Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,230

before. He must be very worried for our people.”

None of that was good news.

But Sophie tried to set aside the fear and focus on the useful information. “So ethertine affects every species differently?”

“We’re all unique creatures, aren’t we?” Nubiti countered.

They were.

And that could mean that Sophie was right about the theory slowly pulling together in her brain—but it also sounded so absurd that she needed a deep breath before she whispered, “Do you think, on an elf, ethertine might work like… mind control?”

Nubiti dragged her foot slowly through the sand. “Your species is very sensitive to light—more sensitive than any other. And your minds are known for their power. So… anything is possible.”

It was.…

“And ethertine is really made of starlight and lightning?” Sophie asked.

“That’s one of the common stories,” Nubiti told her. “But if that were true, every thunderstorm with a break in the clouds would create more, and ethertine is incredibly rare. So I think it must require a specific kind of starlight.”

“You mean quintessence,” Sophie guessed.

“That has always been my presumption—more so now that I better understand the origin of magsidian.”

“So… ethertine from quintessence, and magsidian from shadowflux,” Sophie said, mostly to herself.

And if Lady Gisela wanted to control a Shade…

“I’m going to check on the other group,” Nubiti said as Sophie’s mind raced through the possibilities. “I’ll be moving back and forth between you as needed. Hopefully you’re never both in dire straits at the same time.…”

“Hopefully they’re never in dire straits—period,” Flori corrected from somewhere in the nearby shadows.

“Of course.” But Nubiti’s grim tone made it clear how little hope she held for that. “Stomp in your regular pattern if you’re in trouble while I’m gone,” she told Sophie. “I’ll check back as soon as I can.”

She dived back into the ground, disappearing without a word.

And then there was silence.

Restless, endless silence.

Stretching so long that Sophie realized they surely had to be past the Neverseen’s deadline.

And still, there was nothing—and Sophie wondered if she should reach out to Fitz telepathically, to see if his group had seen or learned or discovered anything.

But the thought of hearing his voice in her head made her chest feel much too heavy.

“Think the Neverseen are playing with us?” Maruca called from the darkness after several more painfully long minutes.

“Oh, I’m sure they are,” Wylie muttered, the glow from his circlet swaying slightly, as if he were shaking his head. “I wonder if we should—”

Blaring sirens cut him off—and the high-pitched wails stabbed Sophie’s ears like tiny needles.

“What is that?” Councillor Noland shouted as three of the king’s guards locked arms in the dim glow near the door to form a furry barricade.

Sandor and Ro appeared behind them, their blades glinting in the flickering light.

“That is a warning alarm that Nubiti installed at the main entrance of the marketplace,” King Enki explained. And he seemed so calm—so steady—as he stood before his throne with the glow from his crown making the magsidian shimmer all the more.

He didn’t even flinch as a second siren joined the other, adding shrill, screechy sounds to the headache-triggering din.

“And that’s the alarm Nubiti installed at the market’s back gate,” King Enki informed them.

“Does that mean we’re in the wrong place?” Maruca yelled to Sophie.

“Or it means they’re coming for us next,” Wylie reminded her.

“Take cover!” Sandor ordered—but there was no way that Sophie was hiding.

She pulled two throwing stars from her pockets, aiming them toward the door.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

But the door stayed safely barricaded.

Not even a thump on the other side.

And a third siren blared to life with a series of painful squawks.

“Additional alarm in the heart of the marketplace,” King Enki told them.

And still nothing happening at the Grand Hall.

“Shouldn’t we go help them?” Maruca asked, voicing the question that Sophie was pretty sure they’d all been thinking.

And Sophie had no idea—she’d been so certain that the Neverseen would come find them that she’d never considered a backup plan.

“I think we should go!” Maruca decided, and her silhouette sprinted toward the door.

“Wait!” Sandor commanded, waving his sword to block her as he sniffed the air. “Something’s… shifted.”

“You’re feeling that too?” Ro asked, ducking into a crouch and pointing her daggers toward the darkness.

“It’s the shadows,” Flori added—and Sophie followed her voice to a spot behind King Enki’s throne. Flori’s huge gray eyes shone in the darkness—looking so heartbreakingly sad as she said, “I should’ve seen this.”

Then the alarms went silent.

And all the shadows shifted—the entire room lightening.

Brightening.

Revealing three black-cloaked figures in front of the throne.

“Finally,”