A/N: Sorry about the late update...... again. It's been so hard to write lately with all of my school work and I'm trying to deal with some personal problems that are distracting me from everything, but I really am trying to write more. I could potentially be publishing another chapter today, considering it's a Saturday and I have a lot of time. And this is a relatively long chapter, so I hope this will hold you guys over for a while if I don't end up updating again soon. Anyways, read on.

Tess, Alden, and Keefe walked into the office building, and were greeted by the secretary. She had a note pad and looked at them curiously. Tess noted that she was feeling curious as well.

"Quinlin's office is that way" she said when she saw Alden.

"Thank you" Alden said as he led Tess and Keefe behind the desk and into a room with a bunch of monitors. Inside was a man who Tess knew was Quinlin. He was so much different from what she had perceived from the book.

"Hi Tess. So today I am going to be probing you, but don't interpret that the wrong way, I'm just going to telepathically search your mind, okay?" Quinlin said. Tess nodded and let him press his fingers on her temples. She waited a minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Then he opened his eyes and looked at her eyes.

"I can't get through. Alden, she's just like Sophie" he finally said after a long silence. Tess was suddenly aware of her own breathing.

"Well, I guess we'd better tell Grady and Edaline then. Thank you Quinlin" Alden said. Then he led the two kids out.

"Now no one will ever know what the Mystery New Girl is thinking" Keefe said.

"Yeah, can you find a new nickname for me? I'm really not liking 'Mystery New Girl'" Tess said. Keefe put his hand on his chin and looked up as if he were deep in thought. Then he looked at her with a smirk.

"How about Tessie?" Keefe asked, although it didn't sound like a question. Tess rolled her eyes.

"Sure, why not" She said sarcastically. Tess noticed he started to get curious again.

"Okay, dude, I can sense your feelings, why are you curious?" She asked.

"Oh, I forgot you could do that. I don't have any friends who are Empaths" Keefe said. He looked to the left.

"You're avoiding the question. Why are you curious?" Tess asked. She looked Keefe in his ice blue eyes. Then he took her hand and ran off in another direction, yelling to Alden that they'd be right back.

Keefe took out a crystal pendant from around his neck and leaped them to an empty field. It had a waterfall and a lake that looked like they were made of liquid crystal. The grass was vivid green and sparkling in the sun. There was a breeze that made Tess's hair fly behind her and dishevel Keefe's hair even more than it already was. She looked at Keefe and he was still holding her hand.

"This is Hantero. It's where I go to escape reality sometimes. I haven't even shown this place to Sophie" Keefe said as he led her over to a boulder. He sat down and still didn't let go of her hand. Tess was starting to get suspicious.

"Keefe, what's going on? Why did you bring me here?" Tess asked, although she had an idea. She looked at Keefe's eyes again and saw years of pain that he usually masked.

"You're hiding something" Keefe said. That was not what Tess expected at all. In a weird way, she was sorta disappointed.

"What makes you think that?" Tess said as she raised one eyebrow.

"Well for one, you're emotions give it straight away. Two, you tend to have a nervous habit" Keefe said.

"Well, I'm not hiding something. And those emotions are probably just from shock. It's not everyday that my favorite book characters show up at my doorstep and tell me I'm one of them" Tess said. Keefe didn't look convinced.

"I just think it's unlikely that you would have every ability except for pyrokinesis" he said. Tess's expression didn't change.

"I don't think it's that unlikely. The Black Swan probably didn't want me to be sentenced to Exile for having pyrokinesis, so they didn't give it to me" she said. She thought she had stumped him there, but he asked another question.

"How do we even know that you are from the Black Swan? You could easily be a Neverseen project" he said. His eyes started getting glassy, and Tess felt bad. She knew all about Keefe's mom and the Neverseen. She really wanted to reassure him that she was on his side, but she couldn't do that while keeping a secret this huge. NO. She thought. You are NOT going to tell him. Just because you read a book with him in it doesn't mean you actually know him.

