Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 3) (15 page)

Keefe’s grin was extra smug. But for all his bravado, Sophie could tell that Councillor Terik’s words had affected him deeply.

“Well, you don’t fascinate me as much as she does,” Councillor Terik admitted, pointing to Sophie. “Hers was the only reading I couldn’t translate. Everything I felt was too . . . divided.”

“Divided how?” Sophie and Keefe asked at the same time.

“Ah, but if I told you that, it might unduly influence you. Best to let you choose for yourself.”

“Wow, you’re kind of evil, aren’t you?” Keefe asked.

Councillor Terik laughed. “Once upon a time, I wasn’t all that different from you.” He winked as he turned to call to Jurek. “How’s it going over there?”

“I think I’m done. Though I’d like to test the area with reveldust just to be safe.”

Sophie brought him the vial of powder, though she nearly dropped it when she got a closer look at Silveny.

“Wow,” Keefe said, coming up beside her. “Guess I can’t call her Glitter Butt until her fur grows back. How do you think she’d feel about Bald Booty?”

Sophie looked away from the pinkish, furless hind. “I think she’d hate it as much as I do.”

“Can one of you put the reveldust on the area?” Jurek asked. “My hands still have traces of the piquatine on them.”

“I’ll do it,” Keefe offered before Sophie could find the courage to do the same.

She tried to thank him as he sprinkled the silver powder over Silveny’s bare skin, rubbing it in with circular strokes. But every time she opened her mouth, her voice wanted to dissolve into a sob.

The only thing that snapped her out of it was when she noticed Keefe’s hands.

“What?” Keefe asked as she gasped. “Is Silveny . . .”

His voice trailed off as he realized what she’d seen.

He’d gotten the reveldust on his skin when he’d rubbed it onto Silveny. And his fingertips were glowing vivid red.

NINETEEN

I
DON’T GET IT,” KEEFE
said for what had to be the tenth time. “I mean, seriously, where did the aromark come from?”

Everyone had retested themselves, and Keefe was the only one who showed any traces. Even Silveny was completely clear.

“Maybe Elwin missed some when he treated you?” Sophie suggested.

“
How?
He melted off my skin!”

Sophie wished she knew what to tell him. The stalkenteene device wasn’t even with them anymore, so Elwin must’ve made a mistake.

“Guess this means I’m going back to the Healing Center,” Keefe grumbled, kicking a pebble in the grass.

“Want me to go with you?” Sophie offered.

“Nah—then I have to act all brave and stuff. Freaking out sounds way more fun.” He tried to smile, but she could tell he was forcing it.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“Eh, it isn’t your fault—unless you snuck aromark into my pockets.”

“You caught me.”

“I knew you couldn’t be as innocent as you seemed.”

“No one is ever as innocent as they seem,” Councillor Terik interrupted. “It’s one of the primary things I’ve learned as a Descryer. Everyone has potential for both good
and
bad.”

“Foster’s badness potential was off the charts, wasn’t it?”

Councillor Terik laughed. “Not as much as yours. Now let’s get you to Elwin, shall we?” He led them a few steps away, knocking on the air until he found the invisible exit to the snowy mountains outside. He used his pathfinder to create a beam of light. “This path will take you straight to Foxfire. Please have Elwin send me an update when he’s done.”

“Two Elwin visits in one day,” Keefe mumbled. “Pretty sure that beats your record, Foster.”

“I think it does,” Sophie agreed sadly.

He squared his shoulders. “Well, all I can say is, Elwin better remove it
all
this time. If these fingers start glowing again, I’m going to re-create the Great Gulon Incident in his office.”

“I thought you didn’t have anything to do with that,” Sophie reminded him. She still had no idea what the Great Gulon Incident even was. But apparently it had been one of Keefe’s greatest triumphs. And he loved to deny being involved.

He flashed a slightly wicked smile as he stepped into the path. But Sophie could see the tension in his posture as the light carried him away.

“What about you, Miss Foster?” Councillor Terik asked, closing the door to block the freezing mountain wind. “Where would you like me to take you?”

“Back to Havenfield,” Sandor answered for her. “Where I will be implementing additional safety protocols immediately.”

“But what about Silveny?” Sophie asked, turning to Councillor Terik. “Whoever put that homing device on her knows she’s here. What’s to stop them from blowing up the whole Sanctuary?”

Councillor Terik smiled. “Well, I’m guessing it would be the same things that stopped them from doing that in the first place. After all, they went to quite a lot of trouble to put that device in her tail instead.”

Maybe . . .

“But still, don’t you think it would be safer to hide her somewhere no one knows about?” she asked.

“I’m not sure such a place exists,” Councillor Terik said gently. “And even if it does, have you considered whether
that
could’ve been their plan all along? To trick us into moving Silveny? After all, she’s far more vulnerable in transit than she is within these walls, which—by the way—have been reinforced in ways you can’t even imagine. I guarantee, no weapon exists that could make even the slightest breach.”

“How can you be so sure?” Sandor interrupted. “You didn’t know about the aromark, and it exists. So how do you know that no one’s developed a weapon without your knowledge?”

Councillor Terik’s jaw set, and Sophie braced for him to yell. But when he spoke, his voice sounded more sad than angry. “Our world is definitely experiencing some growing pains. But giving in to doubt or mistrust only helps the rebels’ cause, wouldn’t you agree?”

Sandor studied him for a second before bowing his head. “Yes, sir.”

Councillor Terik sighed. “Try not to worry too much, Miss Foster. We need your mind focused and sharp for the healing on Friday.”

“Wait—
this
Friday?” Sophie repeated. “As in four days from now?”

“I suppose it is a bit sudden. But in light of all the contention surrounding the healing, we felt it was better to be done sooner, rather than later.”

