time with other dudes. And you know what? That’s good for him. We all know that boy could use a little help in the humility department. So make him sweat a little. And you”—she spun back toward Keefe—“need to stop being so afraid.”
“Afraid of what?” Sophie asked.
“I’m not afraid,” Keefe argued. “I’m being a good friend.”
“And how’s that working out?” Ro countered.
“Awesome!” Keefe spat back.
“Yeah, it looks super awesome watching you draw until your fingers cramp every night because you’re giving up without even trying.”
“Giving up?” Sophie asked.
Keefe flopped back on the bed and covered his face with his hands. “Ugh, I’m so over this conversation!”
“So am I,” Sandor agreed. “Aren’t we supposed to be discussing the fact that your mother has given an order to have you killed by one of your friends?”
Suffocating silence followed.
“I wouldn’t say Bangs Boy and I are friends,” Keefe eventually muttered as he slowly sat back up. “More like frenemies. So I guess Mom kinda got that part right.”
“No, she didn’t,” Sophie said, trying to decide if she should go sit beside him. They were back to the brutal topic, but… it felt so awkward. “I’ll never understand why you and Tam have your ridiculous feud going on, but he took a huge risk to warn you to stay away.”
“Yeah, I’m all warm and fuzzy about it. What was it he said again? Lock me up if you have to? What a good buddy!”
“Keefe—”
“Uh-uh, Foster. I know what you’re thinking—and I don’t care what Bangs Boy said. I’m not sitting any of this out! And if you try to lock me up, it’s on.”
“Anyone else kinda want to see that?” Ro asked, raising her hand. “Come on—you know you’re curious, Gigantor. Our girl’s got a feisty side to her that’s gonna be epic when she fully unleashes it.”
Keefe rolled his eyes but kept his focus on Sophie. “Do you really believe my mom would let something crucial like this leak? She’s totally playing us! If she actually planned on killing me, she wouldn’t breathe a word about it until it was time to give the death order—and there’s no way she’d leave it up to Mr. Happy Shadow Thoughts. He’s a sulky know-it-all with ridiculous hair, but… he’s not a murderer.”
Sophie truly wanted to believe that.
But her brain kept picturing the same horrifying scenario: Linh and Keefe both prisoners—strapped to some sort of brutal countdown contraption—and the only way for Tam to save one is to kill the other.
Sure, it sounded like the final showdown in a cheesy human spy movie, but… they were living in a reality with cloaked villains setting unstoppable fires and unleashing genetically engineered beasts and flooding cities.
And even if it wasn’t something quite so dramatic, if Tam had to choose between Keefe and his sister…
“Huh,” Keefe said, fanning the air. “So… you think Tammy Boy would—dare I say it—do the ‘dark deed’?”
“I think I don’t want to find out what happens if he’s faced with an impossible decision,” Sophie corrected, scratching at her arms to rub away the chills. “And I’m sure Tam doesn’t either. That’s why he gave me that warning.”
“But it’s not a real warning! I bet you anything my mom ordered him to tell you that, so you’d get all protective and distracted.”
“Then why was your first reaction to say you knew this would happen?” Sophie wondered aloud. “You said you’re a liability.”
“I am a liability. But this isn’t how she’s going to get rid of me. This is just her trying to keep me out of her way or scare me into cooperating, because some tiny part of her is still hoping I’ll change my mind and be who she wants me to be. Once that hope’s gone, or once she realizes how much progress I’m making on my memories, she will try to off me. And I guarantee that plan won’t come with a warning. She’ll just make her move and… I guess we’ll see if I survive it.”
He said the last part with a shrug, but his voice cracked ever so slightly. And it helped Sophie scrape together the courage to sit down beside him.
“I will never let her hurt you,” she promised.
“Neither will I!” Ro flung her dagger, nailing the center of one of the starfish set into the wall. “And FYI—the next time I see Mommy Dearest, I’m aiming for her head.”
“Perfect! Problem solved!” Keefe told her. And his expression was probably supposed to be a smirk—but Sophie could see the