Flashback ( PDFDrive )

“What about the other thing you told me to focus on?” Dex asked.
“Helping Sophie protect her . . . newest ability.”
“It’s okay—Tinker knows Miss Foster is an Enhancer. I’ve actually
asked her to see if she can come up with her own means to control the
ability.”
“You did?” Dex asked, frowning when Mr. Forkle nodded. “Why?”
“Because I’d rather you focus on this. And, truthfully, I thought the
project might need some fresh eyes.”
Dex’s frown turned to a full-fledged scowl. “It doesn’t—I’ve got it
covered.”
“Are you sure?” Tinker asked, reaching for the jewelry box in the
center of the table. “Would you like to see my solution?”
That threw Dex for a second. “You already made something?”
She dipped her chin and flipped open the gilded lid, filling the room
with a tinkling melody that felt familiar even though Sophie couldn’t
place it. The final note was still ringing as Tinker plucked out four
tiny, curved pieces of smooth metal that almost looked like . . .
“Are those supposed to be fingernails?” Sophie asked, imagining all
kinds of horrifying application scenarios.
Tinker reached for Sophie’s hand. “Why do you assume I would
design anything to hurt you?”
Her fingers were ice-cold but careful as she pulled off Sophie’s
glove and placed one of the metal pieces over Sophie’s thumbnail,
lining it up before tapping it once and . . .
. . . the metal suctioned perfectly into place.
She repeated the process with a second curl of metal on Sophie’s
pointer finger. “Can you tap five times like this?” she asked, clicking
her fingertips together the way someone would play finger symbols.