“YEP!” they all said in unison, and the three of them lunged for Keefe with flailing arms, like some sort of mutated kraken.

Keefe jolted as Bex grabbed his hand and the two boys each grabbed his shoulders—but it wasn’t just from the emotional bombardment.

One of the boy’s hands felt like ice searing his skin. Bex’s grip felt weirdly squishy. And the third boy’s touch was… Keefe didn’t even know how to describe it.

There was something hollow about it.

Or maybe “empty” was a better word.

All Keefe knew was, he didn’t like it.

He tried to twist away, but the triplets clung tighter than a jaculus feasting on a T. rex. And the more he struggled, the more they squealed and slammed him with more emotions and tightened their unsettling grips.

He wanted it to stop.

Needed it to stop.

And the moment he had that thought, a word started burning in his throat.

“Drink this!” someone ordered, and Keefe felt a vial press against his lips.

He choked down the bitter liquid, coughing and hacking.

“Is that any better?” the voice asked.

Keefe shook his head.

If anything, the unspoken command seemed to burn even hotter.

He locked his jaw and pressed his lips tighter, sucking air in through his nose.

“Okay, how about this one?”

Keefe cracked his mouth open enough to gulp down something sludgy and sweet, which made his head feel like he was being stepped on by a mastodon.

The command turned to fire in his throat, getting hotter and hotter and hotter.

It had to stop.

Someone, please make it stop.

He gritted his teeth, biting back the plea.

But his brain kept rattling with the word.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

“I don’t think that one helped either,” the voice said. “But I feel like the last one will do the trick.”

Keefe gagged as the cloying sweetness hit his taste buds.

Somehow he managed to choke the medicine down, and as it streamed across his throat, it did ease some of the burning.

But it also made his heart race and his head spin.

And the command was still there.

It was just… shifting into something else.

He didn’t need it to stop this time.

He needed it to…

No.

He couldn’t let himself think the word.

He was too tired to choke it back.

No. No. No. No. No.

“All right, let’s try it my way,” a new voice said, and Keefe felt something brush against his neck. “I just clamped my gadget around your registry pendant, and it should obscure your tone if you try to give a command right now.”

“It’s okay,” someone added as Keefe shook his head. “Remember, this is a test. Use your voice.”

Keefe shook his head harder.

Which made everyone start chanting, “USE YOUR VOICE! USE YOUR VOICE! USE YOUR VOICE!”

The triplets tightened their grips and rocked his shoulders—thrashed his arms—as their emotions brewed into a frenzy.

Keefe couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think.

Couldn’t fight anymore as the command shifted back to the most basic need.

“STOP!” he screamed, then slumped with sweet relief when the room fell blissfully silent.

He took a slow, deep breath, reveling in the quiet, before he forced his eyes open to see what he’d done.

And there they were.

All three of the triplets, looking sort of… stuck.

Their eyes were wide, mouths open, limbs stiff—as if they’d been frozen somehow.

“Well,” Dex said through the fog of panic slowly filling the air, “looks like we’ll all have to go back to the drawing board.”

- NINE - Sophie

I think I’m starting to understand why the Council let Glimmer stay here,” Sophie grumbled as she bent to catch her breath. “I swear this place is harder to get to than Exile. At least those stairs go down.”

It also didn’t help that she couldn’t see their destination.

Somewhere up ahead—much farther than Sophie wanted to think about—the stone staircase they were climbing disappeared into the misty clouds.

Tiergan’s house hopefully wasn’t too far beyond that.

Fitz arched his back in a stretch. “I still think we should try levitating.”

“Not in these winds,” Biana told him. “We’d be swept so far out to sea, we’d never get back.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He lunged to stretch his quads, rubbing his left knee when he straightened.

“Is your leg hurting?” Sophie asked, realizing that was the same leg that Umber injured when she attacked Fitz with shadowflux.

“It’s fine,” Fitz promised.

“You’re sure?” Biana pressed. “I saw you limping a little while ago.”

“I wasn’t limping. I was just… taking slower steps.” He glanced at Sophie, who must’ve looked as unconvinced as Biana, because he raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m out of shape, okay? Thanks for making me feel bad!”

Sophie let him off the hook. “Clearly we’re all out of shape.”

“Hey—speak for yourself!” Biana sprinted up the next few steps, blinking in and out of sight with each movement. “I run laps around Everglen every morning—and I’m always faster than Woltzer!”

“It’s my job to stay behind you,” Woltzer muttered from a few steps back. “I can’t protect you if I race ahead.”

“Then how come Sandor and Grizel are ahead of us right now?” Biana countered.

“Because they know I’m covering the rear!” Woltzer shouted. “Don’t you know anything about battle strategy?”

“Of course I do.” Biana flashed her loveliest grin. “It’s just so much fun to mess with you.”

Fitz snorted. “It’s amazing your bodyguard hasn’t strangled you.”

“Nah, Woltzer loves me!” She blew him a kiss over her shoulder.

Honestly, Woltzer should’ve won the prize for Most Patient Bodyguard.

“So, are you losers rested enough to keep going?” Biana asked, tossing her dark, wavy hair. “Or do you need to waste more valuable time?”

Fitz sighed. “Who invited her?”

“That would be you,” Biana informed him. “You thought having a Vanisher would come in handy.”

“No, I just knew you’d sneak along anyway, since you’re nosy like that—and dying to see Tam.” He stage-whispered to Sophie, “My sister’s a fan of silver bangs.”

Sophie raised her eyebrows, glancing at Biana.

Biana’s cheeks flushed—but Sophie couldn’t tell if that was confirmation or irritation.

Or both.

“Really, Fitz?” Biana snapped. “You want to talk about crushes? Because you…”

Her voice trailed off, and she turned even redder when she glanced back at Sophie.

They hadn’t really talked about the breakup—mostly because Sophie hadn’t talked much about the whole dating thing with Biana in the first place.

Yet another reason having a crush on her friend’s brother made things super awkward.