Шеннон Мессенджер - Keeper of the Lost Cities

S OPHIE GAGGED AS SHE LICKED OPEN HErlocker. “Elwin’s choice again?” she whined to Dex. In the three weeks since midterm they’d already suffered through burned hair and sweaty feet flavors. Elwin was on a roll.

Dex plugged his nose as he licked his panel, but he still winced. “Ugh, that’s exactly how I imagine a fart would taste.”

Sophie giggled and grabbed a small scroll waiting on her top shelf—a special assignment from the Universe Mentors. Each list had six stars that fit some sort of pattern, and each prodigy was supposed to bottle a sample of the starlight from each, figure out what the pattern was, and choose a seventh star that fit with the others. She and Dex had plans to work together that night.

Dex took her to Moonglade: a wide, round meadow filled with thousands of fireflies flickering in the darkness.

“Everyone else goes to Siren Rock,” Dex explained as he set up the stellarscope, which looked like a bent, upside-down spyglass. “But it’s so crowded there it’s hard to find a space to work. Plus, the view’s better here.” He pointed to the sky, where billions of stars sparkled through the inky black, then handed her a thick wad of star maps. “Finding stars takes forever, so let’s tag team it. First star on my list is Amaranthis.”

Sophie stared at the sky, following trails she’d already memorized. “It’s right there—fourth star to the left of Lambentine.”

Dex’s jaw dropped. “How did you do that?”

“Photographic memory. Remember?”

“I know. But . . . the stars?”

She nodded smugly.

“Wow—well, awesome.” He stuffed the maps into his bag, and attached a small glass bottle to a spout at the wider end of the stellarscope. “Want to go first?”

She took the scope from him and held it up to her eyes. “How does this work?”

“It’s easy. You find the star and use the knobs to isolate it.” He came up behind her and used one arm to level the scope. His other arm wrapped around her and his hand slid her fingers down to a cluster of dials. “Sorry, um, is this okay?” he asked as she stiffened.

“Sure.”

But it was strange having him so close. She could feel her cheeks warm and was glad it was too dark for him to see her blush.

Dex cleared his throat. “Did you find Amaranthis?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Then turn the knobs until you see the star change color, and flip the lever by your thumb. The stellarscope will do the rest.”

She did as he said, and a bright purple flash filled the bottle. The glass clinked as the scope sealed the light in.

It only took them a few minutes to fill bottles with scarlet light from Rubini , yellow light from Orroro, pale blue light from Azulejo, deep orange light from Cobretola, and dark blue light from Indigeen.

Dex stared at the six twinkling bottles, scratching his head. “I don’t see a pattern.”

“It’s the colors of the spectrum.” She rearranged the bottles in the right order. “Red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet. What’s missing?”

“Green! Can you find Zelenie?”

She pointed to an isolated star to the left. “There . ”

He bottled the deep green glow. “This’ll be the first time I get it right. I usually just pick a random star and try to bluff.”

Sophie laughed and dug her list from her pocket. Her stars were much harder to find, and she had to really push her memory, but eventually she had bottles of silver, gold, black, white, copper, and green light.

“Any idea what the pattern is?” Dex asked

“I’m not sure.” Something felt familiar, a shadow of an idea, not formed enough to make sense. She poured through her memories, scrounging for the clue she was missing. The pieces clicked. “Elementine.”

“What’s the pattern?”

“I don’t know, but I know Elementine is right.” She grabbed the stellarscope.

“Are you sure? I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I think I would know better than you. Besides, why would I make that up?”

“Good point.”

She followed strange trails through the stars as the minutes ticked by. “I know it’s there.”

She focused on a dark space and fiddled with the dials.

“I don’t see anything,” Dex told her.

“I think it’s just really far away.”

More turning and adjusting. Still nothing . Dex was getting fidgety when she finally said, “There!” and flipped the latch.

The stellarscope hummed, then turned white hot. Sophie yelped, dropping the scope.

“What happened?”

“Ow, ow, ow!” She waved her hands, trying to cool the burning, but the pain made her eyes water.

“Let me see.” Dex took a jar of moonlight from his bag and grabbed her wrists, shining the light on them. “Whoa. Are you okay?”

She wanted to be brave, but her eyes teared when she saw the purple welts on her palms.

“What should I do?” Dex asked, sounding frantic.

She tried to think through the pain. She could go home, but she wasn’t sure how Grady and Edaline could help. What she really needed was a doctor.

Her face fell as she realized what she had to do. “Can you get my Imparter from my satchel?” She’d been carrying it with her ever since the cheating disaster.

Dex dug through her bag until he found the silver square. “Who are we calling?”

She sighed. “Elwin.”

N OW YOU’RE CALLING ME AT HOME ANDdragging me out of bed? Maybe it was better when you were afraid of me,” Elwin teased. His smile faded when she showed him the blackish-purple blisters on her hands. “How did you do that?”

“I was just trying to bottle the light from Elementine.”

“Elementine?” He pulled a small pot from his satchel and spread a thick green salve over the burns. “Never heard of it.”

“I told you it wasn’t real,” Dex said.

“But I found it,” she insisted as Elwin sprinkled purple powder on top of the salve. “The scope got really hot when I flipped the latch, and it burned me.”

Elwin wrapped her hands with thick blue cloth. “I’ve never heard of that happening. It’s always an adventure with you, Sophie—I’ll give you that.”

The annoying part was she couldn’t argue. Why did weird things keep happening to her?

“Is that helping the pain?” Elwin asked.

“Yes. Thanks.”

“Good.” He poured a bottle of Youth over the cloth, soaking it through. “Did you bottle the light?”

“I don’t know.” In all the chaos she hadn’t bothered to look.

“I’ll check it.” Dex ran over to the scope, which was still where Sophie had dropped it. “There’s something in it, but it’s weird.”

“Don’t touch it,” Elwin ordered. “Last thing I need is another patient.”

Sophie hung her head. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Gives me a good story to tell tomorrow.”

She sighed. Marella and Keefe were going to have a field day with this.

Elwin unwrapped her hands. The blisters were gone, but the skin was red and raw. He stroked his chin. “That should’ve worked better.”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“That’s because the salve numbs you. I’m going to have to make a stronger balm. Wait right here.”

She nodded miserably. Where would she go?

Elwin glittered away, and Dex plopped beside her.

“You don’t have to wait with me.”

“Like I would leave you in the middle of nowhere at night, injured. What kind of friend do you think I am?”

“But you must be cold.”

“Nope. I can regulate my body temperature. See?” He touched her cheek, and she was surprised at how warm his skin was. “Want me to teach you how to do it tomorrow?”