Exile

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by Shannon Messenger


  Sophie doubted he had the first time. But she’d already faced her deepest fears. How much worse could it be?

  She flashed her most confident smile, which felt more like a smirk, as she told him, “Bring it on.”

  SOPHIE SAT ALONE ON THE cold ground in a shadowy corner of the valley, watching the beams of light twist and spin above the snowcapped mountains. She could definitely understand why the elves had turned Orem Vacker’s flashing into such a celebration. It looked like fireworks and lasers and the aurora borealis had all been choreographed to dance around the eerie red moon.

  But she hadn’t felt like joining the festivities.

  “So, I think I speak for everyone when I say, You can teleport?”

  Sophie turned around, surprised to see Dex standing with Fitz, Keefe, and Biana—especially since he didn’t even look annoyed about it.

  “Oh, you figured that out, huh?” She’d been hoping it would take them a few days.

  “Keefe told us.”

  “Yeah. I knew the moment you brought us home. Seriously, Foster, when are you going to realize you can’t lie to an Empath?”

  “I think I’m finally figuring that out. Not that it matters. You guys know all my darkest secrets now, don’t you?”

  “If you mean that you’re secretly in love with me,” Keefe said, plopping down beside her, “then yeah, everyone is well aware. And if you mean the stuff about your DNA, well . . . we heard Grady explaining that to Alden.”

  “Oh.” She didn’t have much more to say than that. Except, “Well, now you know how weird I am.”

  “Uh, I’ve always known that,” Dex said, sitting on her other side. “But remember? I like weird.”

  “Me too,” Biana chimed in.

  “Me three,” Fitz added, smiling so wide when she met his eyes that her heart fluttered. “We could all use a little more weird in our lives.”

  Sophie wasn’t so sure she agreed. With how crazy everything had been, and all the things she still had to figure out, she wouldn’t have minded if life got a little more normal for a while.

  But maybe weird was okay too.

  Especially if her friends were willing to accept it.

  “Whoa, are you crying?” Keefe asked, and she blushed as she tried to smear away her tears. “You’re supposed to cry when bad things happen, Foster, not good things.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “I do,” Keefe said, taking her hand as Dex grabbed the other and Fitz and Biana each squeezed her shoulders. “Absolutely nothing.”

  Sophie smiled as she glanced up at the flickering lights in the sky, feeling nothing but calm and happiness as they flashed in her eyes. “I hate to say this, Keefe, but I think you might be right.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Writing this book broke my brain into a million tiny pieces, and I never would’ve been able to put them back together without the help of many incredible people.

  To my amazing husband, Miles: Thank you for putting up with all the late nights and travel days, for always making sure I have a steady supply of Pepsi, and for letting me steal your favorite Batman shirts for my glamorous writing attire.

  To Mom and Dad: Thank you for your tireless efforts to get Keeper into the hands of kids, and for not being too scared of my imagination when you discovered the rather dark places my mind can go.

  To Laura Rennert: Thank you for being the constant I can turn to in this ever-changing business. It’s probably not part of your job description to be the Keeper of my Sanity, but you have risen to the task perfectly.

  I also must thank Lara Perkins for being the Sender of Happy E-mails, the rest of the Andrea Brown Literary team for their ever-present support, Taryn Fagerness for her tireless efforts to share my stories with the world, and Sean Daily for navigating the chaos of Hollywood.

  To Liesa Abrams: Thank you for the advice that helped me realize which stories I needed to tell, for trusting me when I basically abandoned the synopsis I’d given you, and for the notes that guided me out of the mess of that first draft.

  I also want to thank everyone—and I really do mean everyone—at my incredible publisher, Simon & Schuster, especially Bethany Buck, Mara Anastas, Lauren Forte, Alyson Heller, Fiona Simpson, Anna McKean, Siena Koncsol, Carolyn Swerdloff, Julie Christopher, Emma Sector, Lucille Rettino, Paul Crichton, Michelle Fadlalla, Venessa Carson, Anthony Parisi, Ebony LaDelle, Matt Pantoliano, Michael Strother, Amy Bartram, Jeanine Henderson, Mike Rosamilia, and Mary Marotta, and the entire sales team. Plus a special thank you to Karin Paprocki for once again designing a breathtakingly beautiful cover, and Jason Chan for finding a way to top the Keeper artwork—something I didn’t know was possible.

