Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,96

a hostage. What you need is proper preparation! We cannot embark on such an excursion without scouting the area, planning escape routes, gathering the necessary weapons—”

“Eh, you’re forgetting about the power of spontaneity,” Dex interrupted. “It’s the easiest way to stay ahead of your enemies: Don’t plan anything. Just do whatever you need to do the moment you need to do it and leave them struggling to keep up.”

The glare Lovise shot him made it clear she was not a fan of being spontaneous.

“Dex has a point,” Sophie insisted.

“I have a better one,” Sandor said, crossing his arms and straightening to his full height. “I can end this right now by calling for your father and asking what he thinks of this plan. Is that what you want me to do?”

“No need,” Grady said behind them, and everyone whipped around to find him standing with a bundle of swizzlespice—and Wynn and Luna bounding around him, begging for the treats.

His eyes met Sophie’s, and between the deep creases across his forehead and the hard set of his jaw, Sophie assumed Sandor was about to be very smug.

But after Grady finished unleashing a shoulder-heaving sigh, he mumbled, “I can’t believe I’m saying this—especially since I’ve only caught bits and pieces of why this needs to happen, but… assuming there’s a good reason, they might as well go now. They’re Regents, so the Council won’t punish them for visiting a Forbidden City. And Dex has a point about spontaneity. The Neverseen would definitely expect us to calculate a visit like this for days—or at least hours. Going so suddenly—especially for such a brief amount of time—probably is the safest way to do it. And as far as the humans go”—he tossed the swizzlespice to the begging baby alicorns and reached into one of the many pockets lining his pants, fishing out a small black orb—“I’ve learned to keep an obscurer on hand, since I never know when you guys might need one in a hurry.”

“You’re seriously okay with this?” Sophie asked as he handed the gadget to Dex.

“ ‘Okay’ isn’t the right word,” he told her. “More like… I’m resigning myself to the fact that among a number of less-than-ideal options, this one might not be completely horrible. But I’d recommend going soon, before I change my mind.”

Sophie had to blink a couple of times to make sure she was truly awake and living this rare moment of cooperation.

“I trust you,” Grady told her, holding her gaze before he shifted focus to Dex and added, “and I trust you. And I trust Sandor to keep you both safe. And I trust that all three of you will be back in ten minutes. Not eleven. Not twelve. Definitely not thirteen. Ten—maximum. Which does mean that nine and under is perfectly fine.”

He unfastened his navy blue cloak and held it out to Sandor, who looked far from thrilled as he pinned it across his shoulders. The fabric barely hung past his thighs, but when he stooped, he looked kind of like an old, hunched man—with a quick glance, at least.

“And Lovise is going to need this,” Edaline said behind them, making everyone spin around again. She snapped her fingers to conjure up a bundle of thick black fabric and handed it to Dex’s bodyguard before moving to stand beside Grady. “That’s the longest cloak I own. You’ll still have to hunch, but it’ll only be for ten minutes—right?”

She directed the last question to Sophie, smiling when Sophie nodded. And Sophie was struck by such an overwhelming mix of shock, gratitude, and love for her adoptive parents that it nearly knocked her back a step.

Grady and Edaline had been through so much heartache, and yet they’d still welcomed her into their family, loving her despite all the stress and danger she’d brought into their lives. And somehow they’d gotten to a point where they trusted her enough to support a crazy plan like this?

It made her remember what Biana had said about Grady and Edaline being the family that mattered. And she found herself sprinting over and pulling them into a strangle-hug.

Grady laughed. “Don’t get too grateful there, kiddo. Remember, I’m only giving you ten minutes. Then I’m turning on the trackers that Sandor sews into your clothes and sending Bo after you.”

Bo flashed a rather ominous, pointed-toothed grin, and Sophie found herself needing to check with Dex. “You really can get it done that fast, right?”

He looked a little less certain than he had a few