“Yeah, one sec,” Fitz said, slipping back into the hall again for a longer conversation.

“It’s going to be okay, Foster,” Keefe promised, brushing a rebellious tear off her cheek. “Whatever this is, we’ll figure it out and fix it.”

“My dad can’t give me the address,” Fitz said as he returned, “but he has a leaping crystal that goes there. And he’ll take you right now for a quick check, if you’re ready.”

“I am,” Sophie told him, already untying her cape. Her tunic, pants, and gloves still looked a little elfy, but she wasn’t going to waste time changing.

“I’m coming with you,” Fitz said, throwing his cape on the bed next to hers.

“Ditto,” Keefe said, doing the same.

“As am I,” Sandor announced as he melted out of the shadows. Now that he and Grizel were spending more time together, she’d been teaching him to improve his stealth.

“I’m in as well,” Grizel said, appearing at Sandor’s side.

Sophie didn’t have the energy to argue. “Fine—just try not to look so gobliny.”

“Gobliny?” Sandor repeated as Sophie raced downstairs to answer the door.

“Really, Miss Foster, I’m positive you have no reason to worry,” Alden assured her as he pulled her in for a hug. “Ready to go?”

Sophie felt anything but ready—but she grabbed Alden’s hand as the rest of them linked into a circle, and they all stepped into the beam of bluish light and zipped away.

THE HOUSE WAS BIGGER THAN Sophie had expected. Small by elvin standards, but at least triple the size of her old house in San Diego. Tudor-style, so it looked like it belonged in a fairy tale—especially butted up against the thick evergreen forest. They weren’t in a neighborhood, so there were no other houses around. But there were two cars parked in the driveway and lights on in a bedroom upstairs.

“See?” Alden said. “All is calm and peaceful.”

“Maybe,” Sophie said. “But I need to see them.”

Alden grabbed her shoulder to stop her. “That would be very bad. You know how memory wipes work—the Washers can’t possibly get every memory. And all it takes is the right trigger and . . .”

He snapped his fingers.

“I didn’t say I’m going to let them see me,” she argued. “Some of the windows have the curtains open. I just need to take a quick peek. Make sure they’re really in there. I promise they’ll never know I was here.”

Alden sighed. “Be careful—and do not be seen.”

Sophie nodded and sprinted across the grass, with Fitz and Keefe keeping pace beside her, and Sandor and Grizel on alert a few steps back.

Everyone almost had a heart attack when a dog started barking from the backyard—a deep, husky howl that could probably be heard for miles around.

“Think that’ll make them come outside?” Fitz asked as they ducked under the front bay window and hid among the bushes.

“If they do, we’ll leap away as soon as I hear the front door,” Sophie promised, holding up her home crystal to prove it.

She hadn’t realized how hard she was shaking—though she shouldn’t have been surprised. She hadn’t been this close to her family in more than a year—closer to two years, actually.

And much as she understood why she couldn’t let them see her, she also had to admit she didn’t want to—not because she was afraid they’d remember her.

Because she knew how much it would hurt if they didn’t.

“Deep breaths,” Keefe said, hooking his arm through hers and pulling her closer to the window.

“It sounds quiet in there,” Fitz whispered. “Think it’s safe to peek?”

Sophie nodded, doing a silent countdown in her head.

Three . . . two . . . one.

She popped up on her knees, careful to only raise herself up high enough to peer through the spotted glass.

“Everything okay?” Fitz asked when she didn’t duck back down.

Sophie frowned. “The house is a mess. Way messier than my mom would ever allow it to be.”

“People change,” Keefe said, popping up to see for himself.

“I guess.” But Sophie was starting to learn that when dread pooled up inside her, it was because her instincts were a couple of steps ahead.

Two cars in the driveway.

Dog barking early in the morning with no one shushing it.

Messy house.

Too quiet.

Not found.

This wouldn’t end well.

“I have to get inside,” Sophie said, ignoring Sandor’s protests as she marched over to the door and tried the handle.

It was locked, but her parents still kept a spare key under the smallest flowerpot.

Before she could change her mind, she unlocked the door and slipped inside.

Her heart sank with every step, every new detail her eyes picked up. Dirty dishes in the sink that had to be at least a week old. Papers strewn all over the tables and floor.

“Seems pretty quiet,” Keefe said behind her.

“Too quiet,” she whispered. No human thoughts blaring into her brain—though human minds did quiet down while they were sleeping.

The stairs creaked as they climbed, but no one startled awake. And the master bedroom was empty. Bed unmade. Lights still on.

“Maybe they’re on vacation,” Fitz said, offering whatever weak hope he could.

It was Sandor who finally crushed it, calling from downstairs. “The yard smells like ash. As does the house.”

Sophie closed her eyes and nodded, letting the tears she’d been fighting slip down her cheeks.

The Neverseen used ash to disguise their scent.

“They were here,” she whispered. “They took them. Why would they take them?”

This couldn’t just be about controlling her. If that were all it was, they’d have let her know the second they had her family. Instead they’d kept quiet. Letting her discover it all on her own. Maybe even hoping she wouldn’t.

Keefe took her by the shoulders, his expression fierce, determined. “I don’t know what’s going on. But we’ll find them, okay? We’ll get them back. I promise.”

“But we don’t even know where they are—where to start,” Sophie reminded him. The sobs were coming fast and furious now, but she didn’t fight them back.