Шеннон Мессенджер - Keeper of the Lost Cities

But if it wasn’t the Black Swan, who was it?

And why?

Pounding noise interrupted her thoughts. Sophie stumbled back, clutching her temples.

“What’s wrong?” Dex asked, steadying her.

“Human thoughts.” She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. “They’re getting louder. Tiergan taught me how to shield, but I don’t have the energy right now.”

“I can’t believe you’re a Telepath,” he mumbled.

“Does it matter?”

“No.” He chewed his lip. “But . . . have you ever listened to my thoughts?”

“Of course not. I don’t want to know anyone’s secrets. Plus, it’s against the rules. The one time I did it I got detention.”

“That’s what you got detention for?”

“I stole the midterm from Lady Galvin’s mind.”

Dex laughed and she couldn’t help joining him. It felt wrong—given their current situation. But neither of them could seem to stop. They were still laughing as they rounded a corner, and Dex plowed into an old man sweeping the sidewalk in front of his store.

“Watch where you’re going!” the man shouted as he struggled to regain his balance.

“We’re so sorry,” Sophie apologized.

He waved his broom at them. “You should be more careful. Someone could get hurt.”

“We will.” She pulled Dex away before the man drew more attention to them.

“What language were you speaking?” Dex asked when they were out of earshot. “It sounded like you were trying to clear your throat.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“I mean—wait—what?”

“Sophie, you do realize you were speaking a different language back there, don’t you?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Yes. You were.”

“Oh! I was speaking English. Humans don’t speak the Enlightened Language.”

“I know they don’t speak the Enlightened Language. But I know English, and I couldn’t understand a word you said.”

She only half heard him, because her eyes had spotted part of a tower peeking over the roofs. “No way . . .”

She took off down a side street. Dex chased after her.

The street ended in a wide park, and Sophie froze. A hundred yards in front of her was a landmark so recognizable she had to blink her eyes a few times to make sure she was really seeing clearly.

“What is that thing?” Dex asked.

“The Eiffel Tower.” She gaped at the graceful structure she’d seen in hundreds of pictures. “We’re in Paris. Wait”—she turned to Dex—“we’re in France.”

“And that means?”

“You must have heard me speaking . . . French.” She wrestled with the idea, but it wouldn’t make sense. How could she speak a language she’d never learned?

“Okay,” Dex said, interrupting her thoughts. “We know where we are. Now what?”

“I have no idea. I guess we keep moving.”

They followed a crowd of Indian tourists, because their capes looked less out of place surrounded by saris. “We’re going to need money,” Sophie said as they passed a currency exchange. “But unless you feel like robbing a bank, we’ll have to figure out a way around it.”

“Doesn’t money come out of that machine?” Dex asked, pointing to the ATM. “That’s how they show it in the movies my mom watches.”

“Yeah, but you have to have an account and a code.”

“Can we fake that?”

“No. They have all kinds of security measures.”

He frowned. “Well, I’m going to check it out. Maybe I can make it work.”

“How could you ‘make it work’?”

“I’m good with gadgets.”

She bit her lip. “Fine, but—be careful. They have cameras and stuff.”

He waved her worries away as he got in line. Sophie fidgeted in the background, covering her eyes when he started pressing random buttons like it was a game. She kept waiting for police sirens and alarm bells, but a couple minutes later he was at her side.

“Is a thousand enough?” He held out a thick stack of rainbow-colored bills. “It’s just paper, so I wasn’t sure.”

She gasped, glancing over her shoulder. “What did you do?”

“I told it we needed money and it gave me this.”

“You told it? How?”

“I don’t know. I just knew what buttons I needed to press. Why?”

“Because that’s not normal, Dex. You just robbed an ATM.”

“I did?”

“Yeah.” She shoved the money under her cape so no one could see it. “How come you’re so good with machines? Is that a special ability or something?”

He thought for a second before his shoulders fell. “It is. I bet I’m a Technopath.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s about as good as being a Froster. But I guess it’s better than nothing. I’ll have to look into it when we get home. If we get home.” His voice trembled.

She squeezed his hand. “We’ll find a way. I got us into this and I will get us out.”

“How?” he whispered.

“I don’t know.” She glared at the spot where her nexus should be. “Why wouldn’t he give us a nexus?”

“They can track a nexus through the field that holds you together.”

Sophie tried not to worry about how easily they could be found. “Okay. Then the answer must be in this note. We need to do some research.”

“Research?”

“Yeah.” She scanned the street and pulled him toward an Internet café she spotted a few blocks down.

Since neither of them had eaten in days, she bought sandwiches—chicken for her, cheese for Dex, who was horrified at the idea of eating a once-living creature—and bought an hour of Internet time.

Dex giggled as he stared at the boxy black computers and at the way she navigated the web browser. “Technology,” he mumbled, while Sophie Googled “Paris, Alexandre, lantern.”

“That’s it!” she gasped.

The number-one result was Pont Alexandre III, a famous bridge across the Seine. Ornate lanterns lined both sides. It had to be their way home.

The shopkeeper gave them directions, and after fifteen minutes of walking the famous golden statues at the top of the columns came into view. They sped up their pace, but their excitement faded when they saw how many lanterns there were.

“Maybe we should split up,” Sophie suggested.

“What are we even looking for?”

“No idea. Just look for anything that looks elvin and we’ll go from there.”

“Easier said than done,” Dex grumbled.

He was right. The lanterns were covered in elaborate carvings and decorations—some even with statues. They’d barely covered half the bridge when the sun sank below the horizon. They would need to find somewhere to sleep soon.

She was about to call it a day when she spotted a small, curved line at the base of a lantern toward the center of the bridge. An elvin rune—one she could actually read.

“Dex, get over here,” she called. She pressed on it, searching for the edges of a secret compartment, but found nothing.

“Did you find it?”

“I found something.” She pointed to the rune. “That means Eternalia. This has to be what the note wanted us to find.”

“How does it help us get home?”

“I have no idea.” Her eyes examined the lantern inch by inch, finally focusing on the tip of the highest lamp. “Look, Dex—there’s a crystal. None of the other lanterns has that.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. I know these lanterns by heart now, and this is the only one that has it.” She squinted, smiling when she saw the crystal only had a single facet. “It’s a leaping crystal—and I bet it leaps straight to Eternalia.”

“You did it! We can go home.” He threw his arms around her and spun her around. A second later he jumped back, blushing from head to toe. “Sorry. I’m just happy.”