Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 3) (6 page)

“Why can’t you teleport there?” Jurek asked.

“Well, I
thought
we established the whole, Foster-can’t-teleport-through-solid-objects thing already. But maybe I missed something?”

“You did.” Jurek motioned for them to follow him as he walked several paces away. “You’re forgetting where we are.”

It looked like they were standing in the middle of an empty meadow. But when Jurek pounded his palm in the air, it made a strange thumping sound, and when he curled his fingers and turned his wrist to the right, an arched doorway opened to the snowy world outside.

“Okay, that’s awesome,” Keefe said, staring at the icy mountains.

“You’d better hurry,” Jurek warned them. “This exit is technically only for emergencies.”

Silveny tried to follow, but Jurek held her back.

“It’s going to be okay,” Sophie promised, throwing her arms around Silveny’s shimmering neck. “I’ll visit again soon.”

And I need you to be extra careful in the meantime,
she added.

Careful!
Silveny repeated.
Friend! Sophie! Keefe!

“Come on, Foster,” Keefe said, dragging Sophie out into the cold. “We gotta go. And let’s try not to get trapped in the darkness this time, okay?”

Snowflakes and wind blasted their faces as they trudged across the icy ground, and Sophie was too freezing to hesitate when they reached the edge of the steep cliff. They jumped off the mountain together, screaming and flailing until the sky cracked open and they plummeted into the void.

Thunder crashed as the sky split, and Sophie and Keefe tumbled across a patch of sunlit grass, coming to a stop on the path leading up to Everglen.

Sophie had seen the crystal-and-gold mansion hundreds of times—even spent a few nights in one of the guest rooms. But she was still struck by the way the elegant building screamed
wealth
and
power
as it sparkled in the sunlight, like it was the kind of place only the best of the best were allowed to go.

The Elvin world didn’t really have celebrities, but the Vackers were close—not that any of them seemed to notice their position.

Keefe groaned as he sat up, rubbing his left shoulder. “I think we need to work on your landings, Foster.”

Sophie nodded, stretching her sore legs.

“Well, look who dropped out of the sky,” Alden said behind them in his crisp, accented voice.

Sophie grinned as she turned to face him, but her lips fell when she noticed Alden wasn’t alone—not that Sophie didn’t like Councillor Kenric. In fact, the red-haired, wide-smiling Councillor was one of her favorites, and he was always one of the first to take her side. But there was something foreboding about Kenric’s amber-encrusted circlet and jeweled cape—especially paired with Alden’s equally regal attire.

Kenric clearly wasn’t at Everglen for a friendly visit. And the Councillors only made house calls when something really important was going on.

“You two certainly know how to give someone a heart attack,” Kenric said, laughing as he nudged Alden. “And I’m pretty sure you made this guy squeal.”

Alden laughed. “I think you’re right, my friend—though in my defense, no one’s arrived directly inside Everglen since I had the gates installed a few decades ago.”

An enormous glowing fence surrounded the entire estate of Everglen, and the metal bars somehow absorbed all the light, preventing anyone from being able to leap directly inside. It was a security measure Alden added when he became an Emissary for the Council, though he’d never explained exactly what—or who—he was trying to keep away.

“Sorry,” Sophie mumbled. “I guess we should’ve hailed you before we came.”

“Nonsense,” Alden assured her. “You’re welcome to drop in anytime. I just never realized you’d do it so literally. But I should’ve known you’d find a new way to amaze me.”

“What about me—don’t I amaze you too?” Keefe asked.

“Yes, I’m always amazed at how quickly you manage to find trouble,” Alden teased. “And judging by the looks of you two, it seems you’ve had quite the adventure today. Did something happen at the Sanctuary?”

Sophie glanced at Keefe, trying to figure out how much to say. She hadn’t planned on having to tell the Council herself.

“I think I’ll let you guys talk privately,” Kenric jumped in, almost like he knew what she was thinking. “But you’ll let me know if there’s anything I need to be aware of?” he asked Alden.

