The Magician

Asa Ballantine approaches Xana Bard at Enrico's Cafe and asks her to read his tarot cards. When she does, the cards terrify her. How is Xana going to avert the dreadful future she sees for Asa Ballantine and his twin sister Beth? Can her off-the-grid friend Thorne Ardall keep them safe? How does the work the twins are doing on nanotechnology and human organ reconstruction figure into the threat hanging over them? And what assistance can Xana possibly provide after she breaks her ankle? Meanwhile, how is it that Agatha Hein, Xana's dowdy German-born neighbor, has suddenly transformed herself into a glamorpuss? Why is Agatha driving her husband's Mercedes instead of walking as usual to the bus stop? In spite of the impediments presented by fractures and furious family members, Xana must use her tarot-trained intuition to figure out how to dodge the doom she has seen looming over Asa and Beth, as well as investigate the shock of Mrs. Hein's mystifying makeover.