Bria lifted her eyebrows and put out her hands. “I know, right? Haven’t I always said that? They’re all like this. They don’t seem to understand that fine things actually come in palatable colors. Valens’s taste was just as bad. Kieran did well, asking my advice.”

“We need to go,” Jerry said, standing from a dainty wooden chair with gold trim. The contrast between him and his seat was comical.

“Here.” Red dug something out of her back pocket and handed it to Bria. “Items of interest around the palace. There’s an itinerary, but we’ve already blown that to hell.”

“Any Demigod’s girlfriend would’ve done the same. That’s nothing.” Bria looked down the list as she walked toward the door. “Okay, here’s something. The skull room. That sounds rad. Let’s check that out.” She turned the paper over, then back again. “Map?”

“Oh.” Jerry patted his pockets.

Bria rolled her eyes. “Hunt and walk. We probably have miles of hallways to go.”

Two people were in the hallway outside of the door, a man with a utility belt and a woman wearing an apron, probably getting ready to straighten the quarters of some of our crew. Everyone besides us and the kids had junior suites down the hall.

“At least there are finally some female staff members,” I murmured as Jerry directed us. “Last night it was all men.”

“Yeah. That’s because Lydia is notoriously horny and diddles the help,” Bria replied, not keeping her voice down. “She likes a good selection.”

I couldn’t tell if she was joking. I decided not to ask.

We stayed on the second floor and traversed several wide hallways and rooms with gold plating, many of them adorned with those large, hanging chandeliers. I couldn’t tell the various rooms apart by their décor alone. There were probably some subtle differences I should’ve noticed within all the awfulness, but honestly, I was too bored to hunt for the clues.

Servants tilted their heads with respect or bowed as we approached. Some stepped to the side and clasped their hands, holding the bow until we passed.

“She has been placed on a very high pedestal,” Red said, her lips barely moving. She analyzed the people we passed. “Something is wrong here. Alexis is being treated like a high-standing Demigod.”

“Or maybe a high-standing Demigod’s prized possession.” Bria’s words and tone sent shivers racing down my spine. Although Kieran wanted and deserved a high position within the community, he did not yet have one. “Something smells fishy.”

“Voices down,” Jerry said from behind us, guarding the rear.

A soul caught my awareness, moving a little faster than we were, coming up from behind.

“Watch your six,” I whispered.

A moment later, Jerry said, “Nothing is there.”

I chanced a look back, greeted by empty air. Until I lowered my eyes. A tiny white mouse ran along the spotless white baseboards, given away by its feet and nose. Well, that and the human soul occupying its body. That mouse looked alive, but there was no mousy soul in there. It must’ve been killed moments before a human soul was shoved into it.

I wasted no time in yanking the soul out of the body. The mouse dropped and a gaunt woman popped loose, blinking in confusion at the change in perspective. A meager presence drifted away from her soul, as though someone were still trying to hold on. I waved it away, brought forth the Line, and shoved the woman across.

“Necromancy,” I told the others, starting forward again.

“Must’ve been a weak soul. I didn’t feel it,” Bria said.

“The spirits here all look like they’re starved,” I said. “Their bodies look starved, I mean. Spirits can take any form they want, so why would they choose to look gaunt and half-dead?”

“Maybe Demigod Lydia keeps them in her service even though they’d rather move on, and that’s how they feel about their lot in life at this point?” Bria offered as Red motioned for us to turn right, having overtaken the guide duties from Jerry. With his size, he was better off at our backs.

“You said the spirits in the hall last night were desperate for energy—do spirits lacking in energy look like that?” Mordecai asked.

I shook my head. “Usually they just get wispier or disappear altogether. I don’t feel any traps keeping people here, either,” I whispered, taking yet another set of stairs. I hadn’t realized this place had four stories. “Red, you’re on our side, right? You’re not taking us into a dark corner so someone can attack us?”

“I’m not the one that chose to go to the skull room,” Red replied, not really answering my question.

“Lydia is a Demigod of Hades,” Bria said as Red slowed, looking at a nondescript closed door. She glanced down the hall, eyeing the next door down, clearly unsure which one led to our destination. “She doesn’t need to trap the spirits. She can hold them, just like you can. I wonder if she didn’t realize you could send spirits across the Line—the spirits she is holding, I mean. That would explain the setup in the hall.”

“It wouldn’t explain the ghosts,” Red said, trying the nearest handle. It clicked and stopped, locked.

“I got this.” Daisy stepped forward, digging into a little pouch at her waist.

“Wait, wait, wait.” I held up my hands. “No. We’re not going to break into the skull room. Or any room. We’re supposed to be sightseeing guests. Let’s not piss anyone off.”

“You mean, let’s not piss anyone else off, right?” Bria’s lips curved into a sly grin. “Besides the resident Demigod you openly dissed last night?”

I ignored her as Red tried the next door down, finding it locked as well.

“Why would they put the room on the map if it isn’t open for business?” Bria asked, clearly disappointed.

“Why would they have a skull room in the first place?” Mordecai gave her a bewildered look. “Why would anyone want to look at skulls?”

Bria tsked. “You just don’t get it.”

“No. I don’t.”

Uncertainty filtered through the soul link, followed by wariness. Something was bothering Kieran.

My own uncertainty pooled in my gut. “Let’s head for something we’re supposed to be interested in.”

“You and I are people of Hades—we’re supposed to be interested in skulls,” Bria said.

We headed back down to the second floor, to the middle of the house, where a gallery was supposedly to die for. I didn’t miss the pun. As before, staff greeted me like someone of note, stopping and bowing respectfully, some murmuring “ma’am” and some “miss.” An older gentleman in a blindingly colorful jacket told me I was “supremely welcome.”

“Something is definitely off,” Bria said, pushed in close to me. “They shouldn’t be greeting you like that. They’re treating you like one of Lydia’s top staff.”

“What’s your theory?” Red asked as Bria tapped the screen of her phone and put it to her ear.

“I don’t know. Is Lydia going to make a play for Lexi?” Bria replied.

“No way. She’d have to kill Kieran to do it, any fool can see that,” Jerry said. “She’s probably using the servants to mock Alexis behind Kieran’s back. Their pandering is making Alexis uncomfortable, which in turn makes it clearer that she was not raised like the rest of us. She was raised poor.”