“I think so.” Sophie took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “Will you do the levitating, Fitz?”

She wasn’t sure how long her energy was going to hold, so she needed to conserve it. Plus, after the weirdness with her channeling, there was a chance she’d blast them all the way up to the Point of Purity or something.

“Of course,” he told her. “Happy to be needed.”

There was no chiding subtext to his tone—but Sophie still felt her cheeks burn when she thought about how little she’d relied on Fitz lately.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she took his hand, holding her breath for the first few seconds, wondering if Dex’s gadgets—and the three pairs of gloves she was wearing—would do their job.

They did for Fitz.

Not so much for Keefe—though he assured her the effect wasn’t a problem.

“Do you think Mr. Forkle’s right?” she asked as Fitz floated the three of them off the ground, fast enough to make her stomach lurch. “Did that green breeze you sent me during the reset change our connection, and that’s why you’re so sensitive to my enhancing now?”

“I guess it’s possible,” Keefe admitted.

“What green breeze?” Fitz asked.

“Just an Empath trick,” Keefe told him. “Nothing special.”

Sophie was pretty sure it had been special—but she stopped herself from saying that. Because Fitz had helped her that day too. And even though she couldn’t remember anything specific about it, she knew he’d done everything he could to guide her through.

“I do think Forkle’s right about you being able to control the ability, though,” Keefe added quietly. “I mean, I’m sure all of his ‘journeys of self-discovery’ stuff made you want to throw things at his head—”

“Yep,” Sophie agreed.

“But, I don’t think you have to be all deep and fancy-pants about it. I bet if you just treat it like solving one more Foster Mystery, you’ll figure it out.”

“Okay, but how?” Sophie countered.

“I think it’s mostly about finding the source,” Fitz told her. “Following the power in your fingertips to the reserves it’s coming from and building some sort of… inner barrier that you can raise and lower whenever you want. Setting boundaries for yourself, if that makes sense.”

“It does and it doesn’t,” Sophie hedged.

Several long seconds passed before Keefe told her, “See, I think it’s simpler than that. I think the boundaries are already there and you just need to start bossing your abilities around. Think of it like… leading Team Awesome!”

“Team Valiant,” Sophie corrected.

“Nope, I’m now officially naming your abilities Team Awesome,” Keefe decided. “And it’s time for you to show them you’re their Lady Fos-Boss.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “You can’t boss an ability around.”

“Oh, I think you can, I think you can.”

“I have no idea what that means,” Sophie told him.

“Neither do I,” Fitz agreed. “But more important, I’m pretty sure we’re high enough now, and it’s not exactly easy keeping us steady with all of this wind, so… think we can get to the teleporting part of this journey?”

Sophie stared at the glints of moonlight reflecting off the ocean far below, realizing this was one of those turning-point moments—the kind that could all too easily end up being something they’d look back on and think, That’s where it all went wrong.

“Before we do this,” she said, clearing the catch out of her throat, “I need you to promise me, Keefe, that you’ll remember why we’re there. I’m bringing you to London to see if it triggers your memories—not to go Neverseen hunting. So if we find a crystal to a hidden path, we’re not using it.”

“But—”

“We’re not using it,” Sophie repeated. “We’re being spontaneous—not insane. Promise me you understand that.”

It got really, really quiet.

“In case it matters,” Fitz murmured, “I understand. And I promise.”

More silence.

“I mean it, Keefe,” Sophie told him. “Tonight is about investigating only—not taking dangerous risks. If you won’t promise that—and mean it—then I’m having Fitz set us back down.”

Keefe sighed. “Fine, I promise.”

“And mean it,” Sophie emphasized. “Convince me that I can trust you.”

“You can trust me, Foster,” Keefe assured her, tightening his grip on her hand. “I know I’ve made huge mistakes in the past, but I’m trying to learn from them—and the last thing I ever want to do is let you down. Okay?”

Nothing about what they were doing felt okay anymore.

But… she believed him.

And they’d come this far.

Please don’t let this be a mistake, Sophie thought, sending the plea to every star twinkling around them before she told Fitz, “Drop us!” and they plummeted into the void.

* * *

The time on Big Ben said 11:11 p.m., which probably meant that London was somehow on the same time zone as the Lost Cities—something Sophie would have to put more thought into later.

At the moment, her focus was on staying out of sight.

London was busier than she’d been expecting at such a late hour—a steady stream of cars and buses on the roads, pedestrians wandering every shadowed sidewalk—and while Sophie had managed to swipe Grady’s obscurer before she left, their little group still felt very exposed.

It didn’t help that their clothes stood out a lot more than Sophie had wanted. She’d tried her best—her magenta jacket and white ruffled tunic didn’t look that different from the coats and shirts that some of the humans were wearing, and she’d layered different socks over her leggings to try to make the layered gloves on her hands seem like a fashion statement. But she’d decided to wear her cape, thinking its warmth might come in handy given London’s reputation for cold, foggy weather. And Fitz and Keefe looked like boy princes in their capes and embroidered jerkins.

“We have to stay together,” Sophie reminded Keefe, pulling him back to her side when he tried to head toward what might’ve been Westminster Abbey—she wasn’t sure. She was still getting her bearings, trying to match the famous landmarks in front of her—each lit with a warm, golden light against the night sky—with the pictures she’d seen in human books and the photo they’d seen of Keefe’s mom.

“Then come with me,” Keefe told her. “The point is for me to wander around, right?”

“It is—but I didn’t know it was going to be so crowded, so we need to figure out a strategy,” Sophie warned. “It’s not going to be easy moving as a group of three without bumping into anybody—and don’t step into the street unless I tell you it’s safe,” she added, jerking him to a stop as he moved toward the crosswalk. “There are all sorts of rules about when it is and isn’t your turn, and if you don’t follow them…”