Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(99)

Instead, they were carrying a very sick gnome, so she was glad it seemed to be the middle of session. The colorful halls were vacant, and Sophie was very familiar with the path to the Healing Center. They rushed through the doors in record time.

Sophie called for Elwin as she surveyed the three rooms—a treatment area, a working laboratory, and the physician’s office.

All three were empty.

“Now what?” Fitz asked, setting the gnome on one of the beds in the treatment area.

“I don’t know,” Sophie admitted. She’d never considered that Elwin might not be there. “I guess we could leave him here and go find Magnate Leto.”

But then she imagined the gnome waking up all alone, not knowing where he was or what had happened to him.

“Should one of us stay here?” she asked.

The slamming of the Healing Center’s doors saved them from making a decision.

“This is why you’re not supposed to catch more than one lightning bolt at a time,” Elwin said, leading a familiar round-faced boy into the treatment area.

“I thought I’d found a way to do it,” Jensi said, patting the ends of his brown hair, which was sticking out in every direction.

Both Jensi and Elwin froze when they spotted Fitz and Sophie—and the panic in their eyes reminded Sophie they still had their masks on.

“It’s okay,” she said, tossing back her hood and shoving her mask up on her forehead.

Fitz did the same, and Jensi and Elwin each did a double take.

Then Elwin laughed. “Should’ve known you’d find a way to end up here,” he said, wrapping them up in a group hug.

Sophie hugged him back, remembering how once upon a time she’d been afraid of Elwin. It hadn’t been Elwin’s fault—she’d been afraid of all doctors after growing up with needles and hospitals and scary human medicine. But now she knew that Elwin was a giant teddy bear, with dark, messy hair, and smiling dragons all over his tunic.

“Yeah—they told us you were banished,” Jensi said in his trademark rapid-fire manner. “But I knew they couldn’t keep you away—and cool—you have to tell me about Exillium—are those the uniforms—they’re awesome—but what are the masks for?”

The happy reunion lasted about ten seconds, until Elwin noticed their patient.

“What happened?” he asked, scrambling for his crazy iridescent spectacles and flashing a blue orb of light around the gnome. “Where did you find him?”

“We were in Bosk Gorge today,” Sophie said.

Elwin frowned. “Bosk Gorge?”

“It’s in the Neutral Territories,” Fitz explained.

“I know. But that doesn’t make any sense. I heard the goblins reporting in when I was working in Lumenaria a few days back, and Bosk Gorge was still on their safe list.”

“Well, the plague must’ve spread,” Sophie said, “because the whole place was overrun with it.”

“That doesn’t make sense either. All our reports say the plague moves slowly. Wildwood took weeks to get overwhelmed.” Elwin switched to a red orb of light. “And he has injuries that aren’t plague related. Like these here?” He held up the gnome’s limp hand, pointing to the blisters on the palms. “These are burns.”

“Maybe he lit a fire to keep the plague away,” Fitz suggested.

Elwin scratched his chin and flashed a few more colored orbs. “Well, I can treat the burns and get some fluids in him. But all the remedies are in Lumenaria.”

“Remedies?” Sophie asked.

“Not a cure,” he said. “But they slow the symptoms, and make it a bit more bearable. It’s a good thing you guys found him—he’s progressing faster than I’m used to seeing.”

Sophie sank onto the edge of one of the beds, more exhausted than ever. Maybe it was the adrenaline fading, but she had a feeling it had more to do with how much she’d been hoping Elwin could fix everything.

“Hey now,” Elwin said. “Don’t go looking so defeated. Bullhorn’s staying quiet—see?”

He pointed to the bed in the corner, where the beady-eyed banshee was resting. Banshees could sense when someone was dying, and squawked his heads off around anyone in mortal danger. So if Bullhorn wasn’t bothering to get up, the gnome still had some time left. But how much time?

“I’d better hail Magnate Leto and let him know what’s going on,” Elwin said. “You’re both going to need to shower and change uniforms—and you’re both getting a full checkup.”

“What about me?” Jensi asked. “I need a new uniform too.”

“And a checkup,” Elwin agreed. “But first I need to take care of the fugitives.”

Elwin said it with a smile, but the word still turned Sophie’s stomach.

Jensi tugged on his cape, showing Sophie the blackened edges. “This reminds me of the first time we met—remember? I walked you to your elementalism session—and I warned you not to get zapped?”

Sophie smiled. “I remember.”

Jensi was one of the first kids who reached out to her at Foxfire.

“So how’s it been around here?” she asked.

Jensi looked away, his words slower than normal as he said. “Not the same.”