Keeper of the Lost Cities

FORTY-FOUR

SOPHIE DRIFTED IN THE DARKNESS, UNABLE to separate nightmare from reality. But the pain pulled her back to consciousness. Cold, thick cords sliced into her wrists and ankles. Bonds.

She was a hostage.

“They ordered a search and rescue,” a strange voice whispered from far away. “They believed the tidal wave.”

“Staging a suicide would have been better,” someone else hissed.

“No one would’ve believed they both jumped.”

“I know. The boy is an unfortunate complication.”

Two men—or maybe three. She couldn’t tell. She wasn’t even sure she was awake. The mental fog felt so thick she could barely think through it.

“What are you going to do with him?” he asked.

“We’re not here to answer your questions,” a new voice hissed. A ghostly whisper. “Just do your job and wash the girl’s recent memories.”

Please, Sophie thought, scrambling to make her muddled mind concentrate. She transmitted as far and wide as she could. My name is Sophie Foster. If anyone can hear me, please send help.

She listened for a reply, but there was only silence as the darkness swallowed her again.

LOUD VOICES YANKED HER OUT of the haze. She wanted to cry, but she didn’t have the energy. Her body felt like one giant bruise. At least the pain meant she was still alive.

“Funerals are being arranged.”

“They didn’t care that there were no bodies?”

“They found the pendants at the bottom of the ocean. Everyone believed.”

No! Her brain screamed. We’re not dead. Please, someone hear me. We need help!

“Have they decided what to do with the boy?”

“They have to get rid of him.”

Please! she transmitted. Please help us. She pushed the message as far as it could go.

“The girl’s awake. I can hear her transmitting for help.”

A strong hand squeezed her arm like a vise. “Stop it, Sophie! Do you hear me?”

“Relax. She can’t reach anyone from here.”

“I don’t care. Knock her out.”

Sharp sweetness tickled her nose, and she sank into the dark oblivion.

TIME LOST ITS MEANING IN the blackness. Each second felt like the next—until a burning in her nose jerked her back to reality. She wanted to sneeze and gag with every breath.

“Are you sure this is necessary?” The voice loomed over her.

“It’s either this or give up.”

A very loud sigh.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Her chest constricted, heaving into a cough—but a cloth blocked her mouth, keeping the cough in. Her body thrashed in pain.

“The gag is choking her.”

“She’ll live,” a gruff voice insisted. “I don’t want her talking.”

“This better work,” someone else added.

The choking grew worse and she started hyperventilating.

“Wonderful. Well, go ahead—before she suffocates.”

It felt like they pulled off her lips when they ripped the gag away. Her throat was dry and a sick, sour taste coated her tongue, but the cool air felt wonderful. She gulped as much as she could, coughing and hacking until her chest calmed down.

“Don’t even think about screaming, Sophie. No one will hear, and you will not like how we’ll punish you. Nod if you understand.”

Her head felt like lead, but she managed a couple weak nods.

“Good. Now let’s get this over with.”

Rough hands pressed against her temples, squeezing her already throbbing head.

“Why?” she croaked. She tried to open her eyes, but something covered them. “Why are you doing this?”

“You’ve served your purpose,” a ghostly whisper hissed. “Now alter her memories so we can relocate her.”

She held her breath, wondering if she would actually feel her memories being stolen—if it would hurt. But she felt nothing.

“Is it working?” the gruff voice demanded.

Silence, followed by an exhausted grunt.

“No.”

The single syllable echoed through the room.

Something heavy hit the wall. Then a sweet cloth pressed over her mouth, and the drugs pulled her back to the darkness.

“WAKE UP, SOPHIE,” SOMEONE CALLED through the swirling mist of her mind. Her nose stung again. Then the coughing started.

She wasn’t gagged this time, but her eyes were still covered and she was strapped to a chair, bound by her wrists and ankles. “Who are you?” she whispered, struggling to pull her mind from the haze of the drugs.

“That’s not important,” the ghostly whisper informed her.

Shivers tickled down her spine. “What do you want?”

“Me? Oh . . . many things. Would you like me to list them all?” His voice was hollow, empty. She wished she could recognize it, but she’d never heard it before.

“What do you want from me?”

“Ah, see, that’s much more specific.” He laughed an eerie, breathy laugh—more like a wheeze. “I want to know why you’re here.”

“You tell me,” she spat. “You’re the one who captured me.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean here. I meant why you exist at all. Why anyone would go to so much trouble to create such a unique little girl? And what are they hiding in that impenetrable little brain of yours?” Venom seeped into the last words as hot hands brushed across her temples, leaving a trail of warmth everywhere they touched. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell me what you’re hiding in there?”

“Get your hands off me.”

Another breathy laugh. “You’ve got gumption—I’ll give you that. But you leave me in quite a predicament.”

Steady footfalls told her he was pacing.

“The easiest thing to do would be to kill you and your little friend and be rid of you both. But it’s never easy, is it? Sure—it is with your friend. He’ll be disposed of soon enough.”

“Why? It’s me you want. Why don’t you let him go?”

“And cast suspicion on your disappearance? No, we can’t have that. Don’t worry, he won’t feel a thing. I’m not a monster, after all.”

“You’re worse than a monster!” she screamed. “You kill innocent children and don’t even have the guts to show your face.”

“Innocent? Innocent?” She could feel his hot breath on her face and pressure squeezing her arms. “If you’re so innocent, how did you know the location of Elementine? How do you know about Everblaze?” He released her arms and the blood rushed back in a throb of pain. “No, Miss Foster. You may be ignorant, but you are certainly not innocent. The Black Swan made sure of that.”

