Unlocked

Twelve - Keefe

Keefe had been watching Sophie sleep for three days.

Three days.

Elwin had given her dozens of sedatives—in which he had to pry Sophie's mouth open and pour them down her throat because she was incapable of doing it herself.

Although the physician had assured Keefe that Sophie was in no pain, Keefe felt like punching himself every time he pictured her beautiful features twisted with pain moments before she passed out.

Right after she had touched his skin, he had woken up. He had watched helplessly as she had thrashed on the ground. And it was all because of him.

Keefe couldn't get the terrible images out of his mind. Sophie in pain was his worst nightmare. She always came first. Her before him. Always. She was more important to him than anything else in the universe.

Keefe knew it was his fault. And it was breaking his heart more and more every second he stared at her.

He couldn't help but wonder if this was what it was like for Sophie when she'd waited for him to wake up from his coma. He hoped she hadn't been hurting as much as he was now.

She looked so pale. So drained. So lifeless. He couldn't stand it anymore. He ripped his gaze away from her.

Keefe curled into a ball on his cot, not caring how childish he looked. If Elwin saw him, he wouldn't care. Without Sophie, nothing in the world had any meaning to him.

She had to be all right. Or Keefe might break. Sophie was the only thing holding him together.

Keefe almost wished that Tam and Linh were still here. They'd left hours ago, but he couldn't help but want his friends to be here. Anyone to help him through this. But they were gone; he was all alone.

He would've even been grateful to have Ro here. She hadn't visited him yet, and he was still waiting for the day when she came stomping in, yelling at him for almost getting himself killed. He wondered why she hadn't come visit . . .

One problem at a time, he had to remind himself.

His heart felt numb, his emotions were dulled. And after a while, he felt the tears fill his eyes, spilling down his face. He felt himself crumbling.

He wanted Sophie back, so badly it burned his heart with pure fire. He was mad, mad at himself, mad at his mother for giving him this awful ability that could cause so much harm.

He sat there for a while, letting himself shatter.

After what felt like hours, Keefe finally pulled himself into a seated position. He was grateful that Elwin had given him space, spending the day in his office.

Keefe finally made his head turn to his left, finally made himself look at her.

She still looked the same.

Keefe wanted so badly to reach out and hold her hand, stroke her hair, hug her until there was no painful emotion left in her body.

But he couldn't.

He didn't know how to control his ability, didn't know how to contain it.

His eyes flicked to a chair near Sophie's cot. A small square rested on the seat, the screen glinting in the sun.

Biana's imparter.

Keefe realized she must have left it there on accident, forgotten after such a long day.

That made him wonder: Biana was a regent; a member of Team Valiant. And that meant her imparter had access to the Councilors . . .

Keefe suddenly jerked upright. He'd gotten an idea. A bad one probably, but he knew he needed to go forward with it.

He jumped out of bed, running over to the chair. He plucked the small square up from the seat.

If he ever wanted to touch anyone again without hurting them, he needed to learn how to control his ability. He needed to train.

He muttered the words before he could back out.

"Show me Councilor Zarina."