Gone.
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Fintan said, still holding the flames under Sophie’s nose. “But you still have one more test before I’ll trust you. And since the strongest bonds are created with fire . . .”
Brant smiled and picked up the bent frame of Sophie’s ruined monocle pendant. He passed the dented metal through the flames of Everblaze, then offered it to Keefe. “Brand her a traitor and maybe we’ll believe your commitment.”
“Why are you doing this?” Sophie asked as Keefe took the red-hot pendant. “How can you join them after everything they’ve done?”
Keefe’s eyes stayed focused on the brand. “I can’t pretend I’m who you want me to be anymore.”
“What does that even mean?” she screamed.
Keefe’s voice was choked now, but Sophie was too angry to cry.
“It means I got more memories back,” he said. “I’m not like you. You were made to be the hero. I was raised to be something . . . else.”
He reached toward her face, and she braced for searing pain. But all he touched was the necklace he’d given her. “I wanted you to have this before I left,” he whispered. “I thought it would be good for you to have something to remember me by. In case someday . . .”
“I’m growing impatient, Mr. Sencen,” Fintan warned.
“Give me a second!” Keefe traced his fingers over the beads, lingering on the one he’d made. “I know why my dad hated it now. It looks like our Exillium necklaces, doesn’t it? That’s why my mom must’ve liked it. She knew I was meant to be the outcast. You keep trying to fix everything, Sophie. You even fixed Exillium. But you can’t fix me.”
His eyes met hers then, and they held some sort of plea.
He glanced to his left, and she followed his gaze, spotting the faintest trace of a light path, glinting out of the tiny crystal on the new bead he’d painted for her.
“You understand, right?” Keefe asked.
“No.” But she did. Sort of.
Come with me, she transmitted.
“I have to do this,” he said. “Please don’t hate me.”
Their eyes met again and he nodded toward the faint trail of light he was still holding in place.
Sophie swallowed hard, wishing there was something—anything—she could do to take him with her. But her only choice was to channel the full force of her mental strength and twist free of Fintan’s iron grasp. She fell toward the path, taking one last look at Keefe’s anguished face as the light he’d created for her pulled her away.
SEVENTY-NINE
I THINK WE need to go through this one more time,” Mr. Forkle said, pacing across the petaled carpet of Sophie’s Havenfield bedroom. The rest of the Collective stood near the doorway, and Grady and Edaline sat with her on the bed.
They’d wanted to hail Elwin, but Sophie wasn’t injured—unless crushed hearts counted.
The path Keefe had made for her had brought her straight home, erasing any doubt that he’d wanted her to escape. He’d probably used his mom’s crystal-making kit when he painted the bead. But none of that changed the fact that he’d given the Neverseen the cache—using her voice. And that he’d clearly arranged the whole meeting.
If she hadn’t followed him, he’d still be with the Neverseen right now.
He’d still be a traitor.
The word made her dizzy and nauseous and ache in places she didn’t know could hurt. And it only got worse as she recited the story from the beginning again.
Grady’s hands curled into white-knuckled fists. “I knew we shouldn’t have left you alone with that boy!”
“If it makes you feel any better,” Sophie mumbled, “he didn’t want me there either.”
“Which is significant,” Granite jumped in. “He clearly never meant to put Sophie in danger, and he took quite a risk getting her out of there.”
“What do you think the Neverseen will do to him?” Sophie whispered. “They’ll have to know he helped me.”
“Perhaps not,” Mr. Forkle said quietly. “Mr. Sencen has always had a talent for spinning convincing stories and excuses.”
“You mean lying,” Grady corrected, the word dripping with bitterness.
“It’s a trick we’ve all been forced to rely on at times,” Granite reminded him, gesturing to his rocky disguise. “I understand the disappointment you’re feeling—”
“I’m more than disappointed!” Grady snapped. Edaline took his hand, trying to calm him.
“I know,” Granite tried again. “But right now, our focus should be on developing our contingency plan.”
“What do you mean?” Sophie asked.
“Mr. Sencen knows quite a lot about our organization,” Mr. Forkle said, “including the location of Alluveterre, and my identity as Sir Astin, as well as the Hekses involvement.”