скачать книгу бесплатно
“I’ve got a group project in vertebrate anatomy, and the only time we could schedule it was then. I doubt we’ll get done early enough for me to get here at a decent hour, and if I stay in my dorm where there are no beautiful, fun distractions, I can finish up my homework and be absolutely yours all weekend. So first thing Saturday morning.”
He leaned in and kissed me. I wished he could melt away his glamour and kiss me as himself, talk to me as himself, but it wouldn’t do for someone to walk by and see me making out with a nearly invisible silhouette. The downside of dating a half-human, half-water elemental, I suppose.
Pulling back far sooner than I wanted him to (which, let’s face it, could have been several hours—I never got tired of kissing him), he got out and opened my door for me. The second I stepped out of the car, a strange chill breeze wrapped itself around me. All the hairs on my arms stood up in response. Shivering, I hugged Lend tightly, ignoring my bruises.
“Don’t do it, okay?” he whispered.
“Do what?”
“Work for IPCA again. Just—just don’t do it.”
I looked up into his face. “What if I can do some good?”
“You’re doing enough good being yourself. I worry about what might happen to you.”
I frowned, making a noncommittal noise, which he seemed to take as an agreement, judging by his smile. “I’ll see you Saturday.” He kissed me again and then waited for me to walk up the steps before getting back in his car and driving away.
Long-distance relationships? Suck. Majorly.
Sighing, I walked in and through the brightly lit diner. David bought On the Hoof a decade ago as a front for his paranormal-hiding operation. It provided jobs for paranormals in need and a good place for everyone to meet and keep track of one another. The decor was cheerful, a slightly tired fifties theme. Nona, the manager, waved at me, her gorgeous blond glamour hovering over oaky brown skin and greenish, mosslike hair. Allegedly she lived in the upstairs apartment with Arianna and me, but really she went back to the forest at night, setting down roots until the sun came up. Tree spirits—another species of paranormals I’d never met on bag-and-tag duty at IPCA. I was all about the violence and mayhem back then.
I nodded distractedly at several of the regulars, mostly vamps and werewolves, noting yet another new paranormal I’d never met, who made my heart hurt a little—she looked like a cross between Lish and a human, complete with gills on her neck and fins lining her bare legs beneath the glamour. Lately we’d been seeing more and more species neither David nor I had ever come across.
Come to think of it, a lot of new paranormals other than the werewolf or vamp variety had been visiting Nona, hanging around the diner or meeting her out back. And the sylph was certainly new. Maybe Nona would—
I shrieked, narrowly avoiding tripping over the kitchen gnome, a particularly grouchy specimen named Grnlllll. At least, I think that was her name. Or his name. Hard to tell with gnomes. Maybe that’s why she—he?—hated me. The glare seemed pretty feminine, though.
The desire to get away from Grnlllll’s baleful looks outweighed my desire to talk to Nona, and I slipped through the kitchen door. