He grabbed her home crystal pendant and tried to hold it up to the light, but she wrestled the pendant away.
“Please,” he begged. “You have to get out of here.”
“So do you!”
“I can’t.”
Round and round the arguing went, and Keefe lunged for her home crystal again. It flew out of her hand, splashing into the red lake.
Keefe was shaking now, tearing through his pockets, searching for another crystal.
“You don’t have your home crystal with you?” she asked. “How were you planning to get back?”
“He wasn’t,” a familiar voice said behind them.
Sophie studied Keefe’s face, noting that he didn’t look the least bit surprised as she turned to find Alvar, Fintan, and Brant.
SEVENTY-EIGHT
THIS IS A trap, Sophie realized. But it didn’t seem to be the Neverseen’s doing.
Somehow, some way, Keefe had set this up.
So what was his plan?
And why hadn’t he told her?!
“I must say”—Fintan raised his hands, ready to call down flames—“you’ve really outdone yourself, Mr. Sencen. Miss Foster is an excellent addition to our bargain.”
Keefe jumped in front of Sophie. “She’s not supposed to be here.”
Brant’s scarred smile crawled straight out of Sophie’s nightmares. “Then we’ll consider her an excellent bonus.”
Sophie hadn’t noticed that Alvar had vanished until she felt his arms wrap around her. She screamed and thrashed and kicked, but he was too strong. He pinned her arms behind her with one hand while he ripped her Black Swan pendant off her neck and tossed it to Brant.
“Let’s leave the fires to the professionals, shall we?” Brant asked as he crushed the monocle under his heavy black boot. “I’ll take yours, too.”
Keefe jerked away as Brant yanked the pendant off his neck.
“Must we really do this again?” Brant asked, snapping his fingers and creating a sphere of Everblaze.
“Not if you let her go,” Keefe said.
“I’m finding it rather hard to believe your commitment,” Fintan told him. “Surely you’ve realized that switching sides means betraying your friends.”
Sophie’s stomach switched to vomit mode. “What is he talking about, Keefe?”
“You can’t guess?” Brant asked.
She was developing some terrifying theories—but none of them made sense. Or they didn’t until Fintan asked Keefe, “Where’s the cache?”
The only way they would know she had the cache was if Keefe had told them. He must be running the same trick she’d had him use on King Dimitar, offering something the Neverseen wanted in order to get information.
But what kind of information?
And then she knew.
There are better ways to save your mom, she transmitted to Keefe. Let’s get out of here and we’ll figure it out together.
Not that she had any idea how they were going to get away. Her home crystal was gone, and Keefe didn’t seem to have one either. But the mountains weren’t that far away. If they made a run for it they might be able to get high enough to teleport—assuming she could get out of Alvar’s viselike grip.
“We should finish this at the hideout,” Alvar said, as if he knew what she’d been planning. “Ruy will be wondering where we are.”
“Not until he proves he can deliver the item,” Fintan said. “Show us the cache.”
“Let her go first,” Keefe snapped back.
“There you go again, making it hard to trust you. So let’s make this easier.” Fintan shoved Keefe to the ground and grabbed Sophie from Alvar. He squeezed her arm so hard she wondered if the bone might snap.
Everblaze erupted in his free hand and he held the flames under Sophie’s nose. “Give me the cache,” Fintan said, “or I’ll start giving her scars like the ones she gave Brant.”
“Okay,” Keefe said, stumbling to his feet. “I’ll get it right now.”
Sophie was trying hard to think of a way to help him out of his bluff when she heard the sound of her voice saying, “221B Baker Street.”
The cache dropped into Keefe’s palm with a plop, and Sophie’s jaw fell.
“How did you . . .”
Keefe wouldn’t look at her. “I pieced it together after I heard you training with Fitz. And mimicking’s easy.”
“Give it here,” Fintan ordered.
Don’t do it, Sophie transmitted.
Keefe kept his focus on Fintan. “You’ll honor the rest of our deal?”
“If you prove your loyalty,” Brant snapped.
“I brought the cache—what more do you need?” Keefe asked.
“You haven’t actually given it to us,” Fintan reminded him. He pointed to Alvar, who was the only one with free hands.
Sophie couldn’t breathe when she saw the look on Keefe’s face. There were so many emotions stretched across his features: Pain. Sorrow. Regret.
But the worst was shame.
“Don’t do it,” she begged. “That cache could destroy everything.”
“That’s the point,” Fintan agreed. “Three seconds, Mr. Sencen, then things get ugly.”
Sophie couldn’t fight back her sob as Keefe handed Alvar the cache. She tried to grab it telekinetically, but Alvar’s grip was too tight. And as soon as he had it, he leaped away.