Flashback ( PDFDrive )

Fitz said, “The thing is, though . . . I guess it’s only fair. You had to
grow up hiding your telepathy and feeling like you didn’t belong—and
then you had to leave everything behind and start over in a world
where people keep trying to kill you. Keefe had to live with his creepy
mom and his awful dad manipulating him. Tam and Linh got banished
and had to survive all alone for years. Wylie’s dad was exiled and his
mom faded away right in front of him. Dex has had everyone looking
down on him his whole life because his parents are a bad match. I
mean . . . when you really think about it, I’ve had it pretty easy.”
“But that doesn’t make it any less awful when hard things happen,”
Sophie reminded him. “You’re allowed to feel what you’re feeling.”
“Not really.” Fitz stared at his fingers as he pressed his hand over
his heart. “Not until this echo fades away. Until then it’s lots of deep
breaths and bottling up the rest.”
He tried to shrug it off, but it wasn’t very convincing.
“Is there anything I can do?” Sophie offered.
He reached for her hand. “You’re here.”
That . . . was an amazing answer. And Sophie was very glad she was
wearing gloves, so he couldn’t feel the way her palms were sweating as
they drew closer to Everglen’s shimmering mansion. It was more of a
castle than a home, with its crystal turrets and gables—a perfect,
pretty place that screamed privilege with every glittering wall.
Sophie had spent several nights there over the years—had even
been invited to live there when Grady and Edaline were struggling
with her adoption. But she hadn’t realized how little of Everglen she’d
actually seen until Fitz led her under a vine-draped arch on the right
side of the house and into a small courtyard she’d never noticed
before. Smooth marble stepping stones brought them to a single