“You don’t think he’d tell the Neverseen that, do you?” Sophie asked.
“We have to prepare for the possibility.” Granite turned to Blur, Squall, and Wraith. “Can you increase security at Alluveterre? And explain the situation to Tam and Linh, and Vika and Timkin?”
“Sophie will need extra security as well,” Mr. Forkle added. “All the children will.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Blur said.
“I’d like to hear your plan,” Grady told him. “Keefe knows far too much about Sophie for us to treat this lightly.”
“He wouldn’t hurt me,” Sophie insisted.
Grady shook his head. “He already has.”
The words loomed over her as Grady followed Blur, Wraith, and Squall out of her room. Edaline started to follow, then turned back and hugged Sophie tight.
“We’ll figure this out,” she promised. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Fine” didn’t sound nearly as comforting as Edaline probably wanted it to. But Sophie still told her, “Thanks.”
Edaline hugged her again, then left Sophie alone with Mr. Forkle and Granite. Somehow the smaller group made it easier for her to ask the question she couldn’t get away from.
“Do you think Keefe is bad?”
“?‘Bad’ is a relative term,” Mr. Forkle said. “All I can say is that he’s become very reckless.”
“So you think his guilt made him do this?” Sophie asked.
“I think he’s desperate for answers we cannot give him,” Granite said. “And this is the path he has chosen.”
“But how is this a path?” Sophie asked. “The Neverseen will never trust him unless he convinces them he’s one of them.”
“And therein lies the recklessness,” Mr. Forkle agreed. “It will be up to Mr. Sencen to decide his level of commitment.”
Sophie’s mind flashed to what Fintan told Keefe during their confrontation.
Surely you’ve realized that switching sides means betraying your friends.
Was that why Keefe had given her the necklace?
She stared at the bead he’d made. The tiny crystal she’d used to escape had dissolved—but it had been there.
And it had saved her.
But he hadn’t known she’d be following him that day, so he must’ve made the bead for “just in case.”
It helped thinking that, imagining Keefe trying to preplan for any possible dangers. Except . . .
He’d only made one bead.
“And you have no idea what he meant,” Granite said, “when he mentioned that he’d regained memories his mother had erased.”
Sophie shook her head. “All he said was that he was raised to be something else.”
“Likely another part of this Lodestar Initiative,” Mr. Forkle said. “We’ll have to increase our efforts to learn more about it. Perhaps I should pay Gethen another visit.”
“I’m going with you,” Sophie said.
His mouth started to curve with a “no,” but at the last second he changed it to, “Of course. I’ll speak with the Council to arrange it. In the meantime I urge you not to make rash decisions. Don’t be too quick to give up on your friend. But do not trust him blindly, either.”
“What about the cache?” Granite asked, unleashing a whole new set of worries. “The Council won’t be happy to know Sophie has lost it.”
“We must recover the cache—quickly,” Mr. Forkle said, “before the Council discovers it’s missing.”
“You mean we’re not going to tell them Keefe stole it?” Sophie asked.
Mr. Forkle sat next to her on the bed, his bulky weight making her lean toward him. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had to keep secrets from the Council. And it likely won’t be the last. If the cache remains missing too long, we’ll inform them. But to tell them now would only be a distraction.”
“How are we going to get it back?” she asked.
“I’m still working on that,” Mr. Forkle said. “But hopefully, with the right planning, we can recover everything we’ve lost.”
The glint in his eyes made it clear he wasn’t giving up on Keefe either.
“Sounds like she’ll need a good bodyguard,” a high-pitched squeaky voice said from the doorway.
Sophie jumped out of bed and sprinted across the room, throwing her arms around Sandor. She didn’t mind at all when he lifted her off the ground, or the noseful of musky goblin scent.
“I’m not hurting you, right?” she asked, realizing how tight she was squeezing—even if it was hard to imagine hurting so much rock-hard goblin muscle.
Sandor laughed. “No, Miss Foster. I’ve never been better.”
He set her down and turned to Mr. Forkle, informing him of the new security protocols Grady and the rest of the Collective had agreed upon, which included bodyguards for Fitz, Biana, and Dex, as well as regular observation of Everglen and the Hekses’ house. The best news was that Sandor would resume his supervision of Sophie.