Sophie barely caught the words before they were swallowed up by the vacuumlike pull of the silence.
It’s possible But if I take them off, I’m going to enhance you—and probably Alvar too.
She’d never tested whether the ability only worked with hand-to-hand contact. But the energy came from her touch, so she was pretty sure it wouldn’t matter where she placed her fingers.
I think we have to try, Fitz thought.
Yeah, give me one second. Sophie severed their connection and pulled her mind free to clear her head.
“I take it you’re not having much luck,” Physic said when she noticed Sophie peeling off her gloves.
“I’ve never felt anything like that,” Fitz told her, rubbing his forehead.
The scary thing was, Sophie actually had—but she was trying really, really hard not to think about that.
“Ready for plan B?” she asked, wiggling her now exposed fingers to hide how much they were shaking.
“Wait,” Biana said, moving behind Sophie and wrapping her arms around her waist. “Someone should hold you steady in case this gets too intense.”
Physic did the same for Fitz, and the four of them held their breath as Sophie grabbed Fitz’s hand the same moment they each pressed their fingers against Alvar’s temples.
WHOA.
The thought came from both of them as Fitz’s mind glowed with the rush of pulsing energy.
Is this what it always feels like when I enhance you? she asked.
Pretty crazy, right?
Suddenly he was ten steps ahead of her, his brain anticipating everything before her thoughts could even form.
And the strength.
The tiniest shove of his mind was like a wrecking ball, smashing against the never-ending black.
But it was like crashing into a wall of smoke. The darkness swirled around each hit without any impact.
Enhancing Alvar didn’t have any effect either. Sophie could feel the tingling warmth leaving her fingers, but the energy was immediately swallowed by the darkness.
Got any other ideas? Fitz asked.
Sophie had one—but it wasn’t so much an idea as it was a realization.
What? Fitz asked as he boosted her strength to drag their minds out of the mental mire. I can feel you holding something back.
I know—I just . . . need to think.
Ten seconds slipped by.
Then twenty.
Thirty.
Whatever it is, you can tell me, Fitz promised. I won’t freak out. If Alvar’s broken—
It’s not that.
“I think I know what you’re going to say,” Physic told her. “And if it helps, I noticed the same similarity in his vitals. I checked twice, to make sure I wasn’t making a mistake. But other than a couple of changes that would stem from the blood loss, everything else is the same.”
“The same as what?” Grady asked from the doorway, making Sophie whip around.
“Is everything okay with Sandor and Grizel?” she asked. “Did they find any trackers?”
“None so far,” he told her. “What about you guys?”
Sophie turned back to Alvar, searching his features for any sign of life—any clue that her theory might be wrong.
His deep gashes were now sealed, leaving angry red lines on his clammy skin. And there were purple bruises around his mouth. But mostly he looked . . . distant.
Unreachable.
“What were you and Physic talking about?” Fitz asked. “What does Alvar remind you of?”
“It’s not what,” Physic corrected. “It’s who.”
Neither Sophie nor Physic seemed to want to be the one to say it. So they did it in unison.
“Prentice.”
Fifty
I THOUGHT YOU said Alvar’s mind wasn’t broken.” Fitz’s face didn’t betray any emotion, but there was a hoarseness to his voice that he couldn’t clear away.
“It isn’t,” Sophie promised. “Though . . . I guess there’s a tiny chance it could be. His mind is too empty right now to be able to tell. But that’s what I mean. That’s exactly how Prentice’s mind felt after we brought him out of Exile.”
“You mean when his consciousness was gone?” Grady clarified.
Sophie forced herself to nod. “I’ll never forget the way the darkness didn’t have a shape to it. It just stretched on and on with endless nothing.”
“His vitals match that too,” Physic added quietly. “They’re almost identical to what Prentice’s were when I started treating him at the Stone House. I’ve even ended up giving Alvar the same elixirs, and they’ve all been about as effective.”
“So then . . . we need to lift a veil of shadowvapor, don’t we?” Fitz asked, turning to Tam. “That’s how you brought Prentice out of it, isn’t it?”
