She’d made a promise to Wylie to keep his cousin safe and out of the Black Swan—she had to at least try to hold up her end of that bargain.

“This isn’t a game,” she warned Maruca. “I’ve called it that before too, because it’s easier to think of it that way. But it’s not. It’s war. Not the global, multispeciesial battle that Mr. Forkle thinks we’re building toward—yet. But still. War.”

Maruca didn’t flinch at the word.

But she did blink.

And so did her force field.

The white light fizzled away for a couple of seconds before flickering back into place, like an old fluorescent light bulb.

“See?” Sophie asked, making sure to keep any triumph out of her voice. This wasn’t about being right—it was about making Maruca understand the stakes. “That’s all it takes. One moment of distraction. One second when you lose focus or let your guard down. I’ve seen it over and over—and I’ve done it myself, so I’m definitely not judging you for it, I promise. It happens sometimes. But when it does, people get hurt. Or die.”

Maruca swallowed hard. “I know. But I only manifested a few weeks ago. I’m still learning how to control my ability. I haven’t even told Magnate Leto yet, or been assigned to a Mentor. Once I start taking lessons, I’ll be able to do a lot more.”

“I’m sure you will,” Sophie agreed. “But… maybe you should wait to get involved with the Black Swan until you’re stronger and have had some time to practice. Because once the Neverseen know what you can do, you’ll be their biggest target. And you’ll be going head-to-head with Ruy, who’s had years of training as a Psionipath—not to mention tons of battle experience. He’s fast, and he’s strong, and he knows all kinds of crazy tricks. And right now, you won’t stand a chance against him.”

“Not necessarily,” Linh called from somewhere over Maruca’s shoulder.

It took Sophie a second to spot Linh striding toward them, along with Marella—and Wynn and Luna, who trotted ahead and sniffed curiously at the force field.

“I saw the light,” Linh explained, “and knew Maruca was going to need us for this next part.”

“Next part?” Sophie asked.

Maruca let the force field fade so Linh and Marella could get closer.

“We might’ve had one other reason for coming here today,” Marella admitted as she joined Sophie and Maruca in the shade. “Linh… thinks Ruy’s been changed.”

“Changed,” Sophie repeated, not sure what to do with that word. “Changed how?”

“Don’t you remember?” Linh’s eyes glazed, as if her mind was focused on her memories instead of the present. “The night of the festival, when we were facing off at Everglen, my brother bound Ruy’s wrists with shadowflux, and the darkness seeped into Ruy’s skin. His fingers turned black and…”

“Ruy couldn’t make another force field,” Sophie finished, shivering as she remembered the way the shadowflux had poured out of Tam’s palms—which meant he’d stored some of that horrible stuff inside of himself.

And the shadowflux had seemed more than happy to do his bidding.

“That’s why the Neverseen fled,” Marella said, reminding Sophie to pay attention. “They weren’t so brave once they couldn’t hide behind Ruy’s handy little shields anymore.”

Sophie pressed her arms to her sides, fighting the urge to reach for her eyelashes. “So… you think whatever Tam did to Ruy changed him permanently?”

“You don’t?” Linh asked.

Sophie shook her head. “I figured it was just an injury he’d heal from after the battle.”

She didn’t even know abilities could be permanently changed.

Though… maybe “damaged” was a better word for it.

And wasn’t that what had happened to her—twice?

Wasn’t that why Mr. Forkle needed to reset her inflicting—and why she’d had to have her other abilities reset once before?

Then again, she was the only one with “flexible” genes, apparently.

She’d also come very close to dying both times her abilities changed—and Ruy had barely looked fazed by what Tam did at Everglen.

“I spoke with Lady Zillah,” Linh said, crouching so she could be at eye level with Luna as she stroked Luna’s silvery mane, “and I described what I saw and asked if she knew what skill Tam had used on Ruy in that moment. But she said shadowflux doesn’t work that way. I guess once Tam calls for it, he can tell it to do pretty much anything he wants, as long as he’s strong enough to make it obey. So there’s no way to know exactly what command he gave the shadowflux. But… he didn’t want Ruy to be able to shield Gethen and Vespera anymore—I know that much. He said something about having the newborn trolls go after the Neverseen instead of us, remember? Plus, Lady Zillah’s always saying that shadowflux changes everything it touches, so the question isn’t whether or not it changed him. It’s how much. And the Neverseen have been awfully quiet lately—”

“They always are after one of their big attacks,” Sophie reminded her. “That’s how they operate. They show up, cause some huge disaster, and then disappear while they regroup and set up for their next plan.”

“Maybe. But… they also took my brother.” Linh’s voice cracked on the last word, and she rested her head against Luna’s neck, soaking up a baby-alicorn snuggle. “They have to be assuming we’ll try to get him back, regardless of all the warnings they gave us. So you’d think they’d be doing stuff to scare us away or keep us too busy to plan a rescue—like they did when they attacked you and Fitz to keep you from focusing on Alvar. They also know Mr. Forkle is Magnate Leto now—and still alive—and they haven’t made any moves against him. Or Tiergan. Or Juline. And they know you’re an Enhancer—and that the alicorn babies are out of the hive and running around free at Havenfield—and they haven’t tried to do anything about any of that, either. Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”

Sophie noted that Maruca didn’t look surprised by any of those revelations—and neither did Marella—as she told Linh, “Not necessarily. It hasn’t been that long since Tam was taken.”

It really hadn’t been—even if it also felt like forever.

“The Council also didn’t seem worried that the Neverseen had all of that information and hadn’t made a move yet,” Sophie added, still trying to convince herself she was right not to worry—even though she could hear Sandor mumbling about needing to talk to Bo, Flori, and Nubiti about security improvements.

“The Council doesn’t exactly have the best track record for knowing what to focus on,” Marella pointed out.

Which was definitely a valid point.

But Sophie didn’t want to admit that, because she had a feeling this conversation was spiraling somewhere very dangerous, and she had to keep control. “I just know the Neverseen are strategic. They make big moves, not small ones. And they spread them out and take their time. So the fact that they haven’t struck again isn’t as telling as you think.”