"What exactly does that mean?" Sophie asked, hoping there was no embarrassing ritual.

"It's a simple process," Granite said. "It'll make more sense when you receive your packages. They'll be delivered to your rooms before your bedtime."

"Wait-we have a bedtime?" Keefe asked.

"Yes, Mr. Sencen, your curfew will be midnight-and that means lights out," Mr. Forkle said. "We also expect you to stay in your separate houses for the remainder of the night. Every morning you'll meet for breakfast, then spend the rest of the day with your lessons."

"What kinds of lessons?" Biana asked.

"Exercises to better prepare you for the tasks ahead. You're all very talented, but you've only begun to hone your abilities. We will mentor you when we can, and when we're unavailable, your rooms have been stocked with books and assignments."

"Or we could, y'know, work on hunting down the Neverseen," Keefe suggested.

"The Neverseen are not a pressing threat at the moment," Blur said.

"You're kidding, right?" Keefe asked. "They're running around starting fires-"

"One fire," Granite corrected.

"That you know of," Fitz countered.

"No, Mr. Vacker, one fire," Granite insisted. "We have eyes all over the world. If anything burns, we know about it. Just like we were there to extinguish the Florence fire. And now that Gethen has been moved, the Neverseen have disappeared without a trace. We must wait for them to reveal themselves before we take further action."

"Unless they already did something," Sophie said, careful to keep her words vague.

Mr. Forkle cocked his head. "I see you have all kinds of theories."

Sophie backed away. "Are you reading my mind?"

"Of course." He didn't sound sorry.

"Does that mean I can poke around your head?" she countered.

"By all means, be my guest."

Sophie ignored his confident smile as she tried to open her mind to his thoughts . . .

Or Granite's thoughts . . .

Or Wraith's . . .

Or Blur's . . .

Or Squall's . . .

"I made your Telepathy unstoppable," Mr. Forkle said, "but that doesn't mean it can't be deceived. Once you figure out what that means, you'll earn the right to hear what I'm thinking."

"That's not good enough!" Sophie snapped. "Just because I'm here doesn't give you the right to invade my privacy."

Mr. Forkle started to argue, but Granite placed a rocky hand on his shoulder.

"If we maintain the rules of telepathy," Granite asked her, "would that make you more comfortable?"

"A little," Sophie mumbled.

"Then consider that our arrangement-and remember that the rules apply to you as well," Granite told her.

I will still transmit to you on occasion, Mr. Forkle added, making Sophie jump as his voice filled her head. But I will not open my mind to your thoughts or hear your reply unless you transmit back to me. I hope this proves that we do consider your wants and concerns. Clearly it's going to take time to adjust to our new working arrangement. But we are on the same side, even if our approaches differ. And since I already saw what you were thinking, let me go ahead and assure you that we are investigating the gnomes' situation, and we have seen no obvious signs of the Neverseen's involvement. The footprints Oralie mentioned-and by the way, you should use that Imparter she gave you very sparingly-belonged to two teenagers living nearby.

Why are there teenagers living near Wildwood?

Most likely they've been banished. But they were clearly not a threat to the gnomes. So you can let go of your conspiracy theories for the moment. Give us time to investigate properly.

"We know you two are having a secret conversation," Keefe interrupted. "Care to share with the rest of us?"

"He was just clarifying something," Sophie said.

"Was it about Gethen?" Keefe asked. "You promised to tell us about the interrogations."

"There isn't much to tell," Mr. Forkle said. "Each time I've tried to probe his mind, he was . . . unresponsive."

"So do a memory break," Keefe pressed.

"You misunderstand what I mean by 'unresponsive.' His head currently appears to be empty. There are no thought processes. No dreams. No memories of any kind. I've never seen a defense like it, and I've yet to figure out how to counter it."

"Do you think it'd help if I tried to heal him?" Sophie asked.

"That would be far too dangerous," Granite said. "It's possible his goal is to lure you into his mind and trap you there. Isn't that what Fintan tried to do during his healing?"

Sophie winced at the memory. If Fitz hadn't dragged her back to consciousness, Fintan would've burned her alive without her even realizing.

"But you're taking the same risk when you search his mind, aren't you?" she asked Mr. Forkle.

"I am far less valuable than you-as are we all."

"He's right," Squall agreed. "And I'm sorry, but I must get back or someone will notice I'm missing." She removed a frosted purple-black crystal from her crackly cloak and leaped away in a flurry of snow.

"Now, what was I saying?" Mr. Forkle asked, watching the snowflakes swirl.

"You were making excuses for why we can't find the Neverseen," Keefe told him. "Pretty lame ones, if you ask me."

"So you feel it's lame to keep Sophie safe?" Granite asked.

"No-but it's lame to not use me," Keefe argued. "We know some of the Neverseen are in Ravagog. Give me a green crystal and I'll hunt them down."

"That is the most supremely absurd idea I've ever heard," Mr. Forkle told him.

Sophie had to agree. King Dimitar had taken out her humongous goblin bodyguard with a single punch from his apelike fist. And the ogre who'd grabbed her during the attack on Mount Everest had literally dragged her through ice and stone.

"If they catch you, they'll kill you," she whispered.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing breaking into places is my specialty," Keefe told her.

"This isn't sneaking into the principal's office," Fitz said.

"I can handle it," Keefe insisted. "And now is the time to make our move. The Neverseen are scrambling. We caught Gethen. Brant's all charred and burned. And my mom"-he cringed at the word-"isn't as tough as she's pretending to be. She won't last long with the ogres. She needs gourmet dinners and fancy clothes-and she's horrible with bad smells."

