My flashlight follows the curves of the cave so we walk along them, not into them. I hope we can get out of here soon before the last twenty-percent drains from my phone's battery. Then again, Emi and I might not leave this cave, ever.

Something brushes against me, and I jump. The light whips onto Emi. I'm not sure how long she's been edging closer to me, but it was slow enough that I didn't notice. I face the flashlight forward, though the corners of our eyes connect.

"Time," she whispers.

I squint at her. She raises her eyebrows, looking down at my phone. Remembrance jolts through me, and I angle the clock on my phone toward her. It's five minutes to six p.m., and if all went according to plan, Martin already called 911. The police should be on their way.

Please Martin, please remember to call the police.

"One more turn," Ivan says.

We bank to the left. A glimmer of light mingles with my phone's, softening the dark slate-colored stones to a lighter gray. The narrow walls open, reaching upward in a vaulted ceiling. Pale sunlight shines in a large, stone room. It's like an amphitheater deep within the earth, though the seats are tiny terraced ledges and not large enough to sit on.

I scan the room, then glance over Ivan's shoulder. "Is this the right place?" All I see is rock surrounding us, nothing related to treasure. Did we somehow miss a clue along the way?

"X marks the spot," Ivan replies. Sure enough, I spot a faded X on the left corner of the map.

"So where's the treasure?" Emi asks. Her foot scrapes in a small circle against the gravely floor.

"Aren't there more clues?" Ivan says.

I shake my head. "This is the last one. I mean, the last one brought us to this cave. Unless we didn't interpret the entire thing..."

Ivan's brow furrows. He reaches into his pocket, supplying a gold box in his palm. He flicks the open lid with his thumb. A gasp escapes me. Inside lies the locket from the shop, the locket from the old photo stashed inside the locked box.

"How did you get that?" I ask.

"It was in the shop," he says. "Mickey and Mode found a picture of it inside your apartment, along with pages of notes deciphering something. I assumed the necklace was somehow related to the hunt and have kept on me ever since, just in case the others figured out its importance."

Ivan pops open the locket's two halves, but there's no picture inside.

"Somehow... somehow this has to relate to the final clue." He paces to the left, then doubles back, keeping the gun trained on us. "You two, do you have the clues? You must've missed something."

Both Emi and I shake our heads emphatically. Though if I'm being honest, there's a very good chance we did miss a clue, or part of one. Silverenn's clues are so cryptic, I'm surprised we've made it this far.

"I would assume that holds the final piece," I say.

Ivan turns the locket over in his hand. "But there's no picture."

Emi's eyes widen. "Look at the top!" Ivan rotates the circular locket so the top faces the ceiling. A tiny chip reveals a black surface beneath the gold paint.

"So? It's old," Ivan says.

"But now look at the side."

I squint at a chipped spot on that side. This time, the color underneath is white. Ivan's eyebrows raise, and he digs his nail across the locket's surface. Gold flecks fall to the ground, until the side reveals a white compass. Quickly, Ivan scrapes the other side to reveal a white arrow pointing to the right.

"We need to orient ourselves using a cardinal rose." Ivan pulls out his phone and brings a compass up on his phone. Once we're facing North, we all turn to the side, where rings of rocky steps rise up the cave's sides. Ivan heads to the steps, and I trail behind while Emi stays in the middle of the room.

Ivan gets down on his knees, feeling around the rocks. He glances over his shoulder and says, "help me. There's got to be a loose stone somewhere."

I join him, tugging each rock to see if one will give. One releases, and behind it, sits something cold and dark.

"Over here!" I call. Ivan and Emi hurry over, and we pull all the cobbles away, revealing a large, square divot among the rocky steps. Inside is a large, black metal chest.

"This is where the treasure is," the man says. "Assuming the locket and clues are correct."

"W-why wouldn't they be correct?" Emi asks.

"Emi," I cut in. "You ought to know by now that nothing is certain when dealing with Silverenn."

The man regards me for a moment. It might be my imagination, but the faintest smile tugs under his mustache. Whatever it was, it vaporizes as quickly as it came, and his gun flicks toward the metal box.

"Let's get a move on it. We need to be out of here before the others reenter the waking world."

My eyes shift to a tarnished padlock hanging on the lid. "How do we open it?"

"Where's the key?" Ivan barks in response.

I shrug, glancing at Emi. She follows suit.

"Come on, there's got to be a clue for it," he says.

"We already told you, that's it," Emi says. Her bottom lip begins to tremble.

"You're lying," he growls. "Quit with your games."

"You're right," I cut in. "There's one more clue on the page that we haven't solved."

Hopefully, we stall for enough time for the police to arrive.

The man levels us with a scrutinizing glare. "Silverenn wouldn't send you all this way only for there to be another clue."

"She plays by her own rules. Besides, who's to say there's treasure inside that box?" I say.

"What else would be inside?"

I shrug. "Only Silverenn knows. Emi, show him the scores. She has a copy on her phone. We'll solve the last clue right now."

Emi's brow furrows. Now she's the one having trouble processing things. "I-I don't have them on my phone."

"What? I told you to take a picture of them."

"No, you didn't. You have the copy."

"I most certainly do not. And you said that you'd bring all the stuff from the car if I took flashlight duty." My gaze bears into her. I hope the intensity is enough to make her understand.

Slowly, Emi shakes her head. "I thought you had them. I only volunteered to take the map."

I throw a hand up and let it drop against my side. "Well, isn't that great. What—"

"Quit your bickering, you two," Ivan snaps. "We don't need the supposed last clue." He reaches into the pocket of his giant cargo pants and somehow supplies a bolt cutter of all things. He sets to work on the padlock.

