Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(21)

“We believe you,” Mr. Forkle eventually said. “And are willing to give this arrangement a try. You can swear fealty tonight with the others.”

“What exactly does that mean?” Sophie asked, hoping there was no embarrassing ritual.

“It’s a simple process,” Granite said. “It’ll make more sense when you receive your packages. They’ll be delivered to your rooms before your bedtime.”

“Wait—we have a bedtime?” Keefe asked.

“Yes, Mr. Sencen, your curfew will be midnight—and that means lights out,” Mr. Forkle said. “We also expect you to stay in your separate houses for the remainder of the night. Every morning you’ll meet for breakfast, then spend the rest of the day with your lessons.”

“What kinds of lessons?” Biana asked.

“Exercises to better prepare you for the tasks ahead. You’re all very talented, but you’ve only begun to hone your abilities. We will mentor you when we can, and when we’re unavailable, your rooms have been stocked with books and assignments.”

“Or we could, y’know, work on hunting down the Neverseen,” Keefe suggested.

“The Neverseen are not a pressing threat at the moment,” Blur said.

“You’re kidding, right?” Keefe asked. “They’re running around starting fires—”

“One fire,” Granite corrected.

“That you know of,” Fitz countered.

“No, Mr. Vacker, one fire,” Granite insisted. “We have eyes all over the world. If anything burns, we know about it. Just like we were there to extinguish the Florence fire. And now that Gethen has been moved, the Neverseen have disappeared without a trace. We must wait for them to reveal themselves before we take further action.”

“Unless they already did something,” Sophie said, careful to keep her words vague.

Mr. Forkle cocked his head. “I see you have all kinds of theories.”

Sophie backed away. “Are you reading my mind?”

“Of course.” He didn’t sound sorry.

“Does that mean I can poke around your head?” she countered.

“By all means, be my guest.”

Sophie ignored his confident smile as she tried to open her mind to his thoughts . . .

Or Granite’s thoughts . . .

Or Wraith’s . . .

Or Blur’s . . .

Or Squall’s . . .

“I made your Telepathy unstoppable,” Mr. Forkle said, “but that doesn’t mean it can’t be deceived. Once you figure out what that means, you’ll earn the right to hear what I’m thinking.”

“That’s not good enough!” Sophie snapped. “Just because I’m here doesn’t give you the right to invade my privacy.”

Mr. Forkle started to argue, but Granite placed a rocky hand on his shoulder.

“If we maintain the rules of telepathy,” Granite asked her, “would that make you more comfortable?”

“A little,” Sophie mumbled.

“Then consider that our arrangement—and remember that the rules apply to you as well,” Granite told her.

I will still transmit to you on occasion, Mr. Forkle added, making Sophie jump as his voice filled her head. But I will not open my mind to your thoughts or hear your reply unless you transmit back to me. I hope this proves that we do consider your wants and concerns. Clearly it’s going to take time to adjust to our new working arrangement. But we are on the same side, even if our approaches differ. And since I already saw what you were thinking, let me go ahead and assure you that we are investigating the gnomes’ situation, and we have seen no obvious signs of the Neverseen’s involvement. The footprints Oralie mentioned—and by the way, you should use that Imparter she gave you very sparingly—belonged to two teenagers living nearby.

Why are there teenagers living near Wildwood?

Most likely they’ve been banished. But they were clearly not a threat to the gnomes. So you can let go of your conspiracy theories for the moment. Give us time to investigate properly.

“We know you two are having a secret conversation,” Keefe interrupted. “Care to share with the rest of us?”

“He was just clarifying something,” Sophie said.

“Was it about Gethen?” Keefe asked. “You promised to tell us about the interrogations.”

“There isn’t much to tell,” Mr. Forkle said. “Each time I’ve tried to probe his mind, he was . . . unresponsive.”

“So do a memory break,” Keefe pressed.

“You misunderstand what I mean by ‘unresponsive.’ His head currently appears to be empty. There are no thought processes. No dreams. No memories of any kind. I’ve never seen a defense like it, and I’ve yet to figure out how to counter it.”

“Do you think it’d help if I tried to heal him?” Sophie asked.

“That would be far too dangerous,” Granite said. “It’s possible his goal is to lure you into his mind and trap you there. Isn’t that what Fintan tried to do during his healing?”

Sophie winced at the memory. If Fitz hadn’t dragged her back to consciousness, Fintan would’ve burned her alive without her even realizing.

“But you’re taking the same risk when you search his mind, aren’t you?” she asked Mr. Forkle.