a dangerous combination [discontinued]

~ S I X T Y - T H R E E ~

"Alright so since Wraith so kindly already set these up around the place," Dex was saying as Sophie entered the tech room where the rest of her friends were listening to Dex explain his invention to them. "Once they detect any of the Neverseen member's faces that we already put into the database, we'll be alerted here." he pointed to one of the screens in the room.

"So one of us will have to be here at all times?" someone asked.

"We'll do separate shifts," one of the members of the Collective decided. "Whoever is manning the device will be responsible of alerting everyone else."

There were a couple murmurs of skepticism and doubt, but nobody really objected. Having noticed that the meeting was just about over, the room emptied fairly quickly, until even Mr. Forkle left and told Sophie and her friends to get some sleep.

"Are you sure this is going to work," Sophie murmured, her fingers tracing the lenses of one of the prototype cameras. "I mean, the Neverseen have probably figured out by now that Keefe isn't on their side."

"Maybe not," Keefe called from the other end of the room. "I gave my mom an update a few days ago and told her you were still recovering. And she doesn't know that I know about her attack."

"It doesn't make sense though," Tam mumbled from the corner. "Why would they choose the Sanctuary of all places."

"Think about it, Bangs Boy. The Neverseen's main objective is to take control of the elvin world. And what better way to do that than to attack the elves' most prized creatures and show everyone that the Council is incompetent and can't protect them and their families at all?"

"I love how you talk about them like you're not one of them," Tam said, shooting a glare at Keefe. "For the record, I still don't trust anything you say."

"You don't have to," Sophie intervened before this could turn into a full-blown argument. "But this is the best lead we have so far. Do you honestly want to sit here and wait until someone discovers a new scrap of information that's probably wrong anyway?"

"Cut it out, guys," Biana hissed, glowering at the three of them. "As of right now, we trust Keefe."

"Sophie's right," Fitz jumped in. "I'd much rather be doing this than waiting around and wondering how much longer we're going to keep losing." He flashed Sophie a small smile, and Sophie gave him a tiny one in return.

They hadn't acknowledged the awkwardness between them after the kiss, but Sophie was glad that they were still somewhat friends even after all of it.

Linh, who had said nothing the entire time had her eyes on Dex while he fiddled with what looked like a set of rings. "What's that?"

Sophie squinted, and saw that he was holding a ring with an opal set into the center and the rest of the rings on the table had a different colored stone set into them.

"Panic switches," Dex mumbled, his eyes staring at the floor. "I thought they would be useful."

Biana picked one up and inspected it. "So, like, we press the stones in the middle and it notifies everyone else wearing a ring."

"Basically."

Linh grinned and picked up one with a yellow stone. "Wow, that's really smart."

Dex's face went nuclear as he met her eyes. "You really think so?"

"Yep! This is genius!"

He smiled tentatively at her, to which she beamed back. "Th-thanks, Linh."

Sophie grinned at the two of them, immediately shipping them together. Definitely the cutest couple ever.

She also caught Tam and Keefe pretending to gag and retch after witnessing it.

Boys.

~~~

s h i p ❤️❤️

- riya
12/1/20