Shannon Messenger - Exile (Book 2)

For Liesa Abrams Mignogna,

editor extraordinaire,

(and likely the REAL Batgirl)

S OPHIES HANDS SHOOK AS SHE lifted the tiny green bottle.

One swallow held life and deathand not just for her.

For Prentice.

For Alden.

Her eyes focused on the clear, sloshy liquid as she removed the crystal stopper and pressed the bottle to her lips. All she had to do was tip the poison down her throat.

But could she?

Could she give up everything to set things right?

Could she live with the guilt, otherwise?

The choice was hers this time.

No more notes.

No more clues.

Shed followed them to this point, and now it came down to her.

She wasnt the Black Swans puppet anymore.

She was broken.

All she had left was trust.

I STILL CANT BELIEVE WERE tracking Bigfoot, Sophie whispered as she stared at the giant footprint in the muddy soil. Each massive toe was as wide as her arm, and the print formed a deep, mucky puddle.

Dex laughed, flashing two perfect dimples as he stood on his tiptoes to examine a scuff in the bark of a nearby tree. Do humans really think theres a giant hairy ape-man running around trying to eat them?

Sophie turned away, pulling her blond hair around her face to hide her flushing cheeks. Pretty crazy, right?

Almost a year had passed since shed found out she was an elf and moved to the Lost Cities, but she still slipped sometimes and sounded like a human. She knew sasquatch were really just tall green shaggy creatures with beady eyes and beaklike nosesshed even worked with them in the pastures at Havenfield, the enormous estate and animal preserve she now called home. But a lifetime of human teaching was difficult to forget. Especially with a photographic memory.

Thunder cracked overhead and Sophie jumped.

I dont like this place, Dex mumbled, his periwinkle eyes scanning the tree line as he moved closer to Sophie. The damp, heavy air made his light blue tunic stick to his skinny arms, and his gray pants were caked with mud. Lets find this thing and get out of here.

Sophie agreed. The murky forest was so dense and wild. It felt like a place time had forgotten.

The thick ferns in front of them rustled and a brawny gray arm grabbed Sophie from behind. Her feet dangled above the ground, and she got a face full of musky goblin sweat as her bare-chested bodyguard shoved Dex behind him, drew his curved sword from the scabbard at his side, and pointed it at the tall blond elf in a dark green tunic who stumbled out of the wall of leaves.

Easy there, Sandor, Grady said, backing away from the glinting point of the black blade. Its just me.

Sorry. Sandors high-pitched voice always reminded Sophie of a chipmunk. He dipped a slight bow as he lowered his weapon. I didnt recognize your scent.

Thats probably because I just spent twenty minutes crawling around a sasquatch den. Grady sniffed his sleeve and coughed. WhewEdaline is not going to be happy with me when I get home.

Dex laughed, but Sophie was too busy trying to wriggle free from Sandors viselike hold.

You can put me down now! As soon as her feet touched the ground she huffed away, glaring at Sandor and struggling to remove the giant wedgie hed given her. Any sign of the sasquatch?

The dens been empty for a while. And Im guessing you guys havent had much luck picking up the trail?

Dex pointed to the scratch hed been examining in the bark. Looks like it climbed this tree and traveled in the branches from here on out. No way to tell which way it went.

Sandor sniffed the air with his wide, flat nose. I should take Miss Foster home. Shes been in the open for far too long.

Im fine! Were in the middle of a forest and no one besides the Council knows were here. You didnt even have to come.

I go where you go, Sandor said firmly, sheathing his sword and running his hands down the pockets lining his black military-style pants to check his other weapons. I take my charge very seriously.

Obviously, Sophie grumbled. She knew Sandor was only trying to protect her, but she hated having him around. He was a seven-foot-tall constant reminder that the kidnappers she and Dex had narrowly escaped were still out there somewhere, waiting for the right time to make their next move....

Plus, it was humiliating being followed by an ultraparanoid goblin all the time. Shed been hoping shed be done with the bodyguard thing by the time school started again. But with less than two weeks left on her vacation and the Council hitting dead ends on all their leads, it looked like her burly, slightly alien-looking shadow was coming with her to Foxfire.

Shed tried convincing Alden he could just keep track of her with the crystal registry pendant latched around her neck, but hed reminded her that the kidnappers had no problem tearing it off the last time. And even though this one had extra cords woven into the choker and a few other added security measures, he refused to put her life in the hands of an inanimate accessory.

She repressed a sigh.

We need Sophie here with us, Grady told Sandor as he pulled Sophie into a quick, reassuring hug. Are you picking up anything? he asked her.

Not nearby. But I can try widening my range. She moved away from him and closed her eyes, placing her hands over her temples to focus her concentration.

Sophie was the only Telepath who could track thoughts to their exact locationand the only one who could read the minds of animals. If she could feel the sasquatchs thoughts, she would be able to follow them straight to wherever it was hiding. All she had to do was listen.

Her concentration spread like an invisible veil across the scenery, and the chirping and creaking sounds of the forest faded to a low hum as the voices filled her mind. The melodic thoughts of the birds in the trees. The hushed thoughts of the rodents in the ground. Farther away in a small meadow were the calm thoughts of a doe and her fawn. And farther still, in the thicker parts of the underbrush, were the stealthy thoughts of a large cougar, stalking its prey.

But no trace of the heavy, thundering thoughts of a sasquatch.

She pushed her focus toward the snowcapped mountains. The stretch was longer than most Telepaths could handle, but shed reached much farther when she was calling for rescue from her captorsand shed been half-drugged at the time. So she was surprised when her body started to shake from the strain.

Its okay, Sophie, Grady told her, squeezing her shoulder. Well find it another way.

No.

This was why Grady had brought her along for this rescue, despite Sandors numerous concerns for her safety. Hed already tried three other times to capture the beast, and came home empty-handed. He was counting on her.

She tugged out a loose eyelashher nervous habitas she pushed her mind as far as she could go. Spots of light flashed across her vision, each one paired with a stab of pain that ripped her breath away. But the misery was worth it when she caught the vaguest whisper of a thought. A fuzzy image of river with mossy green rocks and white, trickling water. It felt softer than the sasquatch thoughts shed touched when she practiced at Havenfield, but the thought was definitely too complex to belong to any of the normal forest animals.

Its that way, Sophie said, pointing north before she took off through the trees. She was glad shed worn lightweight boots instead of the flat, dressy shoes she was usually supposed to wear, even with her plain tan tunic and brown pants.