Bram follows my gaze and a slow smile spreads over his face. “The tarsal bones.”

The energy in the room shifts suddenly. Tessa and Niklas both sit up straighter. Jacey lifts her head from her knees.

Talon grabs my foot and plants a kiss on my ankle. “Saskia, you’re brilliant and your ankles are lovely.”

I laugh and kick him playfully. “You might want to wait to sing my praises until we find out whether or not I’m right. But either way, my ankles appreciate the compliment.”

“My darling,” Talon says, putting one hand over his heart, “I’ve always said you had top-notch tarsal bones.”

Bram shifts and scratches the back of his neck. There’s something in his expression I can’t read. He clears his throat. “Let’s start looking and see what we can find.”

Searching through the baskets is more challenging this time. My palms are so hot and clammy, the bones slide though my fingers like they’re covered in butter. I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand.

It takes a while, but finally we gather the seven bones we’re looking for: calcaneus, talus, cuboid, navicular, and the medial, middle, and lateral cuneiforms.

We place them in the indentations one at a time. The air is so thick now, I can scarcely breathe. My throat is dry. Bram holds the last tarsal bone between his thumb and index finger. “Everyone ready?”

“Do it,” Talon says.

Bram places the bone in the small depression, and suddenly the wall begins to move. Cold air rushes toward us and bathes me in relief. We did it. We escaped.

But when I look up, my stomach plummets. The door doesn’t open to the outside.

It leads to another room.

Chapter Seventeen

Icy air snatches the breath from my lungs.

The room stretched before us is the polar opposite of the one we’re standing in. Bright instead of dim. Frigid instead of sweltering. Vast instead of cramped. I don’t dare step over the threshold. But Jacey shoves me aside and practically leaps into the new room, pulling in great gulps of air on the other side.

And then she starts to shiver.

“This doesn’t look good,” Tessa says.

Bram’s jaw tightens. “No, it doesn’t.”

A loud clang splits through the air, and the doors start to slide closed. We have no choice but to step into the next room, or risk getting trapped on the other side.

Frantically, we gather our things. I scoop up Jacey’s discarded cloak along with my own and hurry through the doorway.

“Do we have everyone?” I ask.

Niklas is the last to squeeze through before the door slams shut. “Yes,” he says, out of breath. “I’m here.”