His face was more scar tissue than face. And that didn’t include the mottled, veiny stump at the end of his right wrist where his hand used to be.
“Why, Miss Foster, you don’t look happy to see me,” he said, adding more flames to his fireball. “Didn’t you swear you would find me again? I’ve been looking so forward to thanking you for my makeover. You too,” he told Dex. “I have excellent things planned for you both.”
“Forget it!” Tam shouted as a wave crashed over Brant, and Linh yelled, “RUN!”
They’d barely made it a step before a wall of fire erupted in their path.
“That’s quite enough of that,” Fintan said, curling the fire into a circle, closing them inside a cage of Everblaze.
“You can stop wasting your energy on water tricks,” Brant told Linh. “You’ve complicated things enough already. Luckily, we’ve had eyes on you this whole time.”
“What does that mean?” Sophie asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Alvar said. “What do you want from us?”
The two Pyrokinetics shook their heads.
“I told you, Mr. Vacker,” Fintan said. “The charade is over. I spent weeks in Exile. I let my mind be broken. I let them declare me dead. I’m not going to hide anymore. It’s time you make your choice. Stand with us, or turn against us.”
“What?” Keefe said as the walls of Everblaze flared brighter, painting everything in its eerie yellow glow.
Biana and Fitz stepped away from their brother.
“What does he mean?” Fitz asked.
“I mean that your brother is one of our longest standing members. Youngest to ever enlist—though he made a lot of mistakes back then. One especially big one.”
Fintan’s eyes flicked to Sophie, and his meaning sank in.
Dex held her steady as she wheeled on Alvar. “You were the Boy Who Disappeared?!”
The words seemed to shatter whatever remained of Alvar’s facade. He smoothed his hair and shed his soggy cloak as he said, “Yes.”
Rage-fire burned in Sophie’s stomach, searing hotter than the Everblaze. “How could you?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” he said.
“Try me,” Fitz told him.
“You really wouldn’t understand,” Alvar snapped. “You’re the Golden Son. I had to find people who appreciated my talents.”
“More like overestimated them,” Brant muttered. “You had her right in front of you, and you walked away. Scratched her off the list.”
“You want to compare mistakes?” Alvar snapped. “Ruy let both of them get away a few weeks back. And let’s not forget the worst kidnapping in the history of kidnappings.”
“NO!” Keefe shouted as Fitz and Biana backed away from their brother.
“You were there?” Dex asked, shaking so hard Tam and Linh had to keep him steady.
“Of course he was,” Fintan said. “He helped plan it.”
Sophie reached for Fitz, relieved when he didn’t pull away. She had no idea how the Vackers were going to survive another family tragedy.
“How could you?” Biana asked.
Alvar’s expression softened when he looked at his sister. “You’ll understand, someday, when you see the Vacker legacy for what it is.”
“In the meantime,” Fintan said, “you’re all coming with us. The seven of you have proven very useful. Especially you two,” he told Tam and Linh. “Who’d have thought I’d find so much value in a pair of twins?”
And with that final insult, Sophie decided it was time for Plan C.
She transmitted a warning to her friends and reached for her Black Swan pendant. Fury and disgust fueled her as she held the glass in the fading sunlight.
A beam of white fire sparked to life, igniting the silver chest at Alvar’s feet.
“That,” Fintan said calmly, “was a very dumb move.”
But the flames wouldn’t stamp out, and they ignored every command the Pyrokinetics shouted.
“If that’s how you want to play,” Brant said, ordering the wall of flames to tighten.
Sophie launched another beam of her own fire, and it parted the wall of Everblaze.
“Time to go!” she screamed, dragging her friends through the gap. Flames nipped at her skin, but she barely felt them.
“Is there a cliff nearby?” she asked Tam and Linh as they ran.
“No need,” Calla said.
She belted out a song that made one of the withered trees bend down and tangle its branches around their feet. A quick THWANG! snapped the tree back, whipping them into the sky. They clung to each other as they soared higher and higher.
As soon as they started to drop, Sophie split a crack in the sky.
The last thing she saw was Alvar’s pained expression as they slipped into the void and teleported away.
SEVENTY-THREE
GRADY AND EDALINE weren’t outside when the traumatized group appeared in Havenfield’s pastures. But as soon as Sophie called for help, they came rushing out of the glittering crystal mansion.