“Telepaths tend to catch on faster at this,” Coach Rohana said, handing Sophie a cloth to wipe the paint off her face. “Their minds naturally hold a much larger reserve of energy, which can make it easier to transfer—though this could be a new record.”

Sophie glanced at Magnate Leto, and he offered an unsurprised smile.

“Normally I’d tell you to rest, since most would find their energy depleted,” Coach Rohana added. “But after such an effortless display, I’m curious to see if you can continue.”

She handed Sophie a new splotcher, making her promise to take a break if she got a headache. But Sophie felt fine.

And when she planted another “seed,” the splotcher splattered purple everywhere.

Coach Rohana tilted head. “I suspect you could bring down a mountain if you sat in solitude long enough.”

“Why solitude?” Tam asked.

“No distractions or activities to drain her reserve.” Their Coach offered Sophie a third splotcher, and—while it took significantly longer—Sophie still managed to burst it like the others.

Only two other Ambis burst their splotchers before the end of the lesson: Magnate Leto and—surprisingly—Jensi.

“I think my osmosis theory worked,” Jensi said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Unless this means I’m going to manifest as a Telepath—which would be awesome!—though I’d kinda been rooting for Phaser—like my brother—or maybe a Charger—or . . .”

He continued naming abilities, but Sophie had stopped listening, too aware of everyone watching her.

“I know what you’re feeling,” Linh whispered. “I’ve often wondered if I have more power than I should. But I stopped worrying about it after I flooded Ravagog.”

“Whoa—that was you?” Jensi butted in.

Linh nodded. “First time I’ve ever been glad to hold so much power. And you’ll do far greater things with yours,” she told Sophie.

Sophie thanked her, not sure why she felt so . . . ruffled. This definitely wasn’t the first time she’d discovered that her mental powers were a little too close to the scary side of the line.

But something about this skill felt wrong—like the elves were setting aside everything they’d believed in and going darker.

And there she was: the poster child for the New Darkness.

Jensi bounded off to brag to the Drooly Boys as soon as the Coaches dismissed them, and Sandor agreed to let Sophie stay to say goodbye to her friends. Tam and Linh lingered with her—until they noticed their parents heading over. They leaped away with seconds to spare.

The Songs were too intimidated to approach Sophie, especially when Fitz and Biana—and their bodyguards—joined her. Fitz seemed especially bummed to hear about Sophie’s three-splotcher session. The most he’d accomplished was making his splotcher quiver.

Sophie was giving him a few pointers when a smug voice behind them asked, “Waiting for Dizznee?”

Sophie fought off a sigh as she turned to find Stina—and Maruca. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” Stina said. “But I figured you might—especially since I saw him pull Marella aside after the lesson. They’ve been whispering ever since. Jealous, Foster?”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Since when are you and Marella back to being friends?”

Stina’s smug expression faltered. “We never stopped. She’s just . . . having a hard time now that I manifested as an Empath.”

“Oh.”

Sophie wasn’t sure if it was her, Fitz, or Biana who’d said it—but they had to all be thinking it. Stina had a long history of Empaths on her mother’s side of the family, so the news wasn’t unexpected. But poor Marella had been trying for years to trigger the ability, in the hopes that she might be able to help her mom better control her emotions.

“That’s rough,” Sophie mumbled.

Stina nodded. “I wish she’d manifest already—even if she doesn’t get the ability she wants. It’s a million times harder with all the constantly wondering What if?, you know?”

Sophie did know. And before she could think of what to say, she realized Maruca had gone back to staring at her.

Stina elbowed her friend. “Just say it, already. That’s why you made me come over here.”

Maruca nodded.

She cleared her throat so many times it almost sounded painful. Then she told Sophie, “I need you to take me to see Wylie.”

FORTY-NINE

NO ONE’S GOING anywhere,” Sandor said, placing a heavy hand on Sophie’s shoulder. Grizel and Woltzer held on to Fitz and Biana as well.

Sophie dragged Sandor with her as she moved closer to Maruca, hoping her glare hid her lie as she whispered, “I don’t know why you’re talking to me about this.”

“Yes you do.” Maruca waited for a nearby group of Left Hemispheres to wander further away before she added, “Stina told me the Neverseen attacked Wylie, and that the Black Swan have him hidden away.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” Stina told Sophie. “I overheard my dad whispering about it—and Wylie is Maruca’s family. She deserved to know what was happening.”

“Wylie’s your family?” Biana asked.

Maruca nodded. “I never said anything because there was so much weirdness with him and your dad. But he’s my second cousin—and my mom used to take me to visit him all the time. She’s freaking out right now—”

“Wait, you told your mom?” Stina interrupted. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!”

“That was before I knew what the secret was,” Maruca told her. “I can’t hide this from my family—no matter what I said.”

She had a point. Some problems were too important to worry about breaking promises.

But Sophie still couldn’t help her.

“I’m not allowed to talk about this,” she whispered. “Maybe you should ask Stina’s dad.”

“Oh please, you know my dad’s not going to tell us anything,” Stina argued. “He’ll just ground me for eavesdropping.”

“You should’ve thought of that before you did it,” Fitz told her.

Stina snorted. “Like you’ve never listened to your dad’s secret conversations.”