“Of course.” Alden nodded a slight bow, and Kenric did the same as he pulled a pathfinder out of his cape’s pocket and adjusted the round crystal at the end of the etched ward.

“I’ll be back in touch as soon as the arrangements have been made,” he said, glancing quickly at Sophie before he held his pathfinder up to the sun. “Oh, and give my congratulations to Biana!”

“What did he mean?” Sophie asked after Kenric glittered away.

She’d meant the mysterious “arrangements” Kenric had mentioned. But if Alden realized that, he pretended not to.

“I fear I must leave you in suspense,” he said as he led them up the crystal steps and pulled open the towering silver doors to Everglen. “Biana will never forgive me if I spoil her surprise.”

SEVEN

G
IDDY SHRIEKS ECHOED OFF THE
prismlike halls, followed by a huge fit of giggles. But when Alden led Sophie and Keefe to a wide sitting room filled with intricate statues and throne-size armchairs, they found Fitz standing alone.

“Where’s Biana?” Sophie asked, hoping Keefe couldn’t tell that her heart was doing the embarrassing fluttery thing it always did whenever she met Fitz’s impossibly teal eyes.

“Right here!” Biana shouted.

The air shimmered in front of them, and Biana seemed to appear out of nowhere. She twirled, making her pale pink gown flare before she disappeared again, like a ghostly ballerina.

“I’m a Vanisher now—can you believe it?” she asked, though only her head blinked back into sight. She scowled at where her body should be. “I guess I’m still getting the hang of it.”

“Of course you are,” Della told her, appearing beside her daughter with a graceful swish. “It takes years to perfect the skill—though I must say, you’re showing incredible control. Alvar took days before he could vanish completely, and he was a year older than you when he manifested.”

Biana beamed at that, letting Della show her how to wiggle her shoulders to make the rest of her body reappear. Side by side with their pink gowns and long dark hair, Biana had never looked more like her strikingly beautiful mother—even before they both vanished again.

“Ugh, they’ve been at it all day,” Fitz grumbled. “It’s been hours of ‘Look—I’m invisible. Now I’m not! Now I am!’”

Biana rolled her eyes as she reappeared. “Like you were any less annoying with your ‘I can tell you what you’re thinking right now! And now! And now!’”

Keefe snorted.

“Don’t get so cocky, Mr. ‘I keep laughing and crying at the same time!’” Fitz warned him.

“Hey—feeling people’s emotions for the first time is
intense
,” Keefe argued.

They all turned to Sophie like they were waiting for her to share her manifesting-a-special-ability story too. But she doubted they’d enjoy hearing about her waking up in the hospital at five years old, crying because the blaring thoughts were giving her a headache. Or waking up in a strange city after being kidnapped, and discovering she could suddenly understand other languages and inflict pain on people. Or even crashing toward the ocean, convinced she was about to die, until her instincts kicked in and she’d teleported them to safety—though Keefe had been there for that one.

“So I guess this means you’ll start vanishing sessions, right?” Sophie asked, changing the subject as fast as she could.

“Yes,” Alden agreed. “I guess I’ll have to talk to Dame Alina about possible Mentors.”

He sounded less than thrilled about it—though Fitz and Keefe found it hilarious.

Alden and Dame Alina had an
interesting
history—especially the part where Dame Alina showed up at Alden and Della’s wedding and tried to convince him to marry her, instead.

“So I really don’t have to take ability detecting anymore?” Biana asked, jumping up and down, and blinking like a strobe light in the process. “Stina’s going to freak! She’ll never admit it, but I know she’s secretly hoping she’ll be a Vanisher. Well, assuming she even
gets
an ability.”

“Now, now, none of that,” Della warned her. “You have every right to be proud of your ability—especially for manifesting at such a young age. But I won’t have you judging others.”

Della waited until Biana mumbled an apology.

