“Not necessarily,” Linh called from somewhere over Maruca’s shoulder.
It took Sophie a second to spot Linh striding toward them, along with Marella—and Wynn and Luna, who trotted ahead and sniffed curiously at the force field.
“I saw the light,” Linh explained, “and knew Maruca was going to need us for this next part.”
“Next part?” Sophie asked.
Maruca let the force field fade so Linh and Marella could get closer.
“We might’ve had one other reason for coming here today,” Marella admitted as she joined Sophie and Maruca in the shade. “Linh… thinks Ruy’s been changed.”
“Changed,” Sophie repeated, not sure what to do with that word. “Changed how?”
“Don’t you remember?” Linh’s eyes glazed, as if her mind was focused on her memories instead of the present. “The night of the festival, when we were facing off at Everglen, my brother bound Ruy’s wrists with shadowflux, and the darkness seeped into Ruy’s skin. His fingers turned black and…”
“Ruy couldn’t make another force field,” Sophie finished, shivering as she remembered the way the shadowflux had poured out of Tam’s palms—which meant he’d stored some of that horrible stuff inside of himself.
And the shadowflux had seemed more than happy to do his bidding.
“That’s why the Neverseen fled,” Marella said, reminding Sophie to pay attention. “They weren’t so brave once they couldn’t hide behind Ruy’s handy little shields anymore.”
Sophie pressed her arms to her sides, fighting the urge to reach for her eyelashes. “So… you think whatever Tam did to Ruy changed him permanently?”
“You don’t?” Linh asked.
Sophie shook her head. “I figured it was just an injury he’d heal from after the battle.”
She didn’t even know abilities could be permanently changed.
Though… maybe “damaged” was a better word for it.
And wasn’t that what had happened to her—twice?
Wasn’t that why Mr. Forkle needed to reset her inflicting—and why she’d had to have her other abilities reset once before?
Then again, she was the only one with “flexible” genes, apparently.
She’d also come very close to dying both times her abilities changed—and Ruy had barely looked fazed by what Tam did at Everglen.
“I spoke with Lady Zillah,” Linh said, crouching so she could be at eye level with Luna as she stroked Luna’s silvery mane, “and I described what I saw and asked if she knew what skill Tam had used on Ruy in that moment. But she said shadowflux doesn’t work that way. I guess once Tam calls for it, he can tell it to do pretty much anything he wants, as long as he’s strong enough to make it obey. So there’s no way to know exactly what command he gave the shadowflux. But… he didn’t want Ruy to be able to shield Gethen and Vespera anymore—I know that much. He said something about having the newborn trolls go after the Neverseen instead of us, remember? Plus, Lady Zillah’s always saying that shadowflux changes everything it touches, so the question isn’t whether or not it changed him. It’s how much. And the Neverseen have been awfully quiet lately—”
“They always are after one of their big attacks,” Sophie reminded her. “That’s how they operate. They show up, cause some huge disaster, and then disappear while they regroup and set up for their next plan.”
“Maybe. But… they also took my brother.” Linh’s voice cracked on the last word, and she rested her head against Luna’s neck, soaking up a baby-alicorn snuggle. “They have to be assuming we’ll try to get him back, regardless of all the warnings they gave us. So you’d think they’d be doing stuff to scare us away or keep us too busy to plan a rescue—like they did when they attacked you and Fitz to keep you from focusing on Alvar. They also know Mr. Forkle is Magnate Leto now—and still alive—and they haven’t made any moves against him. Or Tiergan. Or Juline. And they know you’re an Enhancer—and that the alicorn babies are out of the hive and running around free at Havenfield—and they haven’t tried to do anything about any of that, either. Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”
Sophie noted that Maruca didn’t look surprised by any of those revelations—and neither did Marella—as she told Linh, “Not necessarily. It hasn’t been that long since Tam was taken.”
It really hadn’t been—even if it also felt like forever.
