Flashback (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 7)

by Shannon Messenger

  Or maybe he really wanted to punch himself.

  He tore his hands through his hair, destroying what was left of his careful style. “That was the one thing I thought I did right. But I guess I messed it up—and don’t try to make me feel better, Foster. You know I don’t deserve it.”

  “Oh joy, it’s going to be a long night of sulky-boy angst,” Ro groaned as she shoved Keefe aside and stomped into the room. “Quick, who wants to trade jobs with me?”

  Keefe ignored her, tilting his head back and staring at the ceiling. “Fintan’s good. His emotions always felt normal when I asked about the caches. A little nervous. A little suspicious. Exactly the way he would’ve felt if they were real.”

  “You’re not the only one he fooled,” Magnate Leto reminded him. “Bronte’s been working with Fintan on the caches for weeks, and he hasn’t noticed anything strange.”

  “Neither have I,” Dex admitted.

  “Wait,” Sophie said, wishing she could sit up more. Her lounge-y position wasn’t great for thinking, especially after taking so much medicine.

  “Since Fintan knew the caches weren’t real when he made that bargain with the Council,” she said slowly, “that voids their agreement, right?”

  Magnate Leto frowned. “There isn’t any sort of official contract—and telling Fintan we’ve discovered his lie will only give him a good laugh.”

  Sophie was sure it would.

  “But the Council’s been going along with all of his demands because they thought he was cooperating, right?” she asked. “So now they can move him somewhere miserable and make him meet with as many Telepaths as it takes to find out what he’s hiding.”

  “I suppose it’s worth considering,” Magnate Leto told her. “But . . . I also fear it may cause the Council to ask about Kenric’s cache. And as I’m sure you know, if they discover that’s fake, there will be consequences.”

  There definitely would be.

  Sophie had sworn to protect Kenric’s cache with her life.

  “No need to look so nervous,” he assured her. “These kinds of challenges can always be managed. But part of that involves risk assessment. And speaking with Fintan doesn’t seem worth the risk of cluing the Council in to our deception about Kenric’s cache—for all the reasons that you and I have discussed many times, and for the added fact that if the Councillors did agree to the meeting, the best Telepaths for the job are currently confined to this room for at least a week, with bed rest at home to follow—”

  “Whoa, back it up there,” Ro jumped in. “Did you just say that Sophie and the pretty boy are staying here for a week? Together?”

  “He did,” Elwin said, striding back into the room along with Grady. “Neither of them can light leap until their bones are completely healed. So they’re stuck with me.”

  Tam grinned at Sophie. “I’m guessing that’s news to you?”

  It really was.

  She probably should’ve assumed that Fitz wouldn’t be able to go anywhere with his leg wrapped up. But her mind hadn’t made the connection. And now that it had . . .

  A week was a very long time.

  And the room was a very small space.

  Ro elbowed Keefe. “Nothing you want to say about this, Lord Hunkyhair?”

  Any other time, Keefe would’ve already made five different Fitzphie jokes. But he didn’t respond—even when Ro told him she was going to start calling him “Lord Funkyhair.”

  “Seriously, Keefe,” Sophie told him. “Don’t beat yourself up about the caches. We’ll figure something out.”

  “We will,” Magnate Leto agreed.

  “Tomorrow,” Elwin clarified, snapping his fingers and forming another orange orb around Sophie’s arm. “Right now, I need to give Sophie a dose of a much stronger marrow regenerator, and it’s going to make her pretty sleepy.”

  “Then there’s one more thing we need to discuss first,” Magnate Leto told him, placing a hand on Sophie’s good shoulder to help her focus. “Gethen claimed the Neverseen can find you anytime, anywhere. That implies they have some sort of tracking device. Any idea what it could be?”

  She traced a gloved finger along her choker-style necklace. “Could they have hacked my registry feed?”

  Grady shook his head. “Your feed is being scrambled. Same as all of your friends. The Council agreed to let us, after Atlantis. We thought it’d prevent something like this from happening. But clearly we were wrong—and it made it so we couldn’t track any of you after Dex and Wylie left.”

  “Has anyone given you anything that you keep with you all the time?” Magnate Leto asked.

