Keeper of the Lost Cities: Elysian

Chapter 16

Sophie's mind blanked out.

She opened her mouth...

But her unhelpful brain gave her no words.

Fortunately, Tam had a reply. "We had a... discussion."

Sophie wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there.

Keefe's eyes were still fixated on the three beautiful flowers. "About?"

"Flowers Tam found," Sophie said, gesturing. "He wanted to show me them."

She smiled at him, but it faded when he didn't return it.

Tension filled the air.

"Umm... should I leave?" Tam asked awkwardly.

"Sure." Keefe's tone was cold.

Part of Sophie wanted Tam to stay and part of her didn't.

Tam glanced at her and walked away, leaving them standing alone in the grassy field.

Wind blew around them.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked gently.

She met Keefe's stony eyes. He replied, "You tell me."

"It's not what it looks like," Sophie promised. "Feel my emotions if you want- but I'm not lying."

She reached for his hand, and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I misunderstood. But... what were you talking about?"

Sophie withdrew her hand. "Oh. That was..."

She didn't know how to complete the sentence.

"What, Foster?"

She sighed. "I don't know if Tam would want me to share. If the wrong people found out, it would be bad."

Spreading rumors wasn't exactly on her agenda, and it made her feel sick accusing of Elysian for...

Really, the only thing wrong would be not telling them an ability.

What was the harm in that?

As Keefe opened his mouth again, she said, "I do trust you, Keefe. This is just... some news that can't get out. It's not confirmed yet, so I just don't want anyone to make false assumptions."

There was a lot of hurt in Keefe's eyes. "I'm sorry, Sophie. I shouldn't have asked. And I probably shouldn't have asked about Tam, either."

"It's fine," Sophie said reassuringly. "I can't blame you for that. At least you didn't overreact."

She was lucky she wasn't talking to Fitz. If they hadn't broken up and she was facing him... Fitz would have reacted a lot differently. Feelings would be hurt.

Keefe still looked miserable.

"Seriously, Keefe, this isn't like you," Sophie said. "You know I wouldn't betray you like that. Tam and I are just friends."

She knew it was true.

She hoped the conviction in her voice would be able to make him happy, but it only half worked.

"It's not about that," Keefe replied. "It's just that it's not fun being in the dark all the time."

Sophie closed her eyes. She wished there was more she could say, but she needed to recover the lost memory as soon as possible.

If it still existed.

"I'm sorry about that," she said carefully. "But I have to work with Elysian to get the lost memory back."