Keeper of the Lost Cities (25 page)

Pretty soon she was counting down the days until school resumed. School was safe. She’d passed her exams. Once school started she would have nothing to worry about.

“CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE WHO PASSED
their midterms,” Dame Alina said during their first orientation. “I hope you enjoyed your six-week vacation, because it’s time to get serious. Anyone who got lower than eighty-five percent on their midterms needs to step it up or you will not pass your finals.”

Sophie sighed. Aside from the seventy-nine in alchemy, she’d received an eighty-one in elementalism, and an eighty-three in physical education.

“Your Mentors also tell me there are one hundred nine Level Threes who haven’t manifested abilities, and more than double that of Level Twos—which is unacceptable. Be prepared to be pushed
much
harder in ability detecting from now on.”

Groans chorused through the room.

The next week everyone looked sweaty and wilted as they trudged into study hall after ability detecting. Even Marella’s poufy hair had thrown in the towel and drooped against her head.

“What did they do to you guys?” Sophie asked.

“Stuck us in an oven and roasted us for two hours trying to figure out if we were Frosters,” Dex grumbled.

“Which none of us were, because frosting is a stupid talent almost no one has,” Marella added. She slumped into a chair. “What did you do in remedial studies?”

“Same old boring stuff.”

Actually, she’d had a blast. Tiergan had her test her transmitting distance, and it was off the charts. Fitz almost had a heart attack when she transmitted into his mind from all the way across the school. She couldn’t blame him for his surprise—even Tiergan didn’t know that was possible—but she’d never forget the way his mind actually jerked when she reached it. She hoped he hadn’t peed his pants.

She fought off her smile, feeling guilty that everyone else suffered while she had fun. “What are Frosters?”

Dex rested his cheek against the table. “Cryokinetics. They freeze things by manipulating the ice particles in the air. It’s totally useless. I don’t know why they even test us for it.”

“They have to test us for everything,” Jensi reminded him.

“That’s not true. They don’t test us for pyrokinesis,” Dex argued.

“Yeah, because that’s a forbidden talent,” Marella said.

“There are forbidden talents?” Sophie asked.

“Only one,” Dex told her. “Mesmers and Inflictors are closely monitored, but Pyrokinetics are forbidden.”

“Why?”

“Too dangerous.”

“How could it be more dangerous than someone who can inflict pain?”

“Because fire’s too unpredictable. No one can truly control it.”

“Plus, people died,” Marella added.

“Who?” Dex asked.

Marella shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard five people died, and that’s why it’s forbidden now.”

“But how can they forbid something like that?” Sophie asked. “Isn’t that kind of like forbidding someone to breathe?”

“Nah. Some talents happen on their own as you get older, like telepathy and empathy. Others you would never know you have if something didn’t trigger them.”

Sophie shook her head. “That still seems wrong. It’s like they’re not allowed to be who they are.”

“Oh, relax. There’s only been like twelve—ever—so it’s not exactly a huge problem.”

“I guess.” She wasn’t really listening anymore, because she’d remembered what Alvar had said about the fires.

Conspiracy theory.

Could a Pyrokinetic be part of that?

It was an interesting idea—and left her head spinning for the rest of study hall—but she needed more information. She swung by the library to see if they had any books on the subject. Surely Alden wouldn’t mind her doing a little innocent research at school, right?

The Level Two library didn’t have any books on Pyrokinetics. Neither did Level Three’s. The Level Six librarian finally told her most books on the subject were banned, but she took Sophie’s name and promised to check the archives and send anything she found to Sophie’s locker. In the meantime, Sophie wondered if Grady and Edaline had any books in the libraries at Havenfield.

The main library downstairs was a bust, but Grady and Edaline had to have personal libraries in their offices on the second floor. Seemed like the perfect place to hide banned books. Only problem: Even after living there for a little more than five months, Sophie wasn’t sure she was allowed in that section of the house, and she didn’t know how they’d react if they caught her—especially after Alden’s warning.

But she couldn’t let it go. So she waited until Grady and Edaline were busy outside with a pair of dire wolves and snuck upstairs for a quick peek, promising herself she’d be careful not to leave any trace she’d been there.

