Azure’s Ten of Cups reading was factually accurate—just cast in a shade favorable to her.
So I simply nod and continue. As I flip the second card, I remind myself that this position usually represents the qualities needed to answer the question posed.
“My King of Cups!” Lady Azure cries when she sees the next card, with a mix of drama and enthusiasm. “Heavens beyond, but does he look like my Jamie! Seidon, don’t you see the resemblance to your father?”
Seidon steps forward, his stomach muscles crunching together through his open wetsuit as he leans over to examine the card. The King of Cups is a handsome black man riding a winged horse across a shoreline of crashing waves.
“Yes,” Seidon says. “But Uncle Carson knew him before he went bald, huh?”
“Too true!” Lady Azure replies, gripping Seidon’s shoulder.
Uncle Carson? I fight the urge to look at Amelia to clock this new nugget of information. I don’t want to give Lady Azure any advantages, so I force myself to keep my focus on the cards in front of me.
“Might you turn the third card?” Lady Azure asks, now matching her pace to mine. “I prefer to read cards two and three in tandem, for balanced duality.”
I flip the third card and Lady Azure gasps as the Queen of Cups is revealed. The rest us finally react as well—even me. On the card, the Queen of Cups rises from the ocean holding a dripping bouquet of water lilies and looking every bit the mirror image of Lady Azure. Suddenly this familiar card takes on new meaning.
I watch closely as Lady Azure wipes at her eyes. When she looks up at me, her voice sounds tight with sadness.
“You must forgive me, but we’re still not quite over the loss of our dear Carson. To see ourselves reflected in his final deck this way… It’s thanks to Carson we all came to understand our gifts more keenly.
“However, this reading is meant for you,” Lady Azure says, shifting gears. “And the meaning is clear. To find what you seek, you must rely on the Family Baxter.”
This is another very convenient interpretation of the King and Queen of Cups, but then again, the cards do literally depict Lady Azure and her family.
“Might you flip the final two cards together?” Lady Azure then asks.
I nod and next, the final two cards revealed are the Ace and Five of Cups.
“Fascinating,” Lady Azure exhales, closing her eyes and bobbing once again. “These cards speak to me of loss. A great disappointment prompted this trip for you. The five of you gathered together to solve a mystery—one left to you by someone very important. I sense the answers you seek lie in the unfolding of this grand journey. Only assembling all the missing pieces will grant a clear portrait.”
Lady Azure opens her eyes, blinking as if emerging from a dream. “Tell me, do I speak truly?”
My mind whirrs as I fight to keep my face expressionless. There are certainly parts that Lady Azure got right, but then some parts she got completely wrong. So how much of this reading has been divined and how much has been designed?
The only way to answer this question will be to coax as much information out of Lady Azure as possible. So as I gear up to ask more, I decide to honor the intention Amelia set for our journey earlier this morning. I might be the one getting read here, but I can’t forget this trip is about Amelia, at its heart.
Amelia made it clear she wants to try to honor Gran Flo’s potential legacy, so I should ask about Perilli’s background and history.
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Amelia made it clear she wants to unlock potential personal power from the deck, so I should ask specifically about Perillian mythology.
Click here
“We came here because there’s so much about Carson Perilli we want to learn,” I begin, “but honestly, it’s been hard to dis
cover much about him at all.”
“I’m afraid that’s by design,” Lady Azure says. “While we Perillians might differ greatly in our four Corners—Wanderers, Repentant, Sworn, and Coupled as we are—we all agree on keeping Carson’s teachings guarded. But as far as I’m concerned, possession of that deck entitles you to all the knowledge I have.”
Lady Azure then stands and disappears into a small back room for a few moments. When she returns, she holds a beautifully handbound book with a cover bearing the signature Perillian symbol.
“What’s this?” Amelia asks, leaning in to examine the homemade tome. Behind her, Cleo and Logan lean to look as well.
“This is one of the only gathered collections of Carson’s teachings,” Lady Azure begins. “He preferred to share his knowledge in readings and conversations. He detested that we could summon answers at a technological whim. He thought that ease was making us all dimmer, not brighter.”
“May we?” Anwar asks, his eyes set on the volume. We all turn to him, surprised—including Amelia. I guess no one knew he was interested in the tarot.
Lady Azure nods. “Carefully, please.”
With Amelia and Anwar close at one shoulder and Logan and Cleo at the other, I take a deep breath and open the book to the first page:
The tarot is not a fortune teller.
The tarot is a doorway.
One that leads to many worlds.
To ancient history, through cultural symbolism.
To depths of your own consciousness, through the revelation of secret desires.
A chance drawing of tarot cards does not predict the future.
Rather, it illuminates the inner reflections you find in its endless representations of truth.
Major Detours Page 9
