𝐖𝐨𝐨 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲! 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬? 𝐍𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐞 - 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫! 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐳'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞'𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕.

Chapter Forty:

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝙿𝚢𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎?

𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘐? Sophie defended herself, although she did feel bad that, once again, she'd completely forgotten to clue Rayni in on everything.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢'𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚙, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐?

𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘪, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Rayni ignored her and continued rambling. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢? 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜!

Sophie almost laughed. 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?

𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚠𝚘, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝?

𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘪? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘧𝘦.

Sophie could feel Rayni mentally shuddering. 𝙽𝚊𝚑, 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗, 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛? 𝙷𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.

𝙷𝚊, 𝚗𝚘. 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍! 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚡 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌.

But Sophie could feel a slight tinge of hurt in Rayni's mental voice. So maybe she really had fallen for Trix.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝙻𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝙶𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐?

𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺? 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭.

𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚂𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚒𝚎? 𝙸'𝚖 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝙶𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚂𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚗, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙶𝚞𝚕𝚘𝚗 𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙶𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚞𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝙶𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝘚𝘦𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳.

𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝙸'𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝙻𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝙶𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚊 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚝 𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚏𝚎 𝚂𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚗.

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘷. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢? 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚞𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗! 𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢.

𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴.

𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘩𝘦-

𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗲?

𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘪, 𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳?

𝙸'𝚖 𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝙸?

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯-

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐. Rayni severed their mental connection and Sophie answered Fitz.

𝙊𝙃 𝙈𝙔 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝙉𝙀𝙎𝙎 𝙎𝙊𝙋𝙃𝙄𝙀 𝙄 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙂𝙊𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙊 𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙋𝙊𝙉𝘿

𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺. 1. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 2. 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘹 3. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘪.

𝙊𝙝, 𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙮. 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙝𝙤𝙬'𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙮𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡?

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘰...

𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙡𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚.

𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢'𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧.

𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙒𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚.

𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻... 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

𝙎𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚, 𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 - 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧!

Which left Sophie feeling incredibly alone. She glanced at Iggy in his cage, and was about to open it when Iggy let out a ground-shaking fart and jerked her hand away.

"No toxic farting!" she chided the imp, feeling the mood lighten a little. 

Iggy responded with another fart before lying back down in his cage. At least he didn't need company much, since Sophie was out a lot and he was used to it. Sophie considered talking to Rayni, but she wasn't in the mood for her friend's teasing about boyfriend stuff. What she really needed was to track down the Neverseen and Dark Hearts.

Her Imparter buzzed. It wasn't Della, and it wasn't Fitz or Rayni or Biana or Tam or Marella or Linh, it was...

Lady Gisela.

Sophie's hand shook as she reached for the screen.

"Miss Foster... are you sure about this?" Sandor asked quietly.

Sophie's hand shook more. "Y-yes, I have to." She pressed accept, and Lady Gisela's face filled the screen.

Lady Gisela hadn't even bothered hiding her scars from the shamkniv this time, and they were all around her body, curved moon-shaped scars that the woman didn't even attempt to hide. Lady Gisela smiled smugly at Sophie, but it didn't hide her displeasure.

"I'm sure I was clear on the coordinates, but it appears you missed our meeting a few weeks ago and didn't even bother to explain yourself," Lady Gisela said harshly. "I even bribed Trix so he'd be there for Glimmer, and you didn't even turn up? You owe me fifty lusters. Money isn't easy to come by in the wilderness."

Sophie snorted. "That's where you're staying? A jungle? Wow."

Lady Gisela shrugged. "Convicted criminals don't have much of a choice, I daresay. Has anyone even decided what to do with Della Vacker yet? No? They're not even considering the threat of Dark Hearts?"

"You know about him too?" Sophie asked, surprised.

Lady Gisela gave her a flat look. "He was with the Neverseen before he left, idiot girl, of course I know about him. And he's not working with us, don't go into that phase. He's got completely different motives, and I assume you've found out that you're soon to manifest as a Pyrokinetic? We just need to track Elysian down and your perfect life will be ruined."

So it hadn't been them who sent the Elysian dream? Wait, did that mean that Elysian was a Telepath who could get through Sophie's blocking, and he'd sent Sophie the dream to make her manifest early.

But why?

Gisela rolled her eyes. "Judging by your face, they didn't tell you you were a Pyrokinetic. What is wrong with them, ugh."

It was a good thing Gisela had assumed it was that, since Sophie didn't exactly have a good story to cover up for her sudden realization that Elysian was the one behind her sudden manifestation.

"Everything, they're worse than the Black Swan. They don't even give riddles, they're completely silent. But we caught Blur," Sophie said.

She was secretly trying to gain Gisela's trust through telling her a few secrets and bits and pieces of information.

Gisela's eyebrows almost shot right off her head. "Blur? The Phaser from the Black Swan's Collective? Well... I didn't see that coming. But Dark Hearts' Phaser had to be somebody, I suppose." She looked Sophie up and down. "So you're giving me information, then? Well, I have to say, that was rather useful... so, then, what do you want to know?"

"What did Dark Hearts use to do for the Neverseen, and what are his known abilities?" Sophie asked.

Gisela smiled. "Finally, someone asking useful things. I hailed Keefe and all the stupid boy asked me was what our plans for you were - and funnily enough, we don't have any. Now, Dark Hearts' job, was it? Well, I'll answer the ability question first, since that'll make it easier for me to explain his job. Dark Hearts, as far as I know, is a Telepath, Mesmer, Polyglot and a Technopath. Being a Technopath, he was obsessed with creating technology to alter DNA - he stole some of Grady Ruewen's DNA, and that's how he became a Mesmer. He was always a Polyglot and Technopath, but he only got his Mesmer and Telepath abilities after tweaking genetics."

So... Dark Hearts was a Telepath, Mesmer, Polyglot and Technopath? He definitely wasn't going to be an easy opponent to face.

"Now, for his role," said Gisela, "you'd be surprised that he ended using his stolen abilities far more than his natural ones. He would Mesmerize people into joining our cause, or at least help out for a bit, and once they became rebellious or he had no use for them anymore, he would either Wash or Shatter their memories, planting false ones in place with stories covering up heir disappearance. It was after Dark Hearts left us that we recruited Gethen, but really, his skills will never match up to Dark Hearts'. But Gethen is a good Washer."

"Why did he leave, do you know?" Sophie demanded.

Gisela's lips curled into a smile. "So many questions, but so little information offered in exchange."

Sophie huffed. "Fine! You have one question, and then I can ask you however much I like."

"And you'll swear to answer truthfully?" Gisela asked.

"It depends," Sophie plucked an eyelash.

Gisela sighed. "Well, better than nothing, I suppose. Now tell me... where are Prentice and Wylie staying?"