“Anyway,” he said, the edge returning to his features. “I suggest you prepare for your next session. I will not be holding back.”
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 husband 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.
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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
Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities) Page 39