The Matchmakers

THREE

SOPHIE LEAPT HOME AFTER school to absolute mayhem, but that was the norm at this point. "What do you need me to do?" Sophie asked, dropping her bags and rushing toward her adoptive parents.

"Nothing," Grady yelled from on top of a bucking green T. Rex. "Go on inside Sophie. We don't need any help."

Sophie sighed. Grady and Edaline were still hesitant to let her help with the more serious crises on the preserve, even though she'd proved her ability multiple times over the past four years. "Are you sure?" she called to Edaline, who was attempting to lasso the escaped meganeura.

"Yep. We have everything under control," Edaline grunted, jumping and lassoing at the same time. But the monster-sized dragonfly was just out of the rope's range.

Verdi stampeded across the Cliffside Pasture toward the small gnome community at the edge of the forest, three gnomes and Grady hanging on for dear life. The meganeura was playing with Edaline, and a group of gnomes attempted to corral the verminion back into its pen. It kinda looked like they needed help...

Stop! Sophie transmitted firmly, and immediately all the animals on the preserve froze. The meganeura froze in mid-air, falling from the sky onto a startled Edaline, and Verdi slowly turned her amber eyes to meet Sophie's. Ignoring the rest of the animals for the moments, Sophie concentrated on Verdi. What's the matter girl?

Verdi's thoughts immediately went to the injured unicorn two pens over from hers. Sophie almost laughed. Even though Verdi had been a resident of the Havenfield Animal Preserve longer than Sophie, she had yet to adjust to the vegetarian diet required for transfer from the small animal preserve to the Sanctuary, a larger animal preserve in the Himalayas. In fact, it was the animal preserve. The elves had saved billions of species, including ones humans thought were extinct such as dinosaurs and dodo birds. But animals had to be well adjusted to be transferred there, and Verdi was anything but well adjusted. She still craved meat, and rejected the vegetarian diet Grady and Edaline tried to put her on. Sophie transmitted images of a large steak in Verdi's pen. She felt bad for lying to the less intelligent creature, but it did the trick. Verdi trotted calmly back to her pen, tongue out and tail waving, ready for a treat. It reminded Sophie of her human family's pet dog. Speaking of which, she hadn't checked on them in a while... As soon as the door closed behind the T. Rex, Sophie tossed the dinosaur some non-meat treats. Verdi had been the biggest problem Sophie could see, and it seemed like her parents could handle the rest of the mess, so after throwing a sassy 'you're welcome' look Grady's way, Sophie picked up her bags and skipped into the house. She stopped to snag a few custard bursts from the kitchen before hurrying up to her bedroom with her stolen treasure.

She dropped her school books on the floor and trudged to her closet, ready to get out of her stupid half cape. She picked a random pair of leggings and tunic, not even caring if they matched. She was waaay too tired to care about anything. The first day of Level Six was grueling. Then she belly flopped dramatically onto her bed, resisting the urge to shove all five custard bursts in her mouth at once. She knew how disastrous that was from experience. She forced herself to stand back up and open her bottom desk drawer, pulling out her Spyball. "Show me Connor, Kate, and Natalie Freedman," she whispered, and the Spyball clouded over.

Her human mother, father, and sister were in their backyard having a picnic with their neighbors, the Wrights. Their border collie, Sophie, was hopping around excitedly, hoping for scraps. Sophie watched them longingly. It had been four years since she'd left the Forbidden Cities. Four years since Fitz had pulled her off the floor and taken her into a new life. That meant Amy had grown up four years. When Sophie left, Amy was nine-years-old. Now she was 13 and in 8th grade, older than Sophie had been when Fitz first brought her to the Lost Cities. It was crazy how much her annoying baby sister had matured in that short amount of time. She'd lost some of the roundess of her face, and she'd shot up to only a few inches shorter than their mother. She might get to be as tall as Sophie soon. She just wished she could be there to witness it. It was hard watching them get on with their lives without her. Not that she wanted to leave the Lost Cities. Her life in the Forbidden Cities had been miserable. But she'd truly loved her family, and she knew they'd always love her too. At least they had until Alden sent a Washer to erase every memory of her they'd ever had.