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The intruder was now sitting on the dungeon floor tied up with a length of rope. Mr. Vann was working to free the man.

Mercury hadn’t suggested to his ghosts that they begin tying people up. But it was an effective strategy. They weren’t being locked in an inaccessible cell where they would never be found and, therefore, die a cruel death. He wasn’t willing to cross that line.

“There are far too many of them,” the bounty hunter said. “And they appear out of nowhere.”

“They are ghosts,” Mr. Vann said dryly. “Passing through walls and ceilings and floors is what they do.”

“And far too many of them can move objects.” The bounty hunter was freed and scrambling to his feet. “How long before they start throwing things at us? I’m not keen to stay here and get attacked.”

“You’d rather face the wrath of the Forever Flame?” Mrs. Vann asked.

The bounty hunter tossed her a look of defiance. “I came for the reward money, but that ain’t enough anymore. And I don’t have a ghost, so he can’t punish me the way he can you.”

The bounty hunter began storming away.

But Mr. Vann’s voice caught up to him. “You are well aware that is not all he can do.”

The bounty hunter stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “He has no powers that can hurt people.”

“No,” Mrs. Vann acknowledged, catching up to him. “But he has plenty of minions who will do that ‘hurting’ for him. Do you think he won’t find you when all of this is over and punish you for your desertion? Do you dare risk it?”

A moment’s tense silence passed between them as they looked at each other. There was fear in all their demeanors. And resignation.

They silently but quickly made their way across the dungeons to where the known entrance was. No matter that it was a reiteration of the Forever Flame’s choke hold on far too many people, the conversation was actually encouraging. Cracks were forming in the alliance among the intruders. That would help tremendously.

Mercury slipped further into the dungeon. He kept a weather eye out, wanting to make absolutely certain there was no one else down there. As he approached the hidden entrance to the tunnels, he spotted Wallaby. The ghost was difficult to see in the shadows of the dungeon where he preferred to be. It was no real surprise that the Vanns and the bounty hunter hadn’t noticed him there. But Mercury knew the ghost well and knew how to spot him.

“I don’t know whose idea it was to begin tying people up, but it’s ingenious.”

“It was a group effort,” Wallaby said.

“I need to slip into the tunnels,” Mercury said. “If someone comes into the dungeon, will you slip inside and warn me?”

“Of course.”

A moment later, with a lit lantern in hand and the false wall closed behind him, Mercury made his way down the now-empty tunnels. Hidden passages. Subterranean tunnels. A network of cells . . . They were all remarkably helpful, but not enough. This last fortification was indeed the last one he knew of—Aventine’s final hidden weapon. If it didn’t prove to be enough, he wasn’t certain what they were going to do.

The furthermost tunnel narrowed as it went on. At the very end of that tunnel, at the farthest reach of the labyrinth, the pathway ended at a solid wall of stone. Or so it appeared. It, like the false wall leading into these tunnels, was a carefully crafted illusion.

Mercury set his lantern on the ground near his feet; he would need both of his hands free.

Without warning, a voice rumbled behind him. “There must be a reason you’re staring at a wall.”

The Violet Giant.

Mercury turned, both relieved and excited to see him. “We’ve known you had to be somewhere in the house now that the Vanns have returned. But no one could find you.”

The Violet Giant dipped his head. “I’ve been down here in the tunnels. The Vanns haven’t been able to find the entrance, so I don’t have to worry about being forced to do their bidding. I’d also hoped I might find the lot of you down here, since none of the people in the house know where you’re at.”

Mercury could feel his smile turn a little bit smug. “These are not the only hidden places at Aventine Manor.”

“So I have surmised.” The Violet Giant motioned toward the stone wall. “Is this another of those hidden things?”

Mercury was not an easily trusting person. It was a testament to how much the Violet Giant had proven himself that Mercury didn’t hesitate to explain. “This is one of Aventine’s most mysterious and unexplainable secrets.”

He slipped his hands underneath two rocks, bending his fingers to grab hold of the back of those rocks, and pulled them away from the wall. The sound of rock scraping against rock echoed off the walls and floor and ceiling.

He pulled his hands back out and placed them behind two other rocks, and did the same. He repeated the effort again and again, until, slowly, a wheel of rocks emerged. It was not unlike the wheel of a ship, upright in the same way and about the same circumference. It came to a halt, floating about four inches from the stone wall behind it.