head.
“I have to go,” he said, risking that tiny bit of emphasis. “I’m sorry. I wish…”
There were so many ways he wanted to finish that sentence—so many hopes and dreams and fears and frustrations.
But he kept them all to himself.
None of them were options anymore.
He had one choice left.
And he had to make it.
No matter what it cost him.
Grady tilted his head to study him, like he was trying to solve a riddle.
He must’ve found some sort of answer because he stood and said, “Okay. If that’s what you need to do, I’m not going to stop you.”
Keefe nodded, feeling his chest tighten and his eyes burn as reached into his pocket for his pathfinder.
He had to get out of there before he broke down crying.
But Grady put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait, I need you to take this with you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Imparter. “I promise, I’ll only use it for an emergency. I just… I have a feeling Sophie’s going to need you before this is all over. So please, keep it in your pocket—and swear to me that you’ll answer if I hail you.”
Keefe swallowed hard, clearing his throat several times to make sure the words were a request, not a command, before he said, “You can’t tell Foster you have a way to reach me.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Grady promised.
Keefe nodded, grabbing the Imparter and shoving it into his pocket as Grady’s words replayed in his head.
Sophie’s going to need you.
He didn’t think she would.
He knew she would keep right on being her brave, powerful, awesome self and show his mom why the moonlark would always be better and smarter and stronger than anyone else.
“Thank you,” Grady said, giving Keefe’s arm a gentle squeeze before letting him go.
Keefe took one last look around the room, and when he got to Iggy’s cage—and the letter underneath—he realized he’d reached another point of no return.
He’d had a lot of those in his life.
But this was a big one.
And the right one.
He just had to be brave.
“Take care of yourself,” Grady told him as Keefe pulled out the pathfinder he’d stolen from his dad. And it was obvious that Grady noticed that the crystal was cobalt blue.
“I’ll try,” Keefe promised.
It was the best he could do.
Then he stepped into the path and let the blue light carry him far away.
To the Mysterious Miss F!
Ugh—I’m already regretting starting this letter that way. But I don’t have any extra paper, and crossing it out would look worse, so… I guess we’ll just have to add it to my list of mistakes.
And I know you’re going to think that everything I’m about to say should also be on that long list of Keefe Fails. But I swear—that’s NOT what this is. I’m not trying to fix everything or save everyone this time. I’m just trying to make sure I don’t hurt anyone.
I can’t tell you more than that without putting you in danger, so just… trust me when I say that the powers my mom gave me are super bad. There seriously aren’t strong enough words to explain how horrible they are. And I CAN’T control them—just like I can’t stop my mom from forcing me to use them.
So… this is the only way. I don’t want to do it. But I have to.
And I’m not going to ask you not to hate me. In fact, it might be better if you do, because I need you to PROMISE that you won’t try to find me. My mom will be waiting for you to track me down—and since I know how stubborn you are, I want to make sure you understand who you’d be putting in danger.
I’m going to be hiding the same way the Black Swan hid you.
That’s why you have to stay away. Well, there are lots of reasons. So again, please, just… trust me, okay?
And since this is the last time I’ll ever talk to you, I just… I want to say that I’m really going to miss you. You mean a lot to me, Foster. More than you’ll ever know.
Please be careful. Please be happy. And PLEASE forget all about me.
It’ll be better for everyone that way. You’ll see.
Love,
Keefe
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’m sure you guys all turned the page thinking, There’s absolutely no way Shannon Messenger would end this book without showing us Sophie’s reaction to Keefe’s letter! Even with all her evil cliff-hangers, she would never do THAT!
And yet…
Don’t worry, we’ll pick up