Sophie glanced at his hands, hating how red they looked. “Was the treatment worse the second time?”
“Dunno. I made Elwin knock me out. Woke up at home in bed with no idea how I got there. My mom even brought me tea and asked me a ton of questions, like she was actually worried about me.”
A tiny smile crept across his lips, which made Sophie incredibly sad. Before she could figure out what to say, Lady Cadence strode into the room.
Her elegant gown and cape had been replaced with a plain brown tunic and pants, and her hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail.
“This can’t be good,” Keefe muttered, earning himself a glare as Lady Cadence snapped her fingers and made a mountain of silver forklike gadgets appear in the center of the floor.
“I hope you’re ready to get your hands dirty,” she said, picking up one of the gadgets and grimacing as she sniffed it, “because you’ll be spending the next hour crawling through bushes and climbing trees. Every single one of these effluxers needs to be hidden around the campus, according to my instructions.”
“Ugh, can’t we make the gnomes do it?” Stina grumbled.
Lady Cadence stalked to Stina’s desk, slamming the effluxer down with a clang! “I’m sure the gnomes would be more than willing, Miss Heks. But they are busy with another task. Plus, that would rob you of your much-needed punishment. So for the suggestion alone, consider yourself the lucky recipient of an extra day of detention. Anyone else looking for an easy way to get out of today’s assignment?”
She glanced around the silent room, her eyes lingering the longest on Sophie and Keefe. But neither of them said anything.
Not because they were afraid of more detention.
They both knew what Lady Cadence was really having them do.
They were protecting Foxfire from ogres.
TWENTY-ONE
DO YOU THINK THERE’S SOMETHING they’re not telling us?” Sophie asked Keefe as she crawled under a shrubbery that had been trimmed to look like a mastodon. She stabbed the effluxer into the muddy soil between the toes of the back foot, right where it was marked on the map Lady Cadence had given her.
“All I know is my dad’s been working crazy overtime at the Sanctuary, adding all kinds of new security. He won’t tell me much, but I heard him say they’re putting a force field around the mountain range. So there’s no way anyone’s getting near Silveny now. And as for these”—Keefe stabbed an effluxer into the ground under a saber-toothed tiger-shaped bush—“mostly I can’t wait for a ditching prodigy to stumble across one. In fact . . .” He ran to the flowerbed lining the path and stabbed one among the flowers. “Man I hope Dame Alina walks by first.”
“You really hate her that much?” Sophie asked, shuffling out of the bushes as Sandor removed Keefe’s misplaced effluxer.
Keefe stabbed another in its place. “She’s not as nice as she looks. Trust me, there was a good reason Alden ran screaming away from her.”
“Well, I still thought it was cool the way she defended the Council and the Vackers at lunch yesterday,” Sophie argued, removing the new effluxer Keefe had hidden.
Keefe replaced it immediately. “I could do this all day.”
“So can I,” she told him.
Keefe laughed. “You seriously need to cause more trouble, Foster. I mean, it’s been months since you almost blew up the school.”
“Miss Foster causes enough trouble without even trying,” Sandor told him, holding out a giant hand, waiting for Keefe to give him the rest of his effluxers.
Keefe slapped him a low five instead. Then he snatched the rest of Sophie’s effluxers and raced away, stabbing them in random places all over the grassy field. Sophie chased after him, trying to retrieve as many as she could. But he started putting them high in the trees—just out of her reach.
Lady Cadence’s voice finally froze them in their tracks. “And here I thought that you two—of all people—would’ve understood the seriousness of this task!”
“We do,” Sophie told her, glaring at Keefe.
“Obviously not! Give those to me.” She held out her hands and Sophie passed over the effluxers she’d gathered. Keefe held on to his—though he only had two left.
“Honestly,” Lady Cadence huffed. “You’re lucky you didn’t set one off. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted this assignment to children.”