  “Not unless you count my Cognate rings.”

  “It couldn’t be them,” Alden jumped in. “I’ve known the jeweler Fitz bought them from for decades.”

  “Yeah, well I was planning a wedding for Brant and Jolie,” Grady reminded him, “so sometimes people aren’t who we think they are.”

  Sophie wished he were standing closer so she could hug him.

  “I suppose you’re right, my friend,” Alden said quietly. “Much as I hate to turn paranoid, past experience has proven that trust can be misguided. We should test Sophie’s rings before we rule them out.”

  Keefe sighed. “Don’t waste your time.”

  “Why not?” Sophie asked.

  “Because Fitz never makes those kinds of mistakes. That’s my specialty.”

  “I think we’re going to need a little more explanation than that,” Magnate Leto told him.

  “I know. It’s just . . .” Keefe’s eyes shifted to Sophie, and he looked like the Most Miserable Boy in the Universe. “If you didn’t hate me before, you’re definitely going to hate me for this.”

  “Will you please stop worrying about that?” she asked. “I’m never going to hate you.”

  “You should.” He trudged over and snatched the chain for the ruined monocle pendant she hadn’t realized she was still wearing.

  He pulled hard, snapping the clasp and holding it out to Magnate Leto. “Test this. I bet anything you’ll find it’s a tracker.”

  NINE

  UNFORTUNATELY, KEEFE WAS RIGHT.

  Elwin coated the necklace with reveldust—a special spore that could detect the presence of ogre enzymes—and the second the powder touched the dark metal, the pendant glowed bright pink.

  So did Keefe’s hand.

  And parts of Sophie’s chest, neck, and glove.

  Elwin even spotted pin-size holes along the pendant’s edge, housing microscopic colonies of whichever bacteria secreted the enzyme.

  “I thought something was only a tracker if it glowed red,” Dex argued.

  Keefe shook his head. “Red means aromark, which doubles as a tracker because it’s a homing device for ogre weaponry. Green would be a basic tracker. Pink is . . . I don’t know—but if it’s there, it can’t be good.”

  He kicked the nearest cot so hard it made everyone wince.

  Ro rumpled his hair. “Listen to my little elf boy, sounding all knowledgeable about microbiology and stuff! I’ve never been so proud.”

  Keefe didn’t bother to respond.

  “So what does pink mean?” Magnate Leto asked.

  “And please tell me there’s a way to remove it without having to melt off my skin,” Sophie added.

  That was the only way to remove aromark. The process didn’t hurt, thanks to numbing balms and elixirs. But it was still one of the freakiest things she’d ever endured.

  “Pink means it’s ethreium,” Ro told her, “which is another enzyme for tracking. We don’t use it as often, because it’s weaker. But it’s also odorless. That’s why I didn’t detect it.” Her eyes dropped to her feet as she added, “Sorry about that.”

  “You don’t need to apologize,” Sophie promised.

  “I kinda do. I trained with some of the ogres who’ve defected, and one of them . . . This is the kind of trick he’d pull. I should’ve realized he wouldn’t have betrayed my father unless he was all in. Cad always wanted t
o be a leader.”

  “Cad?” Sophie repeated.

  Ro nodded. “His full name is Cadfael. He was a Mercadir, and he always resented that the title didn’t give him any actual power. I’m sure that’s why he defected—taking his chance to prove he should be in charge without having to openly challenge my father in a spar.”

  “Sounds like you knew him well,” Alden noted.

  “Like I said, we trained together. And since we had similar strengths, we were often paired up.” She reached for her forehead, trailing a claw across her tattoos—then seemed to realize everyone was watching her. “I’ll have no problem killing him, if that’s what you’re worried about. A traitor’s a traitor. And with Cad . . . I almost hope I face him before this is all over.”

  “Can you think of anything else he might help them plan?” Grady asked.

  “It all depends on what resources he has access to.”

  “I think it’s safe to assume the Neverseen will acquire anything he needs,” Magnate Leto told her.

