Flashback ( PDFDrive )

“You said we’d start training again once we found your human
parents,” Fitz reminded her gently. “And . . . you said this time we
wouldn’t hold anything back.”
“You remember that, huh?” she asked, trying to smile. “I’d been
hoping you wouldn’t.”
She’d made the promise while reeling from the discovery that Mr.
Forkle had spent his entire life lying to everyone about the fact that he
had an identical twin brother, because multiple births were looked
down upon in the Lost Cities. In that moment, secrets had felt
exhausting and pointless—and confessing her crush on him hadn’t
seemed nearly so scary.
But afterward she’d definitely wondered what she’d been thinking.
“I figured,” Fitz told her. “That’s why I haven’t brought it up.
But . . . I need to know that I’ve tried everything I can to stop what’s
happening with my brother—because I know something’s happening.
And I can’t do this without you.”
Sophie took a slow, deep breath, letting the words settle into her
head. They had a weight to them. A truth—bigger than any
embarrassment or hurt feelings her secret might cause.
“Okay,” she whispered. “We’ll train as much as we can.”
Fitz’s shoulders sagged with relief. “When?”
She could tell he wanted the answer to be very, very soon. But she
needed a little time to mentally prepare for that conversation.
“A couple of days?” she tried.
“How about tomorrow?” he countered.
She closed her eyes, wondering if her stomach was turning inside
out. But stalling was probably only going to prolong her misery.
“Tomorrow,” she agreed, barely managing to choke out the word.