Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 8) Page 4

  Grady blew out a breath, knocking a few strands of his blond hair off of his forehead. “I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to share. My assignments were classified—and I’m not saying I won’t tell you, so no need to give me that look, kiddo. I just think I should speak with the Council first, to save us a whole lot of drama. I’ll head to Eternalia as soon as I make sure Wynn can’t become a gorgodon snack.”

  Wynn nickered in protest.

  “The gnomes and I can finish up without you,” Edaline offered, reaching for his bundle of glowing wire.

  Grady pivoted away. “This is much heavier than it looks.”

  “So?”

  When he still wouldn’t hand it to her, Edaline snapped her fingers, making the spool disappear. Edaline was a Conjurer, so she could pull things back and forth through the void—or hide something in the nothingness and drag it back when she needed it.

  A second snap did the same to the sack she’d had over her shoulder.

  “Should’ve thought of that earlier,” Edaline said, smoothing her amber-colored hair. “Sometimes I forget that I don’t have to do things the way you do.”

  Sophie occasionally had the same problem. It didn’t always feel natural to rely on her abilities—and she was even worse at remembering to use any of her elvin skills. Things like telekinesis, levitating, channeling, darkness vision, breath control, and body temperature regulation were all feats that every single elf was capable of achieving. But their world put so much emphasis on special abilities that people rarely used their skills—or even thought about them—and that was turning out to be a dangerous mistake. Particularly since the Neverseen made their members train in their skills every day.

  Fitz and Biana’s traitorous older brother, Alvar, had even used breath control and body temperature regulation to cheat death in the troll hive at Everglen. And Sophie was dreading the day she’d have to face him again. She hadn’t trusted Alvar, but… she hadn’t been as suspicious of him as she should’ve been either. So she’d stopped Fitz from knocking Alvar unconscious when Alvar started acting strange on the night of the Celestial Festival.

  A tiny part of her wasn’t sure if Fitz had truly forgiven her for that mistake—and she wouldn’t blame him if he hadn’t. Alvar had been the one to let the Neverseen in through Everglen’s gates and brought them to the illegal troll hive. He’d claimed he was trying to expose the “Vacker legacy,” but Sophie still didn’t understand exactly what that meant. It felt like there was still some larger revelation coming—and knowing Alvar, it wasn’t going to be good news.

  “Go shower and change,” Edaline told Grady, brushing green Verdi feathers off of his black tunic. “You can’t meet with the Council smelling like a wet dinosaur.”

  “See, and I think that’ll make it more fun,” Grady countered. But he headed toward their shimmering glass-and-gold manor without further protest.

  “And you should tell your friends to come over,” Edaline said to Sophie. “That way they’re here when Grady gets home and fills you in on what he’s been working on.”

  “Yeah, that’d probably save some time,” Sophie agreed.

  Her voice was a touch too high-pitched, though, and Edaline’s eyes narrowed again. “You haven’t had anyone over in more than a week…,” she said slowly.

  “I haven’t?” Sophie asked, trying Keefe’s trick of answering questions with questions.

  It didn’t work.

  “Nope. Not since we came home from Atlantis.” Edaline added an eyebrow raise to hint at the part she wasn’t saying.

  Sophie focused on stroking Wynn’s velvet-soft nose.

  “I thought you would’ve at least wanted to spend a little time with Fitz,” Edaline pressed. “The last time he was here—”

  “I know,” Sophie interrupted, trying not to think about how tightly Fitz had held her as he’d spun her around to celebrate the safe arrival of Wynn and Luna.

  She knew she couldn’t hide her “unmatchable” status forever—especially since she and Fitz were Cognates, and the rare telepathic connection required absolute honesty in order to work most effectively. But… she’d been trying to hold off on telling him until she had an actual solution to share. And she’d wasted too much time counting on Mr. Forkle, so now she needed to come up with a plan for finding out who her genetic parents were—fast.