  “Probably. Cad was always a bragger. I’m sure he’s convinced them he’s an expert on everything. I’ll have to talk to my father—and I’ll tell him to send over some voracillius when I do. That’s how you get rid of ethreium.” She pointed to the pink glow on Sophie’s chest, which was already fading. “Mind you, I think an epic round of skin melting sounds like something we could all use right now. But if you’re not with me on that, all you need to do is spread some voracillius on there and let them gobble up the ethreium like candy. Then you just wash it away.”

  “We should probably sweep the campus,” Magnate Leto added. “Make sure the ethreium hasn’t spread.”

  “I’ll ask Lady Cadence to send over more reveldust,” Elwin said, heading for his office.

  “Have her send enough to cover Havenfield, too,” Grady called after him.

  “And Everglen,” Alden added. “And we should probably dust everywhere Sophie’s recently been.”

  Tam barked a sharp laugh. “Then add my parents’ house to the list! We went to Choralmere after we found Alvar—and my dad is going to freak when he finds out you’re going to sprinkle ogre spores all over his precious stuff. Can I please be there when you do it?”

  His smile was downright wicked—and Sophie didn’t blame him one bit.

  Quan and Mai Song weren’t as horrible as Keefe’s parents—but they ran a close second. They’d chosen to protect their reputations instead of standing up to the Council when they banished Linh for causing so many floods. And even before that, they’d tried to force Tam and Linh to lie about their ages to hide the fact that they were twins.

  “Wait,” Dex said, fishing his own monocle pendant out from under his tunic. “Does this mean all of our necklaces are contaminated?”

  Sophie shook her head. “No. Mine is . . . different.”

  “You don’t have to cover for me,” Keefe told her before turning to Magnate Leto. “That’s my pendant. Alvar ripped hers off her neck and gave it to Brant, who tried to make me burn her with it—”

  “And you didn’t,” Sophie reminded him. “You helped me escape.”

  “This was the day he stole Kenric’s cache and used it to join the Neverseen?” Grady verified.

  Keefe kicked the cot again. “Yep. They took my pendant too. And I thought I was being all smooth by stealing it back and giving it to Foster when I snuck into Foxfire.”

  “You’re talking about the day you followed the Neverseen’s order to set off a shock wave in Magnate Leto’s office—and left Sophie curled up in a ball on the floor, covered in broken glass?” Grady asked.

  “He gave me his cloak to protect me,” Sophie reminded him. But she had a feeling Grady would be going back to calling Keefe That Boy, like he had the whole time Keefe was playing double agent with the Neverseen.

  “You don’t have to tell me I’m a jerk,” Keefe mumbled. “I already know.”

  “Keefe—”

  “Save your pep talk, Foster. Grady’s right to be mad. This is my fault. I ran off, thinking I could fix everything myself. I stole your cache—and then brought back a fake instead. I gave you the tracker they used to find you. And my mom sent them there to mess you up. Oh, and let’s not forget that she did it to scare you into cooperating, because she wants you to be useful to me—and then I wasn’t even there to help you fight, because I promised Alden . . .”

  “Promised Alden what?” Sophie asked, glancing between the two of them.

  Keefe shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Kinda sounds like it does,” she pressed.

  But Alden was staring at his injured son, and Keefe was kicking the cot harder and harder and harder, so she decided to let it go—for the moment. Instead she reminded Keefe, “If you’d been there, the only thing that’d be different right now is that Elwin would have another patient.”

  “And there’s no guarantee I would’ve saved you,” Tam added with a smirk.

  “I wouldn’t blame you if you hadn’t,” Keefe muttered.

  “Stop,” Sophie told him. “Seriously.”

  “I am serious! Don’t you get it? I’m as toxic as Umber’s freaky shadows. That’s my legacy.”

  The last word felt huge, like the letters were slowly squeezing all the air out of the room.

  It was the word Lady Gisela used to hint at whatever creepy plans she had for Keefe’s future—and every reckless decision he’d made over the last year was all part of his desperate attempt to relieve the shame and fear that were eating him up inside. That was the problem with guilt. If it didn’t fracture his sanity, it could send him spiraling down a very dangerous path, and Sophie refused to let either disaster happen.

  “Hey,” she said, offering him her gloved left hand.

  When he didn’t take it, she turned to Magnate Leto. “Can we have a few minutes?”

