“Yeah—didn’t you need to have some sort of little black disk etched with the right piece of the Lodestar symbol on it to not set off all their sensors?” Fitz asked. “And now that I think about it, how are you going to get there? I doubt Glimmer’s going to know exactly which piece of the symbol matches the storehouse she mentioned—and even if she did, you’d need one of those gadgets that project the symbol, like we found in the Silver Tower.”
Those were unfortunately very valid questions.
Sophie didn’t have a good answer, except to say, “I guess if that’s all true, then we won’t be going to the Neverseen’s storehouse today. But I doubt Glimmer would’ve made the offer if she didn’t know how to get there.”
“She wouldn’t,” Tam agreed. “She’s way too smart for that.”
“I don’t know,” Biana muttered. “She did support the Neverseen for a pretty long time, so she’s not necessarily the shiniest jewel in the tiara, if you know what I mean. She may not even realize how complicated it is to reach any of the Lodestar hideouts. It didn’t sound like she’d actually been to one.”
“And if that’s true,” Sophie jumped in, “then that’ll mean we don’t end up going anywhere with Glimmer.”
They’d just go to each Lodestar hideout one by one instead—which they’d need to do eventually anyway, since it sounded like there were others that weren’t destroyed.
Though…
The Neverseen would probably figure out what they were doing pretty quickly and destroy the rest of the hideouts—or set up an ambush.
So they’d be way better off if Glimmer was able to make good on her promise.
“The truth is,” Sophie said, standing taller and squaring her shoulders, “this is our best option right now. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But I’m ready to stop talking about it and go find out.”
“You still won’t have the little black disks you need,” Fitz reminded her—though he looked like he felt a little bad about it. “So the Neverseen are going to know there are intruders.”
“That’s why we’ll have bodyguards,” Sophie argued. “And weapons. Plus, Tam can hide us with shadows, like he did when we snuck into Ravagog. And if it gets too intense, I can teleport us to safety.”
“You say all of that like it counts as an actual plan,” Grady told her. “It doesn’t.”
“Maybe. But we’ll figure out the rest as we go along. Trust our brains and our powers—and our bodyguards—and… hope for the best.”
She wished she could’ve come up with a stronger way to wrap up her response, but… hope was really all they ever had. And Sophie refused to treat it like it wasn’t enough.
If she let her mind go down that path, she’d want to give up.
She had to hope that they’d track down Kenric’s cache, and figure out what stellarlune and Elysian were, and find a way to help Keefe, and finally stop the Neverseen.
And all of that was only going to happen if she kept taking risks.
“We’re going now,” Sophie said, making her way over to Tam.
She was done asking permission.
“Hang on there,” Grady told her. “Relax, I’m not going to stop you. But I am going with you to Solreef, and you’re going to tell me exactly where Glimmer’s taking you before you guys leave. Then you’ll have fifteen minutes to look for the cache and get back—and if you’re gone a second longer, I’m coming after you.”
“Me too,” Fitz added.
“And me!” Biana agreed.
“Fifteen minutes isn’t much time,” Tam argued.
“Then I suggest you work fast,” Tiergan told him, “because at fifteen minutes and one second, I’m going after you too.”
Sophie and Tam exchanged a look, neither needing to check the other’s thoughts to know it was the best offer they were going to get.
“Deal,” Sophie said, glancing at Sandor, who was obviously not thrilled with the arrangement, even though he was invited to go. “Just let me run upstairs and change. I’m going to need a tunic with more pockets.”
If things went well, she’d be filling one of them with Kenric’s cache.
And if things went badly, hopefully they could deal with it.
Assuming Glimmer even knew how to get them there…
The doubt whispered around Sophie’s head as she dressed for the mission and grabbed as many weapons as she could carry—and it was still in the back of her mind when their group made it back to Solreef.