"That may be," Mr. Forkle said, "but you're forgetting that trespassing on ogre land violates our treaty. We cannot spark a war."

"Haven't they already voided the treaty by helping the Neverseen?" Fitz asked.

"King Dimitar is claiming that was done by a band of ogre rebels," Blur explained. "If they're acting without his permission, the Council can't hold him responsible."

"Does the Council honestly believe him?" Sophie asked.

"Besides, aren't we rebels too?" Dex added. "If they caught Keefe, wouldn't the Council be able to give the same excuse?"

"Why is everyone assuming I'm going to get caught?" Keefe asked. "You guys are clearly forgetting how awesome I am!"

"And yet you wore an ogre homing device for weeks with no inkling of its existence," Mr. Forkle reminded him. "I'm not saying that to fault you. Simply to help you realize what we're up against. The ogres have defenses far beyond our knowledge and experience. And as for your thoughts, Mr. Dizznee, you saw how King Dimitar reacted when Sophie attempted to read his mind. How do you think he'd react to someone invading his city?"

Sophie cringed at the reminder of how serious the consequences of that single act had been. She still hadn't shaken her doubts that it was related to the Wildwood plague.

"We cannot be hasty with our efforts," Granite told them. "We must be strategic."

"That doesn't mean we should waste time, either," Keefe argued.

"Do not fool yourself into believing you are the only one feeling impatient," Mr. Forkle warned him. "Tell me, do you know the names of the dwarves we lost on Mount Everest? They were Ermete, Irja, and Kun-and Yegor is still in critical condition. They were dear friends and we are anxious to avenge them. But that is not an excuse to take foolhardy actions."

"I know you've all spent months solving clues on your own and disobeying adults," Granite added. "But you must remember we were the ones guiding you through that."

"We figured out a few things on our own," Fitz argued.

"Indeed, you did," Granite agreed. "Which is why we're glad to work with you. But we must be a team."

"That'd be easier to believe if you guys weren't keeping so many secrets," Sophie reminded them.

"The only secrets we keep are ours," Mr. Forkle said.

"What about the memories you stole from my head?" Sophie had two blank spots in her mind. One from when she was nine and had an allergic reaction to limbium-an elvin substance Mr. Forkle must've given her for some reason. The other was from when she was five, and Mr. Forkle triggered her telepathy. She could vaguely recall seeing a boy in elvin clothes disappear-but she couldn't remember who he was.

"Those memories were mine," she said. "And you took them and expect me to pretend it's not a big deal."

Mr. Forkle let out another long sigh and turned to telepathically debate with the Collective. As the silence stretched on, Sophie braced for a long "You kids" lecture.

But when Mr. Forkle finally spoke, he said, "Very well. In the interest of earning your trust, would you like your memory back?"

TEN.

SOPHIE HAD TO let the sentence slosh around in her mind before the words could soak in. Once they did, something still felt wrong.

"You mean memories, right?" she asked. "You stole two."

"We are only offering one-the memory I know you desire the most."

"The Boy Who Disappeared?" Sophie asked, and the Collective nodded.

Sophie turned to her friends, knowing she wouldn't get a better offer. When she had their approval, she told the Collective, "Okay."

"All right, then," Mr. Forkle said, reaching for her temples.

Sophie flinched back. "Wait-you're doing it now? Since when is anything with you guys ever that easy?"

She glanced at her right hand, where a small star-shaped scar commemorated the time Mr. Forkle reset her abilities. He'd had to give her an entire ounce of limbium and then inject her with a modified human remedy to stop the allergic reaction from killing her.

Mr. Forkle cleared his throat. "Returning memories is a simple process-though you should prepare yourself for the fact that this memory was taken to spare you additional worry."

"I still want it back. Just like I want the other memory." She turned to the Collective, trying to find their eyes amid their crazy disguises. "If you won't return it now, I think I deserve a guarantee that you'll give it back to me eventually."

"You deserve that and more," Granite said. "So we can agree to your term-as long as you understand that we will choose when to return the other memory."

Sophie agreed, and Mr. Forkle turned to Fitz. "I'd like to have you assist."

"Why him?" Dex asked. "If you need another Telepath, why not use Granite?"

"Because Miss Foster trusts Mr. Vacker," Mr. Forkle said. "And the two of them have an extremely unique connection. In fact, we're hoping to train them as Cognates."

"REALLY?" Fitz asked, his eyes sparkling.

"What's a Cognate?" Sophie asked.

"An incredibly rare telepathic relationship," Granite explained. "One very few Telepaths are able to achieve. I know I've never found anyone I could partner with."

"Neither have I," Mr. Forkle agreed. "Cognates combine their power through a deep personal connection. It's too early to know if you're truly compatible, but it's worth exploring-especially given the potential we've witnessed. On your own, Miss Foster, you came far closer to reading an ogre's mind than any have before. Perhaps with the combined strength of a Cognate you would find true success-though I'm definitely not suggesting you attempt to probe an ogre's mind again. I'm simply illustrating the potential. Your telepathy has proven far superior to even my most optimistic calculations. If you and Mr. Vacker achieve Cognatedom, it would reach another level entirely."

"You want to try it, right?" Fitz asked as Sophie resisted tugging on her eyelashes.

"Of course I do."

"Ha, nice try, Foster," Keefe said. "I can feel your dread all the way over here."