Arcana

When a carnival blows into Brishen Proudley's mid-western town one stormy, autumn night, he has no idea how completely it will change his life. Already, life is strange enough with the telekinetic powers that have always plagued and bewildered him, powers that have only gained intensity with adolescence. Even the Benedictine monks, Brishen's guardians, are at a loss for how to guide him. But then the dreams begin, of the dark man and the hall with three doors, and Brishen knows he must consult his precious pack of tarot cards, all that is left of his gypsy heritage.

Card by card, the clues encoded in the tarot lead Brishen and his new friends, Katie and Abe, into the dark labyrinth of a carnival trailer, a portal into chapters of history long dead and gone. But haven't they been here before? The mystery unfolds on the wooded slopes of the Carpathians in 16th century Transylvania, in the salons of 19th century New York City, and comes to its fateful conclusion in the war-torn theater of Nazi Germany. Slowly, they discover the nature of their latent powers, newly reawakened. Brishen finds mastery over the physical universe, while Katie becomes adept in the art of seeing past and future, even as their love for each other blossoms, a love forged long ago in the ancient pact that has bound them now through many lifetimes.

But will they be able to protect what remains of their sacred trust from the dark man who seeks to finish what was begun in the Serapeum of Old Alexandria? What purpose draws them through time, and towards what ultimate test? Whatever it is, each of them senses there is more at stake than just their lives -- no less than the balance of good and evil in the world.