The first door she tried was Grady’s office. Rolled scrolls were stuffed in bins, a mountain of paperwork littered the desk, and books were shoved haphazardly on the shelves. No pictures, no knickknacks—nothing personal to make the place feel warm. But there were empty spaces where they might have been.

The bookshelves were filled with law and history books. They probably talked about Pyrokinetics in there somewhere, but Sophie didn’t have time to scan through them all. The scrolls tempted her, but they were rolled up too tight to read, and she was afraid he’d be able to tell if she unrolled them. She wasn’t brave enough to flip through the papers on his desk either, in case they were in a special order. She hoped Edaline’s office would be more helpful.

She’d assumed the door across the hall was Edaline’s, so she almost gasped when she stepped into a dim bedroom. Lacy curtains blocked most of the sunlight, crystal chandeliers were dulled with dust, and there were scattered remnants left behind from childhood: stuffed unicorns, Prattles’ pins strung on lanyards, dolls, books. On the desk was a framed photo of a beautiful girl.

Jolie.

Her blond hair hung in soft curls to her waist, and she had Edaline’s turquoise eyes and Grady’s striking bone structure. She wore a white Level Six uniform in the photo, so she was probably sixteen when it was taken. Next to it was another picture: Grady, Edaline, and Jolie, when she was close to Sophie’s age, standing in a breathtaking garden. It was the old them—happy, wearing the capes of the nobility—before their lives were struck by tragedy. Sophie could have spent the whole day drinking in the glimpse of who they used to be, but she knew this was the worst place they could find her. She peeled her eyes away and left.

The last room had obviously been Edaline’s office, but it had turned into the place where leftover junk went to die. Stacks of locked trunks littered the floor, covered with piles of folded linens, unopened presents, and random objects she couldn’t identify. A huge bin of unopened letters blocked most of the doorway, so Sophie couldn’t get inside—which was fine. The bookshelves were full of thick, dusty volumes, and anything she disturbed would be too obvious.

She’d have to figure out another way to find books on Pyrokinetics. Maybe Biana would let her look through the library at Everglen—but she’d have to come up with a good excuse, in case Alden found them in there. She was on murky ground, but she was close to something—she could feel it. Her mind wouldn’t let her drop it until she figured out what it was.

S
OPHIE GAGGED AS SHE LICKED OPEN HEr
locker. “Elwin’s choice again?” she whined to Dex. In the three weeks since midterm they’d already suffered through burned hair and sweaty feet flavors. Elwin was on a roll.

Dex plugged his nose as he licked his panel, but he still winced. “Ugh, that’s exactly how I imagine a fart would taste.”

Sophie giggled and grabbed a small scroll waiting on her top shelf—a special assignment from the Universe Mentors. Each list had six stars that fit some sort of pattern, and each prodigy was supposed to bottle a sample of the starlight from each, figure out what the pattern was, and choose a seventh star that fit with the others. She and Dex had plans to work together that night.

Dex took her to Moonglade: a wide, round meadow filled with thousands of fireflies flickering in the darkness.

“Everyone else goes to Siren Rock,” Dex explained as he set up the stellarscope, which looked like a bent, upside-down spyglass. “But it’s so crowded there it’s hard to find a space to work. Plus, the view’s better here.” He pointed to the sky, where billions of stars sparkled through the inky black, then handed her a thick wad of star maps. “Finding stars takes forever, so let’s tag team it. First star on my list is Amaranthis.”

Sophie stared at the sky, following trails she’d already memorized. “It’s right there—fourth star to the left of Lambentine.”

Dex’s jaw dropped. “How did you do that?”

“Photographic memory. Remember?”

“I know. But . . . the stars?”

She nodded smugly.

“Wow—well, awesome.” He stuffed the maps into his bag, and attached a small glass bottle to a spout at the wider end of the stellarscope. “Want to go first?”

She took the scope from him and held it up to her eyes. “How does this work?”

“It’s easy. You find the star and use the knobs to isolate it.” He came up behind her and used one arm to level the scope. His other arm wrapped around her and his hand slid her fingers down to a cluster of dials. “Sorry, um, is this okay?” he asked as she stiffened.

