Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,238

right now. But I can wake her up if you need motivation. Or maybe it would be better to make sure she never wakes up again—and you can drop those hands right now,” she added, shaking her head. Her eyes shifted to Sophie as she called out, “Are all boys this stubborn and angsty?”

“Pretty sure they are when you’re holding them prisoner and threatening to torture their friends and family,” Sophie snapped back.

Lady Gisela shook her head again. “Don’t you get it? That’s a gift. Freedom isn’t always as wonderful as we want to believe. Choice comes with responsibility. With consequences. With guilt. I’m sparing all of you from that—yes, even you, Sophie. Why do you think I went to such ridiculous lengths to leave you completely powerless? Do you realize how challenging that is? You have five abilities! Honestly, if you didn’t insist on working with friends, I’d probably never be able to thwart you. But all those moving pieces and variables give me room to play. It still takes time—this moment right now has been months in the making. And you’re lying there hating me. Surely still trying to figure out some way to resist me—which doesn’t exist, by the way—completely missing the fact that thanks to my hard work, you’ll be able to go home tonight, comfortable in the knowledge that you truly tried your hardest and that it was simply an impossible situation. You’re welcome.”

Keefe barked a bitter laugh. “That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. Mommy Dearest wants us to thank her for being so evil!”

Lady Gisela rolled her eyes. “Never mind. Time to focus.”

She waved Tam closer, and when he stepped into Sophie’s line of sight, it was impossible not to stare at his glowing bonds.

Sophie knew how it felt to be powerless—but she couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be for someone else to have control.

And not just anyone.

Lady Gisela.

Sophie’s insides squirmed just thinking about it. And she wondered how much it had cost Tam to give her that warning about Keefe.

How desperate he’d been to avoid the exact situation they were now in.

I’m sorry, Tam, she transmitted. This isn’t your fault. I hope you know that. No one’s going to blame you.

He angled his face away, but Sophie could still see how hard he was blinking.

And she wanted to say more, but Lady Gisela clapped her hands, demanding attention.

“What’s about to happen couldn’t be simpler. On my command, Tam, you’ll launch a bolt of shadowflux at the stone in the wall that I showed you earlier. You shouldn’t have to do anything else, but since this is all untested—and I’m assuming you’d prefer my son to survive this—”

“Eh, I don’t know if that’s a safe assumption,” Keefe interrupted. “Bangs Boy and I aren’t exactly besties. Also, it’s super awesome hearing how ‘untested’ this is.”

Sophie had gotten stuck on that same word.

“Still trying to convince yourself this isn’t an experiment?” she spat.

“Assuming you’d prefer my son to survive this,” Lady Gisela repeated to Tam, ignoring Sophie and Keefe, “you’ll monitor the reaction and step in as needed. The command I’ll be giving you is to rely on your instincts—”

“And then you’ll let me go?” Tam cut in. “That’s what you told me. I train with you. I hear you out about all your reasons. I do the thing. And then I’m done and my sister is safe and my friends are safe and these are gone”—he patted the bonds on his wrists—“and it’s up to me if I want to come back.”

He stole a glance at Sophie after he said it, as if he were worried she might hate him for bargaining about this.

What other choice do you have? she transmitted to reassure him.

And she held her breath, whooshing it out as a sigh of relief when Lady Gisela told him, “Yes, Tam. That’s the deal.”

“And did you just say ‘do the thing’?” Keefe jumped in.

“What else am I supposed to call this?” Tam countered.

Keefe considered that for a second. “Fair enough.”

“Yes, well, while Tam is ‘doing the thing,’ ” Lady Gisela said with an eye roll, “Glimmer will send a bolt of light at the crown to activate the ethertine to balance the reaction.”

“That’s what the crown’s for?” Sophie asked.

She hadn’t meant to blurt out the question—and Lady Gisela must’ve guessed why she was asking because she told her, “Ethertine only affects Shades the way you’re thinking.”

And Sophie’s heart lightened ever so slightly.

Everything was still terrible.

This was still happening.

But at least she wouldn’t have