what happened after unlocked

chapter thirty-nine ~ exposed

Sandor and Grady both paced the living room floor, steps almost in perfect synchronization.

Edaline, Sophie, Ro, and Keefe all stared at them. They really did look like total lunatics.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Sandor yelled in a terrifyingly low voice. It was bad when his voice got so deep it was almost level with Sophie's. "You could have died!"

"Died!" Grady repeated, much more ominously. "Sophie, if you weren't an Empath or Telepath or Enhancer, those flames could have killed you! And then your human family would have perished too, and then the rest of the world would fall with them, and the Neverseen would win..."

"Grady, you're overreacting!" Sophie protested. "If I hadn't gone to fight those flames, my family would have been killed."

"Yes, but so could you!" Grady said. "And you're the key to everything! You are everything!"

Sophie's cheeks warmed at the comment. "I know. But sometimes there are more important things."

"I understand that your human family is important to you," Grady said, moving closer to his daughter. "But...Sophie, you're more important."

"What?" Sophie blurted. "How could you say that? Are you seriously suggesting that my old family is somehow lesser than the rest of us?"

"No-"

"I trusted your judgement!" Sophie yelled, backing away. "I thought you would understand how much they mean to me!"

"I do!"

"No, you don't! You all act like things are okay, like you appreciate everyone equally," Sophie turned to her mother and bodyguard, "But really, you think that the humans are inferior just because they dominate the planet."

It was only until now that Sophie realized how feverish she felt. It might have been Flori's gnomish drugs, or her pent-up emotion, or even the Everblaze, but she was going to hurl.

Sophie bolted outside, all the way to the Panakes tree at the edge of the cliff, and collapsed onto the soft grass beneath the willowy branches. She could hear her parents and Sandor's voices echoing across the pastures, but she shut them out, breathing in Calla's sweet scent.

Her relief was short-lived.

"Sophie, please just listen to me!" Grady called. "I didn't mean that!" He'd jogged up to the tree, panting a little. "I just meant ... you mean so much to us. But you sacrificed so many things – even you. You have to be careful before the Neverseen finally manages to finish you off, because they have that in their arsenal along with so many other horrors."

A migraine pricked at Sophie's head. The bile in her throat threatened to unleash itself.

"Sophie?" Grady asked, his voice lowered to a whisper. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sophie whimpered, hugging herself.

"Sophie, we...need to talk to you," Grady said gently. "Well, the Council does, at least."

"Am I in trouble?" Sophie cringed. She could already picture different awful scenarios.

"No, no, you're not in trouble," Grady said, trying to make light, "But they'd just like to talk to you about something."

***

After finally managing to drag Sophie out of Havenfield with appropriate clothing and attitude, Edaline, Grady, Sophie and Sandor had arrived outside the Seat of Eminence.

The sun beamed down on the massive, emerald-brick palace, but strangely, it felt more like an ominous warning than a beacon of warmth.

Sophie shivered. Sandor's presence beside her was barely noticeable, because something dark was weighing on he shoulders that she couldn't throw off.