“I can try,” Tam told him. “But if it’s as heavy as Prentice’s was, I’ll probably need to rest before I’ll be strong enough to lift it.”
Sophie offered her gloveless hand. “If you need me to help . . .”
“Let’s see how it goes,” Tam said, squaring his shoulders and letting his shadow crawl toward Alvar’s face and sink slowly into his skin.
Sophie braced for bone-shaking screams, like Prentice made when his veils were lifted. But Alvar stayed silent.
Seconds dragged by—two hundred and seventeen of them—before Tam’s shadow slunk back to its rightful place.
“I can’t do it,” he said, grabbing one of the towels and wiping the sweat off his forehead.
“Do you need more energy?” Fitz asked. “I might be able to give you a boost.”
Tam shook his head. “It’s not that. His shadowvapor isn’t heavy. It’s . . . gooey.”
“Gooey,” Biana repeated, a shaky edge of humor in her voice, as if she wanted to laugh and scream at the same time.
“I know, it’s not a great description,” Tam mumbled. “But it’s the only way I can think to explain it. There’s nothing solid enough to grab ahold of. No individual layers. And when I push it around, it floods in on itself and bunches up, like when you stir something thick and sticky.”
“Then he’s not like Prentice,” Fitz said, turning to Sophie. “Right?”
“Or maybe the differences have to do with the fact that Prentice had a broken mind, and Alvar likely doesn’t,” Physic suggested. “Or because we’re attempting this so much earlier for him. Judging by Alvar’s wounds, I’d say he’s been like this for barely longer than a day. And we didn’t try lifting a veil in Prentice’s mind for weeks.”
“So . . . we can’t wake him up?” Biana asked.
“For the moment, no.” Physic’s face twisted, as if the words felt sour as she said them.
“I’m not sure I understand how they could be the same,” Grady admitted. “Are you saying the Council gave Prentice the same sedative?”
“It’s a possibility,” Physic told him.
Sophie frowned. “But I thought Prentice didn’t even respond to the sedatives the Council gave him.”
“So did I,” Physic agreed. “Broken minds usually don’t.”
“That’s right—my dad didn’t,” Fitz added, and Sophie noticed his hands were white-knuckled, probably reliving those harrowing days.
She let her mind drift to a different heartbreaking memory, and could practically feel the cold ocean wind on her skin from when she’d stood outside Lumenaria’s towering gates, waiting with the rest of the Collective to exchange Gethen for Prentice’s freedom.
“Bronte told us that Councillor Alina had to go to Exile and use her ability as a Beguiler to calm Prentice down before transport,” she said quietly. “I remember wondering if she might’ve done something to Prentice that caused him to slip away. Do you think the Neverseen have a Beguiler working for them and did the same thing to Alvar?”
“Nothing a Beguiler could do would have this effect,” Physic assured her. “They only add to the mind, amplifying existing thoughts and feelings to manipulate people. They can’t
take anything away—especially an entire consciousness.”
“So . . . how can Alvar and Prentice be the same, then?” Tam asked.
“I’m honestly not sure,” Physic admitted. “But I don’t like coincidences—especially since we’ve never figured out what caused Prentice’s downturn.”
“I think it’s definitely worth talking to the Councillors,” Grady said.
“Are you sure we can trust them?” Biana asked. “It sounds like they might’ve done something to him.”
“I’ve wrestled with that idea ever since they returned Prentice to us in such a confusing state,” Physic told her. “But I’ve never been able to come up with a reason why they would harm him.”
Neither had Sophie, when the same worry had reared up in her mind in the past. Anyone who damaged Prentice so severely would affect their own sanity with the guilt of it, and she couldn’t imagine any of the Councillors taking such a personal risk—even Alina.
“But it is possible they did something unintentionally,” Physic added. “So I think we need to ask them exactly what happened.”
“Oralie would know, wouldn’t she?” Fitz asked.
“She might not,” Sophie warned. “She wasn’t at Lumenaria for the exchange—only Bronte and Emery. And Alina and Terik were the ones who went to Exile to bring Prentice to us.”
