Keeper of the Lost Cities- Deathgrip

Tasty shakes and mysterious ladders

"Well. I'm glad that's over with..." Keefe mopped some sweat from his brow.

Sophie laughed, thinking back to Grady's expression while he grilled Keefe before they left. "Sorry... not sorry! it was hilarious."

"What's your ulterior motive with my daughter, boy?" Keefe droned in an identical voice to Grady's. 

"Yeaaah. He kinda despises you after the Neverseen incident."

Keefe seemed to sag a little and Sophie quickly changed the topic. She didn't want to dampen the mood on their date. "Where are we going?" 

"As the Great Foster once said, 'you'll see'," Keefe smirked, brightening. 

Sophie gestured to his pathfinder. "Then lead the way."

Keefe raised the thin stick to the light, letting light dance off of it. He grabbed her hand again and they travelled, at the speed of light, to a secret destination. 

* * *

They reappeared in the Elvin capital, Eternalia. The tall buildings glittering in the sunlight and elves milled around the wide polished streets. Sophie kept quiet, knowing that Keefe wanted to keep their destination a surprise. He led them a little way down the street before they turned into a tall, shimmering shop. There was a tall sign stuck to the side of the building that read 'tasty shakes and good times'. They walked in, hand in hand and Keefe walked up to the front, ordering while Sophie looked at all the photos tacked to the walls. Elves smiling, drinking tall glasses of fancy shakes and eating beautifully decorated treats. Keefe came up beside her with glasses filled with dark liquid and piled high with foreign Elvin sweets. It was times like these that Sophie felt entirely human. "For you," Keefe said, bowing and holding out the drink. 

Sophie snatched it from his hands and looked up at his face. "Thanks! What kind of shake is this?" 

"Taste it," Keefe said, anticipation written on his face. 

Sophie raised the straw to her mouth and sucked. She swallowed the sweet liquid and her eyes almost rolled back into her head it was so good. A pleased sigh escaped her mouth and she closed her eyes. They shot right back open when she heard a snicker. "You don't need to be an empath to know you like it," Keefe laughed.

Sophie blushed and tried to take a seat, but Keefe stopped her. "No Foster, I  have a special place to take you now where we can drink these."

Excited flutters ran through her stomach. "Okay, but just warning you- I might be done my shake by the time we get there."

Sophie couldn't help but notice that Fitz had never taken her out when they were... together. Keefe led her out the large intricately carved door of the shop and they turned left. After walking past a few more buildings, Sophie realized they were walking. "Are we not light leaping?" 

Keefe grinned. "Nope." And that was all he said. 

He led them all the way to the end of the road, where it merged into the forest. Still, they walked a little further. "Keeefe. When are we there..." Sophie knew she sounded like her little sister, but her legs hurt. So humph. 

Keefe smirked. "Do you need a piggyback, Foster?"

Sophie reddened a little but nodded. "Mmhmm." 

Keefe knelt down and she hopped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. She laughed breathlessly as he picked up pace, running through trees. He stopped a few minutes later and gently dropped her onto her feet. "Keefe, are you even out of breath?!" 

"What do you think?" He flexed his biceps, a cocky grin on his face. 

Sophie looked around, noticing for the first time that Ro wasn't there. "Where's Ro? The only reason Sandor didn't tag along was because I told him Ro was going to be with us."

"Well, I told Ro that Sandor was coming."

Sophie frowned. "But I told you he wasn't!"

"I know." Keefe laughed as realization dawned on her. 

"You evil genius!" 

Keefe crouched down and Sophie noticed that there was a small grate covered in moss. He lifted it up and motioned for her to go. "There's a ladder, c'mon, let's go."

Sophie looked at him skeptically. "Keefe, where are we?"

"Sophie, let's go!" He hopped into the hole and soon had disappeared down the hole. Sophie followed, and felt blindly for the rungs of the ladder, juggling her shake. 

She hopped down and her feet landed on moist ground. Sophie turned around and gasped.