“That’s no reason to go rushing over with only five minutes of planning,” Grady argued.

“Actually, it is. The Neverseen know we have Glimmer. So I’m sure they’re scrambling to protect anything she might know. They’re probably moving stuff and hiding stuff right now—as we speak. And we have this tiny window of a chance left—assuming we’re not already too late. So we need to move quickly. And stealth needs to be our priority. The bigger our group is, the harder it’s going to be to sneak around. So I’m fine bringing Sandor and Flori—and Bo can come too, since he’s in charge of Glimmer. But other than that, it should just be me, Tam, and Glimmer.”

Biana sighed. “You’re seriously going to make me remind you that I’m a Vanisher?”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t set off their sensors,” Sophie countered. “We’re going to a Lodestar hideout—those had lots of security.”

“Yeah—didn’t you need to have some sort of little black disk etched with the right piece of the Lodestar symbol on it to not set off all their sensors?” Fitz asked. “And now that I think about it, how are you going to get there? I doubt Glimmer’s going to know exactly which piece of the symbol matches the storehouse she mentioned—and even if she did, you’d need one of those gadgets that project the symbol, like we found in the Silver Tower.”

Those were unfortunately very valid questions.

Sophie didn’t have a good answer, except to say, “I guess if that’s all true, then we won’t be going to the Neverseen’s storehouse today. But I doubt Glimmer would’ve made the offer if she didn’t know how to get there.”

“She wouldn’t,” Tam agreed. “She’s way too smart for that.”

“I don’t know,” Biana muttered. “She did support the Neverseen for a pretty long time, so she’s not necessarily the shiniest jewel in the tiara, if you know what I mean. She may not even realize how complicated it is to reach any of the Lodestar hideouts. It didn’t sound like she’d actually been to one.”

“And if that’s true,” Sophie jumped in, “then that’ll mean we don’t end up going anywhere with Glimmer.”

They’d just go to each Lodestar hideout one by one instead—which they’d need to do eventually anyway, since it sounded like there were others that weren’t destroyed.

Though…

The Neverseen would probably figure out what they were doing pretty quickly and destroy the rest of the hideouts—or set up an ambush.

So they’d be way better off if Glimmer was able to make good on her promise.

“The truth is,” Sophie said, standing taller and squaring her shoulders, “this is our best option right now. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But I’m ready to stop talking about it and go find out.”

“You still won’t have the little black disks you need,” Fitz reminded her—though he looked like he felt a little bad about it. “So the Neverseen are going to know there are intruders.”

“That’s why we’ll have bodyguards,” Sophie argued. “And weapons. Plus, Tam can hide us with shadows, like he did when we snuck into Ravagog. And if it gets too intense, I can teleport us to safety.”

“You say all of that like it counts as an actual plan,” Grady told her. “It doesn’t.”

“Maybe. But we’ll figure out the rest as we go along. Trust our brains and our powers—and our bodyguards—and… hope for the best.”

She wished she could’ve come up with a stronger way to wrap up her response, but… hope was really all they ever had. And Sophie refused to treat it like it wasn’t enough.

If she let her mind go down that path, she’d want to give up.

She had to hope that they’d track down Kenric’s cache, and figure out what stellarlune and Elysian were, and find a way to help Keefe, and finally stop the Neverseen.

And all of that was only going to happen if she kept taking risks.

“We’re going now,” Sophie said, making her way over to Tam.

She was done asking permission.

“Hang on there,” Grady told her. “Relax, I’m not going to stop you. But I am going with you to Solreef, and you’re going to tell me exactly where Glimmer’s taking you before you guys leave. Then you’ll have fifteen minutes to look for the cache and get back—and if you’re gone a second longer, I’m coming after you.”

“Me too,” Fitz added.

“And me!” Biana agreed.

“Fifteen minutes isn’t much time,” Tam argued.

“Then I suggest you work fast,” Tiergan told him, “because at fifteen minutes and one second, I’m going after you too.”

Sophie and Tam exchanged a look, neither needing to check the other’s thoughts to know it was the best offer they were going to get.

“Deal,” Sophie said, glancing at Sandor, who was obviously not thrilled with the arrangement, even though he was invited to go. “Just let me run upstairs and change. I’m going to need a tunic with more pockets.”

If things went well, she’d be filling one of them with Kenric’s cache.

And if things went badly, hopefully they could deal with it.

Assuming Glimmer even knew how to get them there…

The doubt whispered around Sophie’s head as she dressed for the mission and grabbed as many weapons as she could carry—and it was still in the back of her mind when their group made it back to Solreef.

Tam must’ve been just as concerned, because the first thing he said after Bo let them in to see Glimmer was “Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”

Glimmer sat up taller. “Does that mean you’re taking me up on my bargain?”

“Only if you actually know what you’re talking about,” Sophie told her. “We know what the Lodestar security is like—the question is, do you?”

“Ugh, I almost want to take my hood down so you can see me roll my eyes.” Instead she stood and bent over, grabbing the bottom corner of her cloak. “I never planned to leave the order. But I knew if I did, I’d have to abandon everything, and that they’d likely move my belongings to their storehouse. So I made sure I had one of these.”

She ripped open the seam at her hem, and Sophie expected her to hold up one of those black disks Fitz had been talking about.

Instead she held up a small, silver hairpin.

And set among the metal filigree at the end was a smooth starstone.

- TWELVE - KEEFE

So… the point of this is for you to talk, remember?” Dex said, glancing over his shoulder before he turned back to Keefe. “Hey, don’t look at me like that! You hailed me! I could be doing lots of other things right now instead of sitting here, watching you pout. Rex has been doing enough of that!”

“He’s not pouting—he’s brooding,” Ro corrected. “Pouting would have his shoulders hunched and his lip jutting out more. And sulking would have his eyes all downcast. Wow. I kind of hate myself for knowing that. Clearly I’ve been spending too much time with a silent, moody boy.”