Unlocked

Eight - Keefe

Before Bronte and the rest of Team Valiant crashed the party, Keefe was having a pretty good day. When Sophie had walked back into the healing center, he'd felt his heart drop at the sight of her.

She'd been pretty before, but now his breath caught in his throat every time he looked at her. Her eyes mesmerized him, the way they glittered when they met his own. Her hair was done up in a fashion that left him speechless. She looked gorgeous.

If only she knew how beautiful she was.

But when Bronte muttered something about Councilor Oralie going missing, the smile fell from his lips. And everyone else's.

Why did every perfect moment have to be ruined?

The blood suddenly drained from Sophie's face, and she started shaking uncontrollably. Keefe rushed to her side before she could fall over. He took her into his arms and gently rubbed her back. She was trembling.

He whispered into her hair. "It'll be okay, Foster. We'll figure this out."

But she started shaking harder, her body nearly convulsing. He held her tighter and felt the arms of his friends wrapping around them. None of the reassuring words were helping Sophie. If anything, she was getting worse. Tremors were now racking her body from head to toe.

Sophie pulled away from them. She kept trying to speak, but no words would surface.

Instead, she grabbed Keefe's arm and pulled him to the door. Surprised, Keefe followed her out into the hallway, shrugging helplessly at his friends over his shoulder. Something was terribly wrong. He could sense the tension radiating off Sophie.

He ducked into the winding hallways of foxfire and found Sophie slumped against the wall. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears, and her braided updo had come undone, wisps of blond hair framing her face. She crumbled to the floor.

She tried to speak once more, but her lip trembled.

Keefe didn't know what to do. He sunk to the floor with her and steadied her against his warmth. She was as cold as ice. She shook with tears, and he wanted nothing more than to see her smile once more. "What's wrong?" He asked, stroking her soft hair soothingly.

Her voice shook. "Keefe—I—I need to tell you something."

Keefe hugged her tighter. "Tell me anything."

She pulled back to look at him. He sank into the depths of her deep brown eyes. "You can trust me, Sophie."

A tear leaked down her cheek. "Or—Oralie," she managed, her face streaked with emotion. "She's—"

Her voice broke and she couldn't continue. But she didn't need to. Because Keefe had seen something. Something he'd never noticed before.

There was something oddly familiar about the shade of her light hair, the curve of her jaw. He'd only seen the features one other place—on a councilor.

"Oralie," Keefe breathed, the pieces finally clicking together. "She's your mother."

And when Sophie collapsed into his arms crying, he knew he'd discovered the truth.