Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(66)

Sophie agreed. She’d seen how the dwarves had treated Alden’s head wound when he’d collapsed in Exile. Fitz needed much more than a plasterlike patch.

His blood was thickening like applesauce from the venom, and his breathing sounded shallow and ragged.

“Mr. Forkle says to leap Fitz out of here,” Dex whispered.

Sophie could hear the same instructions filling her head, along with details for how to contact the Black Swan’s physician. She wanted to grab Fitz and leap away, but she couldn’t leave the rest of her friends trapped in Exile.

Dex must’ve decided the same thing, because he held up his leaping crystal. “I’ll take care of him,” he promised as he grabbed Fitz and leaped the two of them away.

Outrage erupted, the Councillors ordering the dwarves to restrain the rest of their group.

“You’re seriously going to arrest us?” Biana shouted. “After what you just did to my brother?”

“It was an accident!” Councillor Zarina insisted.

It was—but it shouldn’t have happened.

A glance at Oralie told Sophie the pretty Councillor knew what she was planning—and a nod told her Oralie agreed.

Before Sophie could change her mind, she reached into her pocket and stepped to the center of the crowd. “You’re going to let us go now—or I’m going to use this.”

She held out Kenric’s cache, eliciting a round of gasps, even from the Collective.

Councillor Emery reeled on Oralie. “Is this your doing?”

“It is,” she said. “I honored Kenric’s last request. He feared Sophie would need protection—and he was right.”

“Treason!” Councillor Alina shouted, and several other Councillors agreed. Bronte and Terik tried to calm them, but it turned into a screaming match.

The only Councillor not arguing was Clarette, who sat hunched over the wounded arthropleura, whispering promises that its antenna would regrow.

Sophie was glad to hear it, but she hated that she couldn’t say the same for Fitz. A wound like his might not— She shut the thought down before it could finish.

But what if Dex hadn’t been able to reach the physician?

Or what if something happened during the leap?

Mr. Forkle had warned them that leaping through the force field was dangerous—what if the two cloaks Fitz had been wrapped in weren’t enough?

“We don’t have time for this!” she shouted, grabbing her pendant and holding the crystal to the dim light. “So here’s how this is going to work. You let us go right now, or I will leap out of here and you’ll never see this cache again.”

This is too dangerous of a game, Mr. Forkle warned.

I don’t care, she transmitted back. She would find a way to make it work.

“Too hasty, Miss Foster,” Councillor Alina told her. “Caches can only be accessed by the person who created them.”

“Do you really think Kenric would’ve given it to her if he hadn’t made a way for her to gain access?” Oralie asked.

“Even if that’s true,” Councillor Emery said, “are you going to betray your world and hand it over to our enemies, Miss Foster? Do so, and you will prove that you’re every bit as evil as we’ve expected.”

The word “evil” hit hard, but not as hard as the question.

What would she do with the cache?

“You’re right,” Sophie said after a moment. “The cache can never go to the ogres or the Neverseen. But I could give it to Sandor. Or maybe King Enki would want it.”

Sophie had no idea if the cache held any secrets related to the goblins or dwarves, but it was the only card she could think to play.

Another nod from Oralie told her she’d played it well.

Councillor Emery closed his eyes to moderate the thoughts of the other Councillors, and Sophie bit her lip so hard she tasted blood.

“What are your demands?” Councillor Emery finally asked.

“Let us go!” Sophie said.

“Yes, we figured that. What else?”

“Full pardons for all of us, including Prentice!”

Emery gritted his teeth. “That is not an option.”

Sophie leaned toward the jagged beam of light.

“Stop!” Bronte shouted. “Grant them the pardons! That cache must not fall into anyone else’s hands.”

“So they break our laws with no consequences?” Emery asked.

“Expel them from Foxfire,” Bronte suggested.

Councillor Alina snorted. “That goes without saying! They need a proper punishment, not a slap on the wrist.”

“Then send us to Exillium,” Sophie said, hardly believing the words as they came out of her mouth.

Mr. Forkle couldn’t believe it either, and filled her mind with a plethora of objections. Oralie was shaking her head as well.

But it would give them a chance to find out more about the Psionipaths who’d gone there.

It was also too late. Councillor Emery accepted the deal.

“What of their leaders?” Alina asked. “Surely we’re not letting them go.”

Do not worry about us, Mr. Forkle transmitted to Sophie.

But she wasn’t leaving anyone behind.

“They’re coming with us,” she said, moving her foot closer to the light.