Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,191

he reached for a blanket, she heard him mumble, “We’d better do it fast. Otherwise I’m going to have to face my legacy.”

* * *

Poor Fitz looked pretty shaken by whatever bombardment of questions he’d endured while Sophie was getting Keefe settled.

And Sophie didn’t blame anyone for being upset—or for demanding answers.

She also felt seriously horrible for how much they’d worried everybody.

But when it came time to discuss proper punishment, she had a few things to say first.

“I know what I did was dangerous—”

“What we did,” Fitz corrected, reaching for her hand—which was buried under several layers of gloves again.

“It was my idea,” Sophie argued.

“Doesn’t matter,” Fitz insisted. “I chose to go with you—and I’d do it again.”

“So would I,” Sophie admitted, tangling their fingers together as she turned back to face the others. “That’s what I was going to say. I know this was dangerous. And I know you’re all stressed out and mad at me because of it—especially you, Sandor. And I get why. Just like I also realize how lucky I am that all three of us made it back unharmed. But… I don’t regret going. And if I had to do it all over again, I’d still sneak away.”

“Even though you didn’t accomplish anything you set out to do by going?” Mr. Forkle asked.

“We accomplished some of it,” Sophie argued.

“Yeah, we found their hidden path,” Fitz added.

And if Lady Gisela was to be believed, they’d also gotten an answer to whether or not Keefe was involved in what happened with the accident—though Sophie was still holding out hope that his mom had been playing one of her mind games in that moment.

“We also learned that Lady Gisela’s planning something for Keefe soon,” Sophie added. “And that Tam’s warning about what she wants him to do is probably true. And we saw those weird glowing bracelet things they’re using to keep Tam in line—”

“Yeah, about those,” Elwin interrupted, “when you get a minute, I’d love to see a projection of what they looked like.”

“So would I,” Wylie agreed. “I don’t understand how light would control a Shade.”

“I have a few theories,” Elwin said, mostly to himself.

“Do any of those theories involve quintessence?” Mr. Forkle asked him, and Sophie’s insides tangled tighter at the word.

“All of them, actually,” Elwin admitted, which did not help Sophie’s knotted-up feeling.

“Then it sounds like you and I need to have a longer conversation,” Mr. Forkle said, rubbing one of his temples. “I’ll project some images of the bonds for you—I’ve already seen Miss Foster’s and Mr. Vacker’s memories of them.”

“You have?” Sophie and Fitz asked in unison.

“Yes. When you run off in the middle of the night, sending everyone you care about into a panic—and then turn up with stories of accidental showdowns against our enemies—you lose the right to insist I follow the rules of telepathy. Though, for the record, I only searched your London memories.”

Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “Pretty sure you wouldn’t be okay with that logic if we tried to use it on you,” she snapped back—but now wasn’t the time for a huge fight. “Next time try asking. And… at least we learned something useful, right?”

“The showdown wasn’t an accident, either,” Fitz corrected. “Lady Gisela said the Neverseen have been watching that path, waiting for us to show up. She just didn’t count on Sophie’s inflicting being so strong.”

“Which is the most important thing that happened tonight,” Sophie jumped in. “We proved that I can handle problems by myself.”

“Sounds like you handle them best when you’re with Mr. Sencen and Mr. Vacker,” Bronte noted.

“They did help,” Sophie agreed. “So they should probably be a part of Team Valiant—but we can argue about that later. Right now, my point is”—she turned to Mr. Forkle—“you guys did your job. Now that my abilities are working right, I can tell, I’m… pretty powerful. And I have a bunch of crazy-powerful friends—and I can enhance them to make them even more awesome if I need to. So now… I think you guys need to realize that sometimes you’re going to have to trust that we’ll be okay without you—and yes, I am including you in this, Sandor. I’m honored that you’re willing to risk your life to protect me—and most of the time I’m happy to have you at my side—”

“Happy?” Dex repeated. “I dunno—I’ve heard an awful lot of bodyguard grumbling.”

“So have I,” Biana agreed.

“As have I,” Sandor emphasized.

“You’re right,” Sophie admitted, meeting Sandor’s eyes. “And I shouldn’t have done that. I