“Unfortunately, it looks like your ribs might have the same issue,” Elwin warned Fitz. “That’s why you’re feeling sore.”
He switched to a red orb around Fitz’s torso and placed his hand on the left side of Fitz’s chest. “The cracks over here were sealed the last time I checked, and now a couple look like they’ve refractured. I suppose it’s possible the little bit of flailing you did played a part in that—but I have a feeling it was mostly the echo. Don’t worry—I can fix it. I can fix all of this.”
“Except the echoes,” Fitz mumbled.
“Those do seem to be beyond my control,” Elwin admitted. “The most I can do is keep you sedated so you don’t make yourself worse.”
Fitz shook his head. “No more sedatives.”
“Are you sure?” Sophie had to ask.
“Seriously? You’re asking me that?”
“I am.” She pointed to the pink vials lined up beside her cot. “I take one every night before bed.”
“Wow,” he whispered. “I can’t believe you agreed to that.”
“I had to. Otherwise . . . it’s bad. I don’t like it, but . . . the Neverseen got us good this time.”
“Yeah. I guess.” He hugged Mr. Snuggles again. “But, you still only take sedatives at night, so why can’t I—”
“You can,” Elwin jumped in. “And you should. But it might not be enough. Honestly, it’s not always enough for Sophie. She’s had a few close calls. But her echoes are also in her head, so her dreams seem to be the biggest threat.”
“That’s why the sedative I’m taking makes me dream about glitter and dancing animals,” Sophie added. “I’m pretty sure my brain would explode if I never gave it a break from that.”
Fitz sighed. “I hear what you guys are saying, but . . . I don’t want to lose any more time. I can’t. At least not without trying to manage it. I’ll take any elixirs you want. I’ll keep my moods even. . . .”
“We can give it a try,” Elwin told him. “But you need to understand the risks. If you get bad news, or something stressful happens, you likely won’t be able to control your reaction. And considering the challenges your family is enduring right now—”
“Why would you bring that up?” Sophie asked as Fitz sucked in a sharp breath.
“Because he needs to consider it when he makes this decision. He needs to remember exactly how much turmoil his life is in right now.”
Fitz gritted his teeth, falling back into the slow, steady breathing pattern as he strangled Mr. Snuggles.
Five seconds passed.
Then another five.
But after a few more, the crease between his eyebrows faded.
“I can handle what’s going on with my brother,” he promised. “I won’t let him affect me like that. And if you don’t believe me, tell me what’s going on with him and I’ll show you I can get through it. I should know anyway.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Sophie warned.
“Why not? If the echo doesn’t freak out, it proves I can handle it. If it does . . . I guess I’ll have to consider more sedatives.”
“It might be a good measure,” Elwin admitted after a second.
“Not necessarily,” Sophie argued. “Everything with Alvar’s pretty much the same right now. The Council’s been waiting to move him to Everglen until Grizel is healed.”
Some of the tension faded from Fitz’s shoulders. “How much longer will that be?”
“Probably pretty soon,” Sophie reluctantly admitted. “Keefe heard that Grizel’s due back from Gildingham any day now.”
“Okay,” Fitz said, taking lots of long, slow breaths. “Okay. See? I can handle it. What else have I missed?”
“Might as well tell him,” Elwin told her. “He’s taking this all much better than I would’ve expected.”
“Of course I am!” Fitz said. “Mr. Snuggles has my back!”
He held up the sparkly dragon like it was the ultimate champion.
His smile was so bright—so genuine—that Sophie decided to trust it, and shared what Biana had told her about searching Everglen with Tam and Dex. She also told him that Keefe and Ro had done their own investigation.
“Did any of them search my dad’s office?” Fitz asked.
“I’m not sure,” Sophie admitted. “I forgot to ask.”
“See?” he said. “This is why you need me.”
“I never said we didn’t,” she reminded him. “I just—”
“I know,” he interrupted, his eyes softening as they met hers. “I’ll be careful, I promise. But I know I can make this work.”
