"Easy question," she said, taking it down. "You're Keefe Sencen. Master mischief-maker. Tormenter of principals. Frequenter of Detention. And one of the best guys I know."

He raised one eyebrow as he turned to study her. "I'm not the best?"

"It's a three-way tie. And you're also always there when your friends need you. So how about you let one of us be there for you for a change?"

He looked away again. "You really think you can handle it?"

"Psh, I can handle anything." She usually didn't feel comfortable making such bold, confident statements. But for once it actually felt right. "Please? Don't keep doing this alone."

Keefe sighed. "Okay . . . but remember-you promised you wouldn't hate me."

"I did. And that's one promise I'll have no problem keeping."

"We'll see . . ." He looked like he wanted to say something else. Instead he turned away.

"So do you want to get started now?" she asked.

"Not really." He rubbed his eyes, and the dark circles seemed to sink deeper into his skin. "I've been up all night the last few days. And the one time I did sleep was with the fathomlethe. Dex was right about the dreams." He tangled his arms around himself and shuddered. "But I don't know if I can fall asleep."

"Well, you're never going to relax in this hive-of-crazy!"

She grabbed a handful of notes and pulled them off the nearest wall.

"Don't-"

"I'm just getting them out of sight so we can organize them. This was you working alone. Now you have me."

"I do."

Sophie couldn't tell if that was a statement or a question.

"Try to rest," she told him. "I'll be out of here as soon as I'm done cleaning up."

Keefe opened his mouth to argue but the words were swallowed by a yawn. He crawled into bed and buried his face in his pillow. Sophie resisted the urge to tease him about drooling.

It took her longer than she'd expected to de-serial-killer his room. But by the time she'd pulled down the last note, Keefe's breathing had slowed. She listened to the rhythmic sound as she stacked the tattered pages together, wishing she could clear away his worries as easily as she could clear away the scraps.

"Sweet dreams," she whispered as she turned to leave. "You deserve them."

Keefe didn't move, and his breathing stayed steady. But when she turned off the lights, she could've sworn his lips were smiling.

"How troubled is he?" Mr. Forkle asked, giving Sophie a minor heart attack as she entered the boys' main room. He stood by the fire pit, his eyes reflecting the flickering flames.

"Mr. Sencen," he clarified. "How concerned should we be?"

"What do you mean by 'concerned'?" Sophie asked.

"You did see the state of his room just now, yes?"

Sophie looked away. "I took down all the notes, so hopefully that'll let him sleep. And he agreed to let me search his memories and record them."

Mr. Forkle traced his fingers along his chin.

"Do you think we're going to find a clue about the Neverseen in his memories?" she asked, the words so quiet she could barely hear them.

"It seems likely. No one keeps up a pretense perfectly. In fact, I've made several slips I'm stunned you didn't catch."

"Like what?" Sophie asked.

A smile was all he gave her.

"I'm also inclined to believe Gethen wasn't exaggerating about the Neverseen having plans for Mr. Sencen. He's a very talented boy. But as for whether we'll find clues . . . well . . . searching an entire lifetime is a daunting task. Either way, I'm counting on you to keep me informed of anything concerning-and by 'concerning,' I mean anything relating to our fatal flaw. You've likely heard of the concept in your human studies. Elves all bear the same one."

"Arrogance?" Sophie guessed.

"I'll pretend you didn't look at me as you said that. And that is a vice. Our fatal flaw is guilt. We all react to it in different ways. In Mr. Sencen's case, it appears to have set him on a quest for understanding. Such quests often end at a crossroads, and should that be the case I cannot say which path Mr. Sencen will choose."

"You realize that makes zero sense, right?"

He shrugged. "Let us hope it remains that way. But keep your eyes open to warning signs. And be sure to get some rest. Tomorrow will be very . . . complicated."

TWENTY-SIX.

DON'T SCREAM," A deep voice told Sophie as she passed through the breakfast area on her way for another early morning river walk.

Of course she screamed-but who wouldn't scream if they found a strange figure lurking in the shadows? Especially if that figure happened to look like a giant two-legged poodle?

Curly white fur covered his body, leaving only his dark blue eyes and pink lips exposed.

"W-who are you?" she whispered.

The poodle figure rubbed his furry arms. "Apparently my code name is Coiffe."

"I hope that means you're part of the Black Swan," Sophie said.

"Would I be here if I weren't?" He stepped closer and she backed up. "If I meant to harm you, Sophie, I would've grabbed you when you entered the gazebo. I had plenty of time, and I'm much stronger than you."

"Is that supposed to reassure me?"

"Yes." He scratched his shoulder, then his chest, then his arms and legs. "Argh-I swear I've picked up ichrites in this infernal fur."

"Ichrites?" Sophie asked.

"A type of insect that feeds on unicorn blood." He leaned against the post of the gazebo, rubbing his back like a bear scratching on a tree. "My involvement with the Black Swan is usually more hands off. But today I must play babysitter, so I get to be this." He waved his hands at his fur before going back to scratching, and Sophie got a feeling she wasn't going to be a fan of Coiffe.

