pointless.
That was all they had to help Keefe?
A new word that meant nothing, a vague mention of a conversation with Fintan about stellarlune—where he apparently didn’t know anything—and Kenric and Oralie’s star-crossed love story?
“It’s okay,” Oralie told her, slipping her cache into a pocket hidden in her gown. “This isn’t the dead end you’re thinking it is.”
“Why? Did it finally trigger the other memories?”
“No. But I know where we can find them. Kenric’s cache clearly has the information we need. That must be why he asked me to give it to you if something happened to him, and why he made sure I had a way to open it. It works differently than mine, since there are multiple memories inside, but the access sequence is actually a little easier.” She held out her hand. “I’ll show you.”
Sophie’s heart dropped into the sloshiest part of her stomach.
Oralie stepped closer, taking Sophie by her shoulders. “Please tell me the panic I’m feeling isn’t because you lost Kenric’s cache.”
Oh, but it was so much worse than that.
Sophie stared at her boots, knowing she had no choice but to explain the whole miserable mess—from Keefe stealing the cache away from her and using it to bribe his way into the Neverseen, to him taking it back when he escaped and then finding out that he’d actually stolen a fake.
Oralie tightened her grip on Sophie’s shoulders. “How could you not tell me about this sooner?”
“Uh, the Council hasn’t exactly been super supportive and friendly, remember?” Sophie argued.
“I have. And I could’ve helped you get it back!”
“How?”
“I… don’t know,” Oralie admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have found a way, or that you were right to keep this a secret!”
She had a point.
But Sophie wasn’t in the mood to apologize.
Oralie dropped her hands and stepped back, letting out a long, heavy breath. “This has to stop, Sophie. We have to start working together. No more secrets. No more lies. You don’t have to like me or forgive me—but you do have to trust me. And I’ll do the same for you. There’s too much at stake—and not just for Keefe. I don’t know what Elysian is, or what it has to do with stellarlune, but the fear I can now remember feeling in Kenric was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced from him. He was always calm and collected, even under incredibly fraught circumstances. So for him to be that worried…” Her voice hitched and she turned away. “We have to find his cache—now.”
“Okay, but how?” Sophie repeated.
Oralie stood taller, smoothing her gown. “I suppose we should start with you telling me everything you’ve already tried. Maybe that’ll help us spot something you overlooked.”
“We haven’t really tried anything,” Sophie reluctantly admitted. “There were too many other things going on. I did think about asking Fintan when I met with him, but our deal only allowed me to ask him one question, and there was something else I needed to know more. Plus, I’m sure the Neverseen moved the caches after he was captured, so anything he could’ve told me would be useless anyway. But… I guess we could try making another deal with him just in case—or wait. What about Glimmer? You guys have her in custody, right?”
“In a way, yes. We’ve placed her at Tiergan’s house and made it clear that she’s not allowed to leave—and Bo has been tasked with making sure she’s constantly supervised. But… we’ve yet to schedule her Tribunal. She’s being cooperative enough that we don’t want to risk changing her attitude.”
Sophie’s jaw tightened. “Cooperative enough isn’t the same as cooperative! Has she told you anything new about the Neverseen? Like where any of their hideouts are, or any insights into their plans, or—”
“She’s answered all of our questions honestly,” Oralie assured her. “I’ve monitored her reactions closely during our conversations. But… so far, she hasn’t shared anything particularly useful. Then again, neither has Tam. And neither did Keefe, after he escaped, as I’m sure you remember. The Neverseen are incredibly cautious with what they allow their members to know. And there’s been no indication that Glimmer’s holding anything back from us—at least not beyond her name and what she looks like.”
“She still hasn’t taken down her hood?”
“She says she doesn’t feel safe—and yes, we could force her to,” Oralie added before Sophie could make that exact suggestion. “But the Council feels she’ll be more useful to us if we make her a willing ally—and I agree. So we’re giving her