“How do people even know about it?” Sophie had to ask. “I thought it was classified.”

“It is. Or it was supposed to be. But that was before . . .”

“Before what?” she asked when he didn’t finish.

“Nothing you should trouble yourself with.”

“Do you know how frustrating it is to constantly have people telling me not to worry?” she asked.

She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to be so honest with a Councillor. But she was too annoyed to care.

Fortunately, Councillor Terik nodded kindly. “I do know, Sophie. And I don’t blame your frustration. But I need you to concentrate all of your energy on preparing for this healing. Fintan’s mind is ancient—and
strong
. There’s no way to know if the shattered pieces of his consciousness will find a way to resist you while you’re working.”

Sophie’s blood turned to ice at the thought.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the mountain door. But Sophie had to ask one last question before she could let the light carry her away.

“You’re sure healing Fintan is the right thing to do?” she whispered, holding her breath as she waited for him to give her the yes she needed.

Instead he told her, “I hope so.”

Laughter echoed through the halls when Sophie and Sandor returned to Havenfield, and Sophie followed the sound to Jolie’s bedroom, where she found Edaline sitting on the edge of the bed. All the lace curtains had been pulled back, flooding the room with sunlight, and dresses were piled all over the floor.

Before Sophie could ask what was going on, Biana appeared in a silky teal gown.

“Well, look who finally showed up,” she said, raising an eyebrow in Sophie’s general direction. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming back.”

“So was I,” Edaline agreed—though she didn’t seem worried about it. She actually looked calmer than Sophie had ever seen as she helped Biana with her sash. “Did you forget you were having a friend over?”

“Um . . .”

Sophie didn’t remember inviting her. And Biana had never once come over by herself.

“So where were you?” Biana jumped in, avoiding Sophie’s eyes. “And where’s Keefe? I thought I heard him say he’d be here after school.”

“Keefe was planning to come over,” Sophie said slowly, wondering if that was the real reason for Biana’s visit. “But some stuff came up and he had to go see Elwin—”

“What?”
Biana interrupted at the same time Edaline asked, “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. He just had to get another treatment.” Sophie glanced at her fingers, needing to make sure they hadn’t started glowing again.

Edaline frowned. “And by
another
treatment, you mean . . .”

“That it’s been kind of a crazy day,” Sophie finished. “But I’m fine, I promise.”

She could tell Edaline was less than satisfied with that answer, but she wasn’t going to get into the complicated explanation with Biana there.

“So what are you guys doing in here?” Sophie asked, changing the subject—quickly. “It looks like the closet threw up.”

Biana laughed. “Edaline said I could go through Jolie’s clothes to see if there’s anything I want to keep, and I swear she has the most amazing gowns ever. I mean look!”

She twirled, making the fabric of her dress shift from teal, to silver, and then back to teal.

“Jolie had that dress custom made for our annual solstice gala,” Edaline explained. “Every other thread is made of lumenite. She wanted something that would shine like the moon when she danced. It was probably the most talked about thing at the party—even more than how many times Councillor Kenric asked Councillor Oralie to dance.”

Sophie smiled, imagining Kenric following Oralie around like a lost puppy. She’d long suspected he had a crush on the blond-ringletted Councillor. And she’d known Grady and Edaline were famous for their incredible parties—or, they were before their grief turned them into social recluses. But for some reason she’d never pictured Jolie at any of them.

Now she could imagine her, flitting around the room like a princess at a ball. And something about the scene made her chest feel tight.

It twisted even tighter when Edaline told Biana, “You know, I think this dress looks even better on you than it did on Jolie. It matches your eyes perfectly.”

Biana’s blush turned to a glow. “And you really don’t mind if I take it?”

“Of course not. It’ll just get packed away in a dusty trunk, otherwise. Might as well put it to use.”

Biana squealed and twirled again. “I can’t believe you didn’t want any of these, Sophie.”

“Oh, that’s true—I probably should’ve checked. Do you mind?” Edaline asked.

“Of course not,” Sophie promised, surprised at how thick her voice sounded. “You know I’m not into fancy dresses. Plus, Della bought me a billion of them when I moved here.”

“Well, if you see anything in that pile you want”—Biana pointed to a monster stack of frills—“You can totally have it back.”

“Nah. They’ll look way better on you.”

And they would. Sophie got attention because she was new and unique, and some people thought she was mysterious. But she would never be as beautiful as Biana.

“Well, I’ll leave you girls to talk,” Edaline said, taking one last look at Biana as she headed for the door.

When she’d closed it behind her, Sophie took Edaline’s spot on the bed, not entirely sure what to say.

“So,” Biana mumbled, fiddling with her dress. “I know you’re probably wondering why I’m here.”

“Kind of,” Sophie admitted.

“I just . . . I’m tired of always being left out. I know it’s partially my fault, because I’ve been a jerk to you a few times. But I’ll never do that again. And I have a special ability now. And I really want to help with whatever you and Keefe are working on.”

Sophie rubbed the star-shaped scar on her hand. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“Yes, I do. I was there after you and Dex escaped from the kidnappers. I saw how messed up you both were. And I was at the planting for you guys too, when everyone thought you were dead.”

Sophie squirmed, never sure what to feel when people told her they’d been to her funeral. The rebels had thrown her registry pendant into the ocean and made everyone believe she and Dex had drowned. So the Council gave them special trees in the Wanderling Woods—the elves’ version of a cemetery—and held a big ceremony when the seeds were planted.

The trees were still there, growing side by side.

“You can’t take down a whole band of rebels on your own,” Biana added quietly. “And who else are you going to turn to? The Black Swan?”

“No,” Sophie whispered. “I can’t trust them.”

Admitting it out loud felt so much scarier.

“So trust
me
,” Biana said as she sat next to Sophie on the bed.