“Wait. Aren’t you part of the Black Swan?”

He laughed—louder this time—almost a cackle. Apparently, that was all the answer she would get.

“So what do I do with you?” he asked, mostly to himself. “Do I keep you here so I can see what you can really do?”

“I can’t do anything,” she screamed. “I’m not special—I’m just me.”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. You’re their little puppet. So maybe I should just get rid of you and take their precious toy away.”

Panic made her shake despite the bonds. Would he kill her now?

“You’ll never get away with this,” she whispered. “I already gave the Council the sample of the Everblaze. They’ll come for you.”

“How will they know it was me?”

“Because you’re the only one who can ignite Everblaze.”

“Am I? And I suppose you think you know who I am.”

“You’re Fintan.”

He laughed. “I guess you’ve got it all figured out, then.” He rushed her, gripping her arms again. “Tell me what your mind is hiding and maybe I’ll let you live.”

She screamed as the burning increased—like her skin was melting. “Please, you’re hurting me.”

His breath was hot on her face. “This is your last chance.”

Please! She tried to concentrate so she could send out one last desperate call for help. She had no idea if she could reach anyone, but it was her only hope.

Her mind buzzed with a reserve of energy as she pictured Everglen until it was all she could see. Fitz, she transmitted, imagining him inside, eating dinner in the dining room. It seemed so real she could see his beautiful eyes widen in surprise. Please, Fitz. I need your help. If you can follow my voice, please find me.

But you’re dead, he thought, his face twisting with pain.

I’m not dead—yet. Please, they’re going to kill us.

“She’s transmitting again,” someone warned.

The pain in her arms became so unbearable she lost her connection—if it had even been a connection.

“Is that true?” the ghostly voice hissed as his hands squeezed tighter, twisting her raw skin.

“Stop,” she screamed, contorting from the pain. “Stop, please.”

“Knock her out again. And make the poison—I’m done with both of them.”

“No, ple—” The sweet cloth blocked the rest of her plea, and she was jerked back to the dark.

HER MIND SWAM THROUGH A pool of thick, inky black for an eternity. Sometimes she could find the clarity to picture Fitz’s face and send another desperate plea for help, but most of the time she just drifted, feeling the rise and fall of her chest and wondering which breath would be her last.

At first she didn’t realize she was moving. A rush of air across her face brought her to her senses.

“Don’t struggle, Sophie,” someone commanded as she tried to twist her body away. “I’m getting you out of here.”

A rescue?

She couldn’t feel the bonds anymore, and a strong pair of arms was moving her somewhere.

Her overwhelming happiness only lasted a second. “Dex,” she grunted, her voice thick and raw.

“I’ll come back for him.”

“No.” She twisted to break free. They were both getting rescued.

“I have to get you out of here, Sophie.”

“No.” She kicked her legs and almost managed to slip out of his grasp.

His sigh rocked through his body. “You kids are so difficult.”

Something tugged at her memory, but she didn’t have time to process it. “Dex,” she insisted, thrashing harder.

He made a sound that may have been a growl as he spun her around, jostling her more than he probably needed to as he ran. When they stopped, he shifted his weight and pulled a body over his other shoulder. Her heart leaped when she felt Dex’s warm breath against her cheek. He still seemed drugged, but he was alive—and they were being rescued.

Everything would be okay.

“Hang on to me,” their rescuer ordered. “If I have to carry two of you, you have to pull some of your own weight.”

Her brain still felt foggy from the drugs and her body was weak, but there was no way she was going to risk having him put Dex down. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on with everything she had.

He moved quick and silent—occasionally stopping to catch his breath. Then they entered some sort of elevator, and her stomach lurched from the sudden jump in altitude.

“Who are you?” she whispered.

“It’s not important.” His voice sounded clipped, giving her nothing distinct she could recognize.

“Why are you helping me?”

“It’s my job.”

His job?

She’d been hoping it was someone who cared, but she wasn’t in a position to complain.

“How long have we been gone?”

“It took us ten days to find you.”

Ten days in that drugged delirium? Her whole body started to shake.

The doors opened and a burst of fresh air on her skin helped calm her panic. After a few minutes of running he lowered her to the hard ground, laying Dex beside her. Rough fingers parted her lips.

“Swallow,” he ordered, pouring something bitter and salty down her throat. She gagged, but he clamped her mouth shut. “Swallow, Sophie.”

She choked down the sludge. A minute later she heard Dex gag and knew he must be getting the same medicine.

“Okay,” their rescuer grunted, placing something flimsy in her hands. “The medicine will take about an hour to work, and then you’ll be back on your feet. That’s the best I can do. You kids will have to take care of yourselves from here on out.”

“What?” She couldn’t even open her eyes—how was she supposed to take care of herself? “Don’t go,” she begged, fumbling to find him.

“I’ve been here too long as it is. If you don’t make it back in a few days, I’ll try to figure something else out, but I can’t make any promises.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “Please don’t leave me,” she begged, reaching out for him and finding only air.

He was gone.

Too weak and scared to move, she curled closer to Dex and cried harder than she’d ever cried before.

After a minute she felt a warm tingle in her mind—almost like a caress. Suddenly she was five years old again—before her telepathy manifested and her life changed forever. When she was just a happy, normal girl. She wrapped her mind around the feeling, clinging to the warmth and safety until her weary mind drifted off to sleep.