  “On it,” Ro jumped in. “Everybody out! Lord Funkyhair needs a pep talk.”

  “No, I don’t,” Keefe snapped back.

  Ro rolled her eyes and hauled him over to the cot next to Sophie’s, muttering about moody boys as she forced him to sit. Then she herded Magnate Leto and Alden out of the Healing Center and went back for Tam and Dex.

  “I forgot to say,” Keefe called after them, “thanks. For helping her. And Fitz.”

  Dex shrugged with his good shoulder. “Wylie did most of it.”

  “He wouldn’t have been there without you,” Keefe reminded him before his eyes shifted to Tam. “And if you hadn’t rushed over . . .”

  “Well,” Tam said, fidgeting with his cape. “I guess that’s why we’re a team. We each have our part.”

  “Too bad I’m stuck being the designated loser,” Keefe said under his breath.

  “Ugh—this is why you need a pep talk,” Ro grumbled as she shoved the other boys out of the room.

  Elwin locked his knees when she came after him. “Hang on. Sophie really needs to take her medicine now.”

  “I’ll give you three seconds,” Ro told him, dragging Grady out instead.

  “Yeah, well I’m going to need a few more than that,” Elwin argued as he grabbed a bottle of orange liquid and held it to Sophie’s lips. “Try to down this in one go—and plug your nose.”

  Sophie did as he asked. But she still got a taste of something that reminded her way too much of the way sasquatches smelled.

  “Ugh, what’s in that? Actually, never mind. I don’t think I want to know.”

  “You don’t. Here, this will help.” He handed her what looked like a hard candy wrapped in silver paper—but the thing inside was black and squishy and looked frighteningly like a dead bug.

  “Just trust me,” Elwin told her.

  That would’ve been a whole lot easier to do if Elwin hadn’t been notorious for picking revolting flavors for the DNA panels on the Foxfire lockers. But even bug guts would probably still be better than liquid sasquatch, so she took a tiny bite and . . .

  “Oh! It’s like a snickerdoodle.”

&nb
sp; “Okay, I don’t know what a snickerdoodle is or why anyone would want to eat something called that,” Ro said, hooking her arm around Elwin’s elbow and hauling him toward the door, “but she took her medicine and your three seconds are up. So out with you! My boy needs a good, long talking-to.”

  “Better talk fast then, Sophie,” Elwin called over his shoulder. “The drowsiness will set in pretty soon.”

  Ro looked like she wished she could carry Fitz out too, even though he was still sedated. Instead, she told Keefe, “It’s time to listen to your girl. No arguing—she’s smarter than you. And remember what you and I have talked about.”

  “What have you and Ro talked about?” Sophie asked as Ro closed the Healing Center door.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he told his feet.

  Sophie sighed, wondering how many things he was hiding from her.

  “Look at me, Keefe.”

  She had to repeat the command two more times before he turned to face her—and when their eyes met, she caught a glimpse of the terrified, broken boy he always tried to hide behind bravado and pranks.

  “Do you trust me?” she asked.

  “Of course I do—that’s not the problem.”

  “Yes, it is. If you trusted me, you’d know I’d never hold something like this against you.”

  “You should.” He pointed to her cocoon of bandages.

  “Um, are you living a double life as a creepy Shade? Because that’s who messed me up.”

  Keefe stood, turning his back to her so he could kick the cot again. “Umber wouldn’t have been able to find you if I hadn’t given you that pendant. Just like the day the Neverseen broke Silveny’s wing because of the Sencen crest I was wearing.”

  “And you know what both of those things have in common?” Sophie asked. “You had no idea that the Neverseen were manipulating you.”

  “Yeah, well I should’ve figured it out. Or I should’ve—”

  “Don’t go down that road, Keefe. It doesn’t lead anywhere good. Trust me, I know. If I let myself take that journey, I’d be sitting here thinking about the fact that if I hadn’t hit my panic switch, Dex’s arm wouldn’t be in a sling. And if you’d been the one to go talk to Fitz after the Tribunal instead of me, he wouldn’t have a broken leg and cracked ribs. And if I hadn’t let you guys come with me to Nightfall, Biana wouldn’t—”