Physic checked Alvar’s pulse. “I still think we should start with her, see what she knows and if she thinks we should let her investigate further, or ask the other Councillors ourselves.”
“I can head to Eternalia at dawn, see if I can set up a meeting,” Grady offered.
“That’s right,” Sophie mumbled, staring up through the skylights at the stars shining over them. “I forgot it’s the middle of the night.”
A deep, almost painful weariness dragged down her bones at the reminder.
“Maybe you guys should go home and get a little rest,” Physic suggested.
“I’m not leaving my brother,” Biana told her.
“Me either,” Fitz agreed.
“It’s not like any of us are going to be able to sleep,” Sophie added.
“Well then, you might want to go back out to the hall,” Physic told them. “Now that Alvar’s wounds have sealed, I need to coat his skin with reveldust to make sure he’s not covered in any ogre tracking enzymes.”
They were halfway to the door when Tam froze.
“Did you do that?” he asked Biana, pointing to his mom’s portrait of him, which now had jagged bangs slashed across the forehead.
Biana nodded. “I’m going to fix Linh’s portrait too—unless you don’t want me to.”
Tam’s grin was enormous as he stepped closer to admire her work. The brushstrokes were hasty, and the silver tips were too gray—but the painting finally looked like him. “Are you kidding? That’s the best thing I’ve seen in a long time!”
“Um, not to spoil this moment, but you guys need to see this,” Physic said behind them.
They all spun around to find a splotch of glowing purple on the bottom of Alvar’s heel.
“I thought I’d start with his feet since you were still in here,” she said, crouching to get a better look at the mark. “I think it’s some sort of brand. The shape is very specific, and the mark looks pressed into his skin.”
Sophie stepped closer, squinting at the twisted lines that curved around each other before flaring out in spirals. It reminded her of a falling star.
“What does it mean when reveldust glows purple?” she asked.
“No idea,” Physic said. “I’ve only seen red or green. But I’m not much of an expert on ogre enzymes. We’ll have to ask Lady Cadence in the morning.”
“Why not hail her now?” Sophie countered. “She’s part of the Black Swan, right? We’re all up dealing with this. Why can’t she be too?”
“I suppose that is fair,” Physic said, removing an Imparter from her pocket. “But I’m calling ‘not it’ for facing the wrath of a sleep-deprived Lady Cadence.”
“I’ll do it,” Sophie offered, taking the Imparter and giving the command before she could wimp out.
“This better be important!” Lady Cadence snapped, her voice thick with sleep as her puffy-eyed face filled the small screen. “And I mean life-changingly important.”
“It might be,” Sophie told her. “What does glowing purple mean?”
Lady Cadence yawned. “Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”
“Reveldust,” Sophie told her. “What does glowing purple mean when you coat something with reveldust?”
“I’ve never seen anything turn purple before,” she said. “You’re sure it’s not blue?”
“You tell me.” Sophie held the Imparter up to Alvar’s heel. “We captured a member of the Neverseen tonight, and we found this mark on his heel while we were searching for any way they might be tracking him.”
“Well, I’ve never seen reveldust turn that color before, so I’m not sure—wait. Can you turn off the lights in the room?”
Tam snapped his fingers, leaving them with nothing but the pale moonlight and the purple glow, which had turned much brighter, and had a slight shimmer to it, with hints of opalescence.
Lady Cadence sucked in a gasp. “Is the prisoner unresponsive?”
“Yes,” Physic told her. “Both to mental stimuli and all of my remedies. Do you know what they gave him?”
An agonizingly long pause followed before Lady Cadence said, “That mark is glowing with the residue of soporidine.”
Fifty-one
THE NEVERSEEN MUST’VE found a food source for the Bucollosisia,” Lady Cadence murmured, “otherwise they never would’ve had access to such a massive quantity of soporidine.”
“This is massive?” Physic asked, pointing to the glowing mark on Alvar’s heel, which was barely larger than an inch.
