Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(12)

The sharpness in his tone made Sophie reach for his hand.

“I’m fine,” he promised. But he didn’t pull away.

“We do not blame you, Mr. Sencen,” Mr. Forkle said. “We assume they used Gethen. We’d been holding him here after we captured him on Mount Everest—but don’t worry, we’ve relocated him to somewhere much harder to reach. And we’ll figure out what enzyme they’re tracking him with so this won’t happen again.”

“Have you learned anything from him?” Keefe asked, voicing the question Sophie was sure they’d all been thinking.

Gethen was the first member of the Neverseen they’d captured. He’d also been one of Sophie and Dex’s kidnappers.

“Not yet,” Mr. Forkle said. “His mind is . . . tricky. We’ll discuss it more later. Right now, I need to get you to your new homes.”

Sophie wasn’t sure which felt stranger—trying to imagine feeling at home with the Black Swan, or the fact that he’d said “homes.”

“Are we going to be living together?” Biana asked, noticing the plural as well.

“Of course.”

“Will you be living with us?” Sophie asked.

“No. I live in the Lost Cities. I cannot disappear too long without someone noticing my absence.”

“But you lived with humans for twelve years,” Sophie reminded him.

“Yes, and someday I’ll tell you how I managed to escape anyone’s notice.”

“So wait,” Dex said. “Does that mean we could’ve met members of the Black Swan and didn’t know it?”

“I’m sure you have, Mr. Dizznee. Many of us are fans of your father’s store.”

Slurps and Burps was the Lost Cities’ most popular apothecary. Sophie could understand how a covert group would find their serums handy, since many could alter appearances. But it was strange to think she might’ve passed the real Mr. Forkle shopping in the cluttered aisles.

And if the Black Swan hid among them, surely the Neverseen did as well. Sophie wondered if she’d seen the rebels in the streets of Atlantis, or if their kids went to school with her at Foxfire. She ran through a mental list of possible suspects—the primary being her longtime rival, Stina Heks—as Biana said, “So basically, you’re all two different people?”

“Or three,” Mr. Forkle corrected. “Perhaps even four or five. And yes, that can be rather challenging.” He lifted his double chin, revealing a registry pendant hidden underneath. “A clever Technopath rigged this to communicate where I want the Council to think I am. But it only covers blocks of time.”

“Should I have done that to our pendants?” Dex asked.

“No, you five have already drawn the Council’s suspicion. Better to sever your ties and seek refuge in our hideout.”

“Any chance we’ll be leaping soon?” Keefe asked as a blob of slime dripped into his hair.

“We won’t be leaping. The ogres have a gadget that can follow the trail of a leap to its source. It’s how they restrict entry to their cities and monitor intruders. Now that we know the Neverseen are working with the ogres, we must assume they’ll try to track us.”

“So we can’t leap anymore?” Fitz asked.

“Not here, when they’re so close.”

The words echoed through the tunnel, turning every shadow into a cloaked figure.

“If they’re close, why aren’t we going after them?” Keefe asked.

“We fight the fights we can win, Mr. Sencen. Right now, the Neverseen have too many advantages. They’re hidden somewhere in the city, likely somewhere with great potential for human casualties. That’s why I have our transport waiting downriver, where they’d never think to look.”

“Uh, not to ask the obvious question,” Dex jumped in, “but why not have us meet you there in the first place?”

“We have reasons for working in riddles, Mr. Dizznee, and convenience is never a consideration. But the trail you followed was incredibly secure.”

“Maybe, if you ignore all the human technology I had to handle,” Dex mumbled. “And you’re lucky Sophie remembered all those weird facts about Florence.”

“Is that what you think it was?” Mr. Forkle asked. “Luck?”

Sophie sighed. “Exactly how many weird memories have you given me?”

“As many as you’ll need.”

“How can you possibly know that?” Fitz asked.

“Very careful planning.”

Sophie stopped walking. “Planning for what?”

“Please keep moving, Miss Foster. We do not have time for such discussions.”

“You’re seriously not going to tell her?” Keefe asked. “Don’t you think she deserves to know?”

“She deserves many things,” Mr. Forkle said. “But most important, she deserves a choice. And in order to give her that choice, she must discover her purpose on her own. There are also things we must keep secret—for her protection and ours.”

“Sandor always says that secrets hinder his ability to protect me,” Sophie reminded him.

“That applies to you keeping secrets from him. Not the other way around,” Mr. Forkle replied. “We must hurry. Our rides won’t wait forever.”