She took a steadying breath and pointed to the black disk. “We need to find out what that symbol means. And the best way to do that is to take me to see Prentice—just to search his mind for additional memories. Not to heal him.”

Magnate Leto’s jaw set and Sophie braced for him to argue. But when he spoke, he told her, “I suppose I can arrange to bring you tomorrow.”

“Why not now?” Sophie pressed.

“Probably not a good day to sneak away,” Grady reminded her, pointing to the crystal dangling from her choker-style registry necklace. The pendant monitored her location—and while a Technopath could cheat the signal, after what happened at Foxfire the Councillors would likely be watching her much too closely.

“Do you think it’ll be safe to slip away tomorrow?” Edaline asked.

“It will with careful arrangements.” Magnate Leto tucked the black disk into his cape pocket. “I’ll test this for enzymes tonight, just to be safe. I’ll also see if I can figure out what it’s made of. And we should get rid of this.”

He handed Keefe’s cloak to Brielle.

“Do you want me to salvage the tracker?” she asked.

“No, I think it’s best we avoid the Neverseen’s attention until we better understand the significance of the disk. I’d prefer that they believe we destroyed the cloak without discovering its secret.”

Brielle headed for the door, her curls bouncing with every step. “Will fire be enough?”

“As long as the tracker melts completely.” He turned to Sophie. “I’ll be back to pick you up at dawn, along with Mr. Vacker. I think it would be wise for you to have your Cognate on hand. He won’t be able to enter Prentice’s mind, but he can boost your mental energy.”

Sophie’s stomach soured. “Does Fitz know that Keefe was behind what happened today?”

“If he doesn’t already, he will soon. His father hailed me before I left campus, and I promised to get back to him with details. I suspect he fears his eldest son was involved. Why? Is that a problem?”

“It might be. Fitz has been weird about Keefe. It’s like he wants to pretend they were never best friends.”

“Sometimes that’s easier,” Edaline said quietly. “Missing someone can hurt too much. It’s safer to be angry.”

Anger definitely was Fitz’s default. But his reaction to Keefe felt different.

Less angry. More . . . afraid.

“Well, if there’s one thing I have no doubt of,” Magnate Leto said as he reached for his pathfinder—a slender wand with an adjustable leaping crystal on one end—“it’s that you know how to help your friends through their struggles. Perhaps you can help Mr. Vacker tomorrow. In the meantime, try to get some rest. I’ll need you in top form to face Prentice.”

They watched him glitter away, leaving behind a silence that felt itchy.

“I think I’m going to shower and get in bed early,” Sophie decided, kissing each of her parents’ cheeks before heading upstairs, where her bedroom suite took up the entire third floor.

“Do you think you’ll be able to sleep?” Edaline called after her.

“Probably not.”

But no one offered her any sleeping aids. They knew how much Sophie hated sedatives, after all the times her enemies had drugged her. Even Sandor said nothing as he completed his nightly security sweep of her bedroom. But his check was more thorough than usual—inspecting every corner and closet and cranny—despite the fact that none of the petals in the flowered carpet showed even the slightest trace of a new footprint.

“All clear,” he announced after peeking under her giant canopied bed. “And I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

As soon as he closed her door, Sophie jumped straight in the shower to let the warm, colored streams wash away the last flecks of glass. They looked insignificant as they swirled down the drain. But her brain wouldn’t stop repeating what Keefe had told her.

Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.

Emotions swelled with each reminder. Fear. Doubt. Dread.

She closed her eyes and imagined each as a solid thread—then twisted them into the knot under her ribs the way Councillor Bronte had taught her. The tangle burned as she worked, and she pressed her hands against her skin, taking deep breaths until the feelings cooled.

Worry can bring power, Bronte had told her. Better to embrace it than ignore it.

But as she crawled into bed and clung tightly to Ella—the bright blue stuffed elephant she couldn’t sleep without—new threads of fear kept flaring up. Even when Iggy—her tiny pet imp—flitted to her pillow and snuggled his blue furry body up next to her, his squeaky purring couldn’t make her relax. Only one thing might help—the thing she’d been too scared to try before.

Her enhanced telepathic abilities allowed her to stretch her consciousness impossibly far and transmit to people and creatures on the other side of the world. She mostly used the talent to communicate with Fitz—or for her regular check-ins with Silveny to make sure everything was going safely with the alicorn’s pregnancy. But that night, there was someone she needed to talk to so much more.

Keefe?

She sent the thought spiraling through the deep black nothingness, shoving the call with her full mental strength. She’d never pushed her limits to communicate with someone who wasn’t a Telepath—which was the excuse she’d been using for why she hadn’t tried this before. But really, she’d been afraid she couldn’t trust him.

Or that he would ignore her.

Keefe? she called again, repeating the word over and over. He wouldn’t be able to transmit back to her, so she’d have to connect directly to his thoughts.

She pressed her consciousness lower, imagining she was aiming for his mind like an arrow slicing through the night. A rush of warmth flooded her head when she finally hit the mark, along with a single, shaky thought.

Foster?

Yes! she transmitted—a bit too loudly. She lowered her mental voice before asking, Can you still hear me?

DUDE. This wins for freakiest mind trick ever!

Sorry! Did I scare you?

You think? How does Fitz not pee his pants every time you do this—or wait, DOES HE?

Don’t be gross.

I’m not. I’m keeping it real. And, um . . . does this mean you’re searching my memories right now?