“I still would’ve dragged him to prison!” Fitz insisted, tearing his hands through his hair again as he stalked a few steps away from her. “And the thing is, Sophie—okay, fine, maybe you didn’t know how it was all going to go today. But you knew you were going there to search Lord Cassius’s memories. And you knew I’d been working on that already, and—”

“Exactly,” Sophie cut in. “He’d already figured out how to hide things from you.”

Fitz huffed out another bitter laugh. “Wow. So that’s what you think, huh? I’m such a pathetically weak Telepath, even Keefe’s jerk of a dad can shut me down?”

“Of course not!” Sophie promised, moving closer. “I never said that, Fitz. I just… I know that Keefe’s dad is good at getting around Telepaths. And you hadn’t found anything yet, so—”

“So you thought the moonlark needed to swoop in and take over? The leader of Team Valiant? Lady Sophie Foster?”

“Wow,” Sophie said, kind of wanting to smack him for that bratty sarcasm.

But she took a deep breath and reminded herself where it was coming from.

“I’m sorry,” she said, reaching for his hand. “If I could go back and do it all over again…”

She was supposed to finish that sentence with, “I’d bring you with me.”

But… she wasn’t sure if that was actually true.

And she didn’t want to lie.

So she just left the blank there for Fitz to fill in, holding her breath, hoping hoping hoping it would be enough.

His fingers twined with hers, and she felt her shoulders relax.

“I just… want us to be on the same page again,” he said quietly.

“Me too,” Sophie told him, meaning it. “I don’t know why this is so hard, but—”

“Wait, where are your gloves?” Fitz asked, lifting her hand up to study it.

“Oh. I guess I left them in Eternalia,” she realized, still avoiding the name she didn’t want to think about.

Her gloves were scattered across that shimmering floor, along with her fingernail gadgets. So it was apparently a good thing she’d left her enhancing switched off.

“Am I crazy, or are Dex’s gadgets gone too?” he asked, squinting at her nails.

“They… are,” Sophie said. “I… can control my enhancing now.”

“Seriously?” He tightened his hold on her like he needed to test it. “That’s amazing! How are you doing it?”

“It’s… hard to explain. There was this… exercise, and…” Against her will, her mind flashed to the look on Oralie’s face the moment they’d both realized it had been a success. She’d looked so genuinely happy and proud and—

“Hey, are you okay?” Fitz asked, stepping closer and pivoting with Sophie as she tried to turn away.

“I’m fine!” she said with a notable squeak to her voice, blinking hard—but not hard enough to catch all of her tears.

“No, you’re not fine,” Fitz said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just been a really long day.”

“It has,” he agreed, trailing a hand gently down her back. “But I wish you’d tell me what happened. It feels like it’s more than just the stuff Keefe told me.”

“I’m fine,” Sophie insisted, paired with a very “not fine” sniffle.

“Did something happen with Councillor Oralie?” Fitz guessed—and Sophie couldn’t help flinching. “I take it that’s a yes?”

“No, it’s…” Once again, Sophie didn’t know how to finish that sentence.

And this time, Fitz didn’t fill in the blanks for her.

“What?” he asked, leaning back to study her face. “I know there’s something, Sophie. Why won’t you tell me? You can tell me anything.”

She shook her head. “Not this.”

“Why not?”

Fitz blew out a breath when she stayed silent, and Sophie realized she was going to have to give him something.

“The thing is…,” she said, backing up a step to clear her head.

It was too hard to think with his arms around her.

“The thing is,” she repeated, “I really can’t tell you this. I can’t tell anyone. You’d understand why if you knew, but…”

Fitz snorted. “You know who you sound like, right? Isn’t that the kind of junk Forkle keeps telling you when you ask about your biological parents?”

Sophie flinched again.

And it gave her away.

“Wait,” Fitz said, his eyes widening as he studied her. “Is that what this is about?”

Sophie shook her head hard, trying to stop him from following that train of thought any farther.

But Fitz had already decided. “You found out who your parents are—that’s why you’re so upset! And I get it, Sophie.” He took her hands again, gently tugging her closer. “That must be so impossible to process. I get why you’re not ready to talk about it yet—so don’t worry, I’m not going to pressure you. And I won’t ask who they are.”

“Good,” Sophie told him, surprised by the snap in her tone.

But Fitz…

Fitz was smiling.

Not a huge dopey grin or anything, but…

He looked so relieved.

And as much as she hated it, she needed him to understand.…

“I can’t tell you who they are, Fitz,” she said, pulling her hands away. “Not now—not ever. Though, for the record, I only figured out one. They each don’t know who the other is, remember?”

Fitz’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Does that mean you talked to one?”

Before she could find a way to dodge that question, he jumped to the conclusion she’d really been hoping he wouldn’t.

“Wait. Is it Councillor Oralie?”

Sophie shook her head once again, hating the lie—but she had to stop this.

“I told you I can’t tell you anything—and I thought you just said you weren’t going to ask.”

The snap was back in her voice—even sharper this time—and Fitz definitely noticed.

His jaw even locked for a second, and his face was all harsh shadows and angles.

But he took a steadying breath of his own before he said, “You’re right. Sorry. You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

Sophie had to laugh at that.

Ugly, snorty giggles.

Because he Just. Wasn’t. Listening.

“No, I won’t, Fitz. I told you—I can’t tell anyone. Why do you think I’m so upset? I can’t tell anyone—and I’m going to have to live with what that means.”

Fitz blinked as he processed that, not seeming to notice the tears gathering in her eyes.

It felt like he was staring right through her as he decided, “It’s definitely Councillor Oralie.”

And Sophie didn’t know if she wanted to scream or sob or shake him really, really, really hard until he finally heard what she was trying to tell him.

But she was too tired for any of that.