Havenfield felt like a tomb.
The sky reflected the tense atmosphere—a dark overcast in the late evening. But it was also perfect for sneaking around unseen.
They crouched in the clump of what looked like Birch trees, just beyond the clearing, watching Edaline work with the animals.
The wind whirled through the leaves, rustling and creaking, every noise making Sophie jump.
Otherwise, it was completely quiet—no gnomes feeding the animals or tending to the plants or singing songs to make things grow.
Even the colors of the leaves of the Panakes tree were muted, the leaves falling to the ground, then lifting as the wind took them up.
They'd rushed away from Ravagog, Ro promising to cover for them if Forkle or Cadence asked. Though Keefe had made Sophie wrap an extra bandage around her waist for support, just in case they ran into someone, he hadn't protested against her urgency.
She'd hated the extra twenty minutes that had taken, but he was probably right. The wound was newly scabbed over, and she didn't want it to rip open if they ran into trouble.
"Okay," Keefe whispered, as they crept through the forest. "We go for your dad, right? Grady's going to be harder to control."
"But Edaline can put either of us in the void."
"That's true." Keefe bit his lip. "I really wish we still had that ability restrictor."
"The first one?"
"No," he shook his head, a hard look on his face. "I meant the second one. The one we used on me. No one, and I mean, no one deserved what you suffered through. Except the people who made you suffer through it."
As much as his words made her warm and fuzzy inside, there was also the tiny ounce of guilt sitting at the bottom of her stomach. And as tiny as it was, she wanted it gone.
"Keefe." It took him a moment to focus back on her. "It didn't work."
"What?"
"The ability restrictor of yours? It didn't work. I... I lied. And you believed me, because you trusted me."
Keefe stared at her.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly, "I didn't mean to disuse your trust. I just... I wanted to hear your voice."
His lips quirked in one corner of his mouth. "Biana was right. You are turning into another me."
Then he turned and ran to the next clump of trees, which was just at the edge of the forest, close to where Edaline stood cleaning Verdi.
Sophie gaped after him, but he just motioned discreetly for her to follow.
"Okay, so Edaline first?"
"What's our plan?"
"You distract and I—" he was cut off by a yell. Edaline bolted away from them, to the Verminion cage by Grady.
"Great," he groaned. "Now we deal with both of them."
They crept behind the treeline, in the shadows, but before Sophie could jump out to distract, Keefe grabbed her arm.
"Foster!" He hissed. "Wait!"
"No sign of her?" A voice cooed.
Sophie froze. "Who—"
Keefe put his finger to his lips, then motioned for her to follow. They crawled through the clumps of plants.
Alina stepped into view, flanked by two bodyguards. Edaline and Grady both froze, their faces going blank.
Sophie reached out her mind to theirs, trying to grasp them, looking for any piece of their own will.
But try as she did to break through that strange purple wall in her mind, she couldn't get through to the white light shining through.
Somehow, she felt a crack in the wall, and saw one word before the wall closed in on her.
Unwanted.
Sophie hitched a breath, tears blurring her vision when she realized that was Edaline's first thought at her name.
Mom, she thought desperately.
Keefe's shoulder bumped hers, his presence grounding her for a moment. They were there for a reason. To save them. He could snap them out of the trance. They just had to get to them.
"Losing you was one of the hardest things I've ever endured. But the worst part was knowing that you had no idea how much you mean to us."
She squared her shoulders.
They care about you, she reminded herself. Remember that.
"What do we do?" He whispered.
She opened her mouth to answer, but was interupted again.
"Bring him out." Alina said, her tone making Sophie want to drop everything and bring someone out. Who, however, she had no idea.
Her stomach sunk as they prodded someone into her line of sight. Strawberry blond hair. Periwinkle eyes.
Dex.
"Great. This makes it so much easier." Keefe whispered.
"What are they doing?" Sophie questioned, dreading the answer.
"So... shall we take his head?"
Sophie froze.
Alina circled Dex, her lips pursed. She changed direction. "Or maybe the parents?"
Her vision turned black, tunneling in on the Alina.
She was dimly aware of Keefe's arm encircling her shoulders, his hand grasping one of hers.
A blue breeze shot through her mind, more aggressive than usual, calming her just enought to see clearly.
Dimly, she wondered why her Enhancing still worked when her Telepathy and Inflicting didn't. But Keefe was talking to her, murmuring encouragement.
"Wait," his lips brushed her ear. "Hold on, Foster. Hold on."
She trembled. "But—"
"I know. I know, Foster. We need to wait for a second. She hasn't done anything, but if she tries, we can drop her in seconds."
"Seconds," she echoed in a low murmur. A dark, murmur.
"We'll just use the boy," Alina scoffed. "He'll be enough. Sophie grows too attached to—"
She frowned.
Edaline was rubbing her temples. "Soph—"
she groaned, but Alina scowled and snapped off a quiet command, making Edaline's face freeze yet again.
"She remembered me," Sophie whispered in a rush.
Alina spoke again. "Bring the parents inside. Now." Her voice grew sharper as the guards clumsily stepped forward.
Keefe chewed his lip and scanned the clearing. "Okay, here's the plan: I distract, you sneak to them and grab your parents."
Sophie didn't answer.
There was a nasty grin on Alina's face.
"Foster, we have to do it now," Keefe hissed.
Sophie's stomach sank.
"No."
It took a moment, but he tore his gaze away from the scene in front of them. "What are you talking about?"
