Anyone who wears the crown of shadows can call upon a bunch of them at night. These shadows come to life and do the bidding of the one who wears the crown. Dodge figures out where the key is hidden and finds the crown of shadows. 
 What's more interesting in this volume is the extension of the shadow motif to their mother's alcoholism. She is slowly withdrawing herself from her children and gets into an argument with her children over that. A metaphorical shadow has yet again been cast on the family with the kids' mother taking a plunge through alcohol to deal with her sadness at the loss of her husband. 
 They all exchange words where Tyler and Kinsey walk away from the argument while the grown up slumps miserably on the floor. 
 Nina does see magic but doesn't really 
 see 
 it. 
 A place of shadows and secrets, where unlikely keys make the impossible possible. Grown-ups can't see the magic that surrounds them in keyhouse. Usually...