"Rise and shine, kiddo."

Sophie's eyes flew open, startled by the sound of a familiar voice she wasn't supposed to hear. But then she remembered that everything was okay. She was supposed to hear him. Elwin.

Sunlight poured in through the windows, making Elwin's grin even warmer when her eyes finally adjusted.

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, expecting for the heat and the aching and the pain to come back any minute. But. . . it never happened.

"You fixed it?" she asked Elwin, her voice hoarse from sleep.

He nodded and gave her a Bottle of Youth to drink. "There's still some things we have to do before you're back to full health."

Sophie nodded, downing the bottle. There had been a few bottles of Youth at the Neverseen hideout, but they'd been scarce, so she hadn't had them regularly. And the food served there was a far cry from the sweet, filling liquid Sophie was drinking right now.

She set the bottle aside when she was finished gulping it down. Something hit her then, urgent and with more mixed feelings than she cared to unravel. "Did you tell anyone I was here?" she asked Elwin.

Elwin looked off to the side. "No. I was thinking I'd wait until you were cured from the limbium before getting Magnate Leto."

Sophie let out a sigh of relief. But her relief quickly faded when she realized that she was cured now. Which meant. . . she'd be seeing Magnate Leto again very soon.

Elwin saw her nervousness in her eyes, and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay."

Sophie shivered. "No. You don't get it. I. . . I still hate him."

Elwin cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

Sophie looked him right in the eyes. "I still hate him. Like I did before."

"I thought you remembered everything. You know that he didn't do anything."

Sophie grimaced, forcing the words out against the will of something inside her. "I. . . know. But my emotions aren't gone. I hate everyone." She gritted her teeth.

"What about me?" Elwin asked an honest question. "You could never hate me, right?"

Sophie gave a small smile and nodded. She was still thinking about having to see Magnate Leto.

Elwin decided they had done enough stalling, and said, "I'm going to go get Magnate Leto. I'll be right back." He must have seen the panic in her eyes, because he gave her a sympathetic look and gripped her shoulder. "You'll be okay."

When he left the room, Sophie let out a breath. She looked at the windows. If she climbed up on the shelf beside her cot, she could. . .

Why was she even thinking about escaping? She was safe here. And she needed to talk to Magnate Leto, even if it was just to tell him that she knew he didn't do anything. She had to stomach her hate.

Why did she still hate everyone so much?

The limbium was supposed to have cured it all, but now she had two conflicting realities inside of her. She hated herself for hating people who had done nothing wrong. It was quite exhausting.

Crisp footsteps cut into her thoughts and brought her back to the present. She heard them stop outside the door and pause. She held her breath and counted the seconds that passed.

Only eleven passed, but it felt longer than twice her life. Her lungs burned.

She blinked when Magnate Leto ducked his head in through the Healing Center door. He looked hesitant, his hair mussed as if he'd been running his hands through it recently.

He eventually stepped in, Elwin right behind him.

Magnate Leto opted for a smile. "Miss Foster."

She expected a glad to see you again or a glad to have you back, but neither came, which she was grateful for. She was content to just sit there and say nothing for the entire conversation.

He cleared his throat. "What happened?" He was clearly referring to why she came back. "Elwin explained what he could, but there were still a few holes."

Her eyes traced the rows of elixirs Elwin kept neatly stored in the shelves against the one wall. "I was exposed to limbuim, and. . . I guess whatever you guys did before kicked in. I remembered. . . everything." She wasn't sure what to say there.

Magnate Leto cocked his head. "I suppose the cure was dormant. When we thought we were losing you, we risked giving you a dose of another medicine. That must have been what stopped the progress."

Elwin nodded. "And then when her brain registered limbium again, everything resumed."

Sophie twisted her fingers.

Silence stretched for a few seconds after that, before Magnate Leto opened his mouth again. "I⁠—"

Sophie held up her hand. "Don't. I don't want to talk right now."

Elwin laid a hand on her shoulder. "I think you should just listen, Sophie. You don't need to say anything."

Sophie glowered at the sheets on the cot, knowing that he knew that she wouldn't refuse him.

Magnate Leto took that as a signal to continue. "I know that adjusting back after so many months in a completely different place must be for you, but you understand that. . . the people who love you missed you. Your parents. . . " he looked away. Sophie did too, at anything other than him and Elwin.

Magnate Leto cleared his throat. "You parents took it hard. They haven't been sleeping a lot, or eating. They barely talk to anyone. Elwin has plaid a huge role in getting them along."

Elwin looked down as he fiddled with his cloak. "I've. . . helped where I could. It was the least I could do."

"Thank you," Sophie said, her voice scratchy. She knew it was the appropriate thing to say, and she did feel some sort of thankfulness. But not anything she knew she would if her emotions weren't messed up.

She didn't feel upset or sorry for Grady and Edaline. At all. And she didn't feel overwhelming hate, or that they deserved it, either. She just felt. . . detached. And it made her feel heartsick.

Her throat started to close up, but not for the reason Elwin and Magnate Leto probably would think it was for if she started crying. No. It was a much more selfish reason.

Her throat was tight because her life was a mess. She couldn't have one good thing without it being ripped away and trampled on. She didn't even love her parents anymore, much less her friends who'd stuck with her through everything.

She was about to cry out of self-pity.

Blinking, Sophie steeled herself and forced air back through her lungs. She hadn't cried for over seven months, and it was no time to start now. She had to be strong. She had to get through this.

"Can I have a day?" She asked. She was proud of how steady her voice was.

Magnate Leto nodded. "I can give you that."

"Do they know that I'm. . . back yet?"

Magnate Leto shook his head this time. "We were waiting until we knew more. We didn't want to give them—" he quickly cut himself off, realizing what he was about to say.

Sophie looked down. "False hope?"

He nodded, looking sheepish.

Sophie looked over at Elwin. "Am I free to go?"

He nodded. "But I'm not sure how we're going to get you out, if you don't want to be seen."

"Actually, it's right in between classes right now," Magnate Leto said. "She could use my cloak, and if we hurry, we could make it out on time without being seen."

"We?" Sophie asked.

Magnate Leto nodded. "I was planning on leaping you to the Black Swan hideout you were taken to when we gave you the limbium not too long ago. You could stay out there until tomorrow when you face your parents."

Sophie nodded slowly. "Okay."

Elwin spoke up. "Actually, I think she should rest when she gets to the hideout. Her body is still recovering from a severe allergic attack."

It must have looked pretty odd to any roaming students when minutes later Magnate Leto was escorting a cloaked student down the hall. But they didn't run into any trouble along the way, and made it out of Foxfire's grounds safely.

Sophie was glad Magnate Leto didn't say anything or try to start up a conversation. He didn't even speak up when he pulled out a flecked crystal and held it up to the right.

But before she stepped into the beam, he said, "Knock five times before entering. Then scan your DNA on the metal strip."

Sophie nodded before everything stretched and pulled and dissolved into light.