Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(79)

“Fine,” Mr. Forkle grumbled. “But I will hold you responsible if he causes any more trouble, Miss Vacker.”

“He wouldn’t do that, now would he?” Biana said, proving how little she knew about imps. “Come on, let’s get you all set up in my room—and then we’ll see what we can do about this stinky fur.”

“I can brew up a new elixir,” Dex offered, following Biana. “You really want him blue?”

“I’d better make sure things don’t get out of control in there,” Della said, leaving Sophie alone with Mr. Forkle and Edaline.

Edaline motioned for Sophie to sit in one of the shrubbery chairs. “We should get to work. So I need you to study the cache like it’s the only thing in the universe.”

Sophie leaned closer, focusing on the cache’s minute details. She’d never noticed the hairline fissures peppered through the glass, or how each jewel was wrapped with a single threadlike ring. Some of the rings were silver. One was gold. The others were black. She was trying to guess the significance when she felt a soft Pop!, like what her ears did every time the altitude changed.

A blue thread glinted off the cache like a laser, shooting straight into Sophie’s forehead.

“That’s supposed to happen, right?” Sophie asked, resisting the urge to flail.

“That’s the thread I tied between you and the cache,” Edaline explained. “It won’t always glow. Now we just have to move the cache to the void.”

Edaline snapped her fingers and the cache disappeared. The glowing blue thread also blinked away. But when Sophie concentrated, she could still feel a soft tug, as if her mind were clinging to the string of a kite drifting high on the breeze.

“Perfect,” Edaline said. “Now you can drag the cache wherever you want in the web. It works best if you find something identifiable to leave it near.”

Sophie closed her eyes and tried to focus as everything turned swishy and swoopy. She noticed a patch of warmth, and it led her to what felt like a pool of bubbling energy. She was about to leave the cache there when she realized everyone probably chose the comfortable paths. She turned her mind toward the coldest corner of the void.

Her teeth chattered as she left the cache surrounded by frosty waves. “Now what?”

Edaline snapped her fingers, and it felt like someone shoved Sophie back into her body and dumped a bucket of water on her brain.

“You okay?” Edaline asked.

Sophie rubbed her forehead. “That was really weird.”

“Conjuring is a strange ability,” Edaline agreed. “But now your cache is safe. And to retrieve it, all you have to do is find the pressure in your mind, wrap your consciousness around it, and focus.”

Sophie did as Edaline said and . . . SNAP!

“Okay, before we put it back,” Edaline said, “you need to think of a word or phrase—one you won’t forget, but also would never accidentally say.”

Every word that ever existed vanished from Sophie’s mind.

“Take your time,” Mr. Forkle told her. “This will be your failsafe if something makes you lose your hold. It will only work once, and it will sever all other connections.”

Sophie’s brain darted to silly things like, Accio cache! Allons-y! Use the force! Bibbidy-Bobbidy-Boo! My preciousssssssssssssssssss. But then she remembered how when she was little and had moved to the “older kids’ school,” her parents gave her a code phrase to say if she ever wanted to be picked up and didn’t want anyone to know she’d called her parents. Her dad was a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, so he’d chosen “221B Baker Street.” She remembered complaining that no one could work those words into normal conversation, and her dad had just said, “But you’ll never forget them.”

“I think I’ve got it,” she said.

“Okay, keep those words as the only thing in your mind, and when I tell you to, say them to the cache.”

Edaline’s brows scrunched so tightly they nearly touched, and the cache glowed warm in Sophie’s hand.

“Now,” Edaline said.

The cache disappeared as soon as Sophie said the phrase.

Edaline leaned wearily back in her chair. “That should do it. If you say those words and snap your fingers, the cache will find you.”

“Does that mean you guys can call for it?” Sophie asked. “Since you know the words?”

“It has to be your voice,” Mr. Forkle said.

“And remember, it will only work once,” Edaline added. “So keep it for a last resort.”

“I assume this means we’re done,” Mr. Forkle said, pulling out his leaping crystal.

Sophie threw her arms around Edaline, wishing she could beg her mom to stay.

“At least this time I’m saying a proper goodbye,” Edaline whispered. “I’m sorry we didn’t before.”

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Sophie said, wiping her eyes. “It made it easier, actually. Made it feel more temporary.”

“This is temporary.” Edaline tightened her hold. “I won’t let the Council keep us apart forever—that’s a promise. And now I need you to promise something to me. Don’t worry, I won’t tell you not to take risks, or not to worry about us, or any other impossible things. I just need you to promise that you’ll never give up. No matter how hard it gets. Or how hopeless it feels. Never, ever give up.”