A/n: Just going to remind everyone that I don't own these characters. They all belong to Shannon Messenger, except for Star, who belongs to 

Stars1_Night

So if you're looking to use these characters in your own stories, I'm not the person to ask.

Fitz started blankly at Sophie. "Run that by me again."

"Tam likes me, so he's jealous of you. He confessed to me after you dropped me off at Havenfield. I renounced him though, so he threatened to hurt you and then erased the memory with shadows. When you said 'you're a smart girl' to me, it brought back the memory because he said that to me at the end before he erased my memory. He held to his promise and nearly killed you." Fitz was still staring at her. "What?" she asked.

Then she noticed that he was staring at something behind her. She turned around, and everything went black. Fitz screamed, a terrible scream that pierced the air and made her want to throw up, or maybe that was the pain in her arm, the echoes, screaming, the monster thrashing, banging, inside her head. Through the pain, she managed to yell, "Tam!" Sophie yelled. "Stop it!"

The darkness slowly creeped away, as did the echo. She rubbed her arm, trying to make the shadow of the pain go away. Sophie saw Tam stading before her, shadows billowing around his feet. Fitz didn't appear to be harmed, but was bound and gagged by darkness and thrashed against his bindings. That wasn't the worst part, though. There was a look in Tam's eyes that Sophie had never seen before, even when he was dealing with Keefe.

It was a look of murder.

Sophie's heart sped up nearly three times, as she realized this was real.

It wasn't the Neverseen "teaching her a lesson" by hurting her friends- bad, but only temporary. And there were no reinforcements coming to save her this time, as the others had gone out for dinner but left them behind, Sophie because she wanted to make sure Fitz was no longer in danger, Fitz because he wanted to be with Sophie.

No, this was real, and Fitz would die if Sophie couldn't manage to strike a bargain with Tam.

"How did you get here?" Sophie asked, pulling herself to her feet, reminding herself that there was still hope, if only she could keep him talking, get him to let down his guard.

"Shadowtravel. I, uh, picked it up somewhere. But that's not important. What's important is you rejected me, Sophie. You have no idea how it feels. NO IDEA." The shadows swirled around him, growing higher and higher like a flame consuming a branch.The analogy ominously made her feel like the branch, something that would soon consume her, inevitably.

"Tam, look. I didn't mean to hurt you. But would you really want to be in a relationship with someone who didn't love you back?"

The shadows grew higher. "Yes, if it's you. You have two minutes, Sophie, before I kill your precious boyfriend." He gestured to Fitz, and Sophie's heart sped up even more. "The only other options are to fight me- foolishly, of course, for I have embraced the shadows in my quest to claim you and have, in the process, grown more powerful than ever. Or you can come with me, Sophie. To a grand, secluded palace, hidden by Vespera's trademark illusions. No one would find us. Of course, I wouldn't free Fitz, but I wouldn't kill him, either."

"What will Linh think about this?"

"Linh doesn't know. And it's better this way. I've left a shadowmessage in this room that she'll know how to find. It shows a grand battle between us and the Neverseen, which ends in our deaths and the Neverseen dragging our bodies away. She'll think I went out a hero, trying to save you both, but she'll eventually get over it and have a happy life with Dex."

"But... why, Tam? She loved you. You know she'll be absolutely heartbroken. You can't do this to her."

"It's better this way. One minute, Sophie. Make your decision."

She sighed, pretending to show defeat. "Okay. Take me to this palace."

"I'll need your teleporting. The image is in my mind. You can have it."

She pretended to reach into his consciousness, but really, she prepared herself.

Sophie stepped forward, and Tam was thrown into the wall and slammed to the floor. "Release him," she demanded. Tam raised his hand and pointed to Fitz. Suddenly, the room filled with his terrible screams. "Stop! Just stop!" she sobbed, not faking this time. "I'll do anything. Just... just stop."

He stopped screaming and fell to the ground, gasping. "Teleport us," Tam demanded.

"Tam, I don't understand. You're really nice. Strong, but you would never hurt anyone unless they deserved it, really and truly. And I know that, no matter how much of a crush you had on me, you'd be happy for me."

"I was," he said. "But the shadows showed me another way. A way to get what I want."

"You-" Sophie gasped. "Shadowflux did this to you. It left an echo."

The shadows around him swirled more vigorously than ever before. "It showed me a new path. Enough talk. Come with me, or Fitz dies, quickly and swiftly, no time for you to think about it."

Sophie nodded, giving up. If Fitz survived, if would be worth it to turn herself in to Tam. "Promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"You'll take good care of Fitz. Lock him up if you wish- but keep him alive. And free him someday, please."

He grumbled. "Fine. He'll be fed enough, and if you've both been good after a few centuries, perhaps he may leave."

Sophie almost protested, but after remembering the elves' indefinite lifespan, she decided it was going to be the best deal she'd get. So she reached into Tam's mind, grabbed the image of the palace- glittering with gold and diamonds, a strip of private beach and a never-ending ocean bordering the stunning home. Exhausted from what she'd experienced that day, she fell down and closed her eyes. She felt herself levitating, and then falling. Somehow, she managed to open a crack in the void before she passed out entirely.