She hoped so.
“Do you want me to hail Biana so you can ask about your dad’s office?” she offered. “She’s going to be so relieved you’re awake. Your parents too.”
“Alden’s been hailing me every day for updates,” Elwin agreed.
“He has?” Sophie asked, unable to hide her relief.
“I take it that means my parents haven’t been visiting?” Fitz guessed. “Too busy preparing for the murderer’s homecoming?”
“You were also asleep,” Sophie reminded him.
“Pretty sure that wouldn’t have mattered.”
“It would have,” Elwin insisted. “They’ve been a mess, Fitz. And I’m sure they’ll rush right over the second I tell them you’re awake.”
“Then can we wait?” Fitz asked as Elwin took out his Imparter. “I don’t think I’m up for a visit yet. I haven’t really talked to them since the Tribunal, you know? So it’s going to be . . . intense. I should probably mentally prepare.”
Elwin sighed. “I suppose that’s smart. But I can’t keep this news from them. So how about I tell them you’re awake but that I’m not allowing you to talk to anyone or have any visitors until I’ve figured out how much your emotions can handle?”
“That works,” Fitz agreed. “Thanks.”
Elwin nodded, then headed for his office to hail Alden and Della—but not without strongly suggesting they try to get some rest.
Fitz was done resting, though.
He had two weeks to catch up on. And he wanted to know everything.
So Sophie told him what she knew about Biana’s training program.
And about her five multispeciesial bodyguards.
And about Ro’s bizarre reaction to Bo—which they still hadn’t gotten the details on. Keefe had tried everything he could think of to pry the secret out of her. He’d even been tormenting her with an epic poem he’d written—The Ballad of Bo and Ro. But the princess still hadn’t cracked.
She also told Fitz about the skill training she’d been working on with Keefe—though she left out the part about how most of the tips had actually come from Alvar. And she showed him Krakie and Fluffy and Cheeky and Bitey and Scaley Butt and The Stink—and he agreed that Keefe won the prize for strangest sense of humor.
And because Fitz insisted, she also gave him a few more details about her own battle with the echoes.
“That’s not everything, though—is it?” he asked when she’d finished.
“No,” she admitted.
She still hadn’t told him about the monster.
“The nightmares . . . if I talk about them . . . if I even think about some of them . . .”
“Then don’t,” he told her. “I get it. I’m sure there’s probably going to be stuff I can’t talk about either.”
“Probably,” she agreed.
He slumped back against his pillows, letting out the kind of sigh that sounded more like deflating. “Well . . . I guess that means no Cognate training, huh?”
She wanted to deny it, but . . . “Yeah. At least until the echoes fade.”
The words killed her a little. She still hadn’t given up on her theory that they’d been attacked to hinder their telepathy.
But there were too many risks at the moment.
“I’m sure Keefe won’t mind letting you join our skill lessons, though,” she suggested.
Fitz snorted. “Grea
t.”
“Aw, it’s not so bad. I know, it sounds like it’d be a disaster. But . . . the lessons have actually been pretty awesome. I think I might’ve had a meltdown without them—but don’t ever tell him I said that, okay? He’ll start wearing tunics that say Foster’s Hero or something.”
“Sounds about right,” Fitz mumbled.
His eyes drifted to her hands and she realized she was fidgeting with the pins Keefe had given her.
“Well . . . I’m glad he’s been there for you,” he said quietly.
“Me too.”
The conversation seemed to die there, and Sophie hoped that meant he was going to get some rest.
But after a few minutes, he whispered, “I heard you, you know.”
“Heard what?”
“When I was still out of it, I heard your voice in my head—I think it’s why I woke up.”
Her face tried its best to burst into flames. “Sorry, I—”
“Don’t be,” he interrupted. “I’m glad I’m awake.”
“So am I,” she admitted. “But . . . you have to be super careful, okay?”
