Flashback ( PDFDrive )

“Hear that, Ro?” he interrupted. “She’s giving me her serious voice.”
“And that pout she does, with the big eyes and the little crease
between her eyebrows,” Ro noted. “She’s definitely figured out how to
use her cuteness against you.”
Sophie scowled at both of them, wishing her echoes came with a
“no teasing” requirement like Fitz’s. “No, I’m just trying to make sure
you’ve thought this through.”
“Oh, are we already back to the ‘can you handle this’ conversation?”
Keefe asked, stretching out on the empty cot on Sophie’s other side
and propping his hands behind his head. “That was fast! And yes,
Foster. I have thought this through. And I can handle it. I know my
track record hasn’t been great when it comes to this stuff, but—”
“It’s been horrible,” Sophie corrected.
“Fair enough. But that’s because I wasn’t ready. Now I am.”
“Are you?”
“Uh—the Neverseen just tried to kill my best friend, and . . . you.”
He rolled onto his side to face her. “Isn’t that why you’re so eager to
start battle training?”
“Right, but—”
“This is my fight,” he interrupted again, standing up to pace with a
twitchy sort of energy. “And the good news is, we can work on this
while you guys are still recovering. Isn’t that what you wanted, Foster?
To use that powerful telepathy as much as you can, in case the
Neverseen were trying to stop you?”
She did want that—sort of. She mostly wanted another chance in
Alvar’s head. But more important . . .
“That’s not what I meant,” she said, trying to figure out how to
make him understand the minefield he wanted to charge full speed