“The Council also didn’t seem worried that the Neverseen had all of that information and hadn’t made a move yet,” Sophie added, still trying to convince herself she was right not to worry—even though she could hear Sandor mumbling about needing to talk to Bo, Flori, and Nubiti about security improvements.
“The Council doesn’t exactly have the best track record for knowing what to focus on,” Marella pointed out.
Which was definitely a valid point.
But Sophie didn’t want to admit that, because she had a feeling this conversation was spiraling somewhere very dangerous, and she had to keep control. “I just know the Neverseen are strategic. They make big moves, not small ones. And they spread them out and take their time. So the fact that they haven’t struck again isn’t as telling as you think.”
“Maybe,” Linh conceded, nuzzling her nose into Luna’s shimmery fur. “But you have to admit that it could also mean that they don’t have their handy Psionipath to hide behind right now. Particularly when you think about how much the shadowflux affected you and Fitz. You can still feel it sometimes, can’t you?”
Sophie flexed the fingers on her right hand, wishing they weren’t weaker than they should be. “Only a little. I’m mostly better now.”
“Mostly,” Marella emphasized. “And that’s after how long? You and Fitz were in the Healing Center for weeks—and it’s been even longer since you got out. So even if it’s not permanent, there’s a solid chance that Ruy’s down for the count at the moment and the Neverseen are lying low because they know they’re too vulnerable without him—which means if we make a move now, we’ll catch them at their weakest.”
“We might even be able to get my brother away from them.”
Linh said the words so softly that Sophie almost wondered if she’d imagined them—until she saw the hope shining in Linh’s eyes.
“Okaaaaaaaay,” Sophie stalled, trying to figure out the right thing to say. “It sounds like… this has been on your mind for a while, if you already talked to Lady Zillah about it. So why have you waited until now to suggest it?”
“Because I knew it was still too dangerous,” Linh said, calling Wynn over to her other side, so she was sandwiched between both baby alicorns. “Even without Ruy, the Neverseen are vicious, and I refuse to put anyone in a situation where they could get hurt—or worse. But… then Maruca stopped by and showed us what she can do, and… a plan started to come together. I just needed to think it through a little longer.”
“I told them a couple of days ago,” Maruca explained, “after Wylie said that he’d talked to you and that you were on his side. I thought it might help if I had some backup in my corner too. And then Linh told me about all of this, and… it does seem like perfect timing. So I promised her she can count on me for whatever she needs.”
“Nothing with the Neverseen will ever be perfect,” Sophie warned.
“Maybe not,” Marella allowed, “but Maruca’s ability is a game changer—”
“Or a war changer,” Maruca cut in and corrected, “if that’s what you want us to call it.”
Marella shrugged. “Sure. Whatever. My point is, you know how important her ability is, Sophie. Especially right now, when the Neverseen don’t even know she’s a Psionipath or that she’s working with us—”
“She’s not working with us,” Sophie felt the need to point out. “And technically, neither are you. You help out sometimes, but you haven’t sworn fealty.”
“I haven’t?” Marella asked, fishing a very familiar necklace out from underneath her tunic—a black metal swan curving around a smooth glass monocle.
>
Sophie and her friends had each been given the same pendant after they’d officially joined the Black Swan.
“When did that happen?” Sophie asked, feeling even more out of the loop.
Marella tucked the pendant away. “Forkle suggested it after I agreed to take regular lessons with Fintan. He claimed that since pyrokinesis can be so all-consuming, it would be helpful for me to feel like I’m officially part of something bigger than my ability—but I’m pretty sure he mostly just wanted to lock me in on your side in case Fintan tried to recruit me.”
“And you were okay with that?” Sophie needed to ask, despite the fact that the answer was already hanging around Marella’s neck. There’d been a brief time, early in their friendship, when Marella had been bothered that Sophie had left her out of all the Black Swan–related stuff—but then Marella saw how dangerous it all was and hadn’t seemed the least bit interested in joining anymore.
Marella shrugged. “Felt sort of inevitable at this point. Plus, the Council could come after me any day and try to shut down my ability training, so I figured it might be good to have some powerful people on my side who have no problem breaking rules when they need to.”