Now is our chance, I realize. While he's distracted, we can jump him.

Ivan clutches the gun awkwardly in his left hand, the hand closest to me, while he aligns the bolt cutters with the metal. There isn't enough time to coordinate with Emi. I just have to go for the gun.

My muscles tense, then I hurl myself at the man, burying my elbow in his side and striking my foot against his knee. The momentum makes the man wobble. For an instant, I see his fingers loosen on the gun. I think I can snatch it.

Momentum flips. Pain shoots through my tailbone as I land on the ground, panting. Ivan stands over me, gun aimed at my pounding chest. He glances at Emi, who trembles beside the box. He aims his gun at her.

"Cut the box open," he commands.

"I-I can't," she sobs.

"Do it! And don't you even think of trying anything with the cutters. The only reason you're still alive is that if there's no treasure in that box, I may need to retrace your steps in those scores. But that decision will flip if one of you tries another of your little stunts. Got it?"

Emi jolts her head in agreement. I give a single nod.

It's over for us.

"Now cut!"

Emi swallows. Her hands close around the bolt cutters, and she winces trying to lift them. My heart breaks as she tries to shove the two sides down around the padlock and open the chest. Pain twists onto her face, pressing the cutters as hard as she can while crying softly. She releases with a gasp, barely making a dent in the padlock.

"I can't do it," she whimpers.

"You." Ivan flicks the gun at me. "Don't you dare try anything."

I take a few deep breaths to stabilize myself. Once I'm getting proper oxygen flow, I slowly push myself to my feet. Ivan stretches out his arms, gun at the end of them.

"I'll kill you," he says. I raise my hands in surrender.

My leg aches where I fell on it, but I step up to the padlock and cut the lock until it splits, falling to the ground with a thud. I fling the lid open.

A clang slices the air. My lungs freeze. I can barely process what's inside the box.

Ivan edges closer. His eyes widen, and a smile twists his lips. Clearly, his curiosity outweighs his instinct for blood. He nods to Emi. "Open one of those cases. But I swear, one false move, and I'll blow your brains out."

Emi unzips a case at the top of the box. A few channels of tears have meandered down her cheeks. Her trembling hands lift dulled, orangey wood.

Time slows. Shock tears through me. There is a Silverenn treasure. But it's so unexpected, I can barely process it.

"Oh my gosh," Emi breathes.

Words form on my tongue, but my throat is too dry to get them out. I gulp down less than a teaspoon of saliva.

"Are those what I think they are?"

Ivan reaches for another case, far too roughly for my preference. A violin lies in dormancy inside that one as well. He tears back a velcro strap and holds it up to squint between the swirls on its sides.

"Stradivarius," he murmurs.

"No way," I say. "No. Way." Anger simmers inside me. It stirs hot tears that threaten to dive from my eyes. I shouldn't be crying. This should be a happy moment. But the sinking feeling in my gut tells me otherwise.

Bills, debts, my instrument, my beloved viola, all of that and more should've been covered by the treasure. The treasure was supposed to solve everything, get me my life back, get me to those carefree musician days that made me fall in love with music.

But this is not the cash prize I imagined. I'd never have imagined this in a million years.

Emi confirms my fears a moment later when she plucks each string.

E, A, D, and G.

It sounds warped and old, only a whisper of what it once was — what it should be.

"Who would—" Emi's cry cuts off. By now, she knows the answer. Only D.C. Silverenn would do such a thing.

"Is... is this worth as much as I think it's worth?" Ivan's eyes are alive, active, like two rippling ocean waves looking to capsize and steal a ship full of jewels.

"You can do the math," I bite out. It was so unfair. Did Silverenn know what she had done? How could she be so cruel as to put us through the hunt only for this to be the end?

"This is worth a fortune." Slowly, he blinks the glaze from his eyes, gaze sharpening on us. "And it's all mine."

"We don't want it," Emi says.

"I don't believe you," he says, aiming his gun. "And I'm not taking any chances."

"Freeze!"

The voice rings in my ears for several seconds, but it takes four blue uniforms swarming the scene for me to realize what's going on.

"Police?" I say aloud. I feel the urge to collapse against the cave walls. But I stay put as a uniformed man and woman rush up to me.

"Are you alright?" the woman asks.

I nod slowly. "I'm fine. It's just... been a lot." I glance behind me, down at the black and brown cases piled inside their metal tomb. "Ever hear of D.C. Silverenn?"

"A few times. Why?"

I point at the chest, what was supposed to be gold coins at the end of a rainbow. More like plastic gold tokens in a casino, ones that are devalued, ones that you use to gamble, ones that make you lose everything. I should've seen this coming, yet the treasure blinded me to Silverenn's games. In a way, I had just as many stars in my eyes as Ivan did. And look how he ended up, cuffed and being led away by a police officer.

"Take a look at Silverenn's treasure," I say, motioning to the box.

The officers inspect it for a moment. The female officer reaches tentative hands toward the instrument Emi uncased. She has enough knowledge of instruments to look between the swirls for the luthier's name. Her eyes go wide.

"These are Stradivarius?" she says. "What a find!"

"Too bad we're fifty years late," I sigh.

"What do you mean?" she asks, gently laying the instrument back in its bed.

"When instruments aren't played, they lose their value," I explain miserably. "They've been holed up for decades now, sitting in a musty cave no less. Silverenn's treasure might've had value once, but now, the wood has warped, and all of these instruments are ruined. The treasure is worthless."