"Are you guys gonna come in?" Dex called to them.
They'd lightleaped directly to Rimeshire after Rayne's warning, hoping to still pick up the book before Dex left to Tinker's.
"I see the triplets haven't destroyed the statue yet," Sophie observed, watching Lex and Bex race past, and halt directly in front of the statue, then run away.
A hollow ache developed in her chest as Rex trailed after them, hands shoved in the pockets of his cape.
Dex shrugged, his eyes following his younger brother as well. He forced a grin. "My dad keeps telling them to break it, but they won't. Definitely out of spite."
"The triplets are my favorite." Keefe informed them, in obviously light tone. But when Sophie glanced at him. She could see the guilt written on his face.
"I was just about to head to Tinker's, I figured you might want to come. I'm showing her the book today."
Keefe shrugged, looking at Sophie. "Any excuse not to do homework is fine by me. Foster?"
Sophie rolled her eyes. "We still have to do homework, but I guess that'd be fine. Probably."
"I'm coming," Sandor reminded her.
"Me too," Bo chimed.
Flori almost looked reluctant but she also agreed.
Ro picked at her nails. "Sure."
"Mr. Forkle won't get mad at you?" Dex asked, as he fished a crystal from his pockets.
"Foster always breaks the rules anyways," Keefe said. He elbowed her, a grin on his face. "Ain't that right?"
"I don't," Sophie muttered.
"Sure," Keefe said.
Sophie faced him. "When did I break the rules?"
Keefe pretended to think. "Hmm. I'm not sure. Today, perhaps? Maybe the time you snuck away to see me. Oh, and that other time, when we snuck away from the bodyguards to check on the thing in London. Oh, and don't forget when you got me the E.L. Fudges. And did I mention you did all that for little ol' me?" He batted his eyelashes innocently.
Sophie felt her sheeks warm. "Those were during bad times, okay?"
"Admit it, Foster. You know you did it for me."
She had done most of it for Keefe, but there was no way she was telling him that. He did not need an ego boost.
Dex cleared his throat. "Look, as gag-worthy as you two flirting together is, can we go?"
Keefe grinned, then slung his arm over Sophie's shoulders.
"We're not—" Sophie began, her face burning.
Keefe interrupted her, unfazed. "Admit it, Dizznee. We're adorable."
Sophie wished he was not so Empath-y. He could probably feel every shift in her emotions at the moment. "I'm going to change the subject, now, okay? Let's leave."
***
"Who are you?" Tinker drew her eyebrows together, staring at Keefe.
He flashed her his trademark smirk. "Keefe Sencen."
Her eyes shifted to Sophie. "Is he a friend?"
"He's part of the Black Swan." Sophie answered.
Dex cleared his throat. "Excuse me. Yep, I'm here too."
"You have something for me?" Tinker asked, her gaze landing on the book in Dex's hand.
He passed it over to her. "Yep. It'd be really helpful if you could translate it."
"Where did you find this?" She traced her finger over the runes, glanced up at them, then returned to the page.
"Foxfire."
Tinker said, "You cannot read this?"
"Only some pages," Sophie tapped on the open page. "Can you?"
"Have I ever failed translating?" Tinker asked, directing the question at Dex.
"Okaaaay. Are you going to give us a straight answer? 'Cause, like, don't get me wrong, the whole, answering a question with a question is great, adding some points to the mystery tally, but it's kinda hard to keep track of." Keefe said.
Amusement alighted her expression. "You do not appreciate the importance of asking questions?"
"I do if I get answers," Keefe countered.
"You are getting answers, are you not?"
Keefe turned to Sophie. "Do you usually deal with this?"
She ignored him. Turning to Tinker, she asked. "We hacked into records the other day, but we need to get better info on someone. Do you have any gadgets for that?"
Dex pouted. "You could have asked me."
Keefe wordlessly fished the broken gadget out of his pockets and handed it to Dex. Dex's mouth dropped open.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Sophie told Dex, glaring at Keefe. "He swiped it, then broke it."
"It's not my fault the Forkman has a defense mechanism in his office."
"May I see?" Tinker held out her hand for the gadget.
Sophie handed her the gadget, watching her face as she examined the fried receiver—at least what Sophie assumed was the receiver.
Dex also seemed to be watching her carefully.
Keefe had wandered off. Probably not the best place to lose one of her best friends.
"Dude, you have a Gremlin?" Keefe exclaimed.
Tinker did not respond. She held the gadget out to Dex and said a bunch of techy words Sophie didn't understand, though the inflection, guess what? ended in a question.
Sophie wandered back to Keefe, who was scratching the gremlin on the tummy. He looked up at her. "Foster, I want one of these."
"Uh, no."
"Uh, yes," he countered. "You owe me a favor."
"And you owe me one," Sophie reminded him. Keefe frowned. Then he turned back to the gremlin, who was loving all the attention apparently.
Keefe picked him up, holding him like Simba. "But look at this face, Foster!" He puckered his lips in his best puppy dog face, while holding the gremlin next to his face.
Sophie managed to stay strong against both the adorable faces.
Keefe pouted and was about to answer her, but they were interrupted by Dex who called them over.
"She has something for us."
Sophie sighed in relief. "Perfect. Thank you, Tinker."
She nodded.
Dex pulled the gadget out for Sophie to see, which was actually pretty similar—only it was a cube rather than a sphere.
"I know," he grumbled, "I should have thought of that before."
"I wouldn't have realized either way," Sophie reassured him.
Keefe picked up the cube. "You mean we can search up Ellia with this thing?"
Tinker whispered. "Ellia?"
There was strained silence for a moment.
"Yes," Sophie answered carefully, "do you know her?"
Tinker was silent, her eyes flicking back and forth from their faces to the object in Keefe's hands.
"Yes." She answered quietly.
From next to Sophie, Keefe raised an eyebrow at Tinker's words. "Really?"
Tinker pulled the object out of Keefe's hands, to Sophie's dismay.
"She won't disclose anything you say, but don't get her involved with anything." Tinker backed away from them. "You should leave now. I will give Dex the translation of the journal next time he comes."
"But—" Sophie tried.
"I mean it. Do not get Ellia involved."
A/N: what can I say? I was feeling motivated and I'm in a good mood 'cuz I just played soccer for several hours. Hope you enjoyed!
Updated: 4-18-2021