Keeper of the Lost Secrets

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Keefe Looks Hot in All He Wears: Human Clothes Edition!

"I thought a date might be a good idea after getting totally beat by a Level Two." Keefe said, when we met up at his house. I'd waltzed in early, sporting a T-shirt that read: LOST MY BRAINCELL. CALL IF FOUND and blue jeans. When I arrived, Keefe was haphazardly styling his hair, which abnormal for him. He considered his hair a ritual of love. To speed it up might as well have said he didn't care for his hair, and that was far from true. Keefe, as usual, managed to flaunt his signature smirk paired with a tank top and some jean shorts, prominently displaying his athletic build.

When I didn't jam my gaping mouth shut, Keefe pushed my chin to my upper jaw and winked at me. As he did so, the gold chain he wore dangled forward, and I could see a multitude of rings on his fingers, of all colours. Today he had painted his nails black. He didn't strike me as the type to go for black nails, but it starkly complemented the rainbow that was his nails.

"If you wanted me to dress up, you could've just said so." I tried copying his smirk, thinking about how drab I looked in comparison. Keefe took my hand, and realisation burned my cheeks as he read my emotions.

"You fine as hell in that." Keefe said, soothing my racing heart.

"Where did you even find this?" I laughed.

"Stole from your house."

"Keefe!"

I laughed and raced him to the vortinator. As we hopped on, Keefe squeezed my hand. The world around us sped up at least fifty times, but, in a matter of mere seconds, were on the ground floor. But, instead of rushing out the door to leap, we were greeted by a cold face, smiling at us, mock shadowing the features.

"Dad." Keefe said, stiffening with the sentiment. "Fitz and I were just heading off."

"Where are you going, Keefe?" Lord Cassius narrowed his eyes, gaze sharpening. He hadn't even acknowledged my presence. "And more importantly, when will you be back?"

"I'll be gone the afternoon." Keefe said, his body relaxing, but his expression remained guarded. With that, he grabbed my hand and pushed me out the door. Him and I nearly collapsed in a heap on the grass. When I turned back to look at him, he regained his usual happy expression, albeit with some cloudiness behind his eyes.

Keefe grabbed my hand and muttered into the pathfinder a place I didn't hear, and soon we were transported into a whole new world.

Shrubbery and bushes attacked me as I reformed from the light, and I nearly stumbled on the boulders that we had leaped to. The place looked like an untamed jungle, but as if someone had painted it, so it didn't really look untamed, just like someone had imitated the nature of a forest. No, this was different kind of beauty, secluded and secret, tucked away from people and overlooking the clearest water body I'd seen in the Forbidden Cities.

"Ta da! I thought we could pick a place in the Forbidden Cities. And researching places in the Forbidden Cities is hard because, well you know . . . we're elves." Keefe grinned like an excited toddler. "Welcome to Initao National Park, in the Philippines. Wait, that doesn't sound right. Is it said Pill-ip-eins?"

I was too awestruck to answer. Keefe had illegally leaped us to the Forbidden Cities. For a date! I was mentally yelling about how I was in love with him, but managed a calm exterior, with softness behind my eyes. "I think it's Fill-ip-eens, Keefe."

Keefe smiled and sat down on one of the boulders, lodging his foot in-between another two smaller ones. I managed to squeeze in, centimetres away from the edge of the jagged rock. It reminded me of a sword.

Keefe pulled around a few treats from his pockets. "I didn't think we'd effectively fit a whole picnic basket, so I got us some prattles."

"It's perfect." I said, blushing as he handed me one. Our fingers touched, and I had to remind myself not to pull back. Even with how much I like Keefe, touching him, while knowing he could know what I feel, felt daunting.

I opened the prattle packaging and popped it into my mouth, my tongue relaxing at the sweet sensation that acted as a beacon of hope. "A kraken," I marvelled, pulling out the pin. "That's not too bad, is it? How rare is it?"

Keefe shrugged. "No idea, but I reckon I think he's Krakie."

"What?"

"That's his name. Krakie."

"I wouldn't expect anything less of you." I said this affectionately, Keefe returning the look in my eyes.

A shadow. My peripheral vision, sharp as a knife, caught it flying around us. But it was gone just as it came, and I was left, dumbstruck with a worrying Keefe questioning me.

"What's wrong?" He said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and kissing my cheek. I glanced around me, and sighed, resigned, when no shadow appeared.

"Nothing. I think I'm seeing things." I mumbled, picking up another prattle but not opening it. Another shadow, this time I whipped around hard enough to destabilise myself on the boulder. I fell painfully, a sharp rock digging into my lower back. I yelped in pain, and Keefe rushed to me immediately. But this time he caught eyes with what I did. A man, clearly human, evident by the wrinkles that reminded me of brain dissections back when I still looked for Sophie, all over his body. He hadn't noticed our presence and leaped away, but not before he muttered something.

"Florence." He said this and gone was he, with a flash of blue light. The flash was sharp and pricked my eyes and tickled my brain. I winced and leant on Keefe.

"Florence?" Keefe mumbled. "Is that a human name or something?"

"I have a feeling that's not what he's talking about." I said, rubbing my temples. "Keefe, I need to go home right now. I need to tell my dad about this. He'll kill me if I don't."

I saw a desolate look across Keefe's features, and only then did I realise I was cutting our date short. I opened my mouth to interject but he was already up and holding the pathfinder with one hand and holding mine with the other.

"Everglen." He whispered and gone were we, with a flash of light.