Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(7)

“We’re wasting time!” Sophie interrupted. “The Council could be here any second, and I still have no idea where we’re supposed to be going.”

“Okay,” Keefe said, following her as she stalked to the edge of the cliff. “So . . . we still need to go to Florence, right? The Black Swan told you that?” When Fitz nodded, Keefe asked Sophie, “Doesn’t your photographic memory have a few pictures of the city tucked away?”

She had seen pictures of Florence, but . . . “That doesn’t tell us where we go after that.”

“We’ll figure it out. And once we do, we’ll all smack Fitz a few times and tell the Black Swan to knock it off with the lame, non-rhyming riddles. In the meantime”—Keefe grabbed Sophie’s hand again—“we’re doing this thing!”

They’d barely locked hands before Keefe pulled them off the cliff’s edge.





THREE


KEEFE LAUGHED WHILE everyone screamed and thrashed as they plummeted toward the ocean. “Wow, what a buncha babies. Don’t worry, Foster’s on it.”

His confidence melted some of the fog in Sophie’s head—enough to let her focus on the energy rushing with her adrenaline. She shoved the force out of her mind and thunder cracked the sky, sending them crashing into the void.

As they drifted with the darkness, Sophie imagined a picture she’d seen of Florence: Marble churches. Red rooftops. A golden river lined with colorful buildings.

She homed in on her favorite landmark: the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Thunder clapped again, splitting the blackness with blinding light.

They slipped through the glowing crack and tumbled into a crowded courtyard, crashing into a marble wall and collapsing in a pile.

“Still gotta work out these landings,” Keefe groaned as he scooted out from under Fitz.

Sophie was much more focused on the pain in her head as hundreds of voices sliced through her mind. Human thoughts broadcast like radio waves, even with her impenetrable blocking. Luckily, she’d learned how to shield her mind by imagining an invisible barrier around her head.

Fitz rubbed his temples, clearly doing the same thing, but she refused to return the weary smile he gave her. Now they were lost in a Forbidden City and it was all his fault.

“It smells weird,” Biana said.

“Probably human pollution,” Fitz explained. “I don’t remember it being this strong, though.”

“Me either,” Sophie said. The air felt thick in her throat, and it had a bizarre caramel smell. Not at all what she’d expected for the land of pasta and garlic.

“So, are we invisible?” Dex asked, watching the crowds milling around them. “Or are they just more interested in that big domed thing.” He pointed to the famous Duomo across the courtyard.

“Probably both.” Fitz removed a small black orb from his satchel. “My dad gave me an obscurer to help us stay hidden.”

The gadget bent light and sound in a limited radius, camouflaging anything inside.

“Are you serious?” Biana asked. “Then what was the point of these ugly costumes?”

“It’s called being careful,” Fitz told her.

“Plus, I get to be Batman!” Keefe added. “But I’m done with the jacket. Why is it so hot here?”

“Too many people, not enough trees,” Fitz said as he took off his scarf and coat, leaving him in a rather tight blue T-shirt.

Biana ditched her sweatshirt, revealing a yellow screen-printed tee. “I liked that this one had a few girls,” she told Sophie, pointing to the group shot of the X-Men. “Even if they have super weird hair.”

“Uh, there’s a guy who has blue fur all over his body, and you’re focusing on the girls’ hair?” Keefe asked. “And hey, that clawed dude’s yellow shirt might be as tight as Fitz’s!”

“Jealous?” Fitz asked, flexing rather impressive muscles.

“Shouldn’t we try to figure out where we’re going?” Dex asked, shoving his sweatshirt into his satchel and hugging his skinny arms against his chest.

“Probably,” Keefe agreed. “But first—what is that?” He pointed to the drippy ice cream a family was devouring. “Whatever it is, I want some!”

“I think that’s gelato,” Sophie told him. “And forget it.”

“Actually, I think it’s a good idea,” Fitz said.

Keefe leaned closer to Sophie. “In case you were wondering—that is why he’s my best friend.”

Sophie sighed. “Even if we had time, how would you pay for it?”

Her friends were used to buying everything with their birth funds—a special account set up when they were born, with more money than they could ever use in a lifetime. But it was useless outside of the Lost Cities.

“Won’t this stuff work?” Dex asked, pulling out a wad of crinkled, colored paper. “I had it left over from when we were in that other Forbidden City after we got kidnapped.”

Paris and Florence did accept the same currency, but . . . “We don’t have time for gelato!” Sophie said.

Keefe draped his arm around her shoulders. “Foster, Foster, Foster. Live a little.”

“You know he’s going to keep pushing until he gets what he wants, right?” Biana asked.