  And sadly, she didn’t have much to go on. The only clues Mr. Forkle had given her over the years were that her genetic parents had no connection to each other, and hadn’t been told who the other was—which meant she’d have to look for them individually, instead of searching for a couple. He’d also sworn that he wasn’t her genetic father, since there’d been a time when she’d wondered. And he’d ruled out the two other theories she’d come up with: Grady and Edaline’s daughter, Jolie, and Councillor Kenric.

  Of course, that was assuming he’d actually told her the truth about any of that, which was a fifty-fifty bet.

  And even without all the matchmaking misery, she honestly wasn’t sure how to act around Fitz. They weren’t dating—but they weren’t not dating either. Some of their friends knew. Some suspected. And at least one might not be very excited when he found out for sure.

  Basically, everything was a mess, and the whole “romance” thing was turning out to be way less awesome than it had looked in human TV shows and movies.

  Edaline sighed. “I wish you’d tell me what’s going on. I know there’s something.”

  “I can tell you,” Bo offered, reminding Sophie why he was her least favorite bodyguard.

  “No, you can’t,” Sandor snapped. “Our ability to protect Miss Foster would be severely hindered if she felt she couldn’t speak freely around us.”

  “Does that mean all three of you know what she’s not saying?” Edaline asked Sandor, Bo, and Flori.

  “I’m just worried about Tam,” Sophie jumped in, trying to distract with a different confession. “Mr. Forkle thinks the Neverseen are going to force Tam to do something really bad, so he wants us to focus on Tam’s strengths when we’re trying to figure out their plan. And I’m not sure how everyone’s going to feel about that.”

  Edaline wrapped her arm around Sophie’s shoulders. “I’m sure they’ll feel the same way you do: anxious for their friend—but also eager to do whatever it takes to get Tam out of there safely. Just like you guys did when Keefe was in the same position.”

  “Yeah, but Keefe was different. He chose to run off and join the Neverseen without anyone threatening him.” He’d foolishly thought he could take them down by pretending to be on their side. “And he had nothing to lose. Tam has Linh.”

  “I think Keefe had more to lose than you realize,” Edaline said, her lips curling into one of those annoying parent smiles that always seemed to say, You’ll understand when you’re older. “He still does. But my point was, he got out of there before it was too late.”

  “Barely,” Sophie mumbled.

  And Lady Gisela had claimed that the real reason Keefe remained alive was because he was her son and benefited from her protection.

  Tam didn’t have that advantage.

  “It’s a tricky situation,” Edaline admitted. “But the good news is, Tam has a group of smart, dedicated friends to help him through this—and I’m sure they’re just as eager to get to work as you are. So don’t be afraid to lean on them.”

  Sophie nodded, watching Wynn chase his tail in stumbling circles. “I guess I should hail them and explain what’s going on.”

  She could hear the dread in her voice and was certain Edaline had picked up on it. But Edaline didn’t bring it up as she kissed Sophie’s cheek and lowered her arm.

  “I should get over to the gorgodon enclosure and see how the gnomes are doing,” Edaline said, taking a couple of steps down the path before she turned back to Sophie. “Oh, but in case you were wondering, I know there’s still something you’re not telling me. And if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I’m not going to pressure you. B
ut I figured I should at least tell you that I’m onto you.”

  She said it with a smile, but Sophie still had to fight the urge to tug out an itchy eyelash—her much-too-noticeable nervous habit. Discussing boy troubles with her mom was about as fun as being dropped into a pile of sparkly alicorn poop.

  Plus…

  Grady and Edaline had already lived through all kinds of bad match drama with Brant and Jolie—and it had not ended well. She didn’t want her situation to send them back to the miserable place they’d been in when she first met them.

  “You can tell me anything,” Edaline assured her, as if she’d guessed part of Sophie’s worries. “I realize I haven’t always been as strong as you needed me to be—”

  “You’re very strong,” Sophie interrupted, scrambling for an explanation that wouldn’t hurt Edaline’s feelings. “I just… want to be strong too.”

