That’s what I’m assuming.

He made it sound so obvious—and maybe it was. But Sophie hadn’t considered the connection. Her brain throbbed under the weight of a thousand new questions.

How’s Wylie doing by the way? Keefe asked.

About the same. Edaline saw him yesterday and said his wounds looked healed, but his thoughts were still so dark that they’re going to keep him sedated for at least another day.

And they don’t want to erase his memories?

Wylie told us not to. He wants to make sure we don’t get rid of anything that could help us find out what happened to his mom.

That’s . . . very brave.

Keefe’s mind flashed to his nine-year-old self, curled up in a ball under the covers as he waited for the Washer to come erase his memories.

You can’t compare the two, Sophie told him.

He didn’t agree. But Keefe stuffed the memory away, his mind practically forcing a smile as he told her, Fintan’s supposed to come to this hideout tonight for a strategy meeting, so it’s probably not a good idea to do another check-in until tomorrow morning. And be prepared for some breakfast whining. We harvested something called yolksnips today—and they smelled exactly like Iggy farts.

Apparently they tasted like them too. But Keefe barely mentioned them when Sophie connected with his mind at daybreak. He was too excited to share his news.

He still hadn’t learned anything about the test for the ogres, or Wylie, or the plan for Grady and Edaline, or Brant and Ruy’s punishment, or Fintan’s cache, or any of the things that had kept Sophie up most of the night.

BUT, Keefe said, his mental voice so loud, it echoed around her head. I’ve finally been granted clearance to move into one of their other hideouts. You’re now talking to a fully initiated member of the Neverseen!

FORTY-SEVEN

DOES THAT MEAN Keefe swore an oath?” Fitz asked, careful to keep his voice low in the crowded Foxfire field. “Like we did when we were accepted into the Black Swan?”

“I was afraid to ask,” Sophie admitted.

She glanced around, relieved to find everyone too distracted by the proceedings to pay attention to her group of friends—and their bodyguards. Still, she huddled closer to Fitz, Dex, Biana, Tam, and Linh as she added, “He said he’ll be settled at the new hideout this afternoon.”

The crowd surged forward as another batch of people moved to take their test, halting their conversation. It was the first day of their Exillium skill training, and while Sophie and her friends already knew their Hemispheres, everyone else was being sorted by a written exam before being given a black cape marked with a colored handprint on the back.

Red for the Left Hemisphere, blue for the Right, and purple for the Ambis.

The three Exillium tents bore the same colors. And after so many years of scorn and judgment, it seemed strangely reassuring to have the vibrant canopies stationed proudly around the glass pyramid.

Still, Sophie found her eyes constantly drifting to the twisted gold and silver elite towers. The Black Swan had stuck to their plan and kept Wylie’s assault a secret, so no one around them had any idea about the added danger. Even with dozens of goblins stationed among the crowd—even with a fleet of dwarves secretly positioned under their feet—Lur and Mitya had yet to figure out how the Neverseen had gotten inside the tower. So the rebels still had a secret way to invade the campus.

“Maybe the Neverseen use a vague oath,” Linh whispered when the crowd settled again. “Like the one the Black Swan had us say.”

“Hopefully,” Biana said. “And wait—does that mean you guys swore fealty?”

Both twins revealed the swan-shaped monocle pendants they’d tucked under their tunics.

“I was sick of Linh nagging me,” Tam said, earning an eye roll from his sister, and a sudden splash of water to the face. “Oh, it is so on later.”

“Ready any time you are,” Linh told him, tossing another sphere of water back and forth from palm to palm.

“Wow,” Fitz whispered, as Dex leaned closer.

“Are we sure this is a good thing?” he asked. “Not the part about you guys joining the Black Swan—that’s awesome. But the whole ‘Keefe going to one of their serious hideouts’ thing. Is he sure they won’t lock him away like they did to his mom?”

“I asked him the same question,” Sophie said. “And he promised he’s keeping a close read on everyone’s emotions. He said he’ll bail if he senses anything suspicious.”

“But how does he bail?” Biana asked. “They’re not going to let him walk away now.”

Fitz shared a look with Sophie. “We may have to help him get out of there—but we can’t come up with a plan until we know more about where he is. So right now, we’re just hoping he’s being careful.”

Tam snorted. “Zero chance of that.”

“Probably,” Sophie whispered. “But he’s taking this crazy risk to help us. So we need to get the most out of it that we can.”

“You told him to watch for shadows on the floor of the hideout, right?” Tam asked. “To see if they use an illuminated symbol like the one in Paris?”

Sophie nodded. “Keefe has a photographic memory. So I told him to make sure he takes a good look at everything. Then he’ll share it with me and I’ll project it all on paper so you can check the shadows. But you’ll have to come to Havenfield to see it. I’m still grounded.”

Biana grinned. “So is Fitz. My dad told him he’s not allowed to go anywhere until he finishes his matchmaking packet.”

“Too bad for him, I finished it yesterday,” Fitz said smugly.

“You did?” Sophie, Biana, Dex, and Linh asked at the same time.

Fitz shrugged. “It’s not like it’s hard. I just had to answer some personal questions.”

“A lot of them,” Biana said. “Aren’t you worried that if you rush through, you won’t give very good answers?”

“Nah. I know what I like. Besides, the questions aren’t what you’d think they’d be. Sure, they ask what you find attractive, and what personality traits you like and stuff. But then it gets into all kinds of things about your genetics and abilities, and finishes with a ton of questions that are just . . . deep. It’s like they’re trying to get to know you on another level—which I guess makes sense, since we fill out the packets when we’re sixteen. Our likes and dislikes are probably going to change, so they’re trying to figure out the real us.”