“No, it was a lot of work for someone who likes to be prepared for anything,” Glimmer corrected.
Which made Sophie wonder what Glimmer had done to prepare for where she was about to take them.
Not that it mattered.
Whatever happened, Sophie would deal with it.
She had to.
“Time to go,” she said, holding out her hand for the hairpin.
“Hang on,” Grady called from the doorway. “You’ll need to leave that with me, since it’s the only way to get there. And remember: You get fifteen minutes—not a second longer.”
Glimmer dropped the starstone into Sophie’s palm. “What happens after fifteen minutes?”
“We come get you,” Grady told her as Sophie brought the starstone over to him.
Glimmer snorted. “That’s your plan?”
“Yep!” Sophie was already getting sick of Glimmer’s attitude.
Grady squinted at the gem, watching the blue glow flare brighter. “You ready for this, kiddo?”
“Almost.” She moved to Tam’s side and whispered. “Are you ready?”
He hadn’t had to face any of the Neverseen since he’d escaped—and hopefully that wouldn’t change. But she wanted to make sure he was mentally prepared.
Tam tugged on his bangs, pulling the silver tips over his eyes. “Yeah, I’m good. Let’s do this.”
Sophie reached for his hand and laced their fingers together.
Tam offered Glimmer his other hand, and she took it, mumbling, “I hope you guys know what you’re doing.”
“We do,” Sandor assured her, grabbing Sophie’s arm.
Flori and Bo completed their circle.
“You’ll need this, too,” Tiergan said, clasping a silver chain around Sophie’s neck. “The pendant will leap you back here, where we’ll be waiting—unless we need to come after you.”
“You won’t,” Sophie assured him.
“And even if you do, you won’t be able to find us,” Glimmer warned.
Tiergan smiled. “You’d be surprised at what we can do.”
“I hope so,” Glimmer told him. “Because so far, I’m not impressed.”
And on that encouraging note, Sophie tightened her grip and told Grady, “Okay, we’re ready.”
Grady looked far from pleased—but he obediently held the starstone up to the light, creating a milky-blue path.
“Be careful,” he ordered. “Your fifteen minutes start now.”
* * *
“Where’s the storehouse?” Sophie shouted, not sure if anyone could hear her above the roar of the waterfall that cascaded over the edge of a nearby cliff and crashed into a raging river far below.
The ground trembled beneath their feet, and mist hung thick in the air, turning everything cold and dreary and making it hard to see more than a few feet ahead—which was probably better. The ledge they’d reappeared on seemed like it was both narrow and very steep, since it was near the top of the falls.
“See the rainbow?” Glimmer called back, pointing to the colorful arch refracting across the mist. “That’s our path!”
“How can a rainbow be a path?” Sophie had to ask.
“Like this!” Glimmer stepped off the ledge.
Everyone screamed—even Glimmer. But instead of plummeting into the torrents, she hovered like an eerie black-cloaked ghost. The wet fabric clung to her frame, making her look smaller than Sophie had been imagining—maybe even a little frail. But Glimmer’s voice boomed with strength and authority when she told them, “Trust the colors, not your eyes!”
“I’ll go first!” Flori offered. And Sophie tried to feel reassured by how easily the tiny gnome followed Glimmer’s steps. But she had a horrible feeling that whatever path they were taking would be very slippery.
She let Bo go next.
Then Tam.
“I’ll follow you!” Sandor told her when she gestured for him to go ahead. “And don’t worry, if you start to fall, I’ll catch you!”
Sophie doubted he’d be able to do anything except watch her drown—but she appreciated the sentiment as she focused on the rainbow, imagining it was a wide, sturdy bridge and not a simple illusion that happened when light shone through water droplets.
“I’m trusting the colors,” she told herself, thinking about all of the other impossible things she’d been able to do since arriving in the Lost Cities. Then she took a small step and…
… found solid footing.
Or sorta solid.
The ground was squishy and uneven, and her legs shook from the effort of keeping her balance. But somehow she caught up to everyone without tripping.
“That must be why the Black Swan believed the hideout was destroyed!” Tam shouted, pointing at something far below.
Sophie decided to take his word for it.
Looking down seemed like a very bad idea.
“Now what?” she asked.
Glimmer had stopped a few steps away from where the rainbow was swallowed by the falls—and Sophie had a horrible feeling she knew what that meant.
Sure enough, Glimmer told her, “Now we cross through!”
“At least we don’t have to jump off the edge!” Flori reminded everyone.
Which was a good point.
But it didn’t make Sophie any more excited when Glimmer told them, “Hold your breath, keep your arms up, and stay as close to me as you can!”
“How do you know all of this?” Tam asked.
“I told you—I like to be prepared!” She fanned out her fingers—as if they could somehow shield her from the thunderous wall of water. And Sophie could hear Glimmer’s squeal as she was swallowed by the surging white streams.
Flori held her arms up and followed, twirling as she passed through.
Bo used his sword to cover his head.
Tam glanced at Sophie. “I really wish we’d brought Linh!” he shouted before charging after the others.
Sophie definitely agreed—which made her realize that the reason Linh wasn’t there was because she didn’t trust Glimmer.
