Andie didn’t wait. She input the code into the Star Phone right then and there, causing it to dissolve and form a new image: a ring of fairies surrounding a gnarled yew tree growing out of a castle. The night sky above the fairies was lit with swirls of color, indicative of the aurora borealis.
Confused by the new image but thrilled with her progress, she took one last look at the painting before she left, strangely drawn to the eyes of both men but repelled by the blatant deification of one human being by another.
She thought she understood the message of the sixth puzzle, of standing in a museum of fallen god-kings whose greatest treasures were stored underground like a forgotten penny, of the passage of the sun stone from an actual jungle to a concrete one, moving through three different civilizations, three layers of conquerors, a reflection on genocide and preservation and the transience of all cultures.
She had a sudden bout of meta awareness, a visceral feeling of being part of a civilization that would one day be replaced by another. Would the Statue of Liberty and the Constitution of the United States be on exhibit for another culture one day?
Of course they would. The only question was when, and for whom, and the location of the museum. Would it be in outer space, if humanity conquered the stars or wrecked the planet? In a vault deep inside a mountain, or floating on an island in an ocean of storms and fire?
Could the cycle of violence and conquest be broken?
Right before she turned to leave, Andie eyed the keypad, aching to find out what lay behind the door, knowing that same tug of secret knowledge had once tempted her mother.
I’d love to stick around and see what’s behind door number two, or number two thousand for you people, but if I don’t get out of this museum, the only door I’ll be trying to open will have bars attached.
She turned her back on the mysterious storage room, returned down the passage, and was relieved to find that pressing the stainless steel plate at the entrance caused the sun stone to open. She pressed the plate again before she hurried out, trying to decide how to exit the museum. As she neared the entrance to the Hall of Mexico and Central America, her phone buzzed.
As far as she was aware, only two people had that number.
Surprised by how much her heart lurched at the thought of Cal being in trouble, Andie jerked the phone out of her pocket, unable to ignore it. When she looked down and saw the message—it was from Zawadi, not Cal—a rush of adrenaline poured through her.
Get out. Now. Jianyu and Ascendants are in the museum.
Ohmygod.
The message had been sent ten minutes ago. She must have had no signal. Terrified, she poked her head into the hallway and saw a museum guard slumped on the floor. She couldn’t tell if he was dead or just unconscious.
Aghast, she ducked back into the Hall of Mexico and Central America. Footsteps sounded from farther down the corridor. Her first instinct was to hide in the secret passage, so she sprinted back into the room with the sun stone. The giant artifact had almost returned to its position, and the hidden opening was too tight for her to fit through. A barrage of thoughts flooded her mind.
The stone is too slow. If someone comes in here, it won’t reopen in time. Even if I make it inside, what if they find me somehow? They won’t leave the museum without me.
And if I try to flee, they’ll most likely catch me, take the Star Phone, and kill me.
In a split second, Andie knew what she had to do. She had only one card to play, one piece of leverage over the Ascendants. With a deep breath, her future a black hole of doubt, she set the Star Phone inside the secret passage right before the sun stone closed. She hoped the layer of dust on the floor meant no one else had entered in months, or would for some time.
The stone rolled to a close, separating her from her lifeline to Dr. Corwin and her mother. If she got lucky and escaped the museum, she could come back for it later. And if they caught her, she would hold out as long as she could, and hope Zawadi rescued her before they tortured her.
It wasn’t much of a plan. But it was better than giving up.
She hurried behind an exhibit case and prepared to defend herself as best she could. The footsteps came closer and closer in the corridor outside, but instead of entering the exhibit hall, they continued on. At first she wished she hadn’t let go of the Star Phone, then shook her head angrily. Her logic still held. She had made the best decision under the circumstance, and she still hadn’t escaped the museum. If she had been caught with her only bargaining chip, they would have killed her outright.
After the footsteps receded, she tried to formulate a plan. The Ascendants would block the exits. She assumed they had control of the cameras. Or had Zawadi done something about that? How did she know the Ascendants were inside? Was Jianyu the Chinese man chasing them?
Didn’t matter. Andie had to get out of the building and escape the way she had come, race through the park to Belvedere Castle and access the hidden tunnels. It was her only chance.
Trying not to panic, she descended the nearest stairwell to the first floor, and found a
