(18) undercover

                                    

                                          
Although the sun had set long ago, the street bustled with nighttime activity. Vendors called to market shoppers while musicians filled the air with bright, lively music. Shops displayed products ranging from silky scarves to glazed pastries.
                          
Sophie wished she could stop and browse, if only for a moment, but as per usual she had more pressing matters to attend to.
                          
She reached to her left, feeling giddy in spite of herself when Keefe's hand automatically wrapped around hers. See anything yet? she asked.
                          
No, Keefe responded moodily. Although that was a nice blast of enthusiasm coming from you. Are you really that excited to hold my hand?
                          
Sophie blushed. Shut up.
                          
Keefe's laugh was light, but his tight-lipped smile and narrowed eyes said otherwise. Being in the forbidden cities on a stakeout for the Black Swan probably wasn't easing his stress, either.
                          
Sophie squeezed his hand, marveling at his warmth even through the material of her glove. Don't worry. Just be patient.
                          
To any outsider, Sophie and Keefe looked like another teenage couple wandering through the city on a fun night out—but a closer look revealed the strain in Keefe's gaze as he scanned their surroundings, the worry in Sophie's eyes beyond her years, and the pale scars etched on their skin from conflict no regular human had seen. 
                          
"It's been a few hours already. Should we be worried?" Keefe muttered as they ducked down yet another street. It was almost odd to hear his voice after so many hours of communicating telepathically.
                          
"Tiergan would've hailed us by now," Sophie reminded him. "And if we don't find anything, that's a good thing, right?"
                          
Keefe sighed. "I guess." He lightly squeezed her hand. "I was at least hoping we'd get a lead, though."
                          
Sophie sighed in agreement. They'd been working around the clock for months trying to track down the Neverseen. She and her friends spent nearly all their spare time scouring the world—human and elvin—for a clue of some sorts. But so far they'd found nothing. To say the least, everyone was frustrated.
                          
Her latest assignment from Mr. Forkle landed them in some obscure region of Spain, where the Black Swan had gotten wind of a possible Neverseen presence. Sophie was under strict instructions to only scout out the area and avoid confrontation. Because of this, Mr. Forkle would have ideally wanted anyone but Keefe to accompany her—but their resources were already stretched so thin that he'd had no choice. Not that Sophie was complaining.
                          
"This is kind of nice, isn't it?" Sophie asked. She smiled as a flock of squealing kids ran by, the lights of the marketplace reflected in their eyes.
                          
"Yeah." Keefe softened. "If you ignore the fact that we're hunting down an evil organization of bloodthirsty elves, it almost feels like a date."
                          
Sophie rolled her eyes but laughed. "C'mon, Keefe, lighten up a bit." They passed a window display of a bakery, glistening with croissants and pastries. "Are you hungry? We could grab a bite to eat. Or watch some street performers. Or we could—"
                          
Keefe stopped. "Soph," he said, and when she turned around he took her face in his hands and kissed her.
                          
She gasped for air when he pulled away. "What was that for?" she asked, hoping her face wasn't as bright red as it felt.
                          
His eyes glowed mischievously in the light, a welcome change from his worried frown. "To get you to shut up. Is it not enough to just hang out together?" 
                          
"Keefe, n-no! I mean—you're always enough!" she spluttered. 
                          
He snorted. "I'm messing with you, Foster. I know I'm irresistible." Keefe's face stretched into a full-blown Sencen smirk.