“Apologize to your mother. And stop making a scene!” He glanced nervously over his shoulder at the other Ambis watching.
Tam shook his head. “It’s always about appearances with you.”
“Please,” their mother begged as they turned away again. “I never asked for the situation that was handed to me. I’ve never claimed I handled it well.”
“That’s what we are now?” Linh whispered. “A situation?”
Her mom cleared her throat. “What do you want to be?”
“Nothing,” Tam said. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Then you’re doing a good job,” his father told him, frowning at Tam’s silver bangs. Both of the twins had melted their registry necklaces and dipped their hair in the molten metal as proof that they didn’t need the family that left them to fend for themselves.
Tam pulled the silver over his eyes. “You like the look?”
His father shook his head. He didn’t have the arrogance of Lord Cassius, or the unsettling smile or stare. All he looked was tired.
“Children are supposed to respect their parents,” he said quietly.
Linh pulled Tam away. “Respect has to be earned.”
“Wait,” their mom begged. “Just wait.”
Linh glanced over her shoulder. “We waited for more than three years.”
“I know,” her mother whispered. “You look so much older.”
“That’s what happens when you leave your kids alone with nowhere to live and nothing to eat,” Sophie snapped, no longer able to bite her tongue. She knew this moment fell into the none-of-her-business category. But she’d already watched one friend unravel because of his horrible family. She wasn’t going to let it happen to Tam and Linh.
“Whatever excuses you’ve given yourselves,” she told the Songs, “whatever lies you’ve let yourself believe—this is the truth, right in front of you. You have two incredibly talented, smart, powerful kids who don’t need you anymore. And if you ever want them in your life again, you have to earn it.”
“How?” both of the Songs asked.
Sophie shrugged. “You have to figure it out for yourselves or it won’t mean anything. Come on,” she told Tam and Linh, taking their hands. “We have better places to be.”
“I can’t believe you said that,” Linh whispered as they moved to a spot in the front of the tent and Sandor stood behind her, creating a wall of muscle between them and the Songs.
Sophie lowered her eyes. “Sorry if I shouldn’t have interfered.”
“No—you absolutely should have,” Tam said.
Linh nodded. “The look on my father’s face—that was the greatest gift you ever could’ve given me.”
“I wish I could do more.” It didn’t seem fair that Sophie had been given two loving families, when so many of her friends hadn’t even gotten one. And for all she knew, her genetic parents were also awesome—though that was a little harder to believe, given the whole never-meeting-their-daughter-and-letting-her-be-experimented-on thing.
“Dude,” a voice said behind her. “Am I in the same Hemisphere as the Great Sophie Foster? Never thought that would happen!”
Sophie turned and found a familiar face grinning at her near one of the tent poles.
“Guys, this is Jensi. And Jensi, this is Tam and Linh,” Sophie introduced.
“Cool!—I love your hair!” Jensi practically shouted. “Is that real silver?—And wait—are you from Exillium?—Is that where you met Sophie?—What’s it like there?”
Jensi had a way of talking like he’d drunk a dozen bottles of caffeinated soda. Tam and Linh were naturally overwhelmed.
“Jensi was one of the first people to help me find my way around Foxfire,” Sophie explained. “Though I haven’t seen him around much lately.”
Jensi’s round cheeks flushed, and he ran a hand through his messy brown hair. “Sorry—you’re just always so busy—and I figured I fit in better with the Drooly Boys, anyway.”
“You fit in wherever you want,” Sophie told him. “Though, for the record, I’ve never seen a drop of drool on your chin.”
Coach Rohana strode into the tent before Jensi could respond, carrying a big bag of purple splotchers. The Ping-Pong-ball-size orbs were like squishy paintballs, and had Sophie hoping the day’s exercise would give her a chance to hurl a few at Tam and Linh’s parents.
“Outward channeling requires a different understanding of your power,” Coach Rohana said, rolling a splotcher around the palm of her hand. “The method you’ve all learned for telekinesis taught you to gather energy from deep within your core and then thrust it out with your mind, controlling the force as though the energy were an extension of your existing limbs. But you need to stop thinking of the energy as core energy. It’s simply your energy—and it does not need to remain connected to you in order for you to manipulate it. In fact, it’s far more powerful when you bury it in other things. For instance”—her eyes narrowed at the splotcher in her hand—“you can hide it here, letting it swell and surge until . . .”
The splotcher erupted, splattering her with purple.
“It’s a bizarre concept, I realize,” she said, wiping the paint off her cheeks. “And it will take time for your minds to accomplish it. In fact, I’d wager that most of you will not burst any splotchers today. We’re providing them mostly to give you a goal—a first stepping-stone to strive for. But there’s nothing wrong with needing several baby steps before you get there. Try to trust your instincts. Also don’t be surprised if you find the process exhausting. Please take breaks if you need them. Everyone ready?” She handed the bag of splotchers to Jensi.
He grabbed enough for Sophie, Tam, and Linh before he passed the bag along and plopped next to Sophie on the purple grass. “Maybe I can absorb some of your awesomeness,” he said, then told Tam and Linh about Sophie’s performance during the Ultimate Splotching Championship. “Flung herself and Fitz into the wall and knocked them out cold!”
Linh laughed. “Sounds like Sophie’s caused almost as many disasters as I have.”
