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Chapter 24 - Keefe

Keefe barely even had a chance to recollect his thoughts before he heard shouting from the end of the alleyway. He whirled around to see two police officers blocking the exit to the road.

"Hey, hey kid!" one of them shouted. "This is private property!"

Private property? Keefe puzzled, in an alley?

Well, he wasn't going to stick around to find out more.

He stashed Grady's imparter in his pocket and was about to take off in the opposite direction when he suddenly yelped and reared back in surprise.

Someone had dropped down from above and was now standing directly in front of him, blocking his path.

He was frozen with shock until the person spoke. "Come with me."

Keefe blinked several times, trying to comprehend what was happening. Then he shook his head firmly, stepping away and nearly tripping over his own feet.

He heard the person sigh, clearly annoyed. "Listen, it's either the police or me. And it will be much easier to explain why you have an imparter to me instead of the cops."

Keefe's eyes went wide. He completely forgot about his no speaking policy, and blurted out, "Impar—how do you—what?" before he could stop himself.

"Questions later. Are you coming or not?"

What he needed was a single moment to breathe. His mind was still swimming from seeing Sophie, and now he was about to get arrested if he didn't go with some stranger who somehow knew about Elvin technology. He tried to squint and make out the details of the mysterious person, but the alley was too dark. A hood covering their face cast even more shadows, making it impossible to distinguish any sort of features.

"Are you with the police?" Keefe asked cautiously.

"What do you think?"

The voice sounded female, but that was all he could tell. Keefe let out a sharp breath, looking anxiously back and forth between each exit to the alley. He was probably going to regret this later.

He turned back to the hooded stranger. "Fine."

Somehow he was about to make out the stranger's devious smile. "Follow me."

She took off down the alleyway, Keefe at her heels, running until they reached the end. The girl took a sharp left and Keefe followed down the sidewalk as the shouts of police rang in his ears. At some point, he wasn't sure when, they lost the cops. There were no longer sirens or yelling, just the sound of heavy breathing and echoing footsteps.

He followed the stranger through so many twists and turns and backstreets he stopped trying to keep track of their location. Every brick alleyway looked the same, shadows crawling along the walls, faded signs to abandoned stores swinging creakily in the wind as they rushed past.

Keefe found himself counting the seconds to try and keep from thinking about Foster or how hopelessly lost he was. Then the strange girl suddenly stopped, causing Keefe to crash into her.

He winced, rubbing his head where they'd collided. They were in another (big surprise) alley. Except this one was actually inhabited with humans. Not many, but people still strolled along the cobblestone street, laughing with their friends or stumbling out of the few pubs. The alleyway here wasn't as narrow as the others he'd seen, maybe just big enough for a truck to fit.

Before the stranger could take another step Keefe stopped her. He needed at least some information.

"Listen," he said, "maybe you're used to this whole 'grabbing people and making them chase you through a maze of sketchy streets' thing, but personally, this is my first time, and some context would be nice. So—"