  Edaline stepped closer, taking Sophie’s gloved hands. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. I know you can handle anything. But you’re carrying such heavy burdens for someone so young. I wish you’d unload some of them on me. I understand if you’d rather face it alone. I guess I just want you to know that you don’t have to.”

  Sophie’s heart felt like it was pressing against her throat, and for a second, she was tempted to blurt out everything. But… she was also worried about how Grady and Edaline would react to her plan to fix her matchmaking situation.

  They’d never been bothered by her connection to her human parents, but her biological parents might be a different story. They were elves, living somewhere in the Lost Cities. And once Sophie knew who they were, it would probably change things. Not that she’d want to live with either of them—or even want to talk to them, honestly.

  These were people who’d been okay with letting their child be part of an experiment, knowing it would likely put her in constant danger. People who’d let her grow up in a forbidden world without them. People who hadn’t made any attempt at contacting her now that she was back in the Lost Cities. In fact, for all she knew, she saw them all the time and they never gave her the slightest clue that she meant anything to them.

  Probably because she didn’t.

  She wasn’t their daughter.

  She was the Black Swan’s creation.

  And as far as Sophie was concerned, they were nothing more than DNA donors.

  That was why she didn’t care about Mr. Forkle’s reasons for keeping their identities secret. Her genetic parents chose to be a part of Project Moonlark. Nobody forced them to do it. So if having people know about their involvement caused problems for them, that was their own fault.

  She shouldn’t have to deal with a lifetime of scorn just to protect them from facing the consequences of their decision.

  “Well,” Edaline said, straightening up, “you know where to find me if you need me.”

  “Same,” Sophie told her, turning to Wynn and transmitting an order to stay far, far away from the gorgodon.

  The tiny alicorn responded with a bouncy nicker that wasn’t very reassuring.

  Sophie was definitely going to need to have a chat with Silveny about her son’s poor survival instincts. But she had bigger things to focus on as she headed inside. Havenfield’s elegant mansion overlooked the ocean, and Sophie spent the climb up to her third-floor bedroom watching the waves through the etched glass walls and trying to figure out how she was going to tell her friends about Tam.

  But even after Sandor, Bo, and Flori had finished their endless security sweep—inspecting every closet, shadow, and petal in her flowered carpet—she still hadn’t found the right words. In fact, the more she’d repeated Mr. Forkle’s plan in her head, the more pointless it had started to sound.

  Why would she sit around brainstorming ways that Tam’s power could be used against her and her friends, when she could reach out to him the same way she used to reach out to Keefe when he was with the Neverseen and see if Tam could tell her anything that might help?

  She hadn’t tried to contact him before, because she hadn’t wanted to put Tam in a difficult situation. But if Mr. Forkle was right, then Tam was already in so far over his head that it’d be worth the risk.

  And it was certainly a lot smarter than wasting weeks or months on theories that might not even be on the right track.

  Before she could change her mind, she plopped down on her enormous canopied bed and stared at the crystal stars dangling from her ceiling, watching them sparkle in the bright afternoon sunlight as she gathered her mental strength. The warm energy churned inside her head, humming as it grew stronger and stronger and stronger. And when she could feel it buzzing against the backs of her eyes, she shoved it out of her head, along with the loudest call she could muster.

  TAM—CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT’S SOPHIE!

  She repeated the words over and over, imagining the force like thick syrup pouring across the sky in every direction—covering the world. And as her consciousness spread, she closed her eyes and tried to feel for…

  Actually, she wasn’t sure.

  She hadn’t communicated telepathically with Tam very often, so she didn’t know how to recognize his thoughts the way she could with Fitz and Keefe.

  TAM! PLEASE, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!

  A headache prickled the edge of her consciousness, but she gave herself several long, slow breaths and timed her next transmissions with each exhale, keeping the message shorter to save her energy.

  Tam.

  Tam!

  TAM!

  Still nothing—and she could feel her concentration draining to the dregs.

