"That is so crazy," Fitz said.

"Does that mean you can hear Silveny?" Granite asked.

Fitz laughed. "I'm surprised the whole universe can't. Every word she sends needs to end with an exclamation point."

"Tell me about it," Sophie said.

"Can you understand what she's saying?" Granite asked Fitz.

"So far. But I think she's speaking the Enlightened Language."

"She is." Sophie's mind filled with a new round of VISIT! VISIT! VISIT! plus several KEEFEs.

Wow, she really loves Keefe, doesn't she? Fitz transmitted.

It's adorable and obnoxious, isn't it? Sophie asked.

There were so many KEEFE! chants going, Sophie almost didn't notice when Silveny added a GREYFELL! to the mix.

Is everything okay? she asked.

Greyfell was the male alicorn who lived at the Sanctuary. He'd grown violent not long after Silveny arrived, but only because he was afraid of the ogre homing device hidden in Silveny's tail. Once the aromark had been removed, he'd calmed down. Still, Sophie remembered the ferocity in Greyfell's eyes and the darkness she'd seen in his memories. He'd lived a much harsher life than Silveny, and it had made him cold and wary.

And yet, the memories Silveny sent showed the two alicorns playfully dipping and diving through the hologram sky and chasing each other through the colorful meadows. If they hadn't been sparkly flying horses, Sophie would've teased them for flirting.

Plus, she honestly hoped that was what they were up to. Silveny and Greyfell were the last of their kind, and everyone was counting on them to repopulate the species. That was why the alicorns needed so much protection. The elves believed that letting any creature go extinct would cause the planet irreversible damage. So whoever controlled the alicorns controlled the Council.

I'm glad you have a friend, Sophie said, wishing she could reach across the world and stroke Silveny's shimmering nose. You'll have to tell him "hi" for me.

MISS, Silveny told her, making Sophie's eyes burn.

I miss you too. But you're safe?

SAFE! SAFE! SAFE! Silveny promised.

Which of course led her back to more pleas for Sophie to visit, and a host of additional KEEFEs.

Somewhere around the tenth chant a new voice joined the mix-one with a crisp accent.

Hi.

It was a small word, but its effect was huge.

Silveny pummeled Sophie with worries as Fitz shouted, "I DID IT!"

Sophie could hear Granite and Fitz celebrating, but first she had to calm Silveny down.

That's Fitz, she told the suspicious alicorn.

FRIEND? Silveny asked.

Yes, a very good friend. She sent her memories of the few times Fitz had been around Silveny to remind her who he was. When that didn't seem to be enough, she replayed the moment Fitz had saved her life, finding her when she was fading away after her kidnapping.

LIKE, Silveny decided.

I like him too-as a friend, she added quickly, in case Fitz was listening. But he and Granite were too involved in their deep discussion on Fitz's progress.

"It's only the first step," Granite told them. "But it's very encouraging. You two truly have the most unique connection I've encountered in all my years of telepathy."

Sophie's cheeks burned, and she was glad Fitz was too busy trying to transmit again. It took his mind two tries, but he managed another Hi!

FITZ! Silveny replied. SOPHIE! FITZ! FRIEND!

FRIEND! Fitz repeated, his voice louder. More confident.

They spent the rest of the day in a bizarre one-word-at-a-time conversation. Fitz couldn't understand Silveny unless she spoke the Enlightened Language, and no matter how hard Silveny tried, he couldn't pick up the emotions or images she sent. Still, Granite was very pleased with their progress.

"I have absolutely no doubt you two will be able to serve as Cognates," he announced when the lesson finished.

Fitz beamed at that, and Sophie smiled too, until she remembered that meant they'd have to get to work on the sharing-all-their-secrets thing. . . .

She told herself she'd find a way to get used to it, and she put on a brave face through dinner. But her mind was swimming, swimming, swimming, thinking of all the things she couldn't-shouldn't-share.

She figured she was in for a long, restless night, but Calla's reveriebells chased away her worries. She was dreaming of mallowmelt and custard bursts and cute boys flying on alicorns when a voice dragged her back to consciousness.

"Hey, Sophie-wake up. I think I found something."

FOURTEEN.

IT TOOK SOPHIE several seconds to realize Dex's voice wasn't part of a dream. A few more after that, she caught the silhouette of him sitting on the edge of her bed.

She gasped and pulled her covers around her neck, then remembered she was wearing her crazy pajamas. Dex looked just as furry, though his onesie was lime green.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, turning toward her wall of windows. A triangle of gray-orange light leaked in where the curtains parted slightly, so she assumed that meant it was dawn.

"I had to show you this." Dex held up a gadget that looked like a gutted obscurer. The sphere had been sliced in half, and all kinds of springy coiled wires stuck out of the center. "I know it's ugly, but now it's a really powerful Evader. It let me break into the Council's archives and find records on Exillium-and I know what you're going to say," he added quickly. "I know the Black Swan told us to drop it. But I think Exillium's worth looking into. If we could find the Boy Who Disappeared, we might be able to find the Neverseen. Plus, I knew I could sneak in without getting caught. I'm sorry I didn't tell you first-I wasn't sure if we were being watched."

"You are."

They both yelped as Della blinked into sight near the curtains. "Don't tell me you thought I'd let you sneak into Sophie's room while she's sleeping and not see what you're up to."

