Book Two: KOTLC One-shots and More

Stellarlune 1 (Grady POV)

AN: @InkstheticBookworm requested this one!

As soon as Sophie made it home, Grady had gone with her to her room and made sure he was present when she saw the note Keefe had left her.

She stood there and read the note. But she didn't move. She just stared.

And stared.

"Are you okay?" Grady asked, sure he already knew the answer.

Sophie and Keefe were close. Too close. She wasn't going to handle this well.

She gave no indication that she had even heard him, so he asked again.

And yet she still stared. Grady was really starting to regret not reading the note before she came home. Perhaps the fact that Keefe indicated that Grady didn't want to know what was in there...was exactly why he should know what was in there.

He assumed it was some sort of goodbye. Explanation as to where he was going, or else simply apologizing for doing it.

But...

Keefe probably wouldn't care if Grady knew that.

Grady was aware that Keefe had feelings for his daughter.

And he wondered if Keefe had finally laid it all out in that note.

Finally, when he asked for a third time if Sophie was okay, she let out a hysterical laugh—that sounded a lot like a sob.

"How long ago did Keefe leave?" She asked, looking up at last.

Grady shrugged, not really wanting to answer. The less they discussed Keefe and what Grady knew about his departure, the better. Flori apologetically told Sophie that she hadn't seen Keefe so she didn't know when he'd been there.

"Is Sandor still outside?" Sophie asked, making for her door.

Grady blocked her. "Listen, kiddo. I know what you're thinking--"

"I doubt that."

You're thinking he can't possibly manage on his own and that you need to find him and drag him home.

And Grady had a feeling that if Sophie found him, Keefe would be very hard pressed to refrain from following her home.

"Keefe will be fine," he told Sophie, moving her away from her doorway. "He's very resourceful."

She locked her knees, refusing to be moved any further. "If you knew what he's planning, you wouldn't be saying that."

Grady didn't answer, still hoping he could avoid telling Sophie about the Imparter he'd convinced Keefe to take. Whatever was going on between the two of them--and whatever would happen between them when he inevitably returned—Grady intuitively knew that Keefe needed this time away. Not from Sophie--in fact, Grady had a feeling that leaving Sophie behind would be precisely what eventually drew Keefe back home--but from his life in the Lost Cities. Keefe needed to hide, needed to escape. Needed to figure some things out on his own. Needed to come to terms with the trauma he'd just endured, and what that meant for his future. He was also almost certainly safer out in the Forbidden Cities, where it would likely be harder for his mother or anyone else to find him, as long as he kept himself hidden.

But Grady didn't want to meet Sophie's eyes. She was much too intuitive for her own good sometimes, and he didn't want her to see that he was hiding something from her.

Nor did he want to share the fact that he fully intended to check in periodically with Keefe, who he knew would need to know someone was keeping tabs on his safety, and would do better if he also knew his friends were still safe.