  If Fitz were there, he could’ve given her a mental boost, the way he always did when they worked together. But she’d let her silly matchmaking worries keep him away. She had to stop that—had to figure out how to keep things balanced and—

  Sophie?

  The voice was a ghost in the shadows—cold and whispery.

  TAM!

  Yeah. But I shouldn’t be talking to you like this. It’s way too dangerous.

  I know, but—

  There’s no “but,” Tam interrupted, and the feel of his thoughts shifted with the words, like the darkness was crystalizing into ice. Gethen checks my memories constantly.

  Sophie’s heart screeched to a stop.

  She’d forgotten that the Neverseen’s only Telepath had been in the Black Swan’s custody when Keefe had been living with the enemy. So they hadn’t had to worry about anyone discovering their conversations unless someone caught them in the act and somehow figured out what was happening.

  They also hadn’t had to worry about Keefe unwittingly revealing anything he wasn’t supposed to.

  Has Gethen probed your mind? she asked, trying to keep the transmission as quiet as possible.

  Of course. That was the first thing he did.

  Bile burned Sophie’s throat.

  Probing was a type of deep mental search that could uncover pretty much anything when performed by a skilled Telepath.

  And Tam knew all of their secrets.

  All.

  Of.

  Them.

  So if Gethen had probed his mind…

  Then the Neverseen now knew that Sophie was an Enhancer. And that Mr. Forkle was still technically alive—and that Magnate Leto and Sir Astin were two of his alter egos. And that Granite and Squall—two other members of the Black Swan’s Collective—were Sir Tiergan and Juline Dizznee. And they knew every single lead that Sophie and her friends had uncovered—and everything they didn’t know as well, like how to open Councillor Kenric’s cache if they ever got their hands on the real one again. And how little Sophie had learned, from healing Prentice’s mind and from searching Wylie’s memories, about what had happened the day Wylie’s mom died.

  This is so bad, she thought, reaching up to rub her temples.

  Did Tam know where they’d hidden her human family after they’d rescued them from Nightfall?

  And how much did he know about the security at Havenfi
eld?

  Were Silveny, Greyfell, and the babies still safe there?

  I’m sorry, Tam’s mind murmured, and the frigidness of his voice thawed a little. I tried to block him, but… Gethen’s too powerful.

  He was.

  Sophie had faced off against him several times, and it had never gone well—and she was a Telepath with an impenetrable mind.

  It’s not your fault, she promised, wanting to punch herself for not figuring this out earlier. If she had, they could’ve started taking precautions from the moment Tam had left.

  Actually, she should’ve thought of it before he turned himself over. Maybe he wouldn’t have gone if he’d known how much he was going to compromise the Black Swan in the process. After all, Tam had been to some of the Black Swan’s hideouts. He knew the oath they made when they swore fealty, and what weapons and fighting techniques Sophie and her friends had been practicing during their battle training, and—

  Yeah, Tam thought, interrupting her ever-spiraling panic. Now you get why I can’t talk. He’s going to know everything you tell me, and he’s already learned enough.

  Okay. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she couldn’t change what had already happened.

  Time to focus on damage control.

  You can still tell ME something, she reminded him. Even if they know you told me, they’ll have to change their plans—and that’ll buy us some time.

  His thoughts froze again. Uh, you think they tell me anything important?

  There must be something. Maybe some clue to where you are, like a landmark you recognize?

  Nope. I’m in a cave. All I’ve seen are rocks.

  What color are they?

  They’re rocks, Sophie. There’s nothing special about them.

  Are you sure it’s a cave and not somewhere underground?

  Underground might mean he was close to Loamnore.

  I don’t know. All I can tell is that it’s dark and stuffy.

  So it’s hot? Like… maybe you’re in a desert?

  I seriously have no idea. The Neverseen are smart. They’re not going to let me learn anything that would give their hideout away. His mental voice stayed soft and whispery, but there was a sharpness to his thoughts that Sophie had never experienced. It felt like each word was a shard of darkness, slicing into her head.