Keeper of the Lost Cities

THIRTY-ONE

NOW YOU’RE CALLING ME AT HOME AND dragging me out of bed? Maybe it was better when you were afraid of me,” Elwin teased. His smile faded when she showed him the blackish-purple blisters on her hands. “How did you do that?”

“I was just trying to bottle the light from Elementine.”

“Elementine?” He pulled a small pot from his satchel and spread a thick green salve over the burns. “Never heard of it.”

“I told you it wasn’t real,” Dex said.

“But I found it,” she insisted as Elwin sprinkled purple powder on top of the salve. “The scope got really hot when I flipped the latch, and it burned me.”

Elwin wrapped her hands with thick blue cloth. “I’ve never heard of that happening. It’s always an adventure with you, Sophie—I’ll give you that.”

The annoying part was she couldn’t argue. Why did weird things keep happening to her?

“Is that helping the pain?” Elwin asked.

“Yes. Thanks.”

“Good.” He poured a bottle of Youth over the cloth, soaking it through. “Did you bottle the light?”

“I don’t know.” In all the chaos she hadn’t bothered to look.

“I’ll check it.” Dex ran over to the scope, which was still where Sophie had dropped it. “There’s something in it, but it’s weird.”

“Don’t touch it,” Elwin ordered. “Last thing I need is another patient.”

Sophie hung her head. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Gives me a good story to tell tomorrow.”

She sighed. Marella and Keefe were going to have a field day with this.

Elwin unwrapped her hands. The blisters were gone, but the skin was red and raw. He stroked his chin. “That should’ve worked better.”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“That’s because the salve numbs you. I’m going to have to make a stronger balm. Wait right here.”

She nodded miserably. Where would she go?

Elwin glittered away, and Dex plopped beside her.

“You don’t have to wait with me.”

“Like I would leave you in the middle of nowhere at night, injured. What kind of friend do you think I am?”

“But you must be cold.”

“Nope. I can regulate my body temperature. See?” He touched her cheek, and she was surprised at how warm his skin was. “Want me to teach you how to do it tomorrow?”

“I can’t. I’m going to Fitz and Biana’s.”

“Ugh. Another day at the palace. Be sure to wear your crown.”

“Are you ever going to stop that?”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“They’re my friends. I wish you could be a little nicer about it.”

“Hey, I hold a lot back.”

She laughed. “Somehow I doubt that.”

He ripped a handful of grass and tossed it away. “You just like seeing Wonderboy. Please don’t tell me you have some stupid crush on him.”

“Of course not.” She could feel her cheeks blush and was glad once again for the darkness.

Dex ripped more grass by the roots. “Then what is it? Why do you like him?”

“He’s the one who found me.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized her slip.

Dex stiffened. “That’s a story you haven’t told me.”

“I know.” She tried not to talk about her past—it brought up too many questions she didn’t have the answers to.

“There’s a lot you don’t tell me, isn’t there? Like your session in the Level Four wing. It’s not remedial studies, is it?” He waited for her to deny it.

She didn’t.

“What do you really do there?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Does Wonderboy know?”

She sighed. “Yes.”

He was quiet for a long time, mutilating more innocent blades of grass. “Well, that stinks.”

“I didn’t tell him—if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s just . . . involved . . . so he gets to know certain things.”

They sat in silence, destroying the grass and waiting for the other to speak. Dex finally sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m being a jerk.”

“I’m sorry too. I hate keeping secrets from you. You’re my best friend.”

His head snapped up. “I’m your best friend?”

She shrugged, looking away. “If you want to be.”

“Are you kidding? Of course!”

She smiled. “Do you think you could do me a favor, then?”

“Sure. Anything.”

“Could you try to keep the Fitz bashing to a minimum?”

“Ugh. Anything but that.”

“Please, Dex?”

He glowered at the ground. “Fine. But I’m only doing it for you—I still won’t like him.”

She smiled at his stubbornness. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

Light flashed in front of them and Elwin reappeared, clutching a pot of ointment. “Okay, let’s see those hands again.”

