“I know. It’s just…” Sophie’s voice trailed off as the fuzzy glow of another spotlight became visible up ahead.

The light looked white from a distance, but as they drew closer, it took on a greenish tint. And when the figure in the center finally came into focus…

“Dex?” Sophie whispered, blinking to make sure the strawberry-blond boy with periwinkle eyes wasn’t some sort of mirage. “What are you doing here?”

“No idea,” he admitted with a smile that was a tad too nervous to reach his dimples. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

“Are you here alone?” Grady asked.

The answer seemed pretty obvious, given that there were no other spotlights—until a familiar female voice declared, “Nope!” and Biana appeared next to Dex in a halo of flickering violet light.

Her magenta gown was much simpler than the styles Biana usually favored. The only adornment was an embroidered teal sash that matched her stunning eyes—not that it stopped Biana from looking more glamorous and gorgeous than anyone else ever could. The gown was also sleeveless, with a V-shaped neckline that left the scars on Biana’s arms, shoulders, and back prominently displayed. She’d hidden the marks for a while, but now she didn’t look the least bit bothered by the way the thin, jagged lines almost glowed in the strange lighting. And it made Sophie want to hug her really, really hard.

“How did you guys get into this building?” Grady asked them.

“And where are your bodyguards?” Sandor demanded. Biana was notorious for ditching poor Woltzer, but Dex and Lovise usually stuck together.

“They weren’t invited,” a third voice said as another violet spotlight flickered to life and Della appeared next to her daughter wearing a peacock blue gown with shimmering gold beading that was almost as stunningly beautiful as she was.

Sandor muttered something about Vanishers as Sophie clutched her chest. But her racing pulse had more to do with the possibility of a blue spotlight appearing in the darkness.

“Fitz wasn’t invited either,” Biana told her, guessing why Sophie was scanning the shadows. “And boy, was he pouty about it. He’s going to flip when he finds out you were here.”

Dex’s grin shifted to full dimple mode. “Can I be the one to tell him?”

Sophie shot him a glare that hopefully said Don’t start before she turned to Grady. “Why didn’t you tell me they’d be here?”

“I didn’t know,” Grady promised.

“Neither did we, until about an hour ago,” Della said, adjusting one of the jeweled combs she’d set into her dark, wavy hair. “A messenger showed up at Everglen with a scroll telling me to pick up Dex from Rimeshire and bring him and Biana here by midday.”

“We received a similar summons,” an equally familiar—but much less friendly—voice huffed behind them.

Sophie’s jaw locked as she spun around to find two tall figures striding toward them, lit by baby pink spotlights: Vika Heks, in a fitted yellow gown that matched her sour expression. And her daughter, Stina, whose gown was covered in so many jewels, it probably weighed more than she did.

“What’s the matter, Foster?” Stina asked, tossing her curly hair and crossing her bony arms. “You didn’t think you’re the only one who gets special messages from the Council, did you? Or are you just mad that neither of your boyfriends seem to have made the guest list?”

“That’s true,” Dex murmured. “Keefe’s not here. If he was, I’m sure he’d have a lot to say about his pretty pink spotlight.”

Biana giggled. “Maybe he’s on his way.”

“Ro won’t let him come, even if he is invited,” Sophie realized, then transmitted to Dex and Biana, It’s a long story. I saw Mr. Forkle yesterday and… there’s a lot going on—I promise I’ll catch you up on everything as soon as we’re done here, before she turned back to Stina and added, “and I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“You don’t?” Della asked, then flushed and shook her head. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Sophie wished she could.

She also wished she hadn’t noticed the way Biana was frowning at her.

Or how relieved Grady looked.

Or the way Stina was smirking like a cat that had just trapped a tiny, helpless bird.

“Did your invitations explain why the Council was calling you here?” Grady asked Della and Vika, mercifully changing the subject.

“Ours didn’t,” yet another voice announced behind them.

Everyone turned to find Sir Tiergan illuminated by a spotlight that glowed in the same deep blue as his eyes. The bold color somehow made the contrast between his olive complexion and pale blond hair look even more severe than usual, but the effect softened when he offered Sophie a kind smile.

“It wasn’t an invitation,” his adopted son, Wylie, corrected, tugging on the front of his sunset-toned cape. “It was an order.” Wylie’s spotlight shifted colors with the words: peach one second, yellow the next, then purple—each halo so bright that it tinted his dark skin the same shade—and Sophie couldn’t tell if that was happening naturally, or if Wylie was using his ability as a Flasher to control it. “And some of us had things we needed to do today.”

He turned to pace, and Sophie understood his impatience. But now he had her worried that something was going on that she didn’t know about—maybe with his father—or Linh.

“What did you need to do?” she asked.

Wylie glanced at the others before he shook his head. “I’ll tell you later.”

Stina snorted. “It’s cute how you think we care about your boring secrets. We don’t.”

“Let’s hope that will not always be the case,” a rich, velvety voice boomed from somewhere in the shadows, making everyone suck in a breath.

The words reverberated through the room as twelve spotlights flared in a wide circle around their group, illuminating each of the Councillors with a nearly blinding halo of silver. Sophie was usually able to tell the Councillors apart, since they comprised a wide mix of skin colors and hairstyles and facial features. But between the strange lighting and their matching outfits, they looked eerily alike. Their tailored silver suits and pulled-back hair even made it hard to distinguish between the different genders. And they were wearing identical diamond crowns instead of their individual gemstone circlets.

Their long silver cloaks were all pinned with clasps shaped like glowing golden keys—a style Sophie had only seen the Councillors wear one other time. The day she moved to the Lost Cities and found herself facing a test that decided her future with the elves.

Her stomach turned very flippy at the reminder, and she scanned each of the Councillors’ faces, searching for Oralie—one of her strongest allies on the Council—finally picking her out on the right side of the circle thanks to a soft blond ringlet that had broken free from her tight bun.

But Oralie didn’t look her way.

And there was something off about her expression—a strange tension in her pretty features. As if she were as anxious to be done with this process as Sophie was.

“Welcome to the Seat of Eminence,” Councillor Emery said as the spotlights dimmed enough to make the Councillors more recognizable. All heads turned toward the dark-skinned elf who served as spokesperson for the Council, and his sapphire eyes flicked from face to face as he stepped forward and folded his hands. “We apologize for the somewhat last-minute nature of this meeting, and realize that you all likely have many questions about why we’ve brought you here—particularly since this place is accessible only to those who bear titles for the oaths they’ve sworn to our service. And that is not changing, in case you were wondering. Those of you who required an escort to gain access today will not be permitted to visit again, unless you have a title of your own.”