the gorgeous beautiful amazing inspiring novel of keefe-oh and sophie

03| sophie

A/N- thank you so much for sticking with our book! this chapter is a little long, but it'll be worth it, promise! we have eleven whole chapters ready to be posted! we're just spacing them out a little ;) anyway, enjoy!
-limbiumforsophie and sandor40

Sophie led the others to her room, and they all plopped down their bags and sat on the floor, the flowers sewn into the carpet crumpling beneath them.

"So," Sophie said awkwardly. "Umm... what do you guys want to do?"

Everyone immediately started talking.

"We should play Base Quest!"

"No, let's play truth or dare!"

"Iggy should play too!"

"How about we give each other makeovers?"

The last suggestion evidently came from Biana, who was already pulling makeup and hair products from her bag.

"Okay, how about this?" Sophie said in a very assertive way. "We play Base Quest now, since it's still kinda light out, and then we come inside and do everything else later?"

Sandor sighed, obviously not a fan of the game where they'd have to hide from each other. And due to past experiences, Sophie couldn't blame him.

Keefe grinned. Sophie suspected he was the one who wanted to play.

The noise of Sophie, her friends, and their bodyguards thundering down the stairs was deafening, and gave Sophie the impression that a thunderstorm was passing. Luckily, the sun was still determinedly shining- even though it was low over the horizon.

"It's weird doing stuff without thinking we're going to get murdered," Tam noted.

Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Looks like we only have a little while before the sun sets. After that we should come back inside," Sophie said.

"Awww, come on, Foster! You're no fun," Keefe whined.

She sighed.

"You're lucky I still want to be on your team," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Sophie blushed furiously when Marella giggled.

They all split into teams after that, with Sophie, Keefe, Linh, and Fitz on one team, and Biana, Dex, Wylie, Tam, and Marella on the other team.

"Should we play abilities or no abilities?" Dex asked.

"ABILITIES!" Keefe shouted immediately.

Marella rolled her eyes. "You're only saying that 'cause Sophie can track our thoughts!" she argued.

"Well, I'm not going to deny that Foster's talents are extremely useful when playing. So, can we quest first?"

"No, we should!" Dex said. "If we're playing abilities, we are questing first."

Keefe smirked. "That's fine. Actually, that's good, 'cause Foster's still got her fancy little brain to track you guys."

Tam muttered something under his breath, and Sophie sighed.

"Before you begin," Sandor cut in, "I want to check the grounds again. And none of you–" he looked specifically at Sophie–"are to leap away or leave Havenfield's grounds without your bodyguards. Understand?"

"Gigantor's feeling a bit strict today," Keefe noted.

"Understand?" Sandor repeated, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Yes," Sophie replied for them.

While they waited and waited for Sandor and the other guards to complete their sweep, Keefe chose the extra time to explain his next verse in the Ballad of Bo and Ro. But Sophie didn't listen.

Her thoughts had gotten away from her, feeling very aware of the many trees around them.

All of the hiding spots.

Anyone could be there.

Lurking.

Waiting.

And they were going to run in there.

Where anyone could be hiding.

Her wrists tingled, remembering the harsh burns Brant had given her when she was taken hostage.

And her memories flashed to all the different times the Neverseen had found them slacking.

She remembered the shadowflux tearing into her bones.

She remembered the burning of everblaze melting her skin.

She remembered the sweet scent of a sedative shoved into her system.

She remembered all the pain, all the tears, all the weeks and weeks wasted on pointless research and Healing Center stays.

Knowing today could bring that same adrenaline.

That same pain.

That same fear.

Her breathing became heavy as she considered the chances of attack.

They could be anywhere.

The trees.

Underground.

In the sky.

Or at one of their hideouts, waiting for Sophie and her friends to be completely distracted to lift the leaping crystal and cause some pain.

And they were playing games.

She felt her knees wobble.

The Neverseen could be attacking their bodyguards right now.

Someone could be dying, suffering, meanwhile they were getting ready to play base quest–

"Sophie!" a familiar voice called. She looked up to see Keefe looking at her with worried eyes. And as she glanced at each of her friends in turn, they all had similar expressions. Though Fitz looked slightly angry, and she didn't know why.

It took her a moment to realize that she was leaning against Keefe.

It took her another moment to realize that she'd nearly fainted.

"Sorry," she said, pulling away from Keefe to stand on her own—and nearly collapsing.

Keefe was there to catch her. He silently led her to the Panakes tree and guided her to sit on the gnarled roots.

"What happened?" Biana asked, crouching next to Sophie.

Sophie tugged out an itchy eyelash. "I'm sorry," she said shamefully. "I don't know what that was about."

Linh smiled. "Don't be sorry. I think we've all had panic attacks before."

Sophie sighed. "I guess. I just feel like- I don't know- we're being so careless."

Fitz frowned. "What do you mean? Sandor is literally inspecting every blade of grass on the property. Pretty sure we're safe."

"The Neverseen have plenty of ways to sneak up on us, and you know it." Sophie argued. "Sorry, I'm not trying to kill the mood or anything. We've just been ambushed too many times. Paranoia is supposed to be normal by now." Her fingers brushed over the petal-strewn ground lightly.

Keefe reached over and gently took her hand, scooting closer. "I know this seems pointless, but this is exactly why you need to take your mind off of things. Worrying about your problems doesn't make them go away."

"Wise words, Hunkyhair," Ro said, making them all jump at her sudden appearance. Her eyes glanced at Sophie and Keefe's intertwined fingers. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she noticed the intensity of Fitz's glare.

Sophie felt her face heat up and pulled her hand away. "I guess you're right. Let's just start playing. We should definitely have a bodyguard on each team, though," she realized.

The final verdict was that Sandor, Ro and Bo would accompany Sophie, Keefe, Fitz, and Linh, and Grizel and Flori would go with Biana, Wylie, Marella, Dex, and Tam. Biana's team would be questing first.