Unlocked

Thirty Three - Sophie

Sophie had to do a double take.

She watched as Oralie's chest rose and fell, listened to her soft, strained breaths pierce the air.

She knelt by the bedside of her biological mother and weeped. She let her tears stain Oralie's tattered dress and watched as her eyelids fluttered, then slowly opened.

Sophie forgot to breathe.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Oralie's light blue eyes fell upon Sophie and Keefe, whose hand was still pressed to her heart. Keefe took his hand away once he could see that she was breathing, and laced it through Sophie's.

"S-Sophie?" Oralie stuttered as she tried to sit up, but winced in pain.

"Don't move," Sophie warned. "You're still bleeding."

"But . . ." Oralie trailed off. "I died. Didn't I?"

Keefe took a step closer. "I restarted your heart," he explained. Before Oralie could ask how, he added, "I manifested as a charger."

Oralie swallowed. "Like Councilor Zarina?"

Keefe nodded.

"I-where-how—" The blond haired Councilor couldn't seem to decide on what to ask. But her gaze snapped to her right, where Lady Gisela lay unconscious on a cot. Oralie's jaw clenched. "What is she doing here?"

Keefe tightened his grip on Sophie's hand. "Don't worry. She's . . . Gone."

"Gone?" Oralie asked, cringing as she tried again to sit up.

"Her mind is broken," Sophie whispered.

Oralie's eyes widened. Under her breath, she muttered, "No wonder."

Sophie's eyes snapped upward. "What?"

Oralie's bloodied hands clenched at her sides. "Lady Gisela," Oralie said, pointing a shaky finger at Keefe's mother, "killed me."