Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,73

made a fuss about it. And it kinda sounded like he meant it.” She picked up the circlet she’d tossed aside earlier, tracing her fingers over the symbol for her new team. “It’s a little hard to believe him, but… I don’t know. I kinda do.”

“I can feel that,” Keefe said, sitting down beside her. “So why all the extra dread?”

“Because he also brought up something I hadn’t thought of before, and now I’m not sure what to do about it.” She stared at her reflection in her circlet’s ruby, feeling just as fragmented as she repeated Bronte’s warnings about what the Black Swan might do to protect their secrets.

And she’d expected Keefe to agree that they truly were valid concerns—or to at least need some time to think about it.

But he was already shaking his head before she’d even finished. “Nah, I don’t buy it. For one thing, it’s not like the Black Swan did the memory break on Prentice. That was all on the Council. They kept pushing and pushing and pushing, no matter the consequences—and that’s totally different than the kind of digging you’re doing. I’m pretty sure you’d never shatter anyone’s sanity to find out what you want to know.”

“I wouldn’t. But it doesn’t have to be as drastic as a memory break for someone to get hurt. And that’s what makes this so hard. Because if you really think about it, I’m the only one who’ll get any benefit out of finding my biological parents. Everyone else gets a ton of drama. And there really is a chance that the Black Swan might try to stop me, so who knows what kinds of problems that might cause? And if I’m aware of all of those risks, and I still search out my genetic parents anyway, I’m… being selfish, aren’t I?”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “But… you’re allowed to be a little selfish sometimes. And it’s not like you aren’t making huge sacrifices too.”

“I know. But if something really bad happens because of this, that’s gonna be pretty hard to live with.” She set her circlet gently on her nightstand and tugged out an itchy eyelash. “I just wish I knew why the Black Swan won’t tell me who my genetic parents are, you know? I’m not trying to gamble with people’s lives, but I’d like to not have mine get totally messed up either—especially without even understanding what’s really at stake.”

“I get that,” Keefe said quietly, “and… I actually have a theory about why the Black Swan won’t tell you—and it might even explain why Bronte got so pushy with you today.”

“Okay,” Sophie said when he didn’t continue. “Are you going to tell me?”

“I can. But… you’re not going to like it.”

“What else is new?” Sophie scooted back farther on her bed, deciding she might as well be surrounded by fluffy pillows if she had to get hit with bad news. She grabbed Ella, too, burying her face between her floppy ears. “Okay, what is it?”

Keefe stood up to pace, passing her enough times to seriously ramp up her anxiety.

“You’re making me wonder if suspense can actually kill me,” she warned.

“Sorry. I’m just trying to figure out how to do this without freaking you out like I did yesterday. Actually, wait.”

He hurried back to her bed and nestled into the pillows beside her, setting the blue notebook in his lap and pointing to her hand. “Turn your enhancing restrictors off. That way I can calm you down if you need me to.”

“It’s really that bad?” Sophie asked, tapping her thumbs and forefingers the way Tinker had shown her.

“I guess we’ll find out.” Keefe placed one of his hands near hers—without touching—and drummed his fingers against the front of the blue notebook with the other. “So… yesterday, I said I didn’t think your genetic parents would be people you know, because it would be too hard for them to pretend around you—and I might still be right about that. But. As I started trying to make lists of possible DNA donors, I realized the biggest clues we have are your abilities. I mean, yeah, it’s not always that telepathic parents have telepathic kids or whatever. Sometimes genetics decide to get funky and do their own thing. But it also happens consistently enough that it’s safe to assume your biological parents have at least some of your abilities. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“Sorta,” Sophie said. “I’ve always assumed one of my parents must be a Telepath.”

“That’s