“It is,” Lady Cadence assured her. “That mark is at least ten times bigger than the drop that spilled on me, and that had been a significant quantity.”
“Soporidine—is that what the scroll Keefe sent over was talking about?” Biana asked.
“Yes,” Lady Cadence said, launching into a brief explanation about the rare amino acid. “I honestly don’t see how the Neverseen could’ve pulled this off. I read through my notes again, and the Bucollosisia were a deeply flawed creation. I can’t imagine what would sustain them.”
Sophie stared at the flaky powder coating her skin, feeling the pieces click together. “It has to be the ash.”
“Is that what’s currently smeared all over you?” Lady Cadence asked.
Sophie nodded. “This has to be why the Neverseen gathered the ash from the efflorescence.”
“Anyone care to explain what that means?” Lady Cadence requested.
Fitz gave her a quick rundown of the twenty Everblaze sites now covered in flowers, and how they’d found dreamlilies and slumberberries and aethrials and sweetshades growing there.
“Ash,” Lady Cadence said slowly. “I’m trying to imagine how that would work.”
“Well, didn’t you say the Bucollosisia needed nitrogen?” Sophie asked, turning to Grady. “And didn’t you say the ash from the Everblaze has nitrogen in it, and that’s why it’s so cold?”
“I’m nowhere near an alchemy expert,” he admitted. “So that was partially a guess. But Everblaze is a solar flame, called down from the sky. And I’m pretty sure it absorbs nitrogen as it passes through the atmosphere.”
“It does,” Physic agreed.
“And frissyn has nitrogen in it too, I think.” Sophie closed her eyes, trying to picture the formula for the only substance that extinguished Everblaze.
She couldn’t understand most of the symbols, but she recognized nitrogen among them.
And the Council would’ve given the fires a generous dusting to halt the infernos.
“But the bacteria needed more than nitrogen,” Lady Cadence reminded her. “The Bucollosisia also lacked the ability to break the element down.”
>
“Maybe that’s where the gnomish plants come in,” Sophie suggested. “Or maybe the Quintessence in the frissyn is part of the process too. Or the Everblaze might change the nitrogen somehow. Or . . . I don’t know—I’m horrible at this stuff. But didn’t you say it seemed like an experiment when we were at the efflorescence sites?” she asked Fitz. “What if they burned the different plants with Everblaze and waited for the Council to extinguish the fires with frissyn—maybe they even did something else to the soil too, which would explain why there are so many flowers growing there now. And then they gathered it all up and tested it on the Bucollosisia in Nightfall until they found something that worked.”
“All of that does sound feasible,” Physic admitted.
“Can you turn off the lights and show me the mark again?” Lady Cadence asked, and Sophie moved the Imparter back to Alvar’s heel as the room went dark. “That’s definitely soporidine,” she whispered, as if she’d needed to convince herself. “And with the amount he’s been exposed to, it’s amazing he’s still breathing.”
“His vitals are extremely weak,” Physic said. “But they’re holding steady.”
“How long do you think it’s going to take for the soporidine to wear off?” Sophie asked, already dreading the answer.
“I lost three days on a fraction of what he’s been exposed to,” Lady Cadence told her. “And with how much I’m seeing on his skin, I’m sure he’ll be out for weeks. Maybe months.”
“Months?” Fresh tears pricked Sophie’s eyes, and she was glad the darkness could hide them.
Months before their only lead to find her family would actually be useful.
“I’m assuming that means there’s no antidote?” Physic asked as Tam turned the lights on again.
“The ogres tried everything in their arsenal on me,” Lady Cadence said through a sigh. “Nothing helped.”
The word echoed in Sophie’s head—nothing, nothing, nothing.
Which was probably why Biana was the one to ask the question Sophie should’ve been focusing on.
“Why would the Neverseen make a bunch of soporidine?”
“I’m guessing the obvious answer is: to drug a lot of people,” Physic said, tilting her head to study Alvar’s pale face. “But there has to be more to it than that, or they would’ve used it already. They must be waiting for something.”