“Then why did you?” Sandor asked. “A task this important—”
“It was not considered important,” she interrupted. “In fact, when I presented the suggestion to the Council, they told me, ‘If you must.’” She sighed, rearranging the effluxers into a neat stack. “I probably am being overly paranoid.”
“When it comes to the ogres, I can assure you, you’re not,” Sandor promised.
“Typical thinking for a goblin,” she told him. “All you see is an enemy.”
“Because that’s what ogres are,” Sandor snapped back. “And clearly you agree if you’ve decided to install these gadgets.”
“I don’t know what to think, honestly,” she said as she retrieved one of Keefe’s effluxers from the tree he’d hidden it in. “I reached out to a few of my old friends in Ravagog—yes, friends,” she added when Sandor rolled his eyes. “Many of the ogres were very good to me while I lived there. So I wanted to warn them that one of their homing devices turned up at the Sanctuary. They should have the chance to prove they weren’t involved.”
“But they were?” Sandor finished for her, his squeaky voice more of a snarl.
“I never spoke to them. All my communication channels have been cut off—even with my friends. There could be any number of reasons—the most logical being they’ve forgotten me since I moved away. Ogres are fickle creatures. Out of sight, out of mind.”
“But . . . ?” Sophie pressed.
Lady Cadence said nothing. But the stack of effluxers in her hand said it all.
Force field, Sophie reminded herself. Silveny was now protected with a force field.
She kind of wished Foxfire had one too. And her house. And . . .
“Anyway,” Lady Cadence said, snatching Keefe’s last two effluxers before he could stop her, “I’m giving you both an extra week of detention. And you should keep in mind, Miss Foster, that midterms aren’t very far away. If you want to continue at this school, you should consider focusing more on your studies and less on boys.”
She stomped away before Sophie could reply.
“Okay, I’ve changed my mind,” Keefe said, removing an effluxer he’d tucked under his cape. “Let’s plant this somewhere she’ll trigger it.”
“Um, let’s not give her an excuse to fail me, okay?” Sophie asked, rubbing her temples to ease the headache she could feel forming.
“Psh, you’re a Polyglot. You could ace a linguistics midterm in your sleep.”
“Not if there’s mimicking on it.”
“But mimicking’s easy,” he said, sounding remarkably like Lady Cadence.
“Wait—are you a Polyglot?”
“No, but my mom is, and I’ve picked up a few tricks here and there. Comes in pretty handy.” He cleared his throat and straightened his posture. “Attention prodigies—study hall has been canceled. Please proceed to the Leapmaster.”
It was a perfect impersonation of Dame Alina, and Sophie couldn’t help smiling. “It’s amazing you haven’t been expelled.”
“Did you just call me ‘amazing’?”
Sophie was saved from a reply by the Foxfire chimes, announcing the end of lunch.
“Seriously though, if you need help, I can give you a few pointers,” Keefe offered as they headed back into the main building.
“I might have to take you up on that.”
They both headed for the red Level Five wing, where Keefe had his afternoon empathy session, and Sophie had telepathy. It was her favorite session by far—and not just because she was so good at it.
“Wow,” Keefe said, fanning the air between them, “I always forget you have your special abil
ity session with Fitz.”
Sophie tried to keep her expression even. But she was pretty sure she was blushing.
Empaths were so annoying.
The Council had assigned Fitz to her telepathy session back when he could transmit past her blocking. She’d worried they’d move him once her abilities were fixed, but their Mentor, Sir Tiergan, felt they would still learn things from each other. So now they spent two hours, twice a week, working closely together. It was equal parts exciting and terrifying.
Keefe laughed and shook his head. “Tell Fitz he should join us in detention sometime.”
“Has he ever even had detention?” Sophie asked.
“Only when he listens to me—which he really should do more often. You all should.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I hope you do.”
They reached the fork in the hallway where they would head down opposite paths.
“Hey, Foster,” Keefe called as she started to turn away from him. “Nice ring.”
