Grady and Edaline didn't question when Fitz turned up a few minutes later with a sloppily hidden grin on his face as he dashed up the staircase. Sophie didn't understand why the prospect of a trust exercise excited him so much, but maybe it was because he was finally seeing her and really trusting her.

But the real problem came was when Fitz couldn't enter her mind.

His failsafe phrase failed him. The phrase he'd used every time to get into her head, and it didn't work.

"I... You don't trust me anymore," Fitz said, his voice hollow.

Sophie lowered her eyes to the ground. "It's not that I don't, but... You brought me so much pain and hurt that I think my mind instinctively doesn't want to let you back in."

"Sophie. Would you trust me with your life?" Fitz asked.

Her lips curved to speak, mouth opened, but no sound came out of her mouth. She couldn't say yes. The word no almost slipped out, but she managed to keep it in.

"I don't know."

That was what she ended up saying. And Fitz looked devastated but determined.

"Let me in," he whispered.

"What did you use to say?" Sophie murmured.

Fitz pursed his lips before admitting, "I love you."

"I still love you," Sophie told him. "Just not that way."

"Maybe you don't want my love because it's more pain than happiness? Then we should do something else. We can do me first, then. Maybe when you're done with me, you'll trust me a bit more and I can get in."

Sophie smiled as she nodded and entered his head.

𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵... 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, Sophie admitted as she swam around Fitz's thoughts and memories.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥, Fitz replied emotionlessly, but Sophie was sure there was something there.

𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸?

And she realized far too late.

She was thrown bodily out of his head and the Fitz in her room transformed into a shadowed figure. It wasn't Fox or Tam.

It was Dark Hearts.

His smile was almost maniacal as he stepped forward, his cloaked head dipping low. "Easy to get near you, Sophie Foster," he whispered. His voice was like sandpaper, rough and dry.

"Not that easy!" Sophie snapped.

But he merely smiled. She could barely see the curve of his lips beneath his hood, but it was there all the same, eerie and foreboding.

"But remarkably easy to charm you into inviting me over," Dark Hearts responded lightly.

It wasn't charming. It was Mesmerizing. But Sophie didn't dare say so as she raised a hand to protect her face.

He merely laughed. "Funny you think a hand can stop me, Sophie Foster. How about you put that away?"

And she found herself putting her hand back at her side. "Stop Mesmerizing me!" she shouted. "What do you want?"

"You," he said simply.

When she gawked, he snorted. "Not in the loving way. I don't care about you in the slightest. But it so happens your friends do, and I do need dear Keefe Sencen as leverage against Lady Gisela. Or Fitz Vacker against Alden."

"What did you do to Grady and Edaline?" Sophie demanded. Was that why they had let him in so easily?

"Doesn't concern you. You're coming with me."

"Please," Sophie whispered. "Jensi, please."

She pleaded to her friend, pleaded to the innocent, charming boy she'd grown up with -

"I am not Jensi," Dark Hearts said, and he laughed. "Fintan and Gisela know less about me than they think. How could I be Jensi Babblos? Do you really think I would have remained Talentless? That would have rendered that persona useless. And I would have accidentally let it slip somehow. No, Jensi is truly Talentless, at least for now, and I am not him."

"But both Fintan and Gisela said it was you!" Sophie protested.

Dark Hearts shrugged. "They are nincompoops - doesn't concern me. Like I said, my only interest is you." His smile widened. "And how the Black Swan altered your DNA so perfectly and managed to incorporate the DNA of an alicorn as well. It took me three years of hard work to get Pyrokinetic DNA and tweak it to make it compatible with your other DNA."

"You can take me," Sophie managed, "but leave my friends alone!"

"I will," Dark Hearts promised, "but if they come to me, I will take them. I will not seek them out directly, but by capturing you, I will have lured them away from the safety of their homes. Now, Sophie Elizabeth Foster, I am not here to talk. Time is of the essence. You may fight me and be Mesmerized into coming with me, or you may come willingly and find out what is really going on." He used one hand to whip out a Pathfinder and extended his other hand to Sophie. There was no warmth in his eyes but his hand remained there, inviting.

Knowing her friends would kill her for it later, Sophie took his hand.