"Keefe, trust me. I'm in the Black Swan. Even if I was a Neverseen project, I am still with the Black Swan. And I have proof that I am from the Black Swan" she said. She pulled her sleeve down to show her shoulder, and there it was. The Black Swan birthmark. The proof that she is from the Black Swan.

"See? I know I'm from the Black Swan because they told me" she said. Keefe's eyes got wide and he looked at her eyes. That was the moment when he really seemed to understand and trust her. She was feeling a pull in her stomach as well. Not a pull like if she was using extra speed or even a brain push. This was a pull that she only felt when she was with someone she had strong feelings for. She knew it was a terrible thing to feel considering Sophie and Keefe were together. Tess needed to get out of there or she would start to spew fire. Literally. Most likely out of her nose. Keefe was still looking at her eyes. She looked away and tried to calm herself down. It seemed to help a bit, but then Keefe grabbed her hand. Hopefully that wasn't a romantic gesture.

"I believe you. And I get the feeling that you're used to being able to hide your feelings. You don't talk to us much and you put on a straight face. I can feel your emotions though, so you're going to have to get used to me knowing what you really feel" Keefe said, changing the subject. This was the part of living in the Lost Cities that she wasn't looking forward to. She liked being able to hide her true emotions in the human world. Now she wouldn't be able to. If she had another anxiety attack, like she often does, Keefe will feel it too, and she didn't want anybody else to feel the pain she feels. No one deserves to feel the pain that she endures. And she wasn't going to tell anybody yet. She wasn't going to tell Keefe until it actually happened. 

"Yeah, you could say that I'm used to hiding my emotions. But that's because I don't want anyone to know what I'm actually thinking" She said. "If I tell someone what I'm feeling, then they ask why. Then I have to tell them what I'm thinking about, and that's none of their business. I'd rather have my thoughts kept as thoughts. No one needs to know what I'm thinking about" she added. Keefe nodded. 

"I can relate. The only person I really talk to about what I'm feeling or thinking is Sophie, and now you. I've known you for less than a day, but you send out the vibe that I can trust you" Keefe said. Tess smiled a bit and looked down at their still entwined hands. She had no idea what to do next. So she decided that they should leave.

"You can always trust me. No matter what. I already know a lot about your life from reading the books, and I'd never tell a soul about it. But we should probably get back to the others so they don't think something bad happened" She said. Keefe nodded and they stood up. 

"I guess so. But first you have to check this out. Come on" Keefe said. He pulled on her arm and they started running to the waterfall and lake. He knelt down by the edge and she fell next to him on her knees. He finally let go of her hand. 

"Put your hand in the water" He said. Tess slowly put her hand in the water and, to her surprise, it wasn't cold. It wasn't warm either. It was as if nothing was there. It felt like a humid day in Albany, New York. It was like walking to the bus stop on a foggy day. It definitely wasn't water. 

"It feels like a foggy day" Tess said. Keefe gave her a half smile. 

"Now take your hand out" he said. She took her hand out of the substance and her hand was all black.

"Interesting" Keefe said. Tess looked at him and he had a smirk. 

"What?" she asked. 

"Well, the water makes your hand turn the color of your mood. Black means mystery and worry" he said. The color was starting to drain out of her hand in veiny lines, as if it was part of her blood stream for a few seconds. After a minute her hand was back to its normal, pale tone. She looked at Keefe with a smirk and a glare that could kill. He immediately put up his hands in truce and backed away. 

"Is that why you brought me here? So you could confirm something you have no right to know?" she said. She tried to sound serious, but she always smiled when she was angry, so the smile creeping on her face took away from the whole death-glare thing.

"Maybe. But now I know you're hiding something and I am determined to find out what it is. Just you wait, I'll catch you at a time you don't want me to catch you" he said. "And we probably should get back to the rest of them now. I have all the information I need for now" he added. Tess nodded and exhaled a sigh. Then she took Keefe's hand as he took out his crystal, and the light whisked them away. 

When they materialized, they weren't at Atlantis.