“And I’ll be part of the order as soon as I speak to the Collective,” Maruca added, tilting her chin up defiantly. “We all know that once I show them what I can do, they’ll let me join—even if you tell them not to, Sophie. But I’m hoping you won’t do that. In fact, I’m hoping you’ll put in a good word and speed things along. I know you made a promise to my cousin—but Wylie will get over it. I’ll make sure of it. He needs to understand that just because he wants to keep me safe, it doesn’t mean he gets to control my life. I’m not a little kid. I get to choose how I use my ability. And I choose to fight. So if he wants to protect me, he can fight beside me—or get out of my way. And if he doesn’t? I’ll knock him into a pile of mastodon poop and put a force field around him so he can spend some quality time with all that stink.”
Sophie couldn’t decide if she was intimidated or impressed.
Probably both.
“See why she’s our secret weapon?” Marella asked with a huge grin. “She can handle this. And so can we. But we have to strike now, while the Neverseen are weak and unprepared and won’t expect anything.”
“Riiiiiiiiiiight,” Sophie said, stalling again as she tried to find a nice way to word her next argument. “I mean, not to be the downer, but… I think you’re forgetting that we don’t actually know where the Neverseen are right now.”
Linh stood, sending Wynn and Luna scattering. “Not yet. But I can find them.”
“How?” Sandor demanded, beating Sophie to the question.
“Through Tam,” Linh told him. “If Sophie will help me reach out to him.”
Sophie’s palms turned sweaty under her gloves. “You know Gethen will hear everything you say to Tam.”
“But he won’t understand it,” Linh insisted. “Tam and I have a code. It’s nothing fancy, just two ‘I’m in trouble’ phrases—one for me and one for him—plus some words we assigned other meanings to, in case we needed to communicate something beyond danger. And I think I’ve come up with a way to use that code to find out where he is without anyone knowing.”
Sophie ignored the less-than-reassuring “I think” in that statement and focused on the bigger issue. “Okay, but… Tam doesn’t know where he is.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t,” Linh agreed. “But he doesn’t have to. I’m going to ask him to send a signal that will lead me to him.”
“What signal?” Sandor demanded as Sophie started picturing disastrous ideas, like super-conspicuous puffs of smoke.
“It’s really hard to explain,” Linh said quietly, “and I’ll need Sophie’s help to make it work. But… I think I can find him through the water.”
Sophie glanced at Marella and Maruca, surprised by how readily they were nodding, as if what Linh had just said made perfect sense. “What water?”
“Any water.” Linh raised her hand and curled her fingers, forming a tennis ball–size sphere out of the moisture in the air.
“Yeah… the thing is… it sounded like Tam was in some sort of dry desert cave the last time I talked to him,” Sophie hated to tell her.
“Even if he is, there’s always water.” Linh wiggled her fingers, letting the sphere she’d formed unravel with a soft splash. “I realize this won’t make much sense to you, but… when you enhanced me in Atlantis, I became very aware. It felt like I was connecting with water on a whole other level—like I was part of it, and it was part of me, and my consciousness had no beginning or ending because the water was everywhere and in everything. And I think, if you enhance me again, I can use that awareness to find Tam. I just need him to let his shadow touch water while I’m listening—and in order to tell him to do that, I need you to reach out to him telepathically.”
“I’m not saying I won’t,” Sophie said—ignoring Sandor’s protests. “But… you know contacting him puts him in danger, right? No matter what you say to him or how much the Neverseen understand, they’ll still know we reached out and punish him somehow?”
“Why do you think I haven’t asked you before?” Linh waved her hand, pulling the tears from her eyes and letting them glisten like tiny diamonds in front of her before she flicked her fingers and they vanished into mist. “I wouldn’t put my brother at risk—or any of you—if I didn’t truly believe this would work. I can find him, and we can bring him home safely.”
Sandor opened his mouth, but Sophie cut him off. “All she’s asking for right now is a telepathic conversation.”