Tam must’ve been just as concerned, because the first thing he said after Bo let them in to see Glimmer was “Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”
Glimmer sat up taller. “Does that mean you’re taking me up on my bargain?”
“Only if you actually know what you’re talking about,” Sophie told her. “We know what the Lodestar security is like—the question is, do you?”
“Ugh, I almost want to take my hood down so you can see me roll my eyes.” Instead she stood and bent over, grabbing the bottom corner of her cloak. “I never planned to leave the order. But I knew if I did, I’d have to abandon everything, and that they’d likely move my belongings to their storehouse. So I made sure I had one of these.”
She ripped open the seam at her hem, and Sophie expected her to hold up one of those black disks Fitz had been talking about.
Instead she held up a small, silver hairpin.
And set among the metal filigree at the end was a smooth starstone.
- TWELVE - KEEFE
So… the point of this is for you to talk, remember?” Dex said, glancing over his shoulder before he turned back to Keefe. “Hey, don’t look at me like that! You hailed me! I could be doing lots of other things right now instead of sitting here, watching you pout. Rex has been doing enough of that!”
“He’s not pouting—he’s brooding,” Ro corrected. “Pouting would have his shoulders hunched and his lip jutting out more. And sulking would have his eyes all downcast. Wow. I kind of hate myself for knowing that. Clearly I’ve been spending too much time with a silent, moody boy.”
Dex cracked up.
But his smile faded when Keefe pressed his lips tighter.
“You need to say something,” he told Keefe. “That’s the only way we’re going to know if this works. And it will. Trust me.”
Elwin nudged Keefe with his elbow. “Remember, I can’t hear a thing with these earplugs in. So I can help if it starts to get funky.”
Keefe snorted.
“Funky” made this ability sound like it was just a silly little quirk he was learning to live with.
"I know you’re scared,” Dex told him. “And I know our other tests haven’t gone very well. But I swear, this one will be different.”
Keefe sighed.
It better be different.
Otherwise hard changes were coming—he had to hold himself to that.
“Maybe you need some topic ideas!” Ro suggested. “Let’s see. I mean, you’re both elves, so you could probably talk about sparkles for days—but who wants to listen to that? Oh, you’re both pretty good at pranking! Not as good as me, of course. But who is? Ooo! Ooo! We could plan something for when school starts—make that Great Gulon thing seem like child’s play! Who’s game?”
Keefe shook his head.
Dex glanced over his shoulder again, looking distracted.
“Okay, fine, you’re clearly intimidated by my pranking genius. Can’t blame you for that. Let’s see… what else is there?” Ro tapped her chin with one of her red claws. “It needs to be something that’ll get Hunkyhair fired up, so he’ll be able to see if using this gadget thing is safe. Which means our best bet is probably Blondie.”
“You mean Sophie?” Dex asked, whipping back around to face them.
“Yep! I’m sure you both have lots to say about her.”
Dex cleared his throat. “Not really. I mean… she’s my best friend, but—”
“Aw, come on, Dexy,” Ro interrupted. “You’re among fri
ends. And Hunkyhair told me about your smoochfest with the Mysterious Miss F! High five, by the way!”
Dex turned so red, it looked like flames were about to curl out of his ears.
“Wait, was that a secret?” Ro asked. “I figured you must’ve been shouting that from the rooftops! Especially since Captain Perfectpants hasn’t gotten any lip action—and he probably won’t, now that Fitzphie’s unraveling.”
“It is?” Dex asked.
Ro’s eyebrows shot up. “You haven’t noticed? Wow. Obliviousness is rampant here in Sparkle Town!”
“I’m not oblivious,” Dex argued. “It’s just… none of my business.”
“Really? Huh. I thought she was your best friend. Ohhh, does the smooching thing make it awkward for you guys?”
Dex sank lower in his chair. “Why are we talking about this?”
