Keeper of the Lost Cities: Elysian

Chapter 33

The sunlight was brighter outside than inside Elysian's house.

Bright, but not warm.

Cold. Sharp. Intense.

Sophie instinctively shielded her eyes. 

"Sophie!" someone shouted.

It was Fitz.

And his parents were running towards her behind him.

"Sophie," Fitz repeated. She could see him clearly now. His teal eyes showed relief at seeing her.

Della looked considerably better than the last time Sophie had seen her. There was no sign at all that she had been severely injured and bleeding.

Alden, too, looked completely unscathed. And his expression, too, was relieved.

The entire family looked neat and polished. Elegant and perfect.

Sophie swallowed. She'd been practically begging for a conversation, hadn't she? This was her reward.

She had opened the door and stepped outside, after all.

"You look a little pale, Sophie," Della commented.

"It's not surprising," Grady said, appearing next to her. "A lot of things have happened."

He was being intentionally vague, but everyone knew what he was talking about.

A heavy, uncomfortable blanket of silence settled on all of them. Nobody wanted to talk.

The memories were difficult enough; who wanted to relive them?

Fitz took a deep breath. "I should have been here with you."

"Why? You're not my bodyguard." The words shot out of her mouth. It was too late for Sophie to stop them.

Alden, Della, and Grady tensed. Fitz looked uncomfortable.

"Because?" Fitz tried. "Umm... I'm your friend. And I care about you. So... I should be allowed to want to be close to you and protect you?"

He asked it as a question. What was he trying to say?

Sophie was having a very difficult time understanding. "That might be true, but that doesn't take away the fact that... we didn't need any other people here. Lady Gisela, her Telepath, and who knows who else had us under her control. No offense... but you wouldn't have really done anything."

Fitz flinched as if he had been struck.

"Maybe," he continued tentatively. "But that's still the responsibility of a friend."

What was happening to her?

Why. Had. She. Said. Those. Awful. Words?

She just couldn't think anymore. Fitz was just trying to be helpful, kind, and considerate. Why was she being so horrible to him for that?

She clenched her fists as she held back tears.

"I didn't mean it like that," Sophie said quietly, guilt threatening to overwhelm her. "I'm sorry."

There was nothing left to say.

But Fitz smiled. "It's okay. I understand that you're kind of stressed right now... but I'm still your friend. So I hope I can help."

Kind of stressed right now... an understatement.

She didn't display her emotional turmoil and ignored all the conflicting signals she was getting from everyone.