Dreamwatcher | KOTLC

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Friend or Foe?

"Who are you?" Fitz breathed, staring into the stranger's eyes. 

They were ice blue.

"Keefe...?" Fitz asked. "Is that you?

The stranger looked at Fitz, and for a millisecond, his face showed recognition, but it was swept away with more confusion. "Who's Keefe?"

Fitz looked down, extremely embarrassed. He just looked at some random guy and asked if it was Keefe. Of course, it's not Keefe! Keefe's in the Lost Cities . . . right?

Fitz had never really thought about where Keefe had gone, and when 一 if 一 he was going to return. But what he did know was that Keefe was a jerk. Sophie had every right to get mad at him. Keefe betrayed her, and everyone else he knew. 

But was he as bad as Alvar? No. Lord Cassius? Maybe. Lady Gisela? Yes. Maybe it runs in the family. . . betraying everyone you care 一 cared 一 about for your own selfish reasons. 

Fitz snapped back to reality just in time, because the stranger was looking at Fitz with annoyance and confusion in his vibe. "The name's Kevin; I don't know who Keefe is, but he sounds great . . ." 

Kevin realized his mishap and quickly swore under his breath. "Language!" Fitz shouted. 

"Whatever, F一," Kevin started but quickly corrected himself before he got the full word out. "I guess I'll be off then," Kevin finished before walking off. 

Fitz just stood there. What an awkward conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a moving figure that immediately caught his attention. 

Dirty-blond hair?

Brown eyes?

Hugging a little blue elephant?

It absolutely had to be Sophie.

"Sophie?" he gasped. 

But it wasn't Sophie. 

"Yes?" the girl answered. 

Was her name actually Sophie?

"Who said my name?" the girl repeated. 

Yep. 

"Unfortunately, the girl spotted Fitz and eyed him suspiciously. "How do you know my name?" she demanded. 

"Oh, uh, sorry, I was talking to someone else," Fitz ducked away and sprinted as fast as he could go before the Little Sophie could say anything else. 

一一一一一

Fitz was tired. 

Very tired. 

But also very, very embarrassed. 

He just sprinted away from a little girl who had done nothing but asked him why he had said her name, and he didn't even know that that was her name. 

As if on cue, he heard the Little Sophie's voice once again. "Mommy! Mommy! I made a big kid run away!"

"Now, Sophie, that's not very nice. You should apologize to him," said a voice that Fitz assumed was the mother. 

"But he ran away!" Little Sophie protested. 

Sophie's mom threatened her again that if she didn't apologize, her mother would have to return her stuffed elephant, which was 一 to Fitz's astoundment 一 named Ellie. 

Sophie huffed and 一 while declaring her defeat of the argument 一 said, "I think he went this way."

To avoid having to deal with Little Sophie and her mother, he took off again, this time going for a light jog. He eventually neared the Eiffel Tower. 

"Back to square one, I guess," Fitz admitted with a sigh. He scanned the area, knowing that won't help but trying anyway. 

Suddenly, he felt a soft tap on the shoulder. The female ─ Fitz noticed as soon as she cleared her voice 一 started blabbering about how she got lost and needed help, without even bothering that Fitz hadn't even turned to face her yet. 

When Fitz turned around, the girl's eyes widened 一 they were either filled with fear, confusion, or anger. 

"Fitz," she warned, tucking a lock of brown hair behind her ear. "What are you doing here?"

Apparently, Fitz had forgotten about her, but when he noticed his Imparter in her left pocket, it hit him. 

"Mabel?"