keep your friends close

(23)

Sophie tries not to flinch. "Tell me what you know about the Everblaze fires," she presses.

Alvar sighs and pushes himself to his feet. She quickly realizes how much taller he is, and it's only a little daunting. "Now," he says, brushing sand off his cloak, "that would just make me a traitor."

"Then tell me what you were doing when the Black Swan captured you at the Neverseen outpost."

"Captured!" Alvar exclaims, almost delighted. "Like I'd let myself get caught that easily. In the middle of the day, alone, with no back-up in sight." He gives a little flourish of his hand. "I surrendered myself. You're welcome."

It makes no sense. Sophie racks her brain for the reasoning—a distraction, a body double, a trap, maybe—

"Are you sure?" she says, trying to sound skeptical. "It sounds to me like you slipped up, got caught, and now you're trying to save face."

His handsome features twist into a frown. "A toddler wouldn't get caught in circumstances like that."

"Maybe a very dumb toddler."

Alvar grits his teeth. "Getting cocky with me won't help. The Black Swan has already served its purpose. In exchange I give you a false sense of victory. Congratulations."

"Sounds believable enough," she replies. "What are you hiding from?"

"I'm not hiding. It was voluntary." He sits back on the ground, looking as relaxed as if he was sitting by the beach and not in a high-security cell underground.

Sophie crosses her arms. "So you're a coward."

The comment makes his eye twitch, just slightly. Instead of losing his cool like she expected, Alvar smiles sweetly up at her, pitying. "They were right. You really have no idea."

She's itching to punch the grin off his face. "Either you enlighten me on what these fires mean, or we hand you over to the Council."

His smile gets even bigger. "You're still fixated on the Everblaze? Little moonlark, it is so much bigger than you think," he taunts. "You're looking for a needle in a haystack that's burning to the ground. It's irrelevant compared to what comes next."

She narrows her eyes. "What comes next?"

He laughs quietly. "Why don't you ask your old friend Lodestar?"

Sophie stiffens. She knows Alvar is probably deflecting, but the mention of Lodestar's name sends her mind into a frenzy. She hasn't seen him since he attacked her at that first Everblaze fire, and there's been little sign of him since.

Alvar's eyelids droop, and Sophie realizes what he's doing. "Stay awake, Alvar," she warns.

His head tilts forward, breathing slowed, as he falls asleep.

Annoyance ripples through Sophie. She knows Alvar has the key to the Neverseen's plans; he's practically dangling it in front of her, only to yank it away like a toy. If Lodestar is really a bigger part of this, then that information is even more crucial.

Crucial to who, though? a small voice in the back of her head asks.

Sophie slams her palm against the force-field, channeling every ounce of rage she can muster. Memories of every failed battle, every frustration with herself and the Neverseen, every encounter with Lodestar pour out of her mind and into her inflicting. Her heart pounds with the force of her anger. It burns through her limbs, her veins, so overwhelming it almost blinds her.

Alvar's head snaps up. His eyes are wide in fear. No, not fear—pain.

"Tell me," Sophie demands through gritted teeth, "why you surrendered yourself to the Black Swan."

"I—" Alvar chokes. He hunches over, clutching at his chest. "I ran away."

She slams her fist on the forcefield again. "From what?"

"F-from the Vacker legacy. I couldn't do it." He gasps for air.

"The Vacker legacy," Sophie repeats. "Fallon's Original Council?"

Despite his clear struggle, Alvar lets out a weak laugh. "Is that what you really think?"

Sophie focuses her inflicting into a fine point, digging and prodding like a tipped arrow. "I can send you to the Council instead if you'd like."

"No!" he shouts. "No, Vespera'll kill me. She'll find me and kill me. I have to stay here."

Vespera, the escaped Lumenaria prisoner. "What does she want you to do?" Sophie questions. "What is the Vacker legacy? Does it have to do with the fires? Does it have to do with Lodestar?"

Alvar just stares up at her with wide eyes, fingers scrabbling at his chest like a trapped animal. His mouth opens and closes, trying to form words, but emits nothing but choked sounds. The palpable fear on his face overcomes the violent anger thrumming through her, and Sophie falters, easing off her inflicting.

He collapses to the ground, heaving and retching. Just seconds before he'd been taunting her with a smug grin, and now in a jarring contrast he lay at her feet, hunched over himself.

The sight is terrifying. It's satisfying. It terrifies her how satisfying it feels. Sophie quickly looks away, ignoring the sound of his pained groans.

She hears the stone door slide open behind her with a soft rumble, and she braces herself.

"Sophie...," Mr. Forkle says quietly, like he already knows what's happened.

She can't even turn to face him, afraid of what she might find. How he would look at her.

Instead, she asks, "What do you know about the Vacker legacy?"