“But you won’t,” Granite told him. “Because you respect Sophie too much to violate the rules of telepathy.”

Tam snorted. “Telepaths are weird.”

“Said the guy who won’t trust anyone until he’s read their shadowvapor,” Linh teased.

Tam was a Shade, which meant he could manipulate shadows—including the inner darkness everyone hid in their minds. He claimed he could tell whether someone was trustworthy simply by sensing how much shadowvapor he felt when he took a reading—and it seemed to be true. Tam had doubted both Alvar and Keefe because they’d refused to submit to the test. Sophie was still waiting for the I told you so.

“Just tell me what’s going on,” Fitz said, and Sophie could hear the desperation hidden in his voice.

She sighed. “Dex is investigating your brother, trying to see if he can learn anything about the Neverseen. And they didn’t tell us because . . .”

She pointed to his hands, which were fisted so tightly, his thumb rings were cutting into his skin.

It took Fitz six painful seconds to relax his grip, and when he did, he turned to Mr. Forkle. “I want to know what he’s found.”

“Nothing at the moment—another reason we’ve waited to tell you. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to speak to Mr. Dizznee directly.”

“I will,” Fitz assured him—and Sophie made a mental note to be there in case the conversation turned into an epic disaster.

“Now, can we focus on the reason we’re all here?” Mr. Forkle asked. “Mr. Song—”

“I’ve told you I don’t want to be connected with my parents’ name,” Tam interrupted.

“Right. My apologies. Mr. Tam. Did Blur explain the plan?”

“He said something about having me lift another veil. And I’ve been hoping I misunderstood. You remember what happened last time.”

“I do,” Mr. Forkle said. “Prentice finally woke up.”

“Right—but after that,” Tam pressed. “I’m never going to forget those screams.”

“Why was Prentice screaming?” Sophie asked as Linh reached for her brother’s hand.

“It only lasted a few minutes,” Mr. Forkle assured her—which was hardly reassuring. “And I suspect it was from the influx of jagged memories released by the veil.”

“Anyone else confused?” Fitz asked.

“Very,” Sophie said. In all the times she’d been in people’s minds, she’d never felt any veils.

“Shadowvapor forms in layers,” Tam explained. “Only Shades can sense them. And I like to think of them as veils, since they usually feel thin and wispy—and they’re always covering the things we’re trying to hide. That’s why I can learn so much from reading someone’s shadowvapor. The more you have, the more secrets you have. But the veils of darkness in Prentice’s mind felt like they were made of solid metal. It took all my energy to lift one, and when I did, his consciousness surged back as it released the memories hidden underneath.”

“All the years of Exile and madness must’ve buried him in darkness,” Granite said quietly. “I just wish I understood what caused the final avalanche.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Mr. Forkle promised. “But today, we need to focus on peeling back another veil—which should be lighter now that we’ve lifted the layer that smothered him. The piece of memory I recovered was tethered to something else—something weighed down by darkness. Hopefully if we remove the veil, Miss Foster can find it.”

“But what if this makes Prentice worse?” Sophie whispered.

“Believe me, I’ve asked that question a thousand times,” Granite told her. “But last time, the process made him significantly better. So it stands to reason that lifting another veil might actually help him.”

Out of everyone in the room, Granite had the strongest connection to Prentice. He’d resigned from Foxfire after Prentice’s Memory break, and despised the Vacker family for years because of Alden’s involvement with what had happened. He’d also adopted Wylie and raised him as his own son.

So if Granite thought it was worth the risk, it had to be a good sign.

“Have you told Wylie we’re doing this?” Sophie asked.

Mr. Forkle nodded. “He gave us his blessing.”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Fitz asked.

“Knowing something is the right decision doesn’t make watching it any easier,” Granite reminded him. “But he trusts me to protect his father—and I will.”

“As will I,” Mr. Forkle said. “As I’m sure you will as well, Miss Foster. And you, Mr. Tam. We all have the same goal.”

Tam sighed. “What memory are we even trying to find?”

“The remaining portion of a symbol. I found one piece during my ill-advised search, and we’ve now found part of it etched onto a disk connected with the Neverseen—which, by the way, tested negative for any enzymes, in case you were worrying,” he told Sophie. “It’s made of a stone called duskitine, which is neither rare nor valuable. But it does react to starlight, which may be a clue to its purpose—though at the moment, I’m still at a loss for what it could be. Perhaps once we have the rest of the symbol all will become clearer.”

“Can I see the full piece of memory you already found?” Sophie asked.

He shuffled to her side and placed two fingers on each of her temples, sending a scrap of jagged darkness surging into Sophie’s mind. The chill made her shiver as the memory emerged from the shadows: white symbols glowing through the dark—three diagonal lines, each decorated with different patterns of dashes before they ended in open circles. The line in the center matched the disk from Keefe’s cloak.

“It’s possible we’re missing more than one piece,” Mr. Forkle warned.

“How will I know if I’ve found them all?”

“Send anything you find to me,” Fitz offered. “I’ll piece them together and let you know when you’re done. And if you need an energy boost, just squeeze my fingers.”

He offered her his hand, and after all their months of working together, relying on Fitz felt like putting on a pair of comfy running shoes.

“Are we ready?” Mr. Forkle asked.