He winked and walked away without another word.
Fitz was already waiting in the round red telepathy room, sitting in one of the three silver chairs covered in strange buttons and knobs that Sophie had yet to ever press or use. She ordered her palms not to sweat as she sank into the chair across from him—but that only made them sweat more. Especially when he asked, “Is that the ring everyone is talking about?”
She twisted the smooth silver band on her finger, wondering how mad Dex would be if she forgot to wear it the next day. “You heard about it, huh?”
“I think half the school heard about it. But I guess it’s good they’re talking about something other than my family.”
Her eyes fell to her lap. “I’m so sorry you have to deal with that.”
“Psh—you think I care?”
“How could you not?”
Fitz had always been the golden boy from the golden family. Being told he’s at the “loser table” was a pretty long way to fall.
“I think you’re forgetting that I’ve never been normal, Sophie. Remember, I used to miss school all the time to go on my dad’s secret missions to find you. There were all kinds of crazy rumors about where I went. My favorite was that I had a horrible farting disease, and had to stay home to unleash the stink. I’m pretty sure that one was Keefe’s doing.”
“Sounds like him.”
“Doesn’t it? But that was also why we became friends. He was the weird kid who’d just skipped a grade, and I was the guy who kept disappearing. No one wanted to hang out with us.”
“I . . . can’t even picture that.”
“That’s because we’re so awesome now.”
“But you are!”
Or they were before she messed everything up.
Fitz grinned and leaned closer. “By the way, Biana told me you agreed to let her help. You know I want in on that too, right?”
“But there’s nothing to be in on,” she whispered back. “We don’t even have a plan.”
“So I’ll help you come up with one.”
Sophie pulled at the ends of her cape. “Did she tell you what I told her yesterday?”
“Nope. She said they weren’t her secrets to share. So I’m hoping you trust me enough to tell me.”
His eyes looked so intense, Sophie was tempted to tell him everything.
But as she opened her mouth to spill, Tiergan asked, “Am I interrupting something?”
He stood in the doorway, smoothing his pale blond hair, which always looked extra bright against his deep olive skin. He glanced at Sophie as he added, “If so, I can come back.”
“No, it’s fine, sir,” Fitz promised, immediately straightening up in his chair. “Sorry. We were just waiting for you.”
Sophie smiled. Fitz always seemed intimidated around Tiergan—probably because Tiergan used to hate the Vackers. He was the one who adopted and raised Prentice’s son, Wylie, and for years he’d blamed Alden for his involvement in what happened. But a lot had changed once Tiergan saw how deeply the guilt had affected Alden.
He smiled at Fitz. “First—please stop calling me ‘sir.’” Tiergan despised noble titles almost as much as he hated the fancy capes and clothes. “And second, I was teasing. And I’m sorry I’m late. I was waiting for the Council to send me their instructions.”
“Instructions?” Sophie asked.
“For the healing. They’re still arranging some of the specifics, but they have confirmed that I’ll be coming to collect you sometime on Friday evening and—”
“I’m going with you,” Sandor interrupted from his shadowy spot in the corner.
Tiergan sighed. “I suspect you should prepare yourself for the possibility that I’ll have to take Sophie alone. From what I understand, attendance will be severely restricted, in light of all the controversy surrounding the healing.”
“All the more reason I should be there,” Sandor insisted.
“I agree. But that is out of my hands. My only responsibilities are to escort Sophie there safely and prepare her beforehand.”
“Prepare me how?” Sophie asked.
“That’s what we’ll be working on today. I’ve been developing a series of procedures and protocols for you to follow that should ensure you’re able to maintain control. But first, you have a decision to make.”
“I do?”
“Yes. And it’s an incredibly important one. The Council has decided that you must choose a guide to assist you.”
Her insides turned squirmy at the word. She’d been Alden’s guide during Fintan’s memory break, and it hadn’t exactly gone well.
