I DO know what’s at stake. My sister’s LIFE.

The coldness wrapping each thought sank all the way to her bones. We’ll protect her.

Yeah. I’ve seen how well that protection works. I can’t take that risk.

So… what? You’ll just do whatever creepy things the Neverseen tell you to do and hang the consequences?

I don’t know.

That’s not good enough!

Well, it’s going to have to be!

Sophie locked her jaw to stop her teeth from chattering. I can already feel a change in you, Tam. Just from your mind. I think Umber’s training is affecting you.

I can handle it.

You know Keefe said the same thing, right? Sophie asked.

She’d hoped that would knock some sense into him, given the strange animosity between the two boys. But Tam’s thoughts were frozen claws as he said, I guess I get where he was coming from now.

Tam—

No—just stop! You’re making everything worse. Leave me alone. His thoughts stirred like an arctic flurry.

I can’t do that.

Well, you’re going to have to. If you try reaching out to me again, I’ll run straight to Gethen so he can hear everything you say. I can’t put Linh at risk.

Meanwhile, you’re putting Linh’s safety ahead of everyone else’s—do you really think she wants you to do that?

I don’t care. I’m her twin. Protecting her is my job. And I think you’re forgetting that I also saved Silveny and Greyfell—and their babies—by agreeing to cooperate.

I could’ve saved them another way.

How? I’m sure you’ve spent the last couple of weeks replaying what happened over and over—can you honestly tell me you’ve thought of anything else that would’ve cured them in time?

She hadn’t.

But she couldn’t admit that.

You’ve seen the kind of cruelty the Neverseen are capable of, Tam. You really want to be a part of that?

The mental flurry picked up speed, hurling each word at her. I don’t have a choice!

There’s always a choice!

Well, right now, I’m choosing to be done with this conversation.

Tam—

No, it’s time for you to leave me alone, Sophie. Get out of my head—or I’ll make you go away.

Tam, please—

The flurry spun into a hurricane—a black storm crashing into her brain. And Tam’s booming voice was thunder amid the tempest.

I’M SORRY—I DIDN’T MEAN ANY OF THAT. I HAD TO PUT ON A GOOD SHOW SO GETHEN WON’T GET SUSPICIOUS WHEN HE CHECKS MY MEMORIES LATER. AND I NEEDED TIME TO GATHER THE SHADOWFLUX I’M USING TO SHROUD THIS THOUGHT, SO HE CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING I’M SAYING. HE’LL PROBABLY STILL BE ABLE TO SEE THAT I SENT SOMETHING, SO I CAN’T TELL YOU MUCH—AND YOU CAN’T REACH OUT TO ME LIKE THIS AGAIN. IT’S WAY TOO DANGEROUS FOR EVERYONE. JUST… TRUST ME TO HANDLE THIS. I HAVE THINGS UNDER CONTROL—OR I WILL, IF YOU DO ONE FAVOR FOR ME. I NEED YOU TO KEEP KEEFE AWAY UNTIL THIS IS OVER. IF YOU CAN’T CONVINCE HIM TO COOPERATE, MAKE UP A FAKE PROJECT TO DISTRACT HIM. OR LOCK HIM UP SOMEWHERE IF YOU HAVE TO. I DON’T CARE. JUST DON’T LET HIM GET NEAR THE NEVERSEEN—AND DEFINITELY DON’T LET HIM GET NEAR ME.

Why not? Sophie asked, struggling to pick his words out of the frozen chaos. Her heart was pounding as hard as her head, drowning out everything with the thump! thump! thump!

But she still managed to catch when Tam said, BECAUSE HIS MOM ORDERED ME TO KILL HIM.

 

 

THREE

WHAT? SOPHIE TRANSMITTED—though she should’ve asked, WHEN?

Or, HOW?

Actually, the best question would’ve been, WHY? But it didn’t matter.

The storm faded from her mind, and her connection to Tam vanished with it. Only a few wisps of shadow remained, swirling around her brain like icy smoke. But instead of dissipating, the inky threads coiled together, twisting and tangling with glimmers of darkness she’d thought were long since buried and gone. Morphing into something black and shivery and much too familiar.

Sophie shook her head—hard—and ripped her eyes open, hoping the burning light could sear away the darkness before it took over. She’d spent months haunted by an eerie shadow beast—her mind’s way of processing the lingering echoes from the shadowflux she’d been exposed to during Umber’s attack. And there was no way she was letting that terrifying monster come back to life.

But the shadows sharpened and stretched. Growing claws and fangs.

“Flori!” she shouted, never so grateful to have the loyal gnome stationed outside of her doorway.

“What’s wrong?” Flori asked as she rushed to Sophie’s side.

Sophie curled into a ball, hugging Ella—the bright blue Hawaiian-shirt-wearing stuffed elephant she’d brought with her from her human life. “I need you to sing that song you wrote to quiet the echoes.”

Flori clearly had lots of questions, but said nothing as she reached for Sophie’s face, brushing her fingers softly down Sophie’s cheeks and humming the first notes of the melody. She sang the lyrics in an ancient, earthy language that slipped under Sophie’s skin, turning warm and wonderful as each verse sank into her mind and heart. And as the air thickened with a sweet floral perfume, it felt like the sun rose inside her, melting the cold darkness and flooding her with tingly light.

“Did that help?” Flori whispered, studying Sophie with worried gray eyes.

“I… think so.” Sophie flexed the fingers on her right hand to test for pain, breathing a sigh of relief when there wasn’t any—and the weakness didn’t feel like it had worsened. But as the last of the song’s warmth faded, a bone-deep weariness nestled in, making her wish she could burrow under her blankets and soak up the sweet, heady scent from the flowers growing across her canopy for the rest of the day. Each of the four types of blossoms had inspired part of the lyrics for the healing verses, and the vines had grown much more fragrant with Flori’s singing.

But Tam’s message had left a different type of echo—the kind where the words kept crashing around in her head, knocking loose stabbing slivers of worry. And while her brain wanted to rebel—wanted to scream that there had to be some horrible misunderstanding—it also kept repeating what Mr. Forkle had said about Tam earlier.

They’re going to use him to strike at you where you’re most vulnerable.

“Easy,” Flori warned as Sophie stumbled to her feet.

“What’s going on?” Sandor demanded, catching Sophie by her shoulders to hold her steady.

“Nothing,” she assured him.

“That wasn’t nothing,” Flori said gently. “Something stirred your echoes.”

“Yeah, but you fixed me.” She flashed a grateful smile, and Flori gave her a green-toothed grin in return.

But Sandor stopped her from pulling away. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I need to talk to Keefe.”

His jaw locked with a furious click. “What has that boy done now?”

“Nothing.” All of her bodyguards looked dubious—which was fair, considering the amount of chaos that Keefe had caused over the years. “I’m serious.”

“You were perfectly fine—and then you started doing your Telepath tricks, and suddenly you were begging for Flori’s help,” Sandor argued. “Don’t expect me to believe the two have no connection.”