That could mean that Linh was much smarter than they were.
“You’re next!” Sandor shouted, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry—I have your back!”
He always did.
And Sophie hoped he knew how grateful she was for that.
She also hoped it would be enough if they were racing into a trap.
“Here goes!” she said, raising her arms and trying to prepare herself for the overwhelming rush of the waterfall. But when she shoved herself into the stream, it was more like…
… stepping into the shower.
Her hair became plastered to her face, and her clothes suctioned onto her skin, and the water felt tepid and frothy—but way gentler than she’d been expecting.
Then it was gone—and so was most of the noise and all of the mist. The ground actually felt dry and crackly, as if she’d slipped through some sort of force field and entered a space completely shielded from the falls.
She rubbed the water out of her eyes as Glimmer told her, “Welcome to the Neverseen’s storehouse. It’s… not as big as I’d imagined.”
It also wasn’t fancy, like Sophie had been picturing. It was just a dim, dusty cave lined with shelves.
There wasn’t even a door!
Just two small balefire sconces framing the archway they’d passed through when they’d entered—which seemed like a shocking oversight in the Neverseen’s security.
But then Sophie remembered the black disks they were supposed to be carrying and couldn’t help wondering if an alert had already gone out.
Were the Neverseen on their way?
“Okay, let’s get started,” Tam said as if he’d been worrying about the same thing. “How do you want to do this?”
The flickering blue flames cast just enough light to show that the shelves were crammed with trunks and scrolls and books and boxes, and there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to anything.
“I guess we should fan out,” Sophie decided. “The cache is a round, clear crystal about this big”—she looped her fingers to demonstrate the size of a marble—“and there might be two of them together, since Fintan’s cache should be here too. Grab both if you find them—and try not to touch much else. We don’t know if any of this stuff is booby-trapped.”
“The Neverseen wouldn’t do that,” Glimmer argued.
“How do you know?” Sophie countered.
Glimmer shrugged. “They’d rather capture you themselves. Or kill you.”
Bo cleared his throat. “I’ll guard the entrance—and I’ll be watching both directions, in case anyone is thinking of escaping.”
“Oh please,” Glimmer told him. “Where would I go?”
“I guess we’ll never know.” Sandor drew his sword. “I’m doing a perimeter check. Everyone, stay where I can see you.”
He disappeared into the darkest corner of the cave.
Sophie shared a look with Tam before they headed for the shelves. Flori and Glimmer followed, each of them choosing different places to search.
Sophie’s section seemed to be filled with bin after bin of tiny glass vials, each a different color. None of them were labeled to tell her what they were—but that didn’t matter. She wasn’t there to find out what elixirs the Neverseen were making.
“Hey, do you think this is that soporidine stuff?” Tam called out.
Sophie spun to where he was pointing and noticed a stack of barrels lined up on their sides, tucked into the shadows. A quick count told her there were twenty, which matched how many dusty circles they’d seen on the floor of the first Nightfall facility.
“Probably,” she realized—which made her wonder if any of the vials she was searching were filled with the antidote.
She shoved a few in her pockets just in case.
“You need to hurry!” Sandor warned—as if they didn’t already know—and Sophie forced herself to skip past the next section, which was crammed with scrolls.
Part of her was dying to unroll them and see what she could learn about the Neverseen’s plans. But she was there for one thing and one thing only.
“You’re looking for Kenric’s cache,” she mumbled as she tore through a pile of fabric on the next shelf. It seemed like a bunch of scraps, until she noticed the white eye symbol and realized it was more of the Neverseen’s cloaks.
Dozens of them.
Maybe hundreds.
Goose bumps prickled her skin as she imagined facing that many enemies.
They’d barely survived battling a few of the Neverseen at once.
How were they supposed to—
“Is that what you’re looking for?” Glimmer asked, tossing something tiny and black at Sophie’s head, which turned out to be a velvet satchel.
The size was right—and Sophie could feel two small items inside—but her fingers were shaking so badly, she couldn’t unknot the strings.
“Here,” Flori said, using her green teeth to rip the fabric before pouring two clear orbs into Sophie’s palm.
“YES! THIS HAS TO BE THEM!”
Sophie honestly couldn’t believe it.
Things never went this smoothly—which made her glance over her shoulder, waiting for cloaked figures to leap out at her.
But the cave stayed silent, except for the muffled rumble of the waterfall—and the pounding of her heart as she tucked the caches safely into her pocket.
“Okay, time to go,” she said, taking one last longing look around the cave as she pulled out the crystal Tiergan had given her.
“That’s it?” Glimmer asked, and Sophie noticed that she was holding a small blue bundle.
“What’s that?” she demanded.
“My stuff. You know, the reason I made this deal in the first place? Don’t look at me all suspicious like that! I told you this was why I went to so much trouble to be able to find this place! Plus, we all know your little bodyguards are going to search it as soon as we’re out of here. But we’re seriously leaving? Already?”
“Our time is almost up,” Sophie reminded her.
