Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,35

off the floor and handing it to her. “I’ve had a few sips from this, but if I head to the kitchen for a fresh one, Lord Annoyingpants will be waiting there with questions.”

Sophie nodded, taking the bottle with shaky hands and downing the whole thing in one long swig. And the cool sweetness did clear most of the fog from her head. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Preeeeeeeetty sure it’s called freaking out,” Keefe said, sinking onto the bed beside her. “The question is, why?”

Sophie sighed, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. She hadn’t noticed the skylights scattered around the room, or how their thick blue glass made it feel like she was peering up at the sky from somewhere deep underwater—which wasn’t a helpful observation. It made the tightness in her chest feel even more like she was drowning. “I guess… it’s just hitting me that we’re really doing this. We’re really trying to find my biological parents.”

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Keefe asked.

She nodded.

Then shook her head.

“No. I need to know who they are. But… if I didn’t… I’d be good with just pretending they don’t exist. And the thought of maybe having to face them someday makes me sick.”

“Yeah, I got that when you almost blacked out on me. And I think my stomach’s going to need a week to recover from all of this. But don’t apologize,” he added when she was about to do just that. “You’re allowed to freak out—this is a huge thing.”

“It is,” Sophie mumbled, relieved he understood. “We’re trying to find the people who volunteered to give up their DNA so their child could be turned into some freak—”

“You’re not a freak,” Keefe interrupted. “You’re special. There’s a huge difference.”

She shrugged, not sure if she should agree to that.

But she really wished she could.

“Either way, they didn’t know how I’d turn out when they signed me up for this,” she argued. “For all they knew, I could’ve ended up with two heads or three arms or something.”

“Ohhhhhh, that would’ve been amazing!” Ro jumped in. “The Black Swan should totally make that happen someday!”

“I’m pretty sure everyone involved with Project Moonlark trusted that Forkle knew what he was doing,” Keefe said, ignoring his bodyguard. “He’s supersmart when he’s not being all curmudgeon-y.”

“Maybe. But it still seems like my parents can’t be very awesome people if they were willing to gamble like that with their kid. Especially since they also knew how dangerous this would be.”

Keefe hesitated a second before he reached for her gloved hand. “I definitely know how it feels to have a not-so-awesome family. But like you’re always telling me, that doesn’t change anything about you. And… I have a feeling your biological parents signed up for this because they knew Project Moonlark was going to create something amazing, and they wanted to be a part of it, even if they had to do it secretly and trust the Black Swan to keep their daughter safe.”

“I hope you’re right,” she whispered, and silence settled between them—until Keefe started to pull his hand away. She tightened her hold, needing that extra bit of support to ask, “Do you think I already know them?”

Keefe chewed his lip. “I kinda feel like Forkle might’ve tried to avoid that. Most people can’t pull off hiding something so huge.”

“I guess that’s true.” She sucked in a steadying breath before she could admit, “I think… I’m going to hate them. Especially if I have met them and they’ve pretended like I’m nobody. That’s the part I’m dreading. If it’s someone I thought I liked…”

“I get that,” Keefe told her. “But… you found a way to make it work with Forkle, right? After you found out he wasn’t just the nosy old human guy who lived next door like you thought, you figured out how to deal with him as your ‘creator.’ And Calla was part of Project Moonlark, and you two were super close. So… I’m not saying it won’t be weird at first, but with a little time it might get easier.”

“Maybe. But this feels bigger than all of that, you know? I mean, they’re my biological parents. They were supposed to love me. And I know how awful I sound right now, since I’ve gotten to live with two super-awesome families and you’ve been stuck with your mom and dad. I realize how lucky I am. And I shouldn’t need anything else. I just… it’s hard to explain.”

“I get