The Stars Said Hello [1]

C H A P T E R - 2 6

The Council was right. Information had been planted in her brain.

The idea was too huge, she couldn't make it fit inside her head.

Her hands shook as she ripped the photo off the scrapbook. She was violating everything Alden told her—everything the Council ordered—but if anyone found out, her life would never be the same again. She couldn't face that.

She slipped the photo into the middle of a thick book and shoved the book among a dozen other thick books on the highest shelf. It should be safe there. For now.

All she wanted was to curl into a ball and never get up again, but she didn't have time. Someone stuck stuff in her brain and she needed to find those memories—before they got her in trouble again.

What had made her think of Elementine?

She pulled out her star maps and plotted the stars on her list on one page—like she'd seen Kenric do at the tribunal. The six stars formed two lines, pointing straight to Elementine.

The room swam around her.

It couldn't be an accident. That list must've been made specifically for her. Which meant someone wanted her to find Elementine.

But who? And why?

And what would they want next?

She stayed up all night projecting anything she could think of into her memory log, but when the sun rose she was no closer to the answer. All she knew for sure was that she had to keep it secret. If the Council found out, they'd never let her stay at Foxfire—Bronte would make sure of it. They might even decide she was dangerous, and she didn't want to think about what they'd do then.

Especially since she couldn't be sure she wasn't dangerous. She'd almost blown up the school—or worse. What if that had been the plan when someone gave her that list?

Meredith had come over to check on Sophie for a while. When Sophie had tried to ask what had happened, Meredith jokingly said that Kenric was trying to keep her out of trouble.

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Nowhere seemed safe enough to hide the memory log, so she stuffed it in the bottom of her satchel to keep with her at all times. None of her friends noticed how stressed she was. They were used to her difficulties in PE, and during lunch they were too distracted by all the pressure they were getting to manifest special abilities. It wasn't until telepathy that she wished she'd stayed home sick.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Tiergan asked as she slumped into her chair.

"No." There was no point lying. She'd seen her reflection. Her dark circles rivaled Edaline's.

"I expected as much." He cleared his throat. "Alden told me what happened yesterday."

She should have guessed that. Which meant he knew about her special assignment. She gripped her satchel, like holding it tighter would protect the secrets inside.

"Have you started the memory log?" he asked, confirming her fear.

She hesitated for a second before she nodded.

"I assume you don't want to show me."

Silence stretched between them until Tiergan removed a black pathfinder from his pocket. "Concentrate," he commanded, and a wave of blue light swept them away.

Noise hammered into her brain as the scenery glittered back into substance.

"Remember to shield," Tiergan shouted as she covered her ears, trying to squeeze out the pain.