Glimmer shook her head. “Woooooooooooow. That’s… I don’t even know what to say to that. This whole time I’ve been thinking there had to be more to the plan than what you were telling me. But you’re seriously ready to grab the caches and go? You realize you’re standing in the Neverseen’s storehouse right now, don’t you? You think you’re going to get another chance like this? The Neverseen are going to have guards crawling all over this place anytime now.”
“Yeah, and that’s why we need to leave,” Sophie argued.
“No, that’s why you should be grabbing everything while you can—though, honestly, what you should’ve done is come here with your own little army and seized this place. Showed the Neverseen it was your storehouse now, and let them cry while you go through all their stuff. But you didn’t even think of that, did you?”
“No,” Sophie admitted, feeling her stomach knot up.
The knots twisted tighter when Glimmer told her, “And that’s why you guys always lose.”
“Glimmer,” Tam warned.
“No—I mean it,” Glimmer told him. “You keep telling me I should join your side because you guys are right about everything and fair and keep your word and blah blah blah. And maybe you do—but you also lose Every time. And now I know why! Do you think the Neverseen would leave a single thing behind if they found your storehouse? They’d grab it all—and keep some dwarves here to ambush whoever finally showed up to find out what was going on. That’s why they win.”
“That’s also why they’re creepy,” Sophie muttered.
“Maybe,” Glimmer agreed. “But what’s the point of being ‘better’ if you keep getting beaten? You want to do some actual good in this world? You need to take them down. And sorry, but from what I’ve seen, you guys just don’t have it in you.”
Sophie opened her mouth, dying to tell Glimmer she was wrong.
But… Glimmer had a point.
“Fine,” she said, racing back to the shelves. “Everyone, grab as much as you can.”
She wished she’d brought a Conjurer who could snap their fingers and send everything into the void. But she hadn’t thought of that, either.
The best she could do was stuff her pockets with all the vials she could carry, then load up her arms with scrolls.
Tam had a similar haul.
So did Glimmer.
But Sandor and Bo informed her that they needed their hands free to be able to draw their weapons.
And Flori was struggling to carry a thick black book—though Sophie’s pulse raced when she recognized it.
“That’s Lady Gisela’s Archetype!” she shouted. “Be super careful with that!”
She couldn’t believe they’d almost left that behind.
“And we should be good now—let’s go,” she said, holding Tiergan’s crystal up to the light. “We need to get out of here.”
Glimmer clicked her tongue. “You’re really going to leave the rest of this behind?”
“We don’t have a choice! We can’t carry any more, and we’re running out of time, and—”
“If I learned one thing from Gisela,” Glimmer interrupted, “it’s that there’s always a choice. And you’re about to make the wrong one—again. You already made a bunch of bad choices when you planned this mission, but it’s not too late to fix that.”
“How?” Sophie demanded.
“You tell me,” Glimmer argued. “You’re the moonlark, aren’t you? The one who’s supposed to lead everyone to victory. So lead!”
“How?” Sophie repeated. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to prove that you guys have any chance of winning this thing! And I think you know what you need to do—you just don’t want to do it. And that’s fine. I don’t even blame you for that. I probably wouldn’t want to either. But don’t ask me to sign up for your little cause, because I’m done losing. I’ve lost more than enou
gh already!”
Sophie stared into the cowl of Glimmer’s cloak, wishing she could see the girl behind it. It might’ve made it easier to know if Glimmer was right or just egging her on.
But did she really need to see Glimmer’s face to know that everything she’d just said was true?
Hadn’t she already felt just as lost—just as hopeless—just as convinced that they were losing this fight?
And didn’t some tiny, angry part of her already have an idea for what she needed to do?
Her eyes drifted to the balefire sconces, watching the blue flames flicker.
They were designed to be contained.
To burn forever, without needing any fuel.
But she wondered what would happen if someone set them free.
Would they fizzle out?
Or grow much, much stronger?
“What is my moonlark thinking?” Flori wondered as Sophie set down her scrolls and reached for the Archetype, tracing her fingers over the metal lock.
They’d already found the key. So if she brought this home, she could study it—memorize everything Gisela had been planning and come up with a strategy to fight back.
Or…
“I’m thinking like the Neverseen,” Sophie told her, glancing at Glimmer as she added, “and changing the game.”
This is for Kenric! she thought as she swung the Archetype at one of the balefire sconces.
And Mr. Forkle!
And Keefe!
And all of the scars and tears and nightmares and threats and fear and pain!
She’d been fighting the Neverseen’s fires since the moment she’d arrived in the Lost Cities.
Now it was time for them to burn.
She smashed the other sconce and held the pages of the Archetype in the shower of blue sparks until they caught fire—then flung the burning book into the pile of black cloaks.
“Whoa,” Glimmer breathed as the fabric erupted with blue flames. “I did not see that coming. But that’s what I’m talking about.”
“Time to go,” Tam said as Sophie grabbed the scrolls she’ddropped.
And he was right.
The smoke was already burning her throat and eyes.
But she had to take one last look at the burning storehouse, wondering if she was going to regret losing all of that intel and evidence.
Unlocked 8.5 (Keeper of the Lost Cities) Page 42