"And you waited until now to tell me?" The boy raised an eyebrow. He wasn't mad, just confused.
"There weren't really any good times to say it, Ky."
The boy, Ky, nodded. "That's fair."
"Plus, now it means that since I'm here, they won't be after her."
"That's risky, Sophie. Are you sure?"
"It's not like we have a choice." Sophie went silent. "Wait. What if..."She trailed off, thinking. "What if they don't know I'm there?" She turned to Ky. "They said five people. But there were six out there, including her."
"How's that possible?"
"I-" She paused. "I never spoke. But the other five did. What if it's an auditory tracker?"
"Maybe. But where would they get the audio from?"
They both glanced at Carlos. Sophie spoke. "There's a kid out there. I think his name's Cooper. He got hit in the wrist by a - a shard, I think Noah called it?" She narrowed her eyes. "Maybe that's the same thing! A-Aki's power works through physical contact, right? What if the shard was infused with his power!?" She started to pace. "And then to break the connection, you have to break the source?"
"The shard?"
"Yes! Or the point of contact! You were there with Dad. Where did Carlos get hit?" She knelt next to the unconscious man slowly. "We might be able to save him."
"Face. Sort of on the right. Here." He pointed at his own jawline.
Sophie slid a small knife out of her pocket, biting her lip. She muttered a prayer to Nja before carefully pressing the knife to the man's cheek. "Here?"
"Yeah."
Sophie dug the blade into the skin and pulled, leave a small, thin cut on his face. She watched a thick, dark ink slowly drip out of the small wound.
Ky looked concerned. "Is that good?"
"I think so." She used her sleeve to wipe the black from the blade, watching Carlos's face.
His eyes blinked open.