The sob bubbled up, and she almost cracked.
"We can't go for my parents. We—" she pressed her lips together, managing to get the next words out. "We need to get Dex. They'll kill him otherwise."
Keefe met her eyes. "You sure?"
"Let's go," she said, looking away and blinking back tears.
When she looked back from her clump of bushes, Keefe had stepped into the open.
"You know, I never liked you all that much, but this is a lot more than just detention hatred."
Sophie rolled her eyes despite the tense atmosphere and the high stakes. Of course Keefe would start with a snarky comment.
"Keefe Sencen." Alina motioned the guards back, each of them prodding her parents forward with the butts of their spears.
Sophie's throat tightened.
Kill.
Kill.
Kill.
She'd kill them.
Apparently Keefe felt the spike of her emotions, because he cleared his throat, answering Alina.
"Wow. I guess all those days in your office really did help. You know my name." He clapped, a mockingly appreciative grin on his lips. "Anyways, I came to barter with you, since," his face morphed into disgust, "Vespera's a creep."
"I'm not?" Alina questioned, with a winning smile.
"Oh, yeah, you are. Vespera's just creepier. Like, she's a psychotic creep, and you're a," he surveyed her maroon and silver trimmed gown, "slightly more fashionable creep."
Alina shrugged her caramel highlights away from her face. "Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment," Keefe muttered, "Nevermind, I'm gonna need my friend back, and I need the Ruewen's."
"Where is Sophie?"
Keefe didn't flinch. He didn't even blink. "She's not here."
"Really?"
Sophie held her breath as Alina's eyes scanned the clearing, passing over her twice before she turned back to Keefe. Sophie exhaled.
"I'm alone."
Alina arched an eyebrow. "The Moonlark let you come alone?" Her tone was filled with disbelief, and a bit of amusement, as in "YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN FOOL ME, USELESS BUG?"
"First off," Keefe started, hurt written over his face, "ouch, and second, you really think I'd let her come here?"
Sophie began moving, breaking her cover and darting behind their backs.
"I know that Sophie Foster has a large amount of control in your life."
"She doesn't control me."
"Maybe. And maybe you control her."
Sophie froze, making eye contact with him.
Keefe's shoulders squared. His fists at his side were clenched.
She hoped her emotions conveyed what she was feeling. What she wished she could say to him.
That's not true.
He released a long breath. When he spoke again, his voice had hardened. "We don't control each other. But I'm definitely not letting Foster come to a place that has a reward over her head."
"Hm." Alina clicked her tongue and snapped her fingers, the guards shoving her parents aside. "If Miss Foster isn't here, there's no one to protect you."
"I can protect myself," he snapped, though he backed up.
The guards advanced, and Keefe yelped, darting to the side as they charged. One sidestepped, turned, and lunged at him.
The spear froze inches from his stomach, just before it gutted him.
Keefe stepped aside, face strained with concentration.
As he jumped past the second bodyguard, the spear flew forward, pulling the first bodyguard with it. He stumbled, and Sophie's attention was drawn back to Keefe who was now standing on top of an unconscious ogre.
He clicked his fingers, and the remaining bodyguard's eyes snapped up to Keefe.
Though Sophie was just out of ear shot of him, she could see the shift on Keefe's face when he said the command. She dove where Dex laid, crumpled on the ground, immediately sawing at his binds.
Dex groaned.
Sophie glanced back at him, then at Keefe, a scream nearly erupting from her, until she realized the large ogre standing behind him was under his control.
Keefe said something to him, and the discarded dagger was picked up, while a flash of silver told Sophie that he had pulled out the melder hidden in his cloak.
The ogre threw the knives, one after the other, all at Alina, and she gasped, frantically darting away from them.
One nicked her cheek, and she stopped with a yelp of pain.
Once she had stopped, another dagger hit her leg, this time embedding in the flesh of her thigh. She let out a piercing scream, and grabbed at Edaline, snapping off a quick, angry command at Grady.
He dropped to the ground.
The melder wavered from her torso, pointing up to Alina's face.
Alina looked over at Sophie when she stumbled to her feet. "Don't!"
"Sophie Foster didn't come?" She asked bitterly, her breath coming in short gasps. The dagger from her leg was withdrawn with a pained grunt and—
Was pressed against Edaline's throat.
"No!" Sophie yelled. "Stop!"
Keefe pulled his finger away from the trigger. "Foster?"
"Stop," she managed hoarsely. "Just, stop."
Alina smiled tightly, condescendingly, at Keefe. "Listen to your little girlfriend. Put the melder down."
"Foster, what are we doing here?" He whispered, still pointing at Alina.
"We're at a stalemate," Sophie said to the Councillor. "So give us Edaline and you can live."
"I'll kill her first."
Rage coursed through her, and she could feel the emotions bubbling over in her gut.
But the Inflicting still didn't pour out of her.
"Sophie?" A tiny whisper, almost inaudible drew Sophie's attention back to them.
Edaline blinked rapidly.
Her eyes focused on her.
They were clear.
"Mom?" Sophie breathed.
A small smile flashed across her face—a proud and loving and sad smile. "I'm sorry, honey."
Sophie realized what she was doing a moment too late.
"I love you." Edaline's eyes closed, and snapped her fingers.
"No!"
And they were dropped in the void.
Updated: 9-5-2021
A/N: I will not be answering questions. Thank you. *bows out*