Sophie's POV

The skies in the human world are not as clear as the Lost cities. It's been hours since the last time I transmitted to Fitz and figured out how he lied. I grip the bedsheets in anger, but then I release them just as quick. This was Keefe's bed. Gisela is staying in the other room. The smell of him, though faint, still encapsulates the sheets. I furrow into them deeper. I miss him. So much. I just want to be with him right now. His messy tousled hair. And his ice blue eyes. Crooked smile. Funny jokes. And his kind heart. He's never made me question his intentions. And I love him so much for that. Especially now that he's my fiancee. Well, if I get out of here. Gisela is right, there is no immediate leaping crystals to Russia, so you would have to travel from somewhere else to get here, or teleport. But Keefe nor the others can do that. I sit up from the bed, accepting the fact that I will not be sleeping tonight, and start to head downstairs. As I approach the kitchen, I see bottles on the table. As I get closer, I see they're bottles of youth. But how?

"What's this?" I pick up the piece of paper next to it. 

'These are not poisoned' it reads. Gisela. 

"This is so weird," I mutter, opening the bottle and smelling it. 

It smells normal. Should I risk it? No. I close it and place it back on the table. She might be trying to escape. Kindness coming from her seems very unlikely. But it makes me miss Edaline. And Grady. And everyone. Why does everything keep going wrong when things get good? Can't I catch a break? Sounds from outside the door knock me out of my thoughts. I stand still, trying to identify what it is. I hear someone try the door knob. Is it a criminal? I can't use my powers on a criminal. Or maybe I can, but then Gisela and I will have to hide out somewhere else. We can't afford that. So I grab the unused spatula in the drawer I saw earlier and start to approach the door. I should be able to knock someone out with this I think. The door knob continues to shake even more rapidly. I reach for the door handle and take a deep breath before opening it quickly and holding out my weapon. My hand freezes as I realize who it is. 

"Tam?!" I drop the spatula in relief and rush to embrace him. 

"Were you about to hit me with a stick?" he says, a hint of a laugh in his voice. 

But I can't help but tear up. "I didn't think you guys would find us, Fitz didn't tell anyone."

"Oh yeah, you should've seen that conversation," another voice behind him causes me to raise my head up. 

"Dex, oh my god!" I trample him in a hug as well. "You guys don't even know how happy I am to see you."

"Where's Keefe? Is he okay?" I ask, looking around, but not seeing him. 

Dex scratches the back of his head. "He wasn't allowed to come."

"What happened?" I ask the both of them. 

"What's going on?"

We all turn and see Gisela there. I can feel the tension flow off Dex and Tam, but I look at them reassuringly. "She's not a threat for us right now."

"Are you here to take us?" She asks the both of them and they nod. 

She sighs. "Alright, let's go then."

She grabs her cape and I grab my own, making sure to turn off the lights downstairs. After we close the door behind us, the cold air hits us hard. It's snowing again. 

"How did you get to us if you can't leap here?" I ask them. 

"There is a crystal," Tam says, surprising us all, including Gisela. 

"There should be no crystal here, they were all destroyed," Gisela murmurs.

"Should've," Tam says looking at me, avoiding as much contact with Gisela as possible. 

"Wylie found it," Dex adds. "A lot of stuff happened in the last few hours."

"What happened to Keefe?" I ask again. 

"Fitz and him got into a huge fight," Dex says as we continue walking down the cobblestone path to what looks like a church. 

"Is that why he wasn't allowed to come?" I ask. 

He shakes his head. "Keefe tried to leap to the Forbidden cities, but the leapmaster wouldn't let him go. So he... went crazy," Dex says, scratching the back of his neck. "He fought with the counselors as well since they wouldn't approve direct access to Keefe leaping with one of their crystals. You have to understand, he was emotionally unravelling, the councillors along with the others did not think he was in any shape to travel here. Especially since we didn't figure out about the secret leaping crystal until like 30 minutes ago. So he would have had to go through human transportation. And he ended up in Russia last time on accident, he wouldn't have remembered how to get here again."

"He's being heavily guarded right now by goblins," Tam adds, which causes my heart to clench. Oh Keefe.

We approach the glass at the church and the light from one of the shards immediately catches my attention. 

"It was here all along?" I reach out and trace the fragmented glass, still processing Dex's words. 

"We need to get back, I need to see Keefe," I say. 

"I would like to see my son as well," Gisela says, reminding us all she was there. 

Tam rolls his eyes. "Yeah we'll see how much time they give you before locking you up. Don't have your hopes up too high."

She scowls, but we all join hands as Dex holds up the crystal. 

"To Havenfield," he says and I feel the familiar light start to wrap around my consciousness, taking me home.