“But this is a healing, not a memory break,” she reminded Tiergan. “I’m the only one who can enter a broken mind safely.”
“That is definitely true,” Tiergan agreed. “And whoever serves as your guide will need to keep their mind guarded until the healing is complete. But after that, you’ll have to find what Fintan’s been hiding, and his memories are going to be a murky, muddled mess. You’ll need someone to help you keep control of the chaos.”
“I’ll do it,” Fitz offered immediately.
“No—Fintan is way too dangerous,” Sophie told him. She didn’t want that crazy elf near anyone else she cared about.
“Actually, Fitz is on the list of potential candidates,” Tiergan told her. “But I’ve asked the Council to let you pick who you’d like best. Under such stressful, complicated conditions, I want you to be completely comfortable with who you’re working with. And yes, you must choose someone,” he added, heading off her next question.
“Who else is on the list?” Fitz asked.
“Alden volunteered, of course.”
Sophie shook her head so hard it hurt. “He’s still too fragile.”
“I agree,” Tiergan told her. “Which leaves just three possibilities: Fitz. Quinlin Sonden. And myself.”
That . . . wasn’t a very long list.
“I don’t know Quinlin well enough,” Sophie said slowly. He’d been the one to perform the actual memory break on Prentice—and also discovered Sophie’s existence. But she’d only met him once, in his office in Atlantis, after the Councillors had ordered her to have her memories probed. The whole process had been very unnerving.
“So that leaves Fitz and myself,” Tiergan said quietly. “And before you decide, I’d like to say one thing. Of course I’d be more than happy to guide you, Sophie. But honestly? I think the wisest choice would be Fitz.”
“You do?” Sandor and Fitz asked at the same time.
“Why?” Sophie asked.
Tiergan smiled. “I know Fitz isn’t as experienced as I am. And I know he’s your friend and you want to protect him. But you and Fitz have a very strong—very special—connection. I’ve seen you transmit to him anywhere, and with more ease than when we’ve tried with other prodigies. And let’s not forget that you were able to reach him halfway across the world—while your mind was drugged and dazed, no less.”
“I’m prett
y sure panic and desperation helped with that,” Sophie argued.
“I have no doubt it did. But it also says quite a lot that you chose to reach out to him. You trusted him with your life. And that’s the kind of bond you should have with your guide.”
Fitz leaned closer, making her suck in a breath with the intensity to his stare. “Please let me help you, Sophie.”
He looked so much like his father in that moment, and Sophie couldn’t help remembering Alden collapsed on the floor, his face streaked with red . . .
“Last time was so awful,” she whispered.
“I know. But I’m not carrying around a huge load of guilt like my dad was. I promise, I can handle this. Have I ever let you down?”
He had, actually, a few weeks back when he’d blamed her for what happened to Alden.
But he was also the boy who’d shown up on her class field trip and shown her where she really belonged. The one who’d let her cry on his shoulder when she had to leave her family, and who’d gone out searching for her in the middle of nowhere, just because he’d heard her voice in his head.
“Okay,” she said quietly, hoping she wouldn’t regret the decision. “So what do we do next?”
TWENTY-TWO
TIERGAN SPENT THE REST OF their session explaining his new “Guide Safety Procedures.” The two primary rules were, “make eye contact every few minutes” and “don’t do anything without warning.” He also insisted that they “communicate in code,” so that if Fintan’s mind became conscious at any point, he wouldn’t know what they were doing.
Their homework was to create their code words, and have them memorized by their telepathy session on Thursday. It took them all of study hall to create their list—though that was mostly because their friends kept interrupting. Dex kept grumbling about Telepaths. Biana kept begging to use her ability to sneak into the healing. And Keefe kept interrupting with unhelpful suggestions like, “snickerdoodle” and “hippity hop” and “Keefe is the awesome Lord of Everything.” Only Jensi and Marella left them alone, though Sophie could tell they felt left out. But she wasn’t dragging any more of her friends into all her drama.
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