Keeper of The Lost Cities: Book 9: Showdown

Chapter 28 - Keefe's POV

Quack quack quack quack quack -

"What do you want, Sun-Sun?" Liam decided it would be a good idea to get a pet.

He got a duckling.

Now, I have nothing against ducks - they're chubby, cute, and fluffy. Sunny is aptly named for the energy inside her and the color of her feathers. She's adorable, likes snuggling, and waddling in a tub of water.

What Sunny also likes, is being annoying.

And her favorite person to annoy, is me.

Sunny - though we all call her Sun-Sun - stares at me with those cute eyes and tilts her head, as if saying, hmm, I really don't know what you're talking about.

Then, when I turn around and return to the sketch I was doing, her chorus of quack quack quack starts up again.

But you can't be mad at Sun-Sun - she's too ingenious for that. You can be annoyed, yes, but not mad. So I control the urge to roll my eyes as I pick her up and set her in the clear little tub of water, and she happily paddles around, swish-swishing in the clear water. Her little feet kick her around and I can't help but smile as I toss some cracked corn for her to eat - just for being cute.

"You're stealing my duck," Liam protests as he barges into my room, and holds out his hand for Sunny to climb in. She gives a happy little quack and flaps her wings a little, reminding Liam that she can't just climb into his hand, she needs to be picked up - which Liam does.

"It's not my fault she loves me more," I protest. "Besides, you're the one who put her little tank thingy here."

Sunny honks happily at the mention of her little tank thingy.

Liam holds his hand up to his head and Sunny snuggles down in his hair - another one of her favorite pastimes.

"Anyway," Liam lowers his hands and leaves Sunny falling asleep in his hair - no comment - "I wanted to tell you that I'm going back to London for a little bit."

My pencil screws itself up and I turn around in my chair to face him. "Why?"

He shrugs. "I have a few things to take care of there." He eases Sunny out of his hair and puts her on one of my pillows.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning. Don't miss me too much."

I didn't know what to say, partially because yes, I probably will miss him and I don't think any sort of sarcasm would be welcome. So, I turn back around, erasing the stray pencil on my sketch, and say, "have fun."

Liam ruffles my hair (nooo not the hair). "Oh, I will. And Dad is coming too, so-"

"I'm alone?"

"Yeah. Take care of Sunny."

I give a glance through the side of my eyes at the duckling sleeping on my pillows, and wonder why Liam would get a pet mere days before flying internationally. Sunny, who seems to love everyone and who might be still adjusting to this new place she's in.

"OK."

And then Liam leaves.

-+-

The next morning, the apartment is as silent as the Wanderling Woods, as I silently pad along barefoot to the kitchen for breakfast. Unfortunately, Liam's early morning lessons and practices have reset my internal clock - meaning I wake up a little too early for my liking every day - including weekends.

I try to keep my weekdays somewhat productive. I don't stay holed up at home - I go out and I silently, solely work on my empathy, and these newfound skills I've found myself with. Liam also insisted on practicing with me - he actually forced me to use my "manipulation" on him, and experiment with what I could do.

I made the mistake of telling him I was scared to do so.

"Are you going to keep running from it, then? Make it your own," he'd told me. "You have control now - might as well do something with it."

And so I did. As we worked, I pushed myself to limits no mentor did before. We soon realized that I didn't need to make eye-contact for my words to take full control of someone - and at one point, I didn't even need to say words. Liam wondered out loud if my power could be used along the lines of telepathy, and I worked on it, and what do you know, it can be!

Liam, at one point, also asked me to see if my new abilities worked on animals - namely Sunny. I refused to do anything dark or mysterious or anything remotely dangerous to her, so he recommended I try "little" things, like asking her to flap her wings, or quack.

Unfortunately, the terror and confusion in Sun-Sun's eyes told me enough that 1) it worked, and 2) she hated it as much as I did. So I shut off and gave her more cracked corn that was probably good for her and said I'll never do it again - which I haven't.

On the days I wasn't practicing, I was writing, reading, or drawing. I can't remember how it happened or when - but whenever I pose my fingers over the keyboard, I find that my fingers know what words to type, what messages to say. I zone out, not really caring what I'm typing - I have yet to figure out what it is I'm really doing.

Sunny spends most of the time entertaining herself. With the Daniels gone, the both of us leave each other to their own resorts - though I try to avoid leaving so that Sunny isn't alone.

I'm a sensitive person, contrary to what you may believe.

One morning, I wake up, look at my room, and say, "this is a mess."

Sunny honks her agreement. I spend the rest of the day cleaning up my room, and from there we end up cleaning the rest of the apartment. Sunny pulls her weight where and when she can - it's amazing how much you'll accomplish by making a duck wet and soapy, and then telling her to go slide on the counters.

We spend the rest of the day doing that, and then there's a flash of light in my peripheral vision and two guys are standing in my kitchen.