Flashback ( PDFDrive )

“You did?” Keefe interrupted.
“Well, first I tried asking about all your missing memories, but
Fintan called me out for being too broad. So I asked about the
damaged memory we found. And he confirmed that you weren’t
supposed to get that one back.”
Keefe closed his eyes. “Anything else?”
“A little. He said your mom kept certain projects to herself, so he
didn’t know very much about them. But he did tell me that your mom
sent you to that house in London to try to recruit someone for
something—and yes, she was trying to recruit a human. Fintan said it
didn’t work out. And . . . that’s all he told me. I know that’s not much
to go on, but . . .”
“Hey, it’s more than I had,” he said quietly.
His legs were wobbling at that point, and he stumbled over to the
staircase and sank onto the bottom step.
Sophie sat beside him, reaching for his hand. “Are you okay?”
He stared at their tangled fingers. “Yeah.”
The silence stretched and stretched, until Sophie had to break it.
“I’m sorry it’s not more.”
“Uh, you so don’t need to apologize. I mean . . . you had one
question you could ask Fintan, and you used it to ask about my
memory. That’s . . .”
He looked away, blinking hard.
It looked like he was fighting back tears, but Sophie could tell he
didn’t want her to see them. Even Ro had stepped back, standing
quietly in the corner. Giving them space.
So Sophie just squeezed his hand a little tighter, letting him cling to
her if he needed to.