  To Sara McClung: Thank you for the hours and hours and HOURS we spent brainstorming (I’m pretty sure my brain is still recovering from those), and for always asking the questions that lead me to the “Yay—I know how to fix the problem!!!” moment.

  To Sarah Wylie: Thank you for always knowing how to pull me out of my deepest fears and doubts. I’m also pretty sure there wouldn’t be a Keeper book with Keefe on the cover if it weren’t for all of your rather, um . . . enthusiastic fangirling.

  I also need to thank C. J. Redwine for always pushing me to be brave with my writing, Kiersten White for giving me an excuse to escape the deadline cave (especially since there’s generally pizza involved), and Faith Hochhalter for constantly finding new ways to prove to me that I need to “trust the Book Babe.” Huge thanks also go to the amazing ladies of Friday the Thirteeners, who are always available to cheerlead or commiserate, and all the awesome local SoCal writers for loyally attending my signings so I didn’t have to worry about being there alone.

  I wish I had space to thank by name all of the amazing teachers, booksellers, and librarians who have gone so above and beyond to share Keeper with their readers—but this book is pretty epic-length as it is. So just let me say to all of you: I know there are many books you could lend your support and energy to, and I will never be able to express how grateful I am that you’ve given it to mine. Thank you for everything you do. You are wonderful, wonderful people.

  Thank you, Katie Bartow, for the fabulous blog tours and the many other ways you’ve helped me. And to the incredible people at SCIBA, thank you for the years of support and for always hosting my favorite events. I also have to thank Alyson Beecher, M. G. Buehrlen, Shannon O’Donnell, Kari Olson, Matthew Rush, and Courtney Stallings-Barr for their incredible encouragement, both online and off. And to all of my blog/Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/Instagram/Pinterest followers (man, I think I spend too much time online), thank you for connecting with me through these crazy social networks and braving my shenanigans.

  And last—but definitely not least—I want to thank you (yes, YOU), my loyal, awesome readers! (I have to assume you’re awesome if you’ve read this far, right?) An author can write a book and a publisher can print it and a bookstore or library can put it on their shelves—but it would still be nothing if no one ever picked it up and read it. Thank you for giving my stories a chance, for telling your friends and family to read them, for all the amazing e-mails you send me (even though it takes me forever to reply), for the incredible photos and fan art you send, and the adorable debates I see you have online about Dex, Fitz, or Keefe. I truly wrote these stories for you. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy all of the adventures still to come!

  COPYRIGHT © 2012 BY DEVENDE PHOTOGRAPHY

  SHANNON MESSENGER graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where she learned—among other things—that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She also regularly eats cupcakes for breakfast, sleeps with a bright blue stuffed elephant named Ella, and occasionally gets caught talking to imaginary people—so it was only natural for her to write stories for children. She’s the author of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series and Let the Sky Fall, the first in a new series for young adults. She lives in Southern California with her hus
band and an embarrassing number of cats. Find her online at shannonmessenger.com.

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Shannon-Messenger

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Jason-Chan

  ALADDIN

  SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK

  Meet the author, watch videos, get extras at

  KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

  Also by Shannon Messenger

  Keeper of the Lost Cities

  Let the Sky Fall

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Aladdin hardcover edition October 2013

  Copyright © 2013 by Shannon Messenger

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Designed by Karin Paprocki

  Jacket Designed By Karin Paprocki

  Jacket Illustration By Jason Chan

  The text of this book was set in Scala.

  This book has been cataloged with the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4424-4596-3

  ISBN 978-1-4424-4598-7 (eBook)

  CONTENTS

  Preface

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Acknowledgments

  About Shannon Messenger

 

 

 


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