Flashback ( PDFDrive )

Oh, it was way more humiliating than what you’re thinking, he told her,
sharing his actual memories of the way the strings of crystals seemed
to wrap around him like sparkly tentacles.
How did you even manage to do that? she wondered.
No idea. I was just trying to get upstairs and I launched myself too high,
and then my sleeve got caught and I tried to untangle it and next thing I
knew Biana was collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles and my dad was
calling for the gnomes. It took five of them to free me. They had to stand on
each other’s shoulders in a giant gnome stack.
Sophie was laughing so hard that Sandor peeked his head into her
room, probably making sure she wasn’t losing her mind.
I wish I’d been there, she told Fitz.
Me too. You probably could’ve floated up there and helped me. My
parents were too busy laughing with Biana.
All humor was gone from the last sentence, and there was a
distinctly bitter edge to the thought. It reminded Sophie of what Keefe
said about Fitz’s family being changed forever—which made her
realize she hadn’t told him about Orem.
It’s a long shot, she added after she’d explained everything that Keefe
had told her. But if you have time, it might be worth seeing what you can
learn about him.
I guess Though I don’t see what Orem would have to do with anything.
Well . . . if Luzia’s his mom, he would’ve lived at Everglen, wouldn’t he?
Sophie wondered.
Yeah, that’s probably true.
She could feel his thoughts spinning, but he didn’t seem to know
where to go with any of them. And neither did she.