Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(23)

“We are only offering one—the memory I know you desire the most.”

“The Boy Who Disappeared?” Sophie asked, and the Collective nodded.

Sophie turned to her friends, knowing she wouldn’t get a better offer. When she had their approval, she told the Collective, “Okay.”

“All right, then,” Mr. Forkle said, reaching for her temples.

Sophie flinched back. “Wait—you’re doing it now? Since when is anything with you guys ever that easy?”

She glanced at her right hand, where a small star-shaped scar commemorated the time Mr. Forkle reset her abilities. He’d had to give her an entire ounce of limbium and then inject her with a modified human remedy to stop the allergic reaction from killing her.

Mr. Forkle cleared his throat. “Returning memories is a simple process—though you should prepare yourself for the fact that this memory was taken to spare you additional worry.”

“I still want it back. Just like I want the other memory.” She turned to the Collective, trying to find their eyes amid their crazy disguises. “If you won’t return it now, I think I deserve a guarantee that you’ll give it back to me eventually.”

“You deserve that and more,” Granite said. “So we can agree to your term—as long as you understand that we will choose when to return the other memory.”

Sophie agreed, and Mr. Forkle turned to Fitz. “I’d like to have you assist.”

“Why him?” Dex asked. “If you need another Telepath, why not use Granite?”

“Because Miss Foster trusts Mr. Vacker,” Mr. Forkle said. “And the two of them have an extremely unique connection. In fact, we’re hoping to train them as Cognates.”

“REALLY?” Fitz asked, his eyes sparkling.

“What’s a Cognate?” Sophie asked.

“An incredibly rare telepathic relationship,” Granite explained. “One very few Telepaths are able to achieve. I know I’ve never found anyone I could partner with.”

“Neither have I,” Mr. Forkle agreed. “Cognates combine their power through a deep personal connection. It’s too early to know if you’re truly compatible, but it’s worth exploring—especially given the potential we’ve witnessed. On your own, Miss Foster, you came far closer to reading an ogre’s mind than any have before. Perhaps with the combined strength of a Cognate you would find true success—though I’m definitely not suggesting you attempt to probe an ogre’s mind again. I’m simply illustrating the potential. Your telepathy has proven far superior to even my most optimistic calculations. If you and Mr. Vacker achieve Cognatedom, it would reach another level entirely.”

“You want to try it, right?” Fitz asked as Sophie resisted tugging on her eyelashes.

“Of course I do.”

“Ha, nice try, Foster,” Keefe said. “I can feel your dread all the way over here.”

“It’s not dread,” she argued. “It’s just a lot of pressure. I don’t want to let anyone down.”

“You could never let me down.” Fitz said something else too, but it was drowned out by the plethora of gagging sounds coming from Dex and Keefe.

“Don’t Cognates have to share all their secrets with each other?” Biana asked.

Mr. Forkle nodded. “It’s how they reach the necessary level of trust.”

Keefe smirked. “Okay, now I feel the dread.”

“A perfectly normal reaction,” Granite told him. “Sophie has been alone with her secrets for a very long time. Sharing them so openly is a whole new concept—one, I might add, that I myself have never been comfortable with.”

“Yeah,” Sophie agreed. “Plus . . . this could be super dangerous—”

“Nope! We’re not doing the ‘I’m trying to protect you’ speech again,” Fitz interrupted. “You’re not allowed to worry about me anymore—and I don’t want to have to worry about you. That’s why I want to do this. A Cognate is a Telepath’s ultimate backup. I promise, I won’t be mad if it doesn’t work out. But isn’t it worth trying?”

He looked so adorably excited, Sophie could feel her cheeks blushing.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Wonderful! So come over here, Mr. Vacker,” Mr. Forkle ordered. “I want your minds to be connected as I return Miss Foster’s memory.”

Sophie’s mouth went desert dry as Fitz and Mr. Forkle reached for her temples.

“Try to let your mind relax, Miss Foster,” Mr. Forkle told her. “And let me know once you clear the point of trust, Mr. Vacker.”

The Black Swan had designed Sophie’s mind with a hidden entry point, where her subconscious could pull someone past her mental blocking. Apparently they had to transmit some sort of password to convince her mind she could trust them.

She had no idea what word Fitz used, but he grinned and said, “I’m in!”

“Very good,” Mr. Forkle told him. “Her mind is trusting you much faster.”

“Of course it is,” Dex grumbled.

“I’m going to return the memory,” Mr. Forkle said. “And it can be a bit disorienting, so perhaps you should hold someone’s hand, Miss Foster.”