“Because I’m trying to get a rise out of my boy.” Ro put a hand on Keefe’s shoulder, jostling him. “Nothing you want to say, Hunkyhair? I bet Dexy could relate, if you wanted to unload on him. In fact, you guys should totally do one of those dude-commiseration convos. I bet it would help with all the angst.”
Keefe tried to decide if he wanted to shove his Imparter down her throat or slither under his bed and never come back out.
Slithering seemed like the best option when Dex asked, “What angst?”
But he thankfully got distracted by whatever seemed to be going on behind him.
“Is this a bad time?” Keefe asked.
Dex whipped back around. “Hey—you talked! And see? Nothing happened!”
“Not yet,” Keefe mumbled.
Ro poked him in the side with her claw. “You need to speak up. Enunciate, like you do when you’re getting all command-y. I’m also happy to help overwhelm you so we can see if that changes anything.”
She poked his side again.
And again.
And again.
“Okay, I think I see a flaw in this plan,” Elwin cut in as a word started to bubble up Keefe’s throat. “The test is supposed to see if Keefe is affected by Dex—or if Dex is affected by him. So they should probably be talking alone.”
“Aw, but that sounds like way less fun!” Ro whined.
Elwin dragged her toward the door. “We’ll be right out here in the hall,” he told Keefe. “Just remember—I can’t hear you, so if something happens, you’ll need to come get me.”
“Or me!” Ro added. “But I’ll totally be eavesdropping because I’m not scared of your elf-y abilities!”
Dex cleared his throat when the door slammed shut. “Your bodyguard is… interesting.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Keefe muttered—then froze.
“I’m fine,” Dex told him. “Seriously, talk as much as you want. It’s not going to affect me.”
Keefe swallowed, trying to get some moisture back into his mouth again. But his voice still crackled when he said, “I swear, I’m starting to forget how to do this.”
“I bet.” Dex reached into his pocket, pulling out some piece of circuitry to fidget with. “You’ve had a rough few days. Well… I guess it’s been a rough few years, huh?”
“Pretty much my entire life,” Keefe corrected. He hated how whiny that sounded, so he added, “But… it is what it is.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Dex told him. “It’s okay to talk about it. I’m happy to—”
He whipped his head around again.
“Looks like there’s something else you should be dealing with right now,” Keefe noted.
“Nah, I’m enjoying a break from the madness. You can’t hear all the squealing and crashes because I added noise canceling to my Imparter. But it’s full-fledged mayhem downstairs. Bex and Lex manifested a couple of hours ago.”
“Wow, both of them at the same time?”
“Yep. It was super unexpected—and awesome, of course. Especially since so many people…”
He didn’t finish the sentence. But Keefe was well aware of how judgy everyone was about the Dizznee triplets, since their parents were a bad match.
“Rex didn’t manifest?” he asked.
“Not yet—which is normal,” Dex added quickly. Maybe even a little defensively. “Just because they’re triplets doesn’t mean they do everything the same, you know? Bex started walking days before the others. And Rex is still the only one who can do cartwheels.”
“Makes sense,” Keefe agreed.
“But… that’s why Rex has been pouting,” Dex admitted. “And I can’t really blame him. Especially since Lex keeps pelting him with snowballs.”
“So Lex is a Froster?” Keefe asked.
“Yep. Just like my mom. The whole downstairs looks like a blizzard tore through the house. He’s actually showing pretty solid control—which may not be a good thing, since I’m pretty sure it means I’m going to wake up trapped in a giant ice cube.”
Keefe laughed. “Sounds about right.”
Dex sighed. “Yep. My life is about to get even more chaotic. I don’t even want to think about the pranks Bex is going to pull once she figures out how to walk through walls without getting stuck.”
“She’s a Phaser?”
“Yeah, and she’s definitely still getting the hang of it. My dad’s down there trying to help her pull her feet out of the floor. So weird, right?”
It was.
But Keefe didn’t understand why he felt so twitchy all of a sudden.
If felt like…
Like he was missing something.