"Good to know," Keefe said, striding into the room in a red furry onesie. "And don't think I was going to allow a Sophex meeting to happen. Hmm, maybe we should call it Deephie. Sophex sounds weird. Anyway, my point is, no secret meetings without me!"

"And me!" Fitz said, trailing behind in furry gray pj's.

"I'm here too!" Biana appeared in the corner wearing shaggy pink. "I followed my mom when she followed Dex."

"Wow, it's really crowded in here," Sophie mumbled. "And really . . . furry."

Even Della had a blue onesie that made her look like Cookie Monster.

"Cool, your window is right across from mine!" Keefe said, opening Sophie's curtains. "We could throw things at each other!"

"Or not." Della herded everyone to the bed. "Sit. We need to discuss the incredibly dangerous thing Dex has done."

"It wasn't dangerous," Dex argued. "I designed this Evader perfectly."

He held out the rickety gadget, and Della looked less than impressed.

"Did you find anything good?" Biana asked.

"Hopefully. I got all their prodigy records," Dex said. "Well, Exillium calls them Waywards, but it's the same thing. Every kid who's ever gone there has a file telling what year they started attending, who their family is, how old they are, what their talents are, what they did to get banished-all kinds of stuff. So now we just go through and search for anyone who looks suspicious."

"What counts as suspicious?" Della asked.

"Well, we sorta know his age, right?" Dex said. "At least a pretty good guess? And we know he was probably at Exillium about eight years ago. So we start with that."

"That's still going to leave you with hundreds of different boys," Della reminded him. "And even if you do find a good candidate, what then?"

"Then I break into the registry-"

"No you do not," Della interrupted.

"Don't worry, the registry is super easy to access, and I know how to make sure they don't catch me. Then I can cross check any suspicious names against pendant locations to find out where they are."

"You're assuming they'll be back in the Lost Cities," Della said. "I don't think you understand that Exillium is for the Unworthy. It removes those that do not belong in our world. Anyone sent in error can earn their way back. But very few do. Very few should."

Sophie wasn't sure she liked how casually Della talked about banishing, as if it were the perfect solution.

Then again, was locking them in Exile better?

"Well, I still think it's worth going through the records and seeing what we can learn," Dex said. "Even if we can't find the Boy Who Disappeared, we might find a Neverseen member hiding there now."

"Or it could be a waste of time," Della countered.

"But its our time to waste," Keefe said. "And it's better than reading boring books. Do you know what I learned yesterday? That when our minds break from extreme guilt, they can shatter different ways. Most people shut down and can't function anymore. But some turn erratic and reckless. Sometimes people even get violent."

"That's important!" Della told him.

Sophie had to agree. That explained why Alden went catatonic over his involvement with Prentice's memory break, while Brant turned into a deadly pyromaniac after he killed Jolie.

"Right, but how long did that take me to explain?" Keefe asked. "Ten seconds? Five? But it took me three hundred and twenty-nine pages to read! So yeah, I'll take searching through Exillium files any day."

Della started pacing. "What are the odds of you listening if I tell you not to pursue this?"

"Slim to none," Keefe said.

"That's what I thought. So fine-you already have the records. If you want to go through them, I won't stop you. But no breaking into the registry without consulting with me-clear?"

"Fine," Dex agreed. "I'll build something so you guys can see the files I copied. Maybe if I rewire an Imparter-I'd probably need gold instead of copper wire and-"

"Yeah, yeah, Technopath stuff we don't understand," Keefe jumped in. "What do we do while you do all of that?"

"How about we change out of these crazy outfits?" Biana said. "I mean really, what was the Black Swan thinking?"

"That if your pajamas were embarrassing enough, you kids would be discouraged from after-curfew meetings."

Everyone scrambled as Mr. Forkle stalked into the room, followed by Granite and Blur.

"Clearly our plan was not as successful as we'd hoped," Mr. Forkle said. "Dare we ask what made you willing to suffer the furry disgrace?"

"I think the better question is, what are you guys doing here so early?" Keefe countered.

"We promised we'd report to Calla as soon as we'd learned anything about Wildwood," Granite said.

"And?" Sophie asked.

"So far there's been no change-but that's good news in some ways," Blur said. "The gnomes' symptoms seem to be holding steady."

"But they still don't have a cure," Sophie clarified.

"No," Mr. Forkle admitted. "But they're working on it."

"They should have my dad try," Dex said. "He's the best alchemist out there."

"I'm sure he'll be their next call. Right now Lady Galvin is trying her hand," Granite said.

Even months later, Sophie still flinched at the name. Her old alchemy instructor had made her first year at Foxfire equal parts humiliating and stressful.

"So if all the best people are working on it," Sophie said, "why haven't they found the cure?"

"It comes down to isolating the pathogen," Mr. Forkle explained. "They haven't been able to find the source, and without that crucial information, they don't know what to target. The physicians suspect each gnome is plagued by only a single parasite, so finding it is a bit like that old human expression about needles in haystacks. But at least they're not pressed for time. The gnomes have responded well to the symptom treatments, so the need for the cure isn't as dire."

His eyes drifted to the Evader in Dex's hand, and his expression darkened. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is-or that you've at least had the common sense to not put it to use."

"Well . . . if you want me to lie . . . ," Dex mumbled.

Mr. Forkle's sigh sounded more like a growl. "This is about Exillium, right? I told you it wasn't worth the risk."

"But there was no risk," Dex said, pointing to a thinner wire on the Evader. "I call this a wiper. It erased every step I took, so there's no way the Council will know I was there."