ALL IN. sokeefe.

016

A white pill was pressed onto her tongue.

She was told to swallow, that it was a painkiller.

So she did. And it hadn't helped at all.

Sophie groaned, her face stinging.

Ow.

She was covered in bruises and lacerations, all inflicted by Gethen.

"You going to talk now, Moonlark?" He sneered at her, holding up a wickedly sharp blade. "Or should I carve up your pretty little face?" Sophie winced at the thought of the blade slicing her skin. She opened her mouth, about to admit defeat.

"Gethen! Gisela wants you." Ruy called, entering the room with another figure on his heels. The reason she said 'another figure' was because this mysterious figure was cloaked in black. His sleeve had a white eye emblem and Sophie shuddered. She hated that symbol.

As she drifted off into her mind, thoughts struck her like blades. What was Keefe doing? Being a  double agent for the Neverseen? Or... was he being a triple-agent for the Black Swan?

It was all so confusing.

She didn't think Keefe would betray her—but she didn't know that he wouldn't. But would he betray the Black Swan?

She didn't know.

And that hurt.

As she scrutinized her conversation with Keefe, turning it over and over again in her mind, she realized something.

Double agent.

Three skipped beats.

Maybe... Keefe was working against the Neverseen, under the guise of being a willing member of the order?

It hurt her brain to think about it, but it was a possibility.

She'd guess there was a fifty-fifty chance that he was actually on the Black Swan's side.

Snap!

Someone snapped their fingers, waking Sophie from her thoughts.

She blinked, eyes darting around the room.

A familiar figure stood tall and proud in a Neverseen cloak.

"Soph," They said, slipping their hood off, eyes finding hers.

Teal eyes.

Fitz's eyes.

Rage surged through her blood, singing through her bones.

"Fitz," She snarled, hatred in her eyes. "You traitor."

Ruy smirked at him.

"Didn't think she'd be grateful, did you?"

Fitz crouched down, cupping her cheeks. "Soph... I... I did this for us."

She flinched away.

"I did this for us."

Another excuse.

So many excuses.

"There is no 'us.'" She snarled at Fitz, anger flaming in her eyes.

"You took Keefe. Why did you take Keefe?" Sophie's voice broke, and tears started running down her cheeks.

Fitz wiped her tears away, the pad of his thumb resting warmly on her cheek. "Don't cry," He breathed, pain in his eyes.

"I'll cry if I want to," Sophie said coldly, "Now, get your hands off of me." Fitz flinched, eyes hurt.

His hand was still cupping her cheek. And she hated it.

Ruy leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Look, pretty boy, when a girl asks you to not touch her, you shouldn't touch her," He observed, eyes flinty. Fitz turned around and snarled at him, "I'll do what I want." He wrenched Sophie's face to his and kissed her.

Sophie froze.

His lips were on her lips,

His lips were on her lips.

She clamped her mouth shut, not kissing him back. Ruy vaulted off the wall, and in quick, neat strides, reached them. He grabbed the collar of Fitz's jerkin and yanked him back.

Fitz's eyes popped open in surprise. "Ruy?" He said, surprise flaring in his eyes. "What are you doing?" Ruy simply looked him in the eyes and said, "What's right." From a pocket in his cloak, he pulled out a shimmering blue elixir. He tilted it against Fitz's mouth, forcing him to swallow. He let go of Fitz's collar, letting him fall to the floor.

Sophie gaped at him in surprise. "W-what? What are you doing?" Ruy replied with a wry smile. "What's right. Now, let's get out of here." He circled behind her and crouched, untying the bonds on her wrists. As soon as he undid them, Sophie brought her hands to her face, feeling the smooth, uninjured skin.

Gethen had cut her everywhere, except for her face and neck. He called it a mercy. She thought it was a cruelty.

Ruy quickly undid the bonds wrapping around her ankles, and she stood uncertainly, looking around the clean, stark white room. Fitz was sprawled on the floor, unconscious. Blood was seeping from his nose, spilling into the pure white floor. Red filled her vision, tears pricking at her eyes. She felt woozy. Maybe it was because of the pill...

She wobbled over to him, and drove her foot into his face. A satisfying crack! echoed through the empty room. Sophie smirked, a rush of adrenaline making her light-headed. She wobbled, and Ruy rushed to catch her. "Steady," He breathed, hands on her arms. "Let's go."

She looked up into his piercing blue eyes and slurred, "Why are you helping me?"

His blue eyes were the last thing she saw as he muttered, "Because I want to. Now, sleep that pill off."

Black enveloped her senses, clouding out her thoughts.

A black shadow-monster with blood-soaked teeth chased her through memories.

Her and Dex being kidnapped.

Silveny's whinny of pain as her wing was broken.

Sandor being thrown off the mountain.

Seeing Mr. Forkle die in front on her, his blood flowing everywhere.

Fitz being stabbed by a arthropleura, venom leaking from the wound.

Keefe, broken and bleeding, a bloody slash down his stomach, courtesy of King Dimitar.

Biana, pale and unresponsive, lying in a pool of her own blood.

Her and Fitz, out for weeks, because of the echoes that still sometimes haunted her.

Sophie jolted awake, sweat coating her skin. She blinked hard, struggling to place where she was. "Where am I?" She croaked out, not expecting an answer. She looked around the room and realized that she was in her bed. Havenfield.

"Your bed." A voice said. Sophie squinted around her room, searching for the source. When she saw who it was, she gasped.

Sitting on her desk, having swiped away all of the papers and pens that normally took residence there, was a certain blonde-haired boy she hadn't thought she'd see again. Keefe.

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