Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,14

to protect them from facing the consequences of their decision.

“Well,” Edaline said, straightening up, “you know where to find me if you need me.”

“Same,” Sophie told her, turning to Wynn and transmitting an order to stay far, far away from the gorgodon.

The tiny alicorn responded with a bouncy nicker that wasn’t very reassuring.

Sophie was definitely going to need to have a chat with Silveny about her son’s poor survival instincts. But she had bigger things to focus on as she headed inside. Havenfield’s elegant mansion overlooked the ocean, and Sophie spent the climb up to her third-floor bedroom watching the waves through the etched glass walls and trying to figure out how she was going to tell her friends about Tam.

But even after Sandor, Bo, and Flori had finished their endless security sweep—inspecting every closet, shadow, and petal in her flowered carpet—she still hadn’t found the right words. In fact, the more she’d repeated Mr. Forkle’s plan in her head, the more pointless it had started to sound.

Why would she sit around brainstorming ways that Tam’s power could be used against her and her friends, when she could reach out to him the same way she used to reach out to Keefe when he was with the Neverseen and see if Tam could tell her anything that might help?

She hadn’t tried to contact him before, because she hadn’t wanted to put Tam in a difficult situation. But if Mr. Forkle was right, then Tam was already in so far over his head that it’d be worth the risk.

And it was certainly a lot smarter than wasting weeks or months on theories that might not even be on the right track.

Before she could change her mind, she plopped down on her enormous canopied bed and stared at the crystal stars dangling from her ceiling, watching them sparkle in the bright afternoon sunlight as she gathered her mental strength. The warm energy churned inside her head, humming as it grew stronger and stronger and stronger. And when she could feel it buzzing against the backs of her eyes, she shoved it out of her head, along with the loudest call she could muster.

TAM—CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT’S SOPHIE!

She repeated the words over and over, imagining the force like thick syrup pouring across the sky in every direction—covering the world. And as her consciousness spread, she closed her eyes and tried to feel for…

Actually, she wasn’t sure.

She hadn’t communicated telepathically with Tam very often, so she didn’t know how to recognize his thoughts the way she could with Fitz and Keefe.

TAM! PLEASE, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!

A headache prickled the edge of her consciousness, but she gave herself several long, slow breaths and timed her next transmissions with each exhale, keeping the message shorter to save her energy.

Tam.

Tam!

TAM!

Still nothing—and she could feel her concentration draining to the dregs.

If Fitz were there, he could’ve given her a mental boost, the way he always did when they worked together. But she’d let her silly matchmaking worries keep him away. She had to stop that—had to figure out how to keep things balanced and—

Sophie?

The voice was a ghost in the shadows—cold and whispery.

TAM!

Yeah. But I shouldn’t be talking to you like this. It’s way too dangerous.

I know, but—

There’s no “but,” Tam interrupted, and the feel of his thoughts shifted with the words, like the darkness was crystalizing into ice. Gethen checks my memories constantly.

Sophie’s heart screeched to a stop.

She’d forgotten that the Neverseen’s only Telepath had been in the Black Swan’s custody when Keefe had been living with the enemy. So they hadn’t had to worry about anyone discovering their conversations unless someone caught them in the act and somehow figured out what was happening.

They also hadn’t had to worry about Keefe unwittingly revealing anything he wasn’t supposed to.

Has Gethen probed your mind? she asked, trying to keep the transmission as quiet as possible.

Of course. That was the first thing he did.

Bile burned Sophie’s throat.

Probing was a type of deep mental search that could uncover pretty much anything when performed by a skilled Telepath.

And Tam knew all of their secrets.

All.

Of.

Them.

So if Gethen had probed his mind…

Then the Neverseen now knew that Sophie was an Enhancer. And that Mr. Forkle was still technically alive—and that Magnate Leto and Sir Astin were two of his alter egos. And that Granite and Squall—two other members of the Black Swan’s Collective—were Sir Tiergan and Juline Dizznee. And they knew every single lead that Sophie and her friends had uncovered—and