Sacrifices

Chapter Twenty-seven

Three days became two.

Two days became one.

And Sophie still hadn't even mentioned Lady Gisela's ridiculous message to Keefe or Tam. She had discussed it with Rayni, and the powerful Flasher had rewarded her with a glowing smile when she found out that she was the first after Fitz to know.

Rayni had said she didn't mind seeing Lady Gisela under the terms that she was allowed to see her old friend, Trix the Guster. Sophie wasn't entirely sure how happy the Guster would be to see a traitor to the Neverseen, but Rayni had sounded so hopeful, and Sophie dared not dim the light in her eyes.

She found a way to communicate with Lady Gisela by locking on to her with her Telepathy, and she had actually tracked Lady Gisela to several locations, but made sure to badger Lady Gisela about letting Sophie know where she was staying every time. And Lady Gisela ate it up unsuspectingly, not even thinking of the remote possibility that Sophie might be able to track her.

But it was the last day, and Sophie had to break it to Tam. Not Keefe, though. She was sure he would insist on meeting his Mommy Dearest, and she couldn't count on him to keep a clear mind. But Tam had no reason to meet with Lady Gisela, and that was the reason she approached him.

But he was with Keefe, who was teasing him and calling him Bangs Boy again. Tam was raising his eyebrows, and then he caught sight of Sophie shuffling nervously. They were friends, but not best friends, and Sophie hardly talked to Tam, so she was playing it obvious.

"Foster! You're here to talk to Bangs Boy?" Keefe asked disbelievingly.

"Privately," Sophie implored. "And maybe in your head, if you don't mind, Tam."

"I don't mind," he said mildly. "It hasn't got anything to do with Linh, does it?"

"No, nothing to do with Linh," Sophie promised, and Tam relaxed visibly.

𝘚𝘰... 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵? Sophie asked.

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚒𝚐, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? he asked, his mental voice slightly fuzzy like Rayni's, since he wasn't used to communicating telepathically.

𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴.

Tam's eyes narrowed. 𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘪, 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.

Tam whistled. 𝚁𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚒 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝.

𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘹. 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘎𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥.

𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚁𝚊𝚢𝚗𝚒 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚡 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑, was all Tam had to say.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?