“Yes, but if this convoluted plan works, I need you to understand that you’re not going anywhere—none of you are,” Sandor informed them. “End of discussion. I will allow you to attempt to gather the information, in case it proves helpful to those who can safely carry out the kind of ambush you’re describing—though I also seem to remember your last conversation with Tam triggering your echoes,” he reminded Sophie.
“Then Flori can sing to me again,” she told him. “But I doubt I’ll need her. I’m stronger now. Especially here, under Calla’s tree.” She closed her eyes, breathing in the sweet floral scent and soaking up the breezy melody before she turned back to Linh, studying the determination in her features. “You know what’s best for your brother way better than I do. And you know your abilities. And you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this. So if you want to try…”
Linh nodded, lowering herself to the grass and crossing her legs as Sophie sat across from her.
“Is there anything you need me to do right now?” Maruca asked.
“Or me?” Marella added.
“You can keep an eye on Wynn and Luna,” Sophie told them. “Apparently they have super-poor taste in friends. So if they try to go near the gorgodon—stop them.”
Marella shuddered. “Ugh, I forgot that creepy beast lived here. I mean, I know we’re supposed to be all about protecting animals and stuff, but… that thing’s not natural. I can’t believe the Council hasn’t ordered it to be destroyed.”
“And I can’t believe the Council isn’t resetting the Timeline to Extinction again,” Linh said absently, gathering dewdrops off the fallen Panakes petals and letting them hover around her like twinkling stars.
“Why would they?” Sophie wondered.
“Because the gorgodon’s the last of its kind,” Linh reminded her. “Once it’s gone, the species is extinct.”
“Yeah, but it’s not a real species,” Marella argued.
Linh let her watery stars evaporate. “Being created doesn’t make it any less real. Look at Sophie.”
Sophie definitely wasn’t sure what to do with that comparison—or Linh’s point about the gorgodon. But that wasn’t what she needed to be focusing on anyway. “Am I supposed to enhance you now?” she asked.
Linh shook her head. “Not until Tam’s ready to send the signal. Once I connect to the water, it’s all-consuming, and I need to c
oncentrate on sending the message first.”
Sophie tugged off her gloves anyway, since she still had her fingernail gadgets to block the ability, and she doubted Linh wanted all the crusty mud near her face. But she hesitated before reaching for Linh’s temples. “I might be able to open a mental channel between the three of us, so you guys can communicate directly. I’ve never tried doing that over such a long distance, so I don’t know if it’ll work. But we can find out, if you want.”
Fresh tears brimmed in Linh’s eyes. “I’ll be able to hear his voice?”
“That’s what I’m hoping—but… no guarantees, okay?”
Linh nodded. But she looked so heartbreakingly hopeful that Sophie almost wished she hadn’t mentioned it until she knew whether or not it was possible.
“I’ll also need permission to open my mind to yours,” she said, closing her eyes and gathering her mental strength.
“Of course,” Linh whispered, and Sophie pressed her fingers against Linh’s temples and stretched out her consciousness, imagining it wrapping around both her and Linh like a sheer curtain.
Linh’s thoughts poured slowly into her mind, and the world turned quieter.
Softer.
Reality drifting gently away.
It took Sophie a second to realize that the sensation reminded her of being underwater.
Is this what your head feels like all the time? Sophie asked, trying to remember if she’d noticed it the other times she’d communicated telepathically with Linh.
A little. But it’s stronger when I’m trying to concentrate. The words rippled like waves. I think better when I let the pull of the water fill my mind, if that makes sense.
Not really, Sophie admitted. But I’m not a Hydrokinetic. And it IS easier to focus this way.
With the rest of the world muffled, she could feel each of her thoughts individually, stretching them into threads, which she used to tether Linh’s mind to hers.
We’ll see if that holds, Sophie transmitted, letting her mental energy pool between the two of them, the warm hum growing stronger and stronger and stronger. If it does, you and Tam should be able to hear each other—assuming I can make contact.
Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 8) Page 34