“You should come to Foxfire!” Jensi said. “You two could have a Chaos Competition—it would be epic!—Or wait—can you come back to Foxfire?”
Linh glanced over her shoulder at her parents. “When we’re ready.”
“Let’s get started!” Coach Rohana called. “Place your splotcher on the ground in front of you and clear your head. I won’t be giving you any specific pointers, because it’s far better for you to find your own natural trick. But try to understand that your body is not an impermeable vessel holding a well of energy. It’s a stake in the ground, marking the epicenter of your own personal energy cloud.”
“Does Exillium training always sound this loony?” Jensi asked. “Or is this extra weird?”
“It’s extra weird,” Tam said.
“I don’t know. I kinda get it.” Linh furrowed her brow as she stared at her splotcher. “It’s like how water is both without and within.”
“Uh, sure . . . ,” Jensi said.
Tam laughed. “Don’t worry. I don’t understand half the stuff my sister says.”
Sophie was just as confused. But she tried to imagine her energy like a seed, and pictured herself planting it in the center of the splotcher. She hummed a song in her head to make it grow, letting the energy spread through the paint like roots through soil and . . .
. . . the splotcher burst with a squish of purple.
Jensi pumped his fist. “Told you she’d kick our butts!”
“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 se
e 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.”
“Oh, I have,” Fitz said. “But I’m always prepared to be busted if I get caught.”
“Who cares about getting caught?” Maruca asked—her voice more hiss than whisper. “My mom is ready to go to the Council—”
“She can’t do that!” Sophie interrupted. She checked to make sure Magnate Leto was deep in conversation with the Coaches on the other side of the field before she whispered, “The Black Swan don’t want the Council to know this happened.”
“Then bring us to see him,” Maruca said.
“Is that a threat?” Biana asked.
Maruca shrugged, tucking her blue strip of hair behind her ear. “If that’s what it takes to see Wylie.”
“But you’re threatening the wrong person,” Sophie told her. “I don’t have a crystal to get to the place where they’re keeping him.”
“Even if that’s true, if anyone can make it happen, it’s you,” Maruca insisted. “You’re their suncatcher—or their boobrie—or whatever weird bird they call you.”
“It’s a moonlark,” Fitz told her. “Though now I’m kinda wishing they’d called it Project Boobrie.”
Sophie was too stressed to smile. “You’re overestimating how much the Black Swan listen to me,” she told Maruca. “They shoot me down all the time—and they’ve been especially difficult about Wylie.”
Maruca bit her lip. “All I’m asking is for you to try. Please. I know you don’t know me—and that I haven’t been very nice to you. But I need to see him. I need to know for sure that he’s okay—that they haven’t finally broken him.”
The catch in her voice crumbled Sophie’s resolve.
“Fine. I’ll hail the Collective when I get home and see if they’d be willing to arrange something.”
“Why not hail them now?” Maruca pressed.
Sophie pointed to the groups of kids hanging out all around them. “Because we shouldn’t even be talking about this at all right now.”
“Then let me go to your house with you,” Maruca begged. “I’m not saying I don’t trust you. I just might be able to help you convince them.”
“She is pretty pushy,” Fitz said. “It might be kind of fun to sic her on the Collective.”
Sophie rubbed her temples. “If they say no, you have to promise you’ll leave it at that, oka
y? Or find someone else to hassle about it.”
Maruca nodded and Sophie pulled out her home crystal.
Stina looped her arm through Sophie’s. “I’m going with you guys.”
“So am I,” Fitz said.
“What about Dex?” Biana asked. “He’ll be sad if we all go without him.”
“Then why don’t you stay here,” Fitz suggested. “I’ll meet you back at Everglen as soon as we’re done and we can trade stories.”
“Yeah, I want a full update,” Sophie told Biana, pointing to where she’d spotted Dex and Marella talking.
Marella had her face turned away, so it was a little hard to tell.
But Sophie could’ve sworn she was crying.
SOPHIE COULDN’T HAIL MR. FORKLE, SINCE he was still in Magnate Leto disguise at Foxfire. So she reached out to Granite.
“Whoa,” Maruca whispered when Sandor and Grizel opened the door to let Granite in. “That’s a crazy disguise.”
“It is,” he said, his limbs cracking as he followed them into the living room. “And I’m trusting you not to tell anyone you’ve seen me like this.”
“Why?” Maruca asked. “It’s not like I know who you are.”
“We still prefer the public know as little about our organization as possible.” He turned to Sophie. “Where are your parents?”
“Out with the new stegosaurus that arrived this morning. Why—did you need them?”
“Not at the moment. I’m just glad to hear they’re well and safe. And I need all of you to understand that ordinarily I would never agree to a meeting like this. The only reason I did is because I know how much your family matters to Wylie,” he told Maruca. “And as it happens, Physic will be easing Wylie off the sedatives tomorrow. We’ve sheltered him as long as we can, but it’s time for him to begin returning to reality. And it might be helpful for him to have a few familiar faces there when he wakes up—if you think you and your mother would be up for it.”
“We are,” Maruca assured him, wiping away a few tears. “We’ll do whatever he needs. What time and where should we meet and how—”
“I’ll send instructions to your house as soon as I’ve spoken with Physic,” Granite interrupted. “Keep an eye out for a scroll tomorrow morning.”