“I will if you will,” he made her promise.
He waited for her to meet his eyes, and when she did, he gave her the sweetest smile she’d ever seen.
“By the way,” he murmured, pressing Mr. Snuggles against his heart. “I missed you too.”
• • •
“I’ve got it!” Fitz shouted, and from the way his cot creaked, Sophie was pretty sure there’d been a fist pump along with the words.
“It?” she asked, feeling like she’d missed the first part of the conversation—because she had.
She’d been asleep.
In fact, her head was still full of ballerina bunnies and punk-rock leopards and somersaulting orcas.
“Sorry,” Fitz said as she rubbed her blurry eyes, trying to smear away the lingering rainbows. “My sedative wore off about an hour ago—and that stuff is horrible, by the way. It felt like my brain was barfing glitter.”
“I know. I’m surprised Keefe’s never slipped any to Ro.”
“Maybe he’s saving it for a special occasion,” Fitz suggested.
“Or he’s worried the sparkle overload will break her. But I think I sidetracked us. You said you found something?”
“No—I figured something out!” He paused, almost like he was waiting for a drumroll before he said, “I know how we can still do some Cognate training!”
“Oh. Wow. That’s . . . great.”
Her excitement definitely needed some work.
“I don’t mean a trust exercise,” he promised. “I know those are still off the table. But I realized we’ve been forgetting the basics. Remember when we first started training? Tiergan said Cognates need trust and balance—and he had us do stuff to try to get my telepathy closer to your level. But your ability still runs circles around mine. And you’re an Enhancer now, which I’m sure changes things. So I think we should make that our project—working on basic telepathy skills, both with and without your enhancing, trying to get our ability levels more even. I know that’ll benefit me more than it’ll benefit you, but . . . it gives us something to do, right? And it’s all simple stuff that won’t be too exhausting, so I doubt Elwin will freak out about it.”
“I wouldn’t count on that!” Elwin called from his office.
“Aw, come on!” Fitz shouted back. “The first thing I want us to try is something Sophie’s already doing anyway!”
“I am?” she asked.
“I think so. Don’t you check on Silveny and Greyfell every day?”
Shame prickled her cheeks. “I’m . . . supposed to.”
Not only were the alicorns her close friends, but they were arguably the most important creatures on the planet, thanks to the Timeline to Extinction. And Sophie had promised the Council she’d make sure that both of the incredibly rare creatures were safe and that Silveny’s pregnancy was going okay.
But with everything that had happened, she’d . . . forgotten.
And even before that, Silveny had gotten way more difficult to track down. Half the time, Sophie had been pretty sure the stubborn alicorn was ignoring her. And the few times Silveny did respond, she spent the whole conversation refusing to come for a visit.
For some reason, she seemed super paranoid about letting elvin physicians check on her baby, and nothing Sophie could say would change her mind. So maybe having Fitz reach out with her would catch Silveny’s attention.
“I guess we could give it a try,” Sophie said—and before she’d even finished the sentence, Fitz was propping himself up to face her.
She did the same, wincing as she waited for her head rush to pass.
“You okay?” Fitz asked.
“Yeah, just give me a second. The stupid sedative is still getting out of my system.”
Three deep breaths got her pulse steady again, and she stretched, feeling her spine pop in several places. She curled her legs to her side and opened her eyes—to find Fitz staring at her with his eyebrows practically launching off his forehead.
She glanced down, realizing how ridiculous her tunic must look now that she wasn’t covered by blankets.
It was very red.
And very fitted.
And very sparkly.
And between her hair being pulled back into a messy ponytail and the tunic’s missing sleeves, it also didn’t feel like nearly enough fabric.
“I know, I look ridiculous,” she mumbled. “Edaline had the gnomes alter some of the tunics I don’t like so they’d fit over my bandages.”
“Why would she pick tunics you don’t like?”
“Because they had to ruin them,” she said, running her hand over her bare shoulder.
