Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(89)
Sophie nodded, remembering some of the thoughts she’d heard growing up. Death truly was humans’ constant companion. Maybe if it wasn’t, they’d care more about others and take the time to do things the right way.
And yet, later that night, as she tossed and turned in bed, nervous for what the first day at Exillium would bring, Sophie couldn’t help wondering if the elves’ indefinite lifespan hindered them just as much as the humans’ fleeting lives.
Would the Council—and even the Black Swan—be so willing to sit back and ignore problems if they couldn’t rest so comfortably in the knowledge that they still had centuries and centuries ahead of them?
The more she thought about it, the more she realized both sides had lost an important alternate perspective. And maybe that was what she’d been created for.
A girl from both worlds, who’d seen the follies and triumphs of each side.
And her job was to shake things up and do something new.
FORTY-ONE
BIANA WAS RIGHT—these masks smell funky,” Keefe said as the five friends leaped to Exillium.
The fleck of crystal on their beads dissolved as soon as they arrived on the slope of a misty mountain. Sharp winds stung their cheeks while they climbed the rocky path ahead, and the slender trees around them looked normal and healthy.
“No sign of the plague here,” Sophie said, not sure if she was relieved or disappointed. No plague meant no chance of finding any clues, either.
“So, um . . . where’s the school?” Biana asked. “Do you think we leaped to the wrong place?”
“How?” Dex asked. “We used their beads.”
“True.” But Sophie had yet to see another person, or even a sign that anyone had ever been there. No footprints marred the path, no voices buzzed in the distance. “If we’re lost . . .”
“Then we all jump off these cliffs,” Fitz said, “and teleport as close as we can get to Alluveterre.”
“Or she could take us to Foxfire,” Keefe jumped in, “and we could run through the halls screaming, ‘YOU CAN’T GET RID OF US THAT EASILY!’?”
“I like that plan,” Dex said.
“Me too,” Biana agreed.
“Of course you do. It’s brilliant.”
Their path curved, leading to a rocky clearing so thick with mist, they couldn’t see the ground. An enormous arch made of jagged black metal loomed over the entrance, woven from iron thistles.
“This place is freaky,” Dex whispered. “Do you think this is it?”
Sophie pointed to the center of the arch, where the same X symbol they’d seen before seemed to taunt them.
“Okay,” she whispered. “From this point on we keep a low profile, and if we find something we—”
The rest of her instruction disappeared in a scream.
A thick rope had tightened around her ankle, yanking her off the ground and leaving her dangling upside down from the arch. Her friends hung beside her, flailing and thrashing, the ground very far below.
“Welcome to your Dividing!” a raspy female voice shouted from somewhere in the fog.
The mist parted and a figure in a red hooded cloak stepped forward, followed by a figure in a blue cloak and another in royal purple.
“You must find your way to freedom,” the purple figure told them. Her voice sounded stiffer than the other figure. More reserved.
“There’s no right answer to the problem,” the blue figure added, his voice high and nasal. “But light leaping doesn’t count. You must untie or sever the cord. And choose wisely. This will determine which one of us will be coaching you.”
Sophie’s brain throbbed from the head rush, and her snared foot went numb as she tried to curl her body up to reach the knot. She couldn’t even make it halfway before her abs gave up.
Why had that always looked so much easier in movies?
“Anyone having any luck?” Fitz asked, clearly not experiencing the same ab challenges as Sophie. He pried at the rope with shaking hands. “This knot is impossible.”
“Almost out,” Keefe said.
Sophie tried to catch sight of him, but Dex was in the way.
Keefe mumbled “ow” several times before shouting, “YOU THINK YOU CAN HOLD M—”
A loud RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP cut him off, and he shouted a bunch of words that would earn him a month of detention before a CRUNCH! left him silent.
“Are you okay?” Sophie called.
“I’ve been better,” Keefe groaned. “Guess I forgot to brace for the fall.”
“He also forgot his pants,” the blue-cloaked figure noted.
A wave of snickers followed, and Sophie realized the whole school was hiding in the mist, watching them dangle like sides of beef at the butcher shop. Keefe’s boot dangled with them, along with a shredded pair of black pants.
“Oy, his boxers are covered in little banshees!” a kid shouted.
“Bet he peed himself too,” another said.
“SILENCE!” the blue Coach snapped. “Those of you still trapped should not concern yourselves with those who are free. He’s passed the test. Can you say the same?”
“I can in a second!” Dex shouted back.
Sophie spun around and found Dex curled up like a monkey, sawing at his rope with something silver. The cord snapped a second later, leaving him hovering there.