Шеннон Мессенджер - Keeper of the Lost Cities

“If I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it,” Edaline snapped.

“But I’m fine. You have to stop acting like everything could kill me!”

Edaline paled. She looked anywhere but Sophie. “You’re right. I’m worrying too much.”

“I promise I’ll be careful,” Sophie said, desperate for something that might erase the pain in Edaline’s features. “You don’t have to worry.”

Edaline was quiet for a long time before she shook her head. “Yes. I do.” Then she turned and went inside without another word.

EDALINE DIDN’T JOIN THEM FORdinner. Sophie tried to ask Grady about it—tried to apologize—but he just told her not to worry and stared out the window.

Loud pounding on the front door broke the silence between them.

Sophie answered the door and an out-of-breath Alden raced in. The smell of smoke and fire trailed around him like an aura.

Grady leaped to his feet. “What happened?”

“There’s been a development.” Alden glanced at Sophie before turning to Grady. “I need your help.”

Their eyes held for at least a minute before Grady stepped back, recoiling like he’d been struck. It took Sophie a second to realize Alden had transmitted a message.

Grady leaned on the table, panting breaths shaking his chest as he ran his hands through his hair. “I . . . can’t,” he whispered.

“You know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t imperative.”

Grady shook his head. “I’m sorry. Ask the others.”

“You’re the only one I trust.”

Sophie held her breath, watching Grady. Alden’s face looked desperate, and if he was worried, it had to be vital.

Grady sank into a chair looking thirty years older. He hid his face in his hands. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

Alden closed his eyes. Listening to Grady’s thoughts? Transmitting another plea? Not since the cheating incident had Sophie been so tempted to violate the ethics of telepathy and find out what was going on. But if Alden somehow caught her, Bronte could use it to have her exiled.

Would he catch her?

She could probably sneak in without him knowing, but what would she do with the information? If she said or did anything about it, he’d know how she found out.

It wasn’t worth the risk.

Alden let out a full body sigh. “I’ll have to find another way then. Excuse me.” He nodded to Sophie as he turned to leave.

“Wait.” It took her a second to realize the voice was hers. She cleared her throat as Alden faced her. “What’s going on?”

Alden opened his mouth, but Grady cut him off.

“Go to bed, Sophie!”

“But—”

“Go to bed now!”

She’d never heard Grady so angry. Even Alden took a step back. She blinked—her eyes burning with hurt and humiliation—and fled to her room.

GRADY AND EDALINE WEREN’T HOMEwhen Sophie came down for breakfast. They left a note on the table for her: “Gone out . ”

No “good morning.” No “love, Grady and Edaline.” She tried not to let it bother her . . . but it did.

They were still gone when she got home from school.

As much as she wanted to practice telepathy with Verdi or Gildie, she stayed inside and studied. She was determined to do what she could to cooperate.

At sunset the gnomes shared some of their dinner and she ate alone in her room, wondering if she should worry. When the stars came out, she decided it was time to call Alden. Before she could, the front door slammed.

She raced down the hall, freezing when she heard hushed conversation. She peered over the railing, catching a partial view of Grady and Edaline.

“It was the right decision,” Grady told Edaline, sweeping the hair off her face as he pulled her closer. Muffled sobs drifted up the stairs. “It’s best for everyone. Alden will find someone else.”

Edaline cried harder and Grady cleared his throat. “Come on, I’ll take you upstairs.”

Sophie barely had enough time to sneak back to her room. She crouched by Iggy’s cage and rubbed his cheeks through the bars as Grady peeked his head through the door. “Oh, you’re awake.”

“I wanted to make sure you got home safe before I went to bed.”

Guilt twisted his handsome features. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to worry you.”

“It’s okay. Where were you?”

“On an errand.”

She stared at her hands. “Did it have something to do with Alden’s visit last night?”

“That’s none of your business. You should go to bed. It’s getting late.”

She didn’t want to upset him, but she needed to know. “Something bad is happening, isn’t it?”

Grady’s sigh echoed through the silence. “It’s nothing you need to worry about. Okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed.

But when she crawled into bed, all she did was worry.

C AN I TALK TO YOU?” SOPHIE WHISPEREDto Fitz on their way into the cafeteria the next day. “Somewhere private?”

His brows shot up at the request, but he shrugged and motioned for her to come with him. She could feel Dex’s eyes burning into the back of her head as she followed Fitz down the hall.

“What’s up?” he asked when they were alone.

“Do you know what your dad’s investigating right now?”

“Why?”

She focused on his nose to think a little more clearly. His eyes had a way of turning her brain to mush. “He came over a couple nights ago, begging Grady for help with something. It seemed like it was important.”

“I’m sure there’s no reason to worry.”

She rolled her eyes. He sounded just like his dad. “He looked really stressed, Fitz. I’ve never seen him like that. Do you know what he’s working on?”

He hesitated. “It’s some sort of fire—and I only know that because he comes home smelling like smoke. He doesn’t tell me about official matters.”

“But he sent you to find me, so he must tell you some stuff.”

Fitz glanced over his shoulder, making sure they were still alone. “That was an exception. He needed someone close to your age to follow the leads he found—someone who would blend in. Otherwise he wouldn’t have involved me.”

She chewed her lip, processing his words. “And you have no idea what he’s working on—at all?”

Something changed in his face. He knew more than he was telling her—she was positive.

You can trust me, she transmitted into his mind.

He sucked in a breath. “Whoa—I keep forgetting you can do that.”

Please, she pressed. She may have sworn off investigating things after the Quintessence debacle, but this was big—and it was tearing Grady and Edaline apart. I need to know.

His eyes searched hers, then closed. “I shouldn’t do this.”

Please.

He leaned his head against the wall. “Concentrate.”

She knew what he meant. He couldn’t transmit into her mind—even Tiergan couldn’t—so he wanted her to read his thoughts. She opened her mind and listened .

I heard him talking to Alvar, he thought. It’s not one fire—it’s hundreds. All in the Forbidden Cities. All starting the same day. And the flames are this weird fluorescent yellow color. The Council ruled it a human arsonist and refused to investigate, but my dad thinks the Black Swan is involved. Alvar thinks he’s crazy.

Her heart stopped. Hundreds of human fires? Do you know which cities?

He didn’t say. But I know they’re all over the planet.

Are they near my family?

I’m sure they’re fine. My dad was assigned to keep an eye on them—in case their memories come back.