Tiergan smiled. “You’d be surprised at what we can do.”

“I hope so,” Glimmer told him. “Because so far, I’m not impressed.”

And on that encouraging note, Sophie tightened her grip and told Grady, “Okay, we’re ready.”

Grady looked far from pleased—but he obediently held the starstone up to the light, creating a milky-blue path.

“Be careful,” he ordered. “Your fifteen minutes start now.”

* * *

“Where’s the storehouse?” Sophie shouted, not sure if anyone could hear her above the roar of the waterfall that cascaded over the edge of a nearby cliff and crashed into a raging river far below.

The ground trembled beneath their feet, and mist hung thick in the air, turning everything cold and dreary and making it hard to see more than a few feet ahead—which was probably better. The ledge they’d reappeared on seemed like it was both narrow and very steep, since it was near the top of the falls.

“See the rainbow?” Glimmer called back, pointing to the colorful arch refracting across the mist. “That’s our path!”

“How can a rainbow be a path?” Sophie had to ask.

“Like this!” Glimmer stepped off the ledge.

Everyone screamed—even Glimmer. But instead of plummeting into the torrents, she hovered like an eerie black-cloaked ghost. The wet fabric clung to her frame, making her look smaller than Sophie had been imagining—maybe even a little frail. But Glimmer’s voice boomed with strength and authority when she told them, “Trust the colors, not your eyes!”

“I’ll go first!” Flori offered. And Sophie tried to feel reassured by how easily the tiny gnome followed Glimmer’s steps. But she had a horrible feeling that whatever path they were taking would be very slippery.

She let Bo go next.

Then Tam.

“I’ll follow you!” Sandor told her when she gestured for him to go ahead. “And don’t worry, if you start to fall, I’ll catch you!”

Sophie doubted he’d be able to do anything except watch her drown—but she appreciated the sentiment as she focused on the rainbow, imagining it was a wide, sturdy bridge and not a simple illusion that happened when light shone through water droplets.

“I’m trusting the colors,” she told herself, thinking about all of the other impossible things she’d been able to do since arriving in the Lost Cities. Then she took a small step and…

… found solid footing.

Or sorta solid.

The ground was squishy and uneven, and her legs shook from the effort of keeping her balance. But somehow she caught up to everyone without tripping.

“That must be why the Black Swan believed the hideout was destroyed!” Tam shouted, pointing at something far below.

Sophie decided to take his word for it.

Looking down seemed like a very bad idea.

“Now what?” she asked.

Glimmer had stopped a few steps away from where the rainbow was swallowed by the falls—and Sophie had a horrible feeling she knew what that meant.

Sure enough, Glimmer told her, “Now we cross through!”

“At least we don’t have to jump off the edge!” Flori reminded everyone.

Which was a good point.

But it didn’t make Sophie any more excited when Glimmer told them, “Hold your breath, keep your arms up, and stay as close to me as you can!”

“How do you know all of this?” Tam asked.

“I told you—I like to be prepared!” She fanned out her fingers—as if they could somehow shield her from the thunderous wall of water. And Sophie could hear Glimmer’s squeal as she was swallowed by the surging white streams.

Flori held her arms up and followed, twirling as she passed through.

Bo used his sword to cover his head.

Tam glanced at Sophie. “I really wish we’d brought Linh!” he shouted before charging after the others.

Sophie definitely agreed—which made her realize that the reason Linh wasn’t there was because she didn’t trust Glimmer.

That could mean that Linh was much smarter than they were.

“You’re next!” Sandor shouted, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry—I have your back!”

He always did.

And Sophie hoped he knew how grateful she was for that.

She also hoped it would be enough if they were racing into a trap.

“Here goes!” she said, raising her arms and trying to prepare herself for the overwhelming rush of the waterfall. But when she shoved herself into the stream, it was more like…

… stepping into the shower.

Her hair became plastered to her face, and her clothes suctioned onto her skin, and the water felt tepid and frothy—but way gentler than she’d been expecting.

Then it was gone—and so was most of the noise and all of the mist. The ground actually felt dry and crackly, as if she’d slipped through some sort of force field and entered a space completely shielded from the falls.

She rubbed the water out of her eyes as Glimmer told her, “Welcome to the Neverseen’s storehouse. It’s… not as big as I’d imagined.”

It also wasn’t fancy, like Sophie had been picturing. It was just a dim, dusty cave lined with shelves.

There wasn’t even a door!

Just two small balefire sconces framing the archway they’d passed through when they’d entered—which seemed like a shocking oversight in the Neverseen’s security.

But then Sophie remembered the black disks they were supposed to be carrying and couldn’t help wondering if an alert had already gone out.

Were the Neverseen on their way?

“Okay, let’s get started,” Tam said as if he’d been worrying about the same thing. “How do you want to do this?”

The flickering blue flames cast just enough light to show that the shelves were crammed with trunks and scrolls and books and boxes, and there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to anything.

“I guess we should fan out,” Sophie decided. “The cache is a round, clear crystal about this big”—she looped her fingers to demonstrate the size of a marble—“and there might be two of them together, since Fintan’s cache should be here too. Grab both if you find them—and try not to touch much else. We don’t know if any of this stuff is booby-trapped.”

“The Neverseen wouldn’t do that,” Glimmer argued.

“How do you know?” Sophie countered.

Glimmer shrugged. “They’d rather capture you themselves. Or kill you.”

Bo cleared his throat. “I’ll guard the entrance—and I’ll be watching both directions, in case anyone is thinking of escaping.”

“Oh please,” Glimmer told him. “Where would I go?”

“I guess we’ll never know.” Sandor drew his sword. “I’m doing a perimeter check. Everyone, stay where I can see you.”

He disappeared into the darkest corner of the cave.

Sophie shared a look with Tam before they headed for the shelves. Flori and Glimmer followed, each of them choosing different places to search.

Sophie’s section seemed to be filled with bin after bin of tiny glass vials, each a different color. None of them were labeled to tell her what they were—but that didn’t matter. She wasn’t there to find out what elixirs the Neverseen were making.