She paused, knowing Silveny would interrupt with a brain-rattling KEEFE! KEEFE! KEEFE!
Yes! she said when Silveny finished. Call for him just like that—but transmit as far as you can, okay? Like you do when you need to reach me and don’t know where I am. His mind is different than mine since he’s not a Telepath. But he should be able to pick up a transmission if it’s loud enough—and no one is louder than you.
Silveny stepped back and angled her head, studying Sophie with her gold-flecked brown eyes. KEEFE GONE?
Sophie nodded. He ran off this afternoon.
Silveny let out a screechy whinny. KEEFE SAFE?
I don’t know. I hope so, but…
She tried to shut down her brain—tried to stop it from flashing through nightmare images of Keefe passed out in a ditch or locked behind bars. But Silveny saw them anyway and flapped her wings like she wanted to start scouring the planet.
You can’t, Sophie told her. He’s hiding with humans.
HELP! KEEFE! FRIEND! Silveny argued, flapping harder.
But then she glanced at her tiny twin babies, and her mind filled with memories of all the times she’d had to flee for her life to avoid human hunters or trappers.
She hung her head and tucked her wings.
I know, Sophie said, gently stroking Silveny’s fur. I’m worried about him too. That’s why I need you to transmit to him. He’ll ignore me because he doesn’t want me coming after him—but I’m hoping he won’t ignore you.
Keefe would probably worry something was seriously wrong if he suddenly heard Silveny calling for him. Plus, Sophie wasn’t sure it was possible for anyone to ignore the exuberant alicorn when she really set her mind on getting their attention.
Silveny studied Sophie again, and Sophie’s head filled with images of Keefe flashing his trademark smirk and tossing his artfully mussed hair and calling Silveny Glitter Butt—but a grayish sort of sadness tinted each of the memories.
I miss him too, Sophie said, resting her head against Silveny’s cheek.
Silveny snuffled. SOPHIE OKAY?
I’m trying to be. But I’ll feel a lot better if you can make contact with him, so I can make sure he’s safe.
SAFE! SAFE! SAFE! Silveny agreed. KEEFE! KEEFE! KEEFE!
The last chant was so loud, Sophie could feel the words vibrating all the way to her bones.
Perfect! she told Silveny, stepping back to get a little space. Keep doing that as much as you can. Hopefully it’ll make him reach out to me to find out what’s going on. Or who knows? He may even let you into his mind, and you’ll be able to ask where he is.
HOPE! HOPE! HOPE! Silveny cheered. FIND! KEEFE! SAFE!
She followed that with another round of KEEFE! KEEFE! KEEFE!
Then another.
And another.
Wynn and Luna soon joined in, galloping circles around Sophie as they transmitted. Their baby calls weren’t nearly as loud as their mom’s, but they were the most adorable Keefe-Keefe-Keefes ever.
“Okay,” Sophie said, fighting the urge to tug on her eyelashes as she spun around to face Ro, “I’m having the alicorns try transmitting to Keefe since they’ll have a way better chance of getting his attention. Hopefully they’ll figure out how to make contact soon and either find out where Keefe is or at least pass on some messages from us.”
Ro re-sheathed her daggers. “Well… I suppose that’s a start—but that better not be your whole plan!”
“It isn’t.”
A salty ocean breeze whipped through the pastures, and Sophie rubbed her arms, partially for warmth and partially so she’d have something to do with her angsty energy.
She hated that Lord Cassius had made some valid points—and she really hated the idea of leaving Keefe on his own. And she really really really hated the way Ro kept staring at her.
So much judgment. And anticipation. And pressure.
It wasn’t fair!
She didn’t hear Ro coming up with any brilliant ideas or solutions.
Besides… Keefe did beg her not to come after him.
He’d even told her…
“Wait,” Sophie said, pulling Keefe’s note out of her pocket—and keeping a very tight grip on the paper as she reread the part she’d just remembered. She checked it three more times before she whispered, “I… might actually know where he went.”
She shoved the letter back into her pocket and took off running, ignoring Ro’s and Sandor’s demands for an explanation—and Grady’s and Edaline’s startled greetings—as she raced into Havenfield’s mansion and bolted upstairs.
She stumbled into her room, heading straight to her desk and yanking open one of the drawers.
“Okay, Blondie—spill it,” Ro demanded as she burst into the bedroom, huffing to catch her breath. “What’s going on?”
“And know that I’m blocking your path to the Leapmaster!” Sandor called from the hall.
“I don’t need it!” Sophie called back as her fingers closed around the small silver gadget she’d been searching for. “I have this!”
She spun around to face Ro and held out her hand with a flourish.
“Oh good, another talky-square thing,” Ro muttered.
“A special talky-square thing!” Sophie corrected. “I’m only allowed to use it in an emergency—but I think this counts, don’t you?”
She hugged the Imparter to her chest and made her way over to her bed, collapsing onto the pile of pillows.
Ro flopped down beside her. “Soooooooooo… care to explain why you’re suddenly all confident and smiley? Otherwise I’m going to assume it’s because you just reread my favorite line in Hunkyhair’s letter.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “No, I reread a different line. The one that says, ‘I want to make sure you understand who you’d be putting in danger.’ Right after that he wrote, ‘I’m going to be hiding the same way the Black Swan hid you,’ so I thought that was his way of making it clear he’d be hiding with humans. But now I’m wondering if the ‘who’ meant a very specific person.”
“Who?” Ro demanded.
Sophie hugged the special Imparter a little tighter. “My sister.”
SEVEN
AMY FOSTER,” SOPHIE WHISPERED, HOPING she was using the right name.
Her sister had become Natalie Freeman after Sophie was brought to live in the Lost Cities. And she’d been given another new name after the Neverseen took her parents hostage and their lives had to be erased and relocated again—but that identity had been kept completely secret.
Thankfully the Imparter must’ve been programmed to work with any of Amy’s aliases, because despite a long pause, Amy’s familiar face flashed across the screen.
Her curly brown hair looked extra wild, and her green eyes had a tiny stress crinkle between them—but it was her.
The only person from Sophie’s human life who remembered her, thanks to a very special arrangement with the Council.
“Sophie?” Amy asked. “Sorry, I was with Mom, so it took me a second to get somewhere I could talk.”
Mom.
Sophie had such a complicated relationship with that word.
Sometimes she used it for Edaline—but not very often. Probably because she’d used it for her human mother for twelve years before having her existence permanently erased.