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tail.
    “I told you she hates that nickname,” Sophie said smugly.
    She tried to call Silveny to her side, but Silveny was too busy chasing her tail to obey.
    Keefe frowned. “Do you feel that, Foster?”
    “Sort of.” Sophie closed her eyes, trying to sort through the dizzying emotions swirling in her head. She’d forgotten how overwhelming Silveny’s energy could be.
    Calm, she transmitted. But Silveny kept on spinning, and the more she circled, the more Sophie picked up a darker emotion in the mix.
    Why are you afraid? she asked, repeating the question until Silveny finally stopped to look at her.
    A rush of fear clawed at Sophie’s mind like an angry verminion, and she stepped back, needing room to breathe. “What is she afraid of?”
    “It’s . . . probably easier to show you.” Jurek opened the satchel he’d been carrying and pulled out a handful of twisted blue stalks, filling the air with a spicy, cinnamon scent.
    Silveny’s hunger clouded Sophie’s mind, but the alicorn backed away from the treats.
    “Why would she—”
    An ear-splitting whinny cut Sophie off, and Silveny reared back as a blur of silver dropped out of the sky. Jurek barely managed to pull Keefe out of the way before a huge alicorn with blue-tipped wings landed right where he’d been standing.
    “This is Greyfell,” Jurek said, tossing the handful of treats to distract the new Alicorn while he swung a golden lasso around the massive horse’s neck. Greyfell bucked and thrashed and wrestled against the restraint, but Jurek managed to hold tight. “He’s our resident male. And up until a few days ago, he and Silveny were getting along just fine.”
    “So what changed?” Sophie asked as Silveny screeched and launched back into the sky.
    “I have no idea.” Jurek tried to stroke Greyfell’s nose, but the alicorn glared at him with the coldest brown eyes Sophie had ever seen. “That’s what you’re here to figure out—and you’d better do it quick. Otherwise I’m afraid he’s going to kill Silveny.”

FIVE
    I T’S OKAY, SOPHIE TRANSMITTED AS Silveny circled above them. I won’t let him hurt you.
    But as Greyfell thrashed again, nearly pulling Jurek over, she wondered if she could really keep that promise.
    Everything about Greyfell was fierce . His wild eyes. The constant twitching in his bulky muscles. The gleam of his teeth as he tried—and thankfully failed—to snap through the thick rope holding him.
    And yet, the cold waves rippling through Sophie’s mind felt more like fear than rage.
    “Careful,” Keefe warned as Sophie took a step closer. “I’m getting some pretty serious I-will-bite-your-hand-off-if-you-touch-me vibes.”
    It’s okay, Sophie transmitted. I’m not going to hurt you.
    Greyfell stamped his hooves.
    Silveny whinnied, transmitting, Sophie! Danger! Fly! But Sophie ordered her to stay back, wishing she could block Silveny’s panicked shouts from her head.
    She closed her eyes, letting everything else fade to a hum as she imagined her consciousness stretching toward Greyfell like a blanket of feathers. Most Telepaths couldn’t open their minds to the thoughts of animals, but thanks to her enhanced abilities, Sophie’s head filled with images of snowcapped mountains and towering trees and lakes so clear they looked like mirrors of the sky. Everything felt bright and open and free, and yet a hollow ache laced through every scene—the same mournful emptiness Sophie remembered feeling the first time she met Silveny.
    You’re not alone anymore, Sophie promised Greyfell. Friend.
    She sent images along with the word: scenes of herself caring for Silveny, and flying with Silveny, and letting Silveny nuzzle her neck—anything to prove that Greyfell could trust her. She even showed him she could teleport, wanting him to know how deep their connection went.
    A word filled her mind then—one that took Sophie a second to translate from the alicorn language Greyfell was using.
    Kin.
    Yes, Sophie