“Sounds legit.” Stella pressed the numbers. A whir, a click, and a whoosh of the door opening automatically later, she said, “By the pricking of my thumbs.” Skeletons galore filled the room. Stacked and bound to make furniture like chairs and tables. Skulls and femurs and pinkie bones alike had been fashioned into artwork and figurines and statues. Hung from the ceiling, they twisted in the air like mobiles. Three walls each had a black square bordered by a bone frame at their centers. The fourth wall had a gold-plated door with a keypad.

“Holy wow, this is morbid.” Harlow shivered with the heebie-jeebies.

“Ouija boards are fine, but fake bones, oh no, that’s a step too far,” Stella said. While mildly overwhelming to look at, the bones had a distinct plastic sheen and were covered in telltale seams. She inspected what looked like an octopus figurine constructed of tiny, tiny bones strung together with craft wire. “Someday, some hour soon, this house will stop impressing me.”

“Skeletons belong inside bodies,” Harlow said. “Not as furniture.”

“Until the body dies and then it’s our bones’ time to shine.” Stella moved to the open space in the center of the room. The rug, deep red in color in the otherwise light gray room, had been stitched with an optical illusion. It took her a few moments of squinting and walking in a circle to read it: MEMENTO MORI. “Remember you are mortal. Remember you must die. Little on the nose, but it works.”

Ethan had said Jewel made this place into her sanctuary. Stella’s guess? Jewel built a room to remind herself that death was inevitable, no matter how famous someone was.

Living in a million different memories was not the same as being alive—ooh, Stella liked that conclusion. It could be a whole chapter in her book, if she ever really wrote one.

“Found the envelope,” Harlow said, opening it without waiting for Stella to join her.

This time there are two treasures to seek

One is hidden and the other must hide

The first is a picturesque evening grosbeak

The second relies on time being on its side

Step One:

Separate. Designate the seeker and the sought.

Step Two:

The seeker will follow the bird in the bones.

The sought will walk through the golden veil.

Step Three:

Use your present as you see fit.

Press BEGIN when you are ready.

Stella did not like the sound of that. She eyed Harlow, careful not to betray her concern, but her partner had already zeroed in on the golden door across the room. “Let me go,” Stella said.

“What?” Harlow asked.

What indeed. What in the hell was she doing? “I’ll go through the veil. You find the bird.”

Okay, apparently a part of her brain had plans it didn’t let the rest of her know about.

“No,” Harlow said. “It’s my code. I’m supposed to go.”