“Sure.”

But it was strange having him so close. She could feel her cheeks warm and was glad it was too dark for him to see her blush.

Dex cleared his throat. “Did you find Amaranthis?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Then turn the knobs until you see the star change color, and flip the lever by your thumb. The stellarscope will do the rest.”

She did as he said, and a bright purple flash filled the bottle. The glass clinked as the scope sealed the light in.

It only took them a few minutes to fill bottles with scarlet light from Rubini
,
yellow light from Orroro, pale blue light from Azulejo, deep orange light from Cobretola, and dark blue light from Indigeen.

Dex stared at the six twinkling bottles, scratching his head. “I don’t see a pattern.”

“It’s the colors of the spectrum.” She rearranged the bottles in the right order. “Red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet. What’s missing?”

“Green! Can you find Zelenie?”

She pointed to an isolated star to the left. “There
.
”

He bottled the deep green glow. “This’ll be the first time I get it right. I usually just pick a random star and try to bluff.”

Sophie laughed and dug her list from her pocket. Her stars were much harder to find, and she had to really push her memory, but eventually she had bottles of silver, gold, black, white, copper, and green light.

“Any idea what the pattern is?” Dex asked

“I’m not sure.” Something felt familiar, a shadow of an idea, not formed enough to make sense. She poured through her memories, scrounging for the clue she was missing. The pieces clicked. “Elementine.”

“What’s the pattern?”

“I don’t know, but I know Elementine is right.” She grabbed the stellarscope.

“Are you sure? I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I think I would know better than you. Besides, why would I make that up?”

“Good point.”

She followed strange trails through the stars as the minutes ticked by. “I know it’s there.”

She focused on a dark space and fiddled with the dials.

“I don’t see anything,” Dex told her.

“I think it’s just
really
far away.”

More turning and adjusting. Still nothing
.
Dex was getting fidgety when she finally said, “There!” and flipped the latch.

The stellarscope hummed, then turned white hot. Sophie yelped, dropping the scope.

“What happened?”

“Ow, ow, ow!” She waved her hands, trying to cool the burning, but the pain made her eyes water.

“Let me see.” Dex took a jar of moonlight from his bag and grabbed her wrists, shining the light on them. “Whoa. Are you okay?”

She wanted to be brave, but her eyes teared when she saw the purple welts on her palms.

“What should I do?” Dex asked, sounding frantic.

She tried to think through the pain. She could go home, but she wasn’t sure how Grady and Edaline could help. What she really needed was a doctor.

Her face fell as she realized what she had to do. “Can you get my Imparter from my satchel?” She’d been carrying it with her ever since the cheating disaster.

Dex dug through her bag until he found the silver square. “Who are we calling?”

She sighed. “Elwin.”

N
OW YOU’RE CALLING ME AT HOME AND
dragging me out of bed? Maybe it was better when you were afraid of me,” Elwin teased. His smile faded when she showed him the blackish-purple blisters on her hands. “How did you do that?”

“I was just trying to bottle the light from Elementine.”

“Elementine?” He pulled a small pot from his satchel and spread a thick green salve over the burns. “Never heard of it.”

“I told you it wasn’t real,” Dex said.

“But I found it,” she insisted as Elwin sprinkled purple powder on top of the salve. “The scope got really hot when I flipped the latch, and it burned me.”

Elwin wrapped her hands with thick blue cloth. “I’ve never heard of
that
happening. It’s always an adventure with you, Sophie—I’ll give you that.”

The annoying part was she couldn’t argue. Why did weird things keep happening to her?

“Is that helping the pain?” Elwin asked.

“Yes. Thanks.”

“Good.” He poured a bottle of Youth over the cloth, soaking it through. “Did you bottle the light?”

“I don’t know.” In all the chaos she hadn’t bothered to look.

“I’ll check it.” Dex ran over to the scope, which was still where Sophie had dropped it. “There’s something in it, but it’s weird.”

“Don’t touch it,” Elwin ordered. “Last thing I need is another patient.”

Sophie hung her head. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Gives me a good story to tell tomorrow.”