Fitz cleared his throat. “I . . . wouldn’t call that ruined.”
He didn’t say what he would call it, though, and it made her wish her Polyglot ability worked for translating Cute Boy so she could figure out if that was supposed to be a compliment.
It kinda felt like one.
But she was also rumpled and tangled—and it’d been at least two days since her last sponge bath—so she was pretty sure if she stepped in front of her spectral mirror, Vertina would take one look at her and short-circuit.
“Anyway,” she said, pulling Ella into her lap to hide behind, “how do you want to do this?”
“Hang on!” Elwin told them, barging into the room and stationing himself between them. “No telepathy exercises until you’ve both had checkups and taken your morning round of medicine. And then plan on me watching you guys to make sure you don’t overdo it.”
There was no point arguing.
Though Sophie couldn’t help a small protest when he brought over their trays of elixirs and one of the vials was very yellow and very . . . chunky.
“Don’t ask,” he told her. “Just chug it and don’t think about it. And plan on lots of interesting remedies over the next few days. Livvy and I talked last night, and we’re stepping up our strategy—and I’ll be honest: It’s not going to taste good. But I think we’re onto something this time.”
The words would’ve been a lot more encouraging if the new elixir hadn’t tasted like chewy sneeze. But they both managed to choke it down—and passed Elwin’s quick exam.
“Okay,” Sophie said, turning back to face Fitz. “Now how do you want to do this?”
“I guess just give me permission to enter your mind and then I’ll follow your lead?” he suggested.
“Works for me!”
He closed his eyes, and barely a second later his crisp, accented voice whisked across her consciousness. Feels like old times, huh?
Sophie smiled. It does. Someday you’re going to have to tell me what you say to make my mind let you in so fast.
Her usually impenetrable blocking had a point of trust built into it—a place where someone who knew how to find it could transmit something like a password and convince her mind to pull them past her barricades.
Fit
z grinned. How about I tell you when you finally share the secret you keep holding back from me?
Walked right into that one, didn’t I?
You totally did—but don’t worry, I know we can’t get into any of that now.
They definitely couldn’t. Not if Fitz’s echo reacted to emotions.
Okay, she said, I’m going to try reaching out to Silveny. Brace yourself—I basically have to scream to get her to pay attention to me.
Does that mean she’s somewhere far away?
I think it’s mostly that she’s avoiding me. She doesn’t want me trying to make her come in and have Vika examine her.
Can’t blame her for that.
I know.
Sophie had no idea what that exam would entail, but she imagined it would be very . . . personal.
And Vika Heks was the kind of snobby, rude person who deserved to have smelly stuff flung at her head. But she was also the leading expert on unicorn breeding. And since there’d never been a pregnant alicorn before, that made her the most qualified.
How far is Silveny into her pregnancy now? Fitz asked.
I keep trying to figure that out. I think she’s about halfway—which is why I NEED to get her to come in for a checkup. I can’t believe it’s been this long and she’s never had one.
Don’t worry, Fitz told her. We’ve got this.
I hope so You ready?
She waited until he nodded before she sent a blaring SILVENY! into the world.
Fitz whistled. I can’t believe you can transmit that loud without anyone enhancing you.
She smiled. I guess the Black Swan designed me to be annoying.
Nothing annoying about that.
Ah, but see, we’ve only just begun. Brace yourself. . . .
SILVENY! PLEASE! IT’S SOPHIE!
And Fitz! he added—then cringed. Wow. That was pathetic.
No it wasn’t.
He laughed. You forget I can hear your thoughts right now, so I know you agree with me.
Her cheeks burned. Well . . . this is why we’re training. Try it again with a little more energy.
She sent him a boost from her own mental reserves, and Fitz pressed his hands against his temples, letting his concentration build.
SILVENY! IT’S FITZ!
Much better! Sophie told him.
But it still wasn’t enough to convince Silveny to respond.
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