"Sophie?" Dex shouted, racing down the stairs two at a time. "Are you okay? I heard you scream."

Fitz and Biana were right behind him, with Keefe a few steps farther back. They froze when they spotted Coiffe.

"Is this guy bothering you?" Fitz asked.

"Is that a guy?" Dex added.

"He says he's with the Black Swan," Sophie told them.

"Couldn't anyone say that?" Fitz asked.

Coiffe rolled his eyes and pulled a monocle pendant like theirs out of the curls of his fur. "Happy now?"

"Just when I thought this place couldn't get any weirder," Biana mumbled.

Dex moved closer to Coiffe and squinted at his fur. "What'd you do, mix a bunch of Curly-dew with Macho-Macho and a couple drops of Body Warmer?"

"I don't know. But I wouldn't be surprised if your father's ridiculous store was involved," Coiffe muttered. "Only Kesler Dizznee would waste time figuring out how to give someone a fur coat."

Yeah . . . Sophie definitely wasn't going to be a fan of Coiffe.

"My father is one of the most talented alchemist's in our world," Dex snapped.

"He is," Coiffe agreed. "But even you must admit he gravitates toward the absurd."

"That's intentional," Sophie told him.

Kesler kept Slurps and Burps strange to make the stuck-up nobility uncomfortable.

"So wait," Keefe jumped in. "Are you naked right now? Because I think I speak for everyone when I say: Yuck."

Sophie smiled, relieved to see Keefe acting more like his old self. Shadows still darkened his eyes, but his smirk had returned with full force.

"If you must know," Coiffe snapped, "I'm wearing a bathing suit under all of this. You try wearing ten pounds of fur and see if you feel like putting a cloak on top of it-especially with the way it tugs. And shouldn't there be one more of you? I was told there would be six."

"There are." Della appeared next to him.

He scrambled back, tripping over the black bags piled at his feet. "Ms. Vacker. How ironic to see you among our ranks, considering the task we are about to perform."

"And what task would that be?" Della asked, not bothering to correct her name.

"Isn't it obvious?" He tossed them each one of the black bundles. "Get dressed. It's time to see if you're talented enough to break into Exile."

"This isn't the desert," Sophie said as they reappeared in a forest high in the mountains.

"How astute of you," Coiffe told her, leading them up a narrow path. A thin layer of snow had turned the mountain gray and crunchy, and Sophie snuggled deeper into her dark cloak, glad the heavy fabric was extra warm.

"Question," Keefe said after they'd climbed for several minutes. "Why do all the trees look like they want to eat us?"

He wasn't wrong. The gnarled, bulbous trunks reached for them with clawed, branchy hands, and the knots in the wood looked like eyes.

Sophie checked each one, squinting as far into the distance as she could, wondering if she'd find any with a force field.

"You okay?" Dex asked as Sophie tripped over the edge of her heavy cloak.

"Yeah. I just wish this thing fit better."

"Tell me about it." His sleeves completely covered his hands.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" she asked Coiffe as the forest thinned around them. "Last time we entered Exile through a sand pit."

"And last time you had permission to be there," Coiffe reminded her. "Do you really think you can walk in the main entrance?"

"No. But it's hard to know what's going on when no one's told us the plan," she snapped.

"That was not my decision."

They passed several more trees before Coiffe doubled back. "Finally," he said, tracing his furry fingers down a sun-bleached trunk. "It takes a keen eye to find the trail."

"Yeah, well, did those keen eyes of yours also see you just stepped in a big pile of sasquatch poop?" Keefe asked.

Coiffe muttered something about the Black Swan testing his patience as he attempted to scrape his furry foot clean. Then he led them west, counting eight trees before turning north and counting four more. They repeated the process through several more twists and turns, until they reached a tree on the edge of a slope.

It wasn't the biggest tree they'd seen, but Sophie could tell it was ancient. Its curled branches stretched toward the clouds, daring a storm to take it down.

Coiffe knocked on the lumpy trunk, making five quick thumps, two soft pats, and seven slaps in a strange rhythm.

"And now," he said, "I'm free of further responsibility."

"You're leaving?" Fitz asked as Coiffe pulled a crystal pendant from his tangled fur.

Coiffe laughed. "Surely the Champions of the Everest Ambush have no reason to fear an empty forest-though it doesn't feel empty, does it? Better hope whatever's nearby isn't hungry."

"He's kidding, right?" Biana asked as Coiffe glittered away.

"I'm sure he is," Della said. But she scanned the forest carefully.

"The Black Swan needs a better screening process for their helpers," Dex decided.

Sophie tucked her hands into her cloak pockets to keep them warm, and her fingers grazed the edge of Kenric's cache. She'd figured that breaking into the world's most secure prison was the kind of place where it might be smart to have a powerful bargaining chip.

"Anyone have any theories on where we are?" Fitz asked. "I'm guessing somewhere human, since I don't see any Pures."

The Pures were palmlike trees with fan-shaped leaves that filtered any pollutants out of the air. Every elvin city and manor had at least one.