Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,48

valuable,” she added, before anyone could protest, “or that we don’t want you using it. All we’re saying is that if it was the only ability that mattered, your order wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to give you four others. Isn’t that right, Tiergan?” She flashed a gleaming smile when she noticed the frowns on Vika’s and Stina’s faces. “I’m guessing your husband never told you that Tiergan is a member of the Black Swan’s Collective?”

“Timkin doesn’t know,” Tiergan corrected. “And since you seem bent on outing those of us in the order today, I feel the need to add that just because the Neverseen have some extra knowledge about our members, that doesn’t mean we want you to share that information whenever and wherever you please.”

“Why do the Neverseen know…?” Biana started to ask—but then her eyes widened. “Did Tam tell them?”

“It wasn’t his fault,” Sophie assured her. “Gethen probed his memories.”

She didn’t have to use her telepathy to see the news snowballing inside her friends’ minds.

“Does that mean you’ve talked to him?” Biana asked.

“And didn’t tell us?” Dex added.

“See?” Councillor Terik said when Sophie nodded. “This proves my point.”

“No it doesn’t,” Sophie argued. “I talked to Tam yesterday—and I would’ve told them about it by now if you guys hadn’t made me come here today.”

“And you haven’t told Fitz?” Biana clarified. “Or Keefe?”

There was something pointed about the way she said the second name—something that made Sophie a little nervous to admit, “I… actually talked to Keefe last night—but you’ll understand why once I explain what’s going on. As soon as we’re done here, I’ll—”

“Why wait?” Stina interrupted. “Sounds like pretty crucial information. And I’m part of the team now, so…”

“Technically not yet,” Sophie reminded her. “I haven’t agreed to be the leader.”

Stina rolled her eyes. “But we all know you’re going to. That’s what you do. You pout and stall for a while—but eventually you give in because you can’t help being the good little moonlark! So I should be there for the big explanation.”

“We all should,” Councillor Emery added. “Team Prodigious is meant to be a collaboration between the five of you and the twelve of us.”

“Dude, you have to stop calling it that,” Dex told him. “How about Team T. Rex?”

“Or Team Alicorn?” Biana added.

“If we go that route, why don’t we just call ourselves the Order of the Phoenix?” Sophie couldn’t resist suggesting—but of course no one appreciated her reference. “Never mind.”

“Human thing?” Dex guessed.

“A super-famous one,” she agreed, kinda wishing she had a few more shared life experiences with her friends.

At least Stina wasn’t still pushing for information.

They’d managed to sidestep that for the moment.

“What about Linh?” Wylie asked, and it took Sophie a second to realize he wasn’t suggesting that as a team name. “She should be a part of this. She’s way more powerful than I am. Probably more powerful than all of us—except Sophie.”

“She is,” Emery agreed. “But the Neverseen have control of her brother, which makes her vulnerable at best and completely unreliable at worst. Not to mention the fact that we also selected each of you for your unique abilities, and hydrokinesis will serve us little use in the desert.”

“Desert?” Dex, Biana, and Wylie repeated.

Councillor Emery glanced at Sophie. “I assume you also have yet to tell them about Mr. Forkle’s suspicions regarding Loamnore?”

Sophie sighed when she saw the scowls on her friends’ faces. “I was going to cover everything at once.”

“Well then,” Emery said, “no time like the present.”

All eyes focused on Sophie, and she could tell that no one was going to let her drop this. So she gave them the bullet points of Mr. Forkle’s theory, even though it felt wrong discussing Black Swan stuff with so many extra people. And when Biana started to argue that Tam would never play a role in something like what Sophie was fearing, she went ahead and told them about the warning Tam had given her and the basic details of the deal she’d made with Ro to keep Keefe safe. The only stuff she left out was the matchmaking nightmare, because there was no way she was admitting that to Stina Heks—or letting Della and Biana hear it before Fitz.

Wylie turned away when she’d finished, his spotlight fading to a dull gray. “I should be the one to explain this to Linh.”

Sophie wasn’t about to argue. She didn’t know how to define Linh and Wylie’s friendship, but the two of them were very close. And