Sophie crinkled her nose as he spread the golden sludge across the burns. “Ew, Elwin. What’s in that stuff?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know. It needs to sit for a minute, so let’s see this starlight you bottled.” He knelt next to the stellarscope and his brows furrowed.

“What is it?” Dex asked.

“I don’t know.” He tapped the bottle quickly with one fingertip. “It’s cold. What star did you say this came from?”

“Elementine.”

“Doesn’t sound familiar. Well, don’t do anything with this until you show Sir Astin. And be careful.” He gently removed the bottle from the scope and handed it to Dex. Then he wrapped the bottle in one of his rags and tucked it in Sophie’s bag. He checked Sophie’s hands again, and this time the burns were totally gone.

“Thanks, Elwin,” she mumbled.

“That’s what I’m here for. You guys okay now?”

“Yep. We’re going home.”

“Good. Come by my office tomorrow, Sophie. I want to make sure I didn’t miss anything.”

She sighed. He should set up a permanent spot for her.

“All right, my work is done here. Get home safe. Oh, and, Sophie? Better wash your hands, like, twenty times.”

SOPHIE DIDN’T FEEL LIKE GETTING into the whole long story, so when Grady and Edaline asked how her night went, she just shrugged and said, “Good.” Then she took the longest, hottest, soapiest shower of her life. She planned to tell them in the morning, but one of the griffins escaped, so she figured she’d tell them about it when she got home. Maybe by then her Mentors would have explained what went wrong.

She got to school early to stop by Elwin’s office discreetly. He was pleased with the healing but made her drink sour medicine just to be safe.

She’d planned to ask Sir Conley about the strange starlight during elementalism, but he had her bottling flames, and she almost caught her cape on fire—twice. He gave her a thick, boring-looking book on firecatching to read before finals. Stupid cape.

The worry caught up with her in the cafeteria. It seemed she was the only one who had any problems with the starlight assignment, which did not bode well for her grade. It didn’t help that as soon as she set out her bottles, Sir Astin frowned. “Where’s your seventh star?”

She bit her lip. She’d been hoping he wouldn’t count. “Something weird happened. The stellarscope burned me when I bottled it.”

His eyes widened, but he shook his head. “No—that’s absurd. It couldn’t be. . . .”

“Do you want to see the bottle? I think there’s something wrong with it, but you tell me.”

She dug the bundle out of her satchel. The icy chill stung her fingers even through the thick fabric, and it was heavier than the other bottles, almost like there was something solid inside. The glow was blinding when she unwrapped it.

Sir Astin was always pale, but he looked downright ghostly as he jumped back and screamed, “Don’t move!”

She froze. “Should I wrap it back up?”

“I said don’t move! I need to think.” He started pacing, mumbling incoherently.

“Okay, will you please tell me what this is? You’re freaking me out.”

He laughed darkly. “Have you ever heard of Quintessence?”

“The fifth element? I thought that was just a myth.”

“I’m sure what you’ve heard is a myth. But the element is real. Quintessence is light in its truest, most powerful form. Under the right conditions, that little bottle could blow up this whole building—or worse.”

She gulped. What was worse than blowing up a building? “What do we do?”

“I have no idea!” He wrung his hands. “How did this happen?”

“I don’t know. I was just trying to fit the pattern.”

“The pattern was metals! The stars on the list have metallic-toned light. You should have bottled something bronze or brass. Not this!” He gestured wildly at the bottle.

Her cheeks flamed. Now that he mentioned it, the pattern did seem pretty obvious. “I’m sorry. For some reason I thought I needed to find Elementine.”

He froze. “Where did you learn that name?”

“I don’t know. Probably from one of those star maps I memorized.”

“No, Sophie. I never taught you that name. No one teaches that name.” His voice was hushed—barely audible.

That explained why Dex and Elwin had never heard of it. “But I had to learn it here,” she insisted. “How else would I know it?”

“I have no idea. Elementine is one of the five unmapped stars. Only the Councillors know their exact locations—and no one is allowed to bottle their light.” He swallowed loudly. “You’ve broken a very serious law, Sophie. This will merit a tribunal to decide how you should be punished.”