He sat up straighter. “Wait—that’s why their hands felt so weird!”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember how I said Lex’s hand felt freezing? Bex’s hand also felt sorta squishy. I didn’t mention it because there was so much else going on. But they must’ve already been manifesting.”
Dex frowned.
“What?” Keefe asked, lowering his voice. “Have I been talking too much?”
He’d gotten so distracted that he’d forgotten to watch his tone.
“No… it’s fine. I told you—using the Imparter protects me. I just… I was always taught that manifesting was like flipping a switch. One second you don’t have any power. And the next second—boom.”
“Well, but it might be different for some people,” Keefe reminded him.
“Truuuuuuuue.” Dex fidgeted with the piece of circuitry, twisting one of the wires so tight it looked ready to snap. “But… I held their hands when we leaped home, and I didn’t notice anything squishy or freezing about them. And Rex didn’t think Lex felt cold either, remember?”
It was Keefe’s turn to frown. “What are you saying?”
“I don’t know.” Dex leaned closer and lowered his voice before he added, “It just… It kinda sounds like you sensed that they were going to manifest. And you even knew their exact abilities.”
Keefe sucked in a breath. “But that’s not a thing. No one can do that—not even the ability detecting Mentors!”
“Right—but new powers happen sometimes,” Dex reminded him. “Maybe all the changes to your empathy allow for it or something. I don’t know—it definitely sounds weird, but so is what happened to you, you know? And it sorta makes sense, doesn’t it?”
No.
Nothing about this made sense.
“You don’t think I triggered their abilities, do you?” Keefe asked quietly.
“I was just wondering that—but I don’t think so, because Rex still hasn’t manifested, remember? Did you feel anything when you held his hand?”
Keefe closed his eyes and replayed the memory—then replayed it again.
He wanted to be absolutely certain before he answered.
“Well… I actually did feel something,” he admitted. “But I don’t really know how to describe it. It was kinda hollow, somehow. A little… empty.”
“Empty,” Dex repeated. “I’m trying to think of what that could be. A Shade, maybe? Or a Vanisher? Have you been around Tam or Biana to compare?”
“What?” Dex asked.
Keefe shook his head, desperately searching all of his recent memories, hoping to find some other sensation he’d missed.
“What?” Dex repeated. “Come on, Keefe—you have to tell me.”
Technically, Keefe didn’t have to do anything.
He could lie.
Switch off his Imparter.
Flee the Lost Cities forever.
All of that sounded way better than answering. Because if he was right, then this was so much huger than sensing someone manifesting.
It was even bigger than numbing people with his commands.
But maybe he was wrong.…
So he told Dex, “I felt the same emptiness when your dad put his hand on my shoulder… and I think that means I can only feel something when it’s someone who hasn’t manifested.”
“Okay,” Dex said, dragging out the word. “But… my dad’s Talentless.”
Keefe nodded.
Dex swallowed hard and nodded too.
He opened his mouth, and Keefe wanted to beg him not to say whatever he was thinking, because once he said it, it’d be this real thing they’d have to deal with.
But Dex still mumbled, “So… you’re saying Rex is going to be Talentless?”
- THIRTEEN - Sophie
Where did you get that?” Sophie asked, shaking with something that was part shiver, part shudder as she squinted at the familiar blue-white aura around Glimmer’s starstone.
Tam asked the smarter question: “How do you know where it goes?”
Glimmer sighed. “You guys love to act like everything’s so complicated. It was Gisela’s—where else would I get it? And I know where it goes because I watched her use it to retrieve something from the storehouse. After she got back, I used a light trick to make her think something had damaged the starstone, so she threw it away. Then I went back later, dug it out of the trash, and hid it in the hem of my cloak.”
“That sounds like a lot of work for someone who claims she wasn’t planning on leaving the Neverseen,” Sophie felt the need to point out.
Unlocked 8.5 (Keeper of the Lost Cities) Page 41