“I’m just worried about Tam,” Sophie jumped in, trying to distract with a different confession. “Mr. Forkle thinks the Neverseen are going to force Tam to do something really bad, so he wants us to focus on Tam’s strengths when we’re trying to figure out their plan. And I’m not sure how everyone’s going to feel about that.”

Edaline wrapped her arm around Sophie’s shoulders. “I’m sure they’ll feel the same way you do: anxious for their friend—but also eager to do whatever it takes to get Tam out of there safely. Just like you guys did when Keefe was in the same position.”

“Yeah, but Keefe was different. He chose to run off and join the Neverseen without anyone threatening him.” He’d foolishly thought he could take them down by pretending to be on their side. “And he had nothing to lose. Tam has Linh.”

“I think Keefe had more to lose than you realize,” Edaline said, her lips curling into one of those annoying parent smiles that always seemed to say, You’ll understand when you’re older. “He still does. But my point was, he got out of there before it was too late.”

“Barely,” Sophie mumbled.

And Lady Gisela had claimed that the real reason Keefe remained alive was because he was her son and benefited from her protection.

Tam didn’t have that advantage.

“It’s a tricky situation,” Edaline admitted. “But the good news is, Tam has a group of smart, dedicated friends to help him through this—and I’m sure they’re just as eager to get to work as you are. So don’t be afraid to lean on them.”

Sophie nodded, watching Wynn chase his tail in stumbling circles. “I guess I should hail them and explain what’s going on.”

She could hear the dread in her voice and was certain Edaline had picked up on it. But Edaline didn’t bring it up as she kissed Sophie’s cheek and lowered her arm.

“I should get over to the gorgodon enclosure and see how the gnomes are doing,” Edaline said, taking a couple of steps down the path before she turned back to Sophie. “Oh, but in case you were wondering, I know there’s still something you’re not telling me. And if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I’m not going to pressure you. But I figured I should at least tell you that I’m onto you.”

She said it with a smile, but Sophie still had to fight the urge to tug out an itchy eyelash—her much-too-noticeable nervous habit. Discussing boy troubles with her mom was about as fun as being dropped into a pile of sparkly alicorn poop.

Plus…

Grady and Edaline had already lived through all kinds of bad match drama with Brant and Jolie—and it had not ended well. She didn’t want her situation to send them back to the miserable place they’d been in when she first met them.

“You can tell me anything,” Edaline assured her, as if she’d guessed part of Sophie’s worries. “I realize I haven’t always been as strong as you needed me to be—”

“You’re very strong,” Sophie interrupted, scrambling for an explanation that wouldn’t hurt Edaline’s feelings. “I just… want to be strong too.”

Edaline stepped closer, taking Sophie’s gloved hands. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. I know you can handle anything. But you’re carrying such heavy burdens for someone so young. I wish you’d unload some of them on me. I understand if you’d rather face it alone. I guess I just want you to know that you don’t have to.”

Sophie’s heart felt like it was pressing against her throat, and for a second, she was tempted to blurt out everything. But… she was also worried about how Grady and Edaline would react to her plan to fix her matchmaking situation.

They’d never been bothered by her connection to her human parents, but her biological parents might be a different story. They were elves, living somewhere in the Lost Cities. And once Sophie knew who they were, it would probably change things. Not that she’d want to live with either of them—or even want to talk to them, honestly.

These were people who’d been okay with letting their child be part of an experiment, knowing it would likely put her in constant danger. People who’d let her grow up in a forbidden world without them. People who hadn’t made any attempt at contacting her now that she was back in the Lost Cities. In fact, for all she knew, she saw them all the time and they never gave her the slightest clue that she meant anything to them.

Probably because she didn’t.

She wasn’t their daughter.

She was the Black Swan’s creation.

And as far as Sophie was concerned, they were nothing more than DNA donors.

That was why she didn’t care about Mr. Forkle’s reasons for keeping their identities secret. Her genetic parents chose to be a part of Project Moonlark. Nobody forced them to do it. So if having people know about their involvement caused problems for them, that was their own fault.

She shouldn’t have to deal with a lifetime of scorn just to protect them from facing the consequences of their decision.

“Well,” Edaline said, straightening up, “you know where to find me if you need me.”

“Same,” Sophie told her, turning to Wynn and transmitting an order to stay far, far away from the gorgodon.

The tiny alicorn responded with a bouncy nicker that wasn’t very reassuring.

Sophie was definitely going to need to have a chat with Silveny about her son’s poor survival instincts. But she had bigger things to focus on as she headed inside. Havenfield’s elegant mansion overlooked the ocean, and Sophie spent the climb up to her third-floor bedroom watching the waves through the etched glass walls and trying to figure out how she was going to tell her friends about Tam.

But even after Sandor, Bo, and Flori had finished their endless security sweep—inspecting every closet, shadow, and petal in her flowered carpet—she still hadn’t found the right words. In fact, the more she’d repeated Mr. Forkle’s plan in her head, the more pointless it had started to sound.

Why would she sit around brainstorming ways that Tam’s power could be used against her and her friends, when she could reach out to him the same way she used to reach out to Keefe when he was with the Neverseen and see if Tam could tell her anything that might help?

She hadn’t tried to contact him before, because she hadn’t wanted to put Tam in a difficult situation. But if Mr. Forkle was right, then Tam was already in so far over his head that it’d be worth the risk.

And it was certainly a lot smarter than wasting weeks or months on theories that might not even be on the right track.

Before she could change her mind, she plopped down on her enormous canopied bed and stared at the crystal stars dangling from her ceiling, watching them sparkle in the bright afternoon sunlight as she gathered her mental strength. The warm energy churned inside her head, humming as it grew stronger and stronger and stronger. And when she could feel it buzzing against the backs of her eyes, she shoved it out of her head, along with the loudest call she could muster.

TAM—CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT’S SOPHIE!

She repeated the words over and over, imagining the force like thick syrup pouring across the sky in every direction—covering the world. And as her consciousness spread, she closed her eyes and tried to feel for…