Free Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities) by Shannon Messenger Page B

his pocket, like he needed to make sure it was there before he closed his eyes.
    By the time they made it to the door, Brant was already snoring.
    “YOU SURE YOU’RE OKAY?” GRADY asked for the third time as they climbed the steps to their bedrooms at Havenfield.
    Sophie forced a smile, hating that she’d gone to support them, and somehow ended up worrying them more. “It was hard, like you said it would be. But I’m fine, I promise. I just want to go to bed.”
    “You’re not going up there to try and figure out the Black Swan’s clue, are you?” Grady folded his arms across his chest.
    The sun was barely setting, and none of them had eaten dinner, but Sophie was ready for the emotional day to be over. “They waited more than three weeks to contact me—they can wait another night.”
    She leaned in to hug them good night, but Edaline pulled away. She closed her eyes and snapped her fingers and a small plate filled with four pink puffy squares appeared in her hand. Sophie jumped back a step—she wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to Edaline’s ability to pull things out of thin air—as Edaline held out the plate to her.
    “I made these chocolate-cherry custard bursts for you. I guess I should’ve given them to you earlier. . . .”
    “Thank you,” Sophie said, filling the silence when Edaline’s voice trailed off.
    She picked up a piece, surprised when it felt smooth like a hard candy. But it was like biting into a sweet, sticky cloud filled with a fudgy chocolate cream and cherry goo. She had to slurp so it wouldn’t run down her chin.
    She’d thought nothing could ever taste better than mallowmelt—but now she wasn’t sure.
    Grady and Edaline laughed as she stuffed the rest of it into her mouth, puffing out her cheeks.
    “They were Jolie’s favorite too,” Edaline whispered. “I guess that’s why I don’t like to make them—but if you like them, I can do it more often.”
    Sophie could’ve eaten a thousand of them, and she was sure she’d crave them every day. But . . .
    She held up the plate to show the three she had left. “These are enough.”
    Edaline wrapped her arms around her. “We’ll see.”
    They kissed her good night and Sophie climbed the last flight of stairs, nodding to Sandor when she reached her bedroom door.
    “All is well,” he assured her as his eyes lingered on her shoulder, like he could somehow see the bruise that was forming from where Brant restrained her. She swore goblins had a sixth sense for injuries. But he didn’t ask. Just stepped aside to let her pass.
    As soon as she set foot in her room, low music started playing. Human music. An old song she’d listened to hundreds of times growing up.
    “Dex stopped by,” Sandor explained behind her. “He left something to cheer you up.”
    “Oh.”
    Part of her had hoped the Black Swan was making contact again. But when she spotted Iggy’s cage—which had been moved from its small table against the wall of windows to the center of her bed—she forgot her disappointment.
    Iggy—or she assumed it was Iggy—was now a puff of pink frizzy curls. Dex must’ve fed the tiny imp one of his special hair-growing elixirs, which Iggy didn’t seem to mind at all. He was having a lot of fun chasing his pink ringlets around and around. Her iPod had been propped against the cage, and when the song ended, Dex’s face filled the screen.
    “Hey, Sophie,” he said, flashing his dimpled grin. “I thought you might need a laugh after today, since I’m sure it wasn’t easy.” He looked down, biting his lip before he added, “My mom told me this morning that we might have trees there. Did you see them? That’s . . . kind of weird, don’t you think? I mean—well, never mind. I guess you’ll tell me about it if you saw them. And here’s hoping mine captured my stunning good looks.” He smiled again, though it looked a little sad. “Anyway, since school is starting soon, my mom wants me to stay home a little