Sophie became very interested in her shoes. She definitely agreed about the judging-people thing, but . . . Stina won the prize for Most Awful Girl at Foxfire—ever. She acted like she was better than everyone, even though her own father didn’t actually have a special ability. And Sophie had heard a bunch of rumors about how Stina’s father was doing all kinds of shady things to work his way into the Nobility, despite the fact that he was Talentless—though she had no idea how much of that was true. All she knew was that the Hekses were horrible, and she wished they would move far, far away. Especially since they were still trying to convince the Council that
their family
should be the ones caring for Silveny.

“What?” Keefe asked as Sophie sucked in a breath.

She shook her head and forced a smile, pretending to listen to Biana talk about vanishing. But . . . if Stina’s parents found out that the rebels had breached the security at the Sanctuary, they might be able to use that to convince the Council to turn Silveny over to their care. And if that happened, then—

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Biana asked, nudging Sophie’s arm.

“Not really,” she admitted.

Biana sighed. “Lame! I
said
we should all go play base quest! I finally have an ability—and it’s an even better one than Sophie’s!”

“I dunno about
that
,” Keefe interrupted.

Sophie elbowed him before he could finish.

Thanks to a bunch of misunderstandings, her friendship with Biana had been a bit rocky at times—but they were finally in a good place.

Besides, she didn’t have time for games.

“I need to talk to you,” she told Alden, stepping away from her friends.

Alden didn’t look surprised by the news. “Why don’t we go to my office? There’s something I need to tell you as well—
privately
,” he added when Keefe turned to join them.

Keefe didn’t bother arguing. But he shot Sophie a look that seemed to say,
You will tell me everything later
as she followed Alden down the crystal hallway.

Fountains shot colored streams of water over their heads, and they passed room after room filled with fancy furniture and twinkling chandeliers before finally stopping at the all-too-familiar round office, where half the room was lined with a floor-to-ceiling aquarium, the other half made of windows overlooking a glassy lake.

Sophie sank into the same plush armchair she’d sat in when Alden had explained that she’d have to drug her human family and never see them again, and she tried to tell herself nothing could be worse news. But it was hard to believe it when she noticed the deep crease across Alden’s usually smooth brow.

“I can see you’re worried,” he said after a second, “so I’ll tell you my news first. Councillor Kenric came to see me today to let me know that the Council has finally come to a decision regarding mind healings.”

The cautious tone to his voice made her heart feel heavy. “They’re not going to let me heal Prentice, are they?”

“Actually, they still haven’t reached a decision on that matter.”

He cleared his throat and rose to stand by the curved window, staring at the slowly setting sun.

“Then what’s wrong?” Sophie asked, gripping the arms of her chair to brace for the bad news.

“Hopefully nothing. But that’s up to you.” He turned back to face her, his expression impossible to read. “The decision may come as a surprise—it was certainly a surprise to me. And I should warn you that it was an
order
, not a request.”

Sophie swallowed, hating how dry her mouth felt as her mind raced through a list of worst-case scenarios.

Still, she never could’ve guessed that Alden would tell her, “The Council has ordered you to perform a healing on Fintan.”

EIGHT

W
HY?”

It was a tiny word—much too small to hold the avalanche of emotions currently crashing through Sophie’s head. But it was the only thing she could think to say.

“Why what?” Alden asked after a second.

“I don’t know.” Sophie stood, needing to move, to try and figure out why part of her wanted to cry and the rest of her wanted to punch something really, really hard.

“I guess I don’t understand why the Council thinks Fintan deserves to be healed,” she admitted. “I mean, you gave him a ton of chances to save himself, and he
chose
to have his mind broken instead.”

She should probably feel horrible for saying that. But she’d seen Fintan’s memories. She’d watched his hunger for power cause the death of five other Pyrokinetics. She’d seen him illegally training an unregistered Pyrokinetic to spark Everblaze—probably the same Pyrokinetic who’d kidnapped her and Dex and started the fires that killed hundreds of innocent humans. She’d felt his fury toward the Council and knew he would stop at nothing to take them down, even if it meant breaking her and Alden’s sanity along with his—which he’d very nearly done.