Lady Gisela said, tossing back her hood and offering a cold smile as her eyes met Sophie’s. “I wondered how much longer it would take you to notice us. Now, where’s my son?”
FORTY-EIGHT
YOU GUYS CAN STAY RIGHT there!” Maruca shouted at the Neverseen, and Sophie squeezed her eyes shut as a searing white flash shredded the darkness.
She held her breath, counting the next few seconds—waiting, waiting, waiting to see if the light would trigger a reaction from the magsidian.
And when she made it to ten with no fiery explosions, she opened her eyes, and…
Safe.
It was a strange word to think, given their current situation—but it mostly summed up what Sophie felt when she saw that Lady Gisela and both of the other cloaked figures were now trapped under Maruca’s force field.
She just wished Lady Gisela would’ve looked a little more upset about it.
Instead, Lady Gisela clapped her hands and said, “Well! This is a surprise! And once again—bravo for your brilliant recruiting, Sophie. You found yourself a Psionipath—those are very hard to come by! I would know—I’ve been looking. Maybe someday I’ll take this one.…”
Maruca’s smile glinted in the light of her force field as she told Lady Gisela, “Try it.”
But Sophie’s eyes locked with Wylie’s, and she knew he was feeling the same sickening dread that she felt.
Especially when Lady Gisela told Maruca, “Maybe I will,” before she turned back to the two cloaked figures trapped under the glowing dome with her. “Then again, you might be a little too inexperienced for me.”
“Uh, I caught you, didn’t I?” Maruca argued.
“Did you? Am I trapped?” Lady Gisela wondered. “Or am I just enjoying some rather convenient protection from Sophie’s inflicting?”
“I don’t like this,” Ro whispered in Sophie’s ear—and Sophie barely managed not to squeal, wondering when the ogre princess had snuck up beside her. “She’s way too happy to be under that little shield,” Ro added. “So I say you tell your girl to drop her force field and let me and Sandor take them down. We should have them on the ground in seconds—and if things get weird, you do your rage-girl thing. Either way, we save all the talky talk for once Lady Creeptastic is locked in a cage.”
It was actually a smart plan.
But before Sophie could give Maruca the suggestion, Lady Gisela called out, “Whatever you and the princess are plotting over there, Sophie, I wouldn’t recommend it. Clearly you haven’t noticed how off your Psionipath’s aim was.”
“Psh, my aim was perfect!” Maruca snapped back.
“It was,” Lady Gisela agreed. “For me. You trapped us in here with some very handy hostages. Show them, Tam.”
Sophie was too stuck on the word “hostages” to feel the full impact of the name—until the shadows within the force field shifted, revealing the reality of their situation. Then her stomach lurched and her heart stopped and her head was pounding, pounding, pounding—and Sophie didn’t want to know which one of the black-cloaked figures was her friend.
Because the figure on Lady Gisela’s left had a dagger pressed against King Enki’s throat.
And the figure on Lady Gisela’s right held a dagger to Flori.
“I think we all understand the situation a little better now, don’t we?” Lady Gisela asked as Sophie tried to remind herself, Tam’s being controlled.
It wasn’t him doing this horrible thing.
It had to be the ethertine.
He didn’t have a choice—even if another part of her brain was screaming, THERE’S ALWAYS A CHOICE!
“Ah ah ah,” Lady Gisela said as Maruca raised her arms. “No unraveling my precious force field—not unless you want the dwarves to be without their king, or Sophie to live without her favorite little gnome. That’s how hostages work—in case you didn’t realize. Now you have to do what I tell you or…” She nodded at the cloaked figures, and they pressed their blades even farther into King Enki’s and Flori’s skin.
Maruca’s hands curled into fists, and her eyes were so wild with panic and fury and regret that Sophie stole a second to transmit to her, This isn’t your fault. Accidents happen. You were trying to help, and no one blames you. Just try to stay calm now, okay?
She didn’t have time to see if Maruca nodded, because Lady Gisela was telling Wylie, “No Flasher tricks either. And don’t look so devastated, Sophie—this is honestly a good thing for everybody. I’d imagined we’d be stuck fighting a big annoying battle until all of you were sufficiently subdued. This was such a time-saver! And if you feel that rage of