When Sophie awoke the next morning, she turned and saw Dex's pillow wet with tears. But... Dex was gone.
Fitz was gone too...
"Keefe! Biana! Wake up!" Sophie said, shaking her two friends awake.
"Foster, what's wrong?" A groggy Keefe asked.
"Dex and Fitz are gone..." she whispered.
"What!?!" Biana shrieked.
"Look! A note!" Keefe snatched a scrap of paper from under Dex's pillow and read it aloud, imitating Dex's voice perfectly. "Guys, I couldn't wake you up because I had to leave so fast. The truth is, Fitz asked me to join the Neverseen... I couldn't say no. But don't worry, I can help you from the inside now! Do not come looking for me. Sophie, Keefe, I hope you get back to your world safely. I can't begin to say how sorry I am. Everything will be fine..." Keefe's voice trailed off before he finished reading in his own voice, "Signed... Dex..."
Sophie looked at Biana who looked ready to cry again. "You don't think Fitz hurt him, do you?" Biana asked in a very shaky voice.
"He wouldn't have left a note if he did," Sophie consoled her.
"Dex told me about this last night..." Keefe admitted quietly.
"WHAT?!" The girls screamed.
"I didn't think much about it because I was half asleep!" he said defensively, "I didn't think they'd leave in the middle of the night!"
Sophie's mind could barely process it. Dex in the Neverseen?
"There's something on the back," Biana noticed, grabbing the letter from Keefe. "P.S. Watch your backs...They're planning something big. Something about Nightfall, but I don't know what..."
"Maruca knows something about Nightfall. We could talk to her," Keefe suggested.
"If Fitz took Dex with him as a new recruit, he definitely brought Maruca and Tam with them." Sophie said.
Keefe slumped down. "I didn't think of that," he mumbled.
"It's ok, Keefe," she reassured him,"We'll think 0f something else."
Biana paced Sophie's flowered carpet murmuring Nightfall over and over again to herself.
Why was everything about Nightfall? What were they planning?
Sophie could only begin to guess.
"Kids! Breakfast!" Grady called from downstairs.
Sophie shared a worried look with her remaining friends before leading them to the kitchen.
"Where are Dex and Fitz?" Edaline asked when the small group sat at the table.
"They...had to leave early," Sophie said. It wasn't a total lie. Dex and Fitz did leave the sleepover early.
"Did they feel okay?" Edaline asked with a worried expression.
"I don't know," Sophie said, looking to her friends for help.
Keefe had no problem lying for her. "Dexy didn't feel good. Too much mallowmelt I guess," he shrugged, "I dunno about Fitz."
Grady and Edaline shared a look but they seemed to believe him.
The three of them ate their breakfast as fast as they could before dashing back upstairs to get dressed for school. Once dressed, they made their way to the leap master and light leaped to Foxfire.
After orientation, Sophie slammed her locker shut in frustration.
How could Dex join the Neverseen?
How could Keefe not wake everyone up after Dex told him?
How could Fitz restart the Neverseen in the first place?
"Woah, Foster---that's a lot of frustration you're hitting me with," Keefe said, breaking her train of thought.
"I just don't know what to do anymore, Keefe," she whispered.
"What did I tell you before? We'll figure it all out, okay?" He said reaching for her hand to give it a squeeze.
Sophie didn't want to let it go. She needed something to hold on to so she wouldn't fall over the mess that was being created.
.........
"We're going after Dex, right?" Biana asked at lunch that same day.
Sophie didn't answer.
Dex wouldn't last a day in the Neverseen. That much she knew.
But, she also knew that Dex would chew Fitz up and spit him out---and possibly stomp on him---if he had to.
Dex would never let Fitz walk all over him.
Keefe wrung his hands so tight, Sophie thought he was gonna pop his fingers off. "He's making the biggest mistake of his life," Keefe whispered, dark memories flickering in his eyes.
Sophie could tell what he was thinking of.
His time in the Neverseen...
Sophie reached for an itchy eyelash. "I...I could reach out to him telepathically tonight..." she suggested, avoiding her friend's original question.
They took a quiet moment to process the situation.
Just then, a male elf with slicked jet-black hair and piercing blue eyes passed by the table.
Magnate Leto!
Why hadn't she thought of him sooner?!
"Magnate Leto!" Sophie called out to him.
The tall elf stopped and turned to see who said his name. "Miss Foster," he addressed her formally, as he preferred, "is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes, do you mind if we talk?"
"Not at all."
Magnate Leto led Sophie, Keefe, and Biana to his office, closing the door behind them.
A/N: WOW it's been a while since I've updated!!! Out of nowhere, I've been getting emails saying that people have ACTUALLY been reading this story and found this chapter was already written last October...sorry for the long wait!! Thank you to everyone reading!!! Love you guys!