Vendy Martínková’s Reviews > Exile > Status Update

He handed her the vial when she was settled.
“I’ll do everything I can to guide you through this. But you’re going to have to fight hard.”
“I always do.”

“I love that neither of us thought to bring a light, either.”
“You don’t need one,” a gravelly voice said from the shadows, making both Keefe and Sophie scream.
“Dude—that was not cool,” Keefe said as a hairy brown dwarf skulked out into the moonlight.

He was quiet for a few seconds, and Sophie thought he was going to ignore her. But then he leaned closer—close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek as he said, “I know I crack a lot of jokes, Sophie, but . . . that’s just because it’s easier, you know? It’s how I deal. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care. I do. A lot.”

“You know I’ll have to go alone? Silveny won’t let anyone else come.”
“Actually, that’s where you’re wrong,” Grady said. “There is one other person Silveny trusts, and even though he’s not my first choice as an escort for you, he’s better than no one.”
Sophie couldn’t quite hide her groan. “You realize you’re putting my life in the hands of Keefe Sencen, right?”

KEEFE FUCKING SENCEN

Grady strangled her with a hug. “I would give almost anything to have him back,” he whispered. “But I won’t give up you.”

A small sob slipped through her lips as she read the four words that changed everything.
We can fix you.

Sophie bit her lip. “It’s nothing. I guess I just didn’t realize you didn’t have a Sencen crest pin.”
“Uh, you’ve met my father—you’ve seen what he’s like. He’s always told me I have to earn my place in the family. And I guess now I have.”

“So, Foster, what time am I coming over—and I’m hoping it’ll be after you shower.”
She fanned his stink away. “Uh, I hope you’re planning on showering too.”
“He’s coming over again?” Dex whined, turning several heads.

Grady rubbed his temples. “So . . . Keefe Sencen?”
“What about him?”
“What about Dex?”
“What about Dex?”

“It’s a date, Foster!” Keefe shouted, turning every head in the corridor and making her grit her teeth so hard her jaw hurt. “Looking forward to it.”
That made one of them.