Keeper of the Lost Cities

THIRTY-SEVEN

CAN I TALK TO YOU?” SOPHIE WHISPERED to Fitz on their way into the cafeteria the next day. “Somewhere private?”

His brows shot up at the request, but he shrugged and motioned for her to come with him. She could feel Dex’s eyes burning into the back of her head as she followed Fitz down the hall.

“What’s up?” he asked when they were alone.

“Do you know what your dad’s investigating right now?”

“Why?”

She focused on his nose to think a little more clearly. His eyes had a way of turning her brain to mush. “He came over a couple nights ago, begging Grady for help with something. It seemed like it was important.”

“I’m sure there’s no reason to worry.”

She rolled her eyes. He sounded just like his dad. “He looked really stressed, Fitz. I’ve never seen him like that. Do you know what he’s working on?”

He hesitated. “It’s some sort of fire—and I only know that because he comes home smelling like smoke. He doesn’t tell me about official matters.”

“But he sent you to find me, so he must tell you some stuff.”

Fitz glanced over his shoulder, making sure they were still alone. “That was an exception. He needed someone close to your age to follow the leads he found—someone who would blend in. Otherwise he wouldn’t have involved me.”

She chewed her lip, processing his words. “And you have no idea what he’s working on—at all?”

Something changed in his face. He knew more than he was telling her—she was positive.

You can trust me, she transmitted into his mind.

He sucked in a breath. “Whoa—I keep forgetting you can do that.”

Please, she pressed. She may have sworn off investigating things after the Quintessence debacle, but this was big—and it was tearing Grady and Edaline apart. I need to know.

His eyes searched hers, then closed. “I shouldn’t do this.”

Please.

He leaned his head against the wall. “Concentrate.”

She knew what he meant. He couldn’t transmit into her mind—even Tiergan couldn’t—so he wanted her to read his thoughts. She opened her mind and listened.

I heard him talking to Alvar, he thought. It’s not one fire—it’s hundreds. All in the Forbidden Cities. All starting the same day. And the flames are this weird fluorescent yellow color. The Council ruled it a human arsonist and refused to investigate, but my dad thinks the Black Swan is involved. Alvar thinks he’s crazy.

Her heart stopped. Hundreds of human fires? Do you know which cities?

He didn’t say. But I know they’re all over the planet.

Are they near my family?

I’m sure they’re fine. My dad was assigned to keep an eye on them—in case their memories come back.

Alden never told her that. But it was nice to know someone was watching them. Do you know what the Black Swan is up to?

No idea—I swear. And you can’t tell anyone I told you this. I’m not supposed to know.

I won’t. I promise.

“Okay? Can we go eat lunch now?” he asked.

“You can. I need to think.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sophie. I’m sure it’s not a big deal.”

She forced a smile. “I just want to think.”

She wandered the halls, letting her mind spin with the new information.

Why would the Black Swan set fires around humans—and why were they yellow this time? Why did Alden need Grady to help? And why did Grady refuse?

She made her way to the atrium so she could switch her books before everyone else got there. She wasn’t in the mood to talk.

A book was waiting on the center shelf of her locker: An Insider’s Guide to Pyrokinesis. It came with a note: “Hope this helps you find what you’re looking for.”

She smiled. She’d forgotten the librarian’s promise to send her anything she found on Pyrokinetics. There couldn’t be better timing.

ALCHEMY WAS AN EVEN BIGGER disaster than usual. Sophie was way too distracted to concentrate, and after she accidentally turned a part of her own shoe to copper, Lady Galvin released her early, before anything could happen to her cape. Sophie used the time to head to the Level Six library, to thank the librarian for finding the book.

“Still looking for books on pyrokinesis?” she asked when she saw Sophie.

“No, the one you gave me is more than enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“An Insider’s Guide to Pyrokinesis.” She froze when she caught the look of absolute confusion on the librarian’s face. “Didn’t you send me the book?”

“I’ve never even heard of it—and I thought I knew them all.”

“Oh. Must’ve been one of the other librarians I talked to. I guess I’ll have to thank them.” She forced a tiny laugh.

“Let me know who it was. I’d love to read it when you’re done.”

Sophie nodded, keeping the smile plastered across her lips as she wobbled down the hall.

The other librarians never promised to send a book to her locker. It was possible one of them did, but she had a sinking feeling it had nothing to do with them.

She confirmed the suspicion an hour later when she was alone in her bedroom. A thick dog-ear marked a chapter toward the end. She flipped there, to a drawing of an elf surrounded by bright yellow fire.

everblaze: the unstoppable flame

The book slipped from her hands as foreign memories flashed through her mind. Half blind from the rush of information, she stumbled to her satchel and pulled out her Imparter.

“Show me Alden.”