a/n: this chapter was long asf, so i had to break it into two parts. it's still more compared to the other chapters but uh yeah. I put a lot of love into this so I hope y'all like it!

Chapter 18

I tried to take Della's advice. I mean, I really tried. But when I have I ever been 'a normal teenager'?

I'm working on my homework for Lady Vannir's class, but my mind keeps straying to Tam and Keefe. How were they handling living at the Neverseens'? Since they'd angered the gnomes, they definitely weren't eating too healthy, at least.

I remember Keefe saying something about constantly eating rotted fruits, from when he had been with the Neverseen before.

I let my head crash onto the papers, my sight blurring and eyelids collapsing. My chest clenched tightly and my eyes watered, tears glazing over my vision.

I dropped the pencil, rubbing softly at my eyes. My skin slicked over with the dampness of my tears, I wiped the back of my hand off on my loose grey blouse.

Throughout the duration of the day, the entire house seemed to wallow in my stormy state. Grady and Edaline were spending a lot more time tending to the twins and a new transport- some kind of hybrid that required plenty of time and energy because it simply refused to eat.

As a result, my adoptive parents always returned to the house exhausted by the end of the day, eager to finish up dinner and get to sleep as soon as possible.

Of course, even though they faced their own problems, along with the fact that they too were worried about us and the Black Swan ever since Tam was taken- they still managed to set aside time for me.

Later that evening, during dinner- which was a soupy liquid with tiny green strips floating around the red pool- Edaline set down her spoon and glared at me. "Sophie, I'm concerned," she stated, and glanced over at Grady; he gave an affirmative nod, mumbling something incoherent with his mouth full of food. She raised an eyebrow. "I know you're worried for Tam and Keefe, but the Black Swan is looking for solutions. And about all that homework Foxfire issues you- I swear I'm going to complain to Magnate Leto personally," she joked. "They've been giving out so much work nowadays, and you've been stuffed up in your room really late into the nights. You need to do something fun... Why don't you hang out with your friends tomorrow, to cheer your spirits?"

I have seen everyone every day, at school of course, but we didn't get to talk for long because it was mostly just at lunchtime. The schedule was packed for the rest of a majority of the days. "Sure," I shrug, spooning a bit of the spicy soup into my mouth. It peppered my tongue, the spice herbs popping up in random sections of my mouth and igniting it.

Grady brought up the new recruit that they had hauled in, the difficult one, and all of us laughed. "So, you know the new recruit we have?" Grady asked me. I nod, slurping from my spoon. "Well, today, Wynn and Luna tried to get involved with his feeding." Grady groaned, and Edaline laughed painfully. "We ended up having to haul Silveny over to convince them to get out of the pen- we don't know what the hybrid's parts are bred from- which is why we're doing that DNA test next Tuesday."

I smiled, any worries about Keefe, Tam, and everything else temporarily washing away as I laugh with my family. It felt so natural, so close.

That night I went to sleep with a smile painted on my face.

"Sophie, wait!" Dex panted, hands on his knees as he breathed heavily. "Give me a sec," he added, holding up a hand briefly and I roll my eyes, chortling. Finally, he rises up and dusts off his pants. "We're all playing base quest at Everglen. Do you wanna come?"

I think back to last night, to Edaline's remark, and decide she was right. Why not have some fun? I nod happily. "Why not?" I declare, grinning eagerly. "Now?"

"Yeah, right now," replied Dex, pointing to the school's Leapmaster. "Biana and Fitz are already there, duh, but Linh's on her way now and we can all meet up there. C'mon!" He smiles widely, his dimples peaking on either cheek, indenting deeply into his skin.

I shake my head, a light chuckle bubbling up my chest. "Let's go then."

Dex and I walk quickly, side by side as we hop up the swirling concrete steps, me nearly crashing down on our way up, but Dex managing to catch me, and I grabbed ahold of the railing at the same time, so luckily I didn't land a nasty fall.

We made it to the Leapmaster, and Dex pulled me into the capsule-like pod, both of standing awkwardly in the closed space. "Everglen!" we both shout at the same time, and the light wraps around us, carrying us all the way to our destination.

"You're here!" Fitz commented, observing us both. I blink and adjust to the regular light again.

"Yup," I say hesitantly, scratching the back of my neck. Fitz and I may not have been together all that long, and it had been a while since we broke up, but it was still awkward sometimes, especially when there weren't many of us there to keep the ice broken. We were okay as friends and our Cognate level was doing fine, although Sir Tiergan had agreed we needed to work on that trust more- which had been sort of chipped after we ended things. I wasn't all that worried though, I knew Fitz and I could overcome the awkwardness and return to being good friends just how it had been before we even were together. It would take a bit of time, that was all.

Biana strutted out the house, joining us by the gates. "No murderer check?" she jested, her teal eyes glittering with amusement.

"None of us," I confirmed, looking over at Dex.

"Are you sure you haven't turned psycho, Deck?" teased Fitz with a smirk.

Dex's cheeks went beet red. "N-no." He shifted his feet, staring at the ground as if something was burning into his back.

Biana snorted, glancing at the two of them with a bit of a grin tugging itself over her face. "All right, let's let them in Fitz, before they turn into killers out of impatience."

"I don't think that's how it works, Bi," Fitz commented, rolling his eyes.

Biana ignored him and raked her eyes over me.

I felt a bit jittery under her hot stare. Was I wearing something awful again and she was going to reprimand me for wearing such atrocities? I think to myself.

But she says nothing, only smiles casually at us and gestures to the yard, a malicious expression making its way onto her face. "Shall we break into teams and begin?"

"Sure!" Dex agreed.

"Okay... wait, where's Linh? We can do it girls against boys," Biana said thoughtfully.

"I don't know, she said she'd be here soon," Dex admitted, appearing crestfallen. "Maybe she doesn't like base quest."

"Or maybe she's suffering 'cause of Tam, you insensitive git," Fitz fired back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way—" Dex hurried to say, staring down at his feet, cheeks flushed.

"I know you didn't. Dude, you're so fun to tease," Fitz said, bumping shoulders with him. They share a quick glance and Dex immediately grins. Well, that was a fast way out of a mood.

"If Linh isn't here, we can just split it up, Dex and Fitz, me and Sophie," Biana interrupted, ignoring their dumbassery.

"Sounds good," Dex and Fitz chimed in at the exact same time.

"Abilities or no abilities?" I ask, playing with the hem of my sleeve as I glanced at Biana for her answer.

"Let's do it with abilities," the latter decided, grinning evilly.

I would've expected instant whines of "No fair!" since I'm the Moonlark and all, but both me and Biana were pleasantly surprised when all we received were a few nods followed by complete silence.

"Okay then!" Biana said, clapping her hands to abruptly cease the quietness that took over the short debate. "Let's get started."