UNLOCKED, kotlc

Chapter 18

"Back so soon, Foster?"  Keefe asked, raising an eyebrow as he spotted her hurrying up to the porch.  "I know I'm good looking, but will you really die if my face is failed to be shown in your presence?"

Sandor glanced at Sophie pointedly like, This is why I don't like this boy.

 "I'm already dead from seeing too much of you, Keefe," Sophie grumbled, and Ro perked up from behind her charge like this could be a very interesting comeback battle.  "Apart from that though..."

"It's not your fault," Keefe said, like he knew what she was going to say.

"Really?"  Sophie didn't mean to sound so bitter, but Amy was right.  She'd saved the Elvin world, so many times, and then they all turn on her because... because...  "It sounded like they were blaming me.  After all, Maruca wouldn't be in this mess if I didn't let her go with us to Loamnore, because that was where your mom learned that she was a Psionopath."

Keefe flinched at the sound of his mom's name.  "Yeah, I get it, my mom's not cool.  But if you're going to blame yourself, you might as well blame me too.  The only reason my mom went there was so I could fulfill my stupid legacy- and so far the only thing that's happened is I get the same ability as Tammy Boy."

"And you saved my life at Foxfire," Sophie pointed out.

"I know," Keefe said quietly.  "But you of all people should know how hard it is not to blame yourself for the things that happen to your friends."

"You elves are soooooooooooo weird," Ro complained from the corner.  "One moment you're all 'Poof! Look at me!  I'm so sparkly and I can do all these fancy tricks!' And then the next you're like 'let's have a pity party because all of our friends aren't sparkly enough.'"

"We're not sparkly," Sophie said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.  She hated sparkles- especially on her clothes.

Ro looked amused, and then went right back to painting her nails, a grin playing on her features.  Sophie and Keefe rolled their eyes.

"Seriously, Foster," Keefe said.  "Don't beat yourself up about it, okay?  They're just... in shock I guess.  And looking for someone to blame.  And that's you.  And remember, Fitzter can be a little bit... hasty with his emotions.  I'm an Empath, trust me.  His emotions were spiking with anger, but underneath that... it - it wasn't the same."

Keefe locked eyes with her, and took her hand, making her heart beat faster and her cheeks warm up ever so slightly.

"Trust the Empath," Keefe said, his voice barely a whisper.

And Sophie wanted to believe him, that everything was going to be alright, but it wasn't.

She had so many responsibilities. Team Valiant!  And her search for her parents!And Maruca!  And on top of all of that, she had no adoptive parents or any of her friends to vent about it.... except for Keefe.

"Awwwww, you guys are adorable!" Ro said, breaking the moment- which freaked Sophie out just a little bit when she realized that she'd thought of it as a "moment".  Ro turned to Sandor and grinned.  "Aren't they adorable?"

Sandor rolled his eyes, looking less than thrilled.

And even though humiliation burned in her cheeks, a part of her might've wished that the moment could've lasted forever.

___________

"And you're sure they're gone, correct?" Bronte asked for the hundredth time, probably since it was hard to believe.

"Yes, I'm sure," Sophie said, trying to push the exasperation out of her voice.  "I think I would know if my adoptive parents were gone, don't you think?"  She choked back another sarcastic comment.

"That's true," Oralie said kindly, and Sophie turned away. Normally she would've been thrilled to hear such supportive words... but Oralie was her mother.  Her biological mother. And Sophie still couldn't get over every single lie that Oralie had fed to her, every single time she'd pretended to be nice even though she knew that she would be ruining Sophie's...... Sophie shut out the thoughts.  She had too much to worry about right now.

Sophie tryed to avoid her teamates faces, the members of Team Valiant.  Biana, who had been Maruca's friend when she'd felt left out, and Stina, who'd also befriended the Psionipath... and especially Wylie.

She'd been dreading coming to Eternelia and having to face the Councillers about Grady, Edaline, and Maruca.

They could be being tortured, or even killed.... how did Sophie even know that they were still alive?

She sensed Stina flinch from beside her, probably from her over-spiking emotions, and Sophie tried to shut them down for her sake.  She at least owed her friends that.

And as she waited impatiently for Counciller Emery to announce their assignment, her head swam with ideas and worries and wonders and wishes and....

"Ms. Foster," Emery declared.  "Take Team Valiant with you- your next assignment is to find Maruca and your parents."