“What are you…,” I start when a familiar locked closet door catches my eye. I rush over, remembering the costume trunks and prohibited books Totsi kept in there. The closet’s wood panels are polished, untouched. I grip the knob on the door, and it burns.

“Shit.”

Zora’s at my back. “What is in there?”

“I don’t know, but look around: It’s the only thing in here not burned. No doubt they tried to.” That must be what’s enchanted for protection. I grip the handle again and whisper, “Quitzi.” The door warms and my magic moves through me, my fingers tingling. Like… like it’s searching me? Deciding if I should be let in? The lock jiggles, then clicks open.

Inside the closet is like a trip back in time; a tower of trunks etched with filigree in varying colors sit one on top of another. A hook with a ring of odd-shaped keys hangs on the inside wall. I pull the top trunk off and toss Bri the keys.

“Help me get these open.”

Bri and Zora work as I pull the rest of the trunks out.

“Six… seven…” I lug another onto the floor, this one with a cluster of locks. Totsi’s voice is a ghost in my memory. “They will pay for what they did to her,” I say under my breath, tugging at the locks.

“Costumes in this one.” Bri pulls out a neatly folded stack of black costumes covered in golden-tipped scales.

“Nothing in this one.” Zora holds up a hollow trunk with blue swirls painted on its side.

But my eyes are fixed on the curious trunk with the bouquet of locks. I tug at one and insert a key from the giant ring. I twist left, then right, but it doesn’t give. I try another. This one turns left, then clicks. But when the lock swings open, another lock appears on the cluster.

Huh?

I try another lock and successfully unlock it and several others. But as each opens another new lock appears. I work through the enchantment, opening them all, and each time one less reappears as the others eventually disappear. Until the only one left is a star-shaped one. I cup it in my hand, studying its odd opening. It doesn’t have a keyhole. Instead, it has a glass square like a fingerprint scanner. I press my thumb to it and it warms. Then it vanishes, my hand closing around air.

A second later the entire chain and bouquet of locks dissolves into dust.

“Whatever’s in here must’ve been extremely important to Totsi,” Bri says.

And… something she wanted me to find.