Page 106 of No Escape

“Maybe rotate the whole circle one spot to the left,” Dad suggested.

I tried that, but still nothing. “I’m not sure what to do now,” I said, blowing out a breath. “It would take hours to try all the different possible combinations. Therehasto be another clue somewhere.”

“But there’s nothing else in this room,” Mia complained. “This is just too hard.”

“Maybe there’s another clue in the planetarium room,” Juliette said. “We were so focused on solving the stone circle and star puzzles, we didn’t really give anything else in there much thought.”

“There wasn’t anything else in that room, either, except for the table and the stone circle with the brass discs, Mama,” Gio said.

“It won’t hurt to take another look,” I said.

“I’ll stay here and keep trying different combinations while everyone else looks for another clue,” Slash said. He handed the astrology book to Stefan and took my place in front of the blocks. As I rose from the chair, he ran a hand down my ponytail, then tugged me toward him, brushing his lips against mine. “Good work,” he murmured.

“Back at you,” I said, touching our fingers together once more before I headed out with the rest of the group to see what we might have missed in the planetarium room. We all looked around, but Mia had been right. Other than the stone circle, the rod, the brass discs, and the table, there was nothing else in the room.

“Are those statues of twins?” Mom asked, walking back and forth between the statues of the naked guys holding up the table. “Their features are identical. Could that be a clue?”

“If they’re twins, it could mean they’re Gemini,” Alessa offered.

“What do we know about Gemini?” I asked. “Stefan, can you read from the book about the Gemini twins?”

“Sure.” He moved to the doorway so he could get enough light to read. “‘Gemini is the third sign of the zodiac, and it covers May 21 to June 21. The sign is represented by twins, or in Egyptian astrology, by a pair of goats. In Arabian astrology, Gemini is a pair of peacocks. The brightest stars in the constellation of Gemini are Castor and Pollux, which help form the heads of the twins. According to Greek mythology, the twins have also been related to other celebrated pairs, such as the younger and older Horus in Egyptian mythology or Romulus and Remus for the Romans.’”

“Did that you say that Gemini was the third sign?” Alessa interrupted. “If so, we’re one sign off. We put Gemini in the first block in place of Aquarius. We need to go back and make sure it goes in the third.”

We hurried back to the room where Slash was trying different combinations with the blocks. Alessa told him what they’d uncovered about the twins and Gemini, but Slash didn’t react like we expected.

“I’ve already tried it,” he said. “In fact, it was the first set of combinations I tried, but it didn’t work.”

“Damn, I really thought that would be it,” Alessa said, leaning against the wall.

“There might be something else to the Gemini or Castor and Pollux story we’re missing,” Slash mused. “Maybe it’s the constellations. What if the stars were designed not only to help us open the door, but to tell us when to start? Maybe whatever constellation is over the door to this room represents the time of the year to start.”

“Orion!” Mom, Dad, and I said at the same time.

“That’s the only constellation we saw,” I said. “But maybe we missed something.”

We hurried back to the planetarium, closed the door, and waited for our eyes to adapt to the dim light again.

“See, there’s Orion,” my dad said. “Right by the door.”

“What’s that constellation to the left of Orion?” Slash asked. “Lower on the door.”

I stared at the door until I saw what appeared to be a pair of angled snake eyes.

“Gemini,” Alessa shouted before I could say anything. “That means the eyes on the door must be Castor and Pollux. Start with that, Lexi.”

We opened the door again and surged into the room. I ran over to the frame and started placing the blocks. This time, when the last block clicked into place, the shelf slowly slid out, revealing a secret crevice.

“That’s my girl,” Mom said proudly, causing me to smile.

Just inside the crevice, I could see a business card-size piece of paper. I carefully pulled it out and read aloud. “Twenty-six Via del Colosseo.”

Chapter Fifty-One

Lexi Carmichael

“What does that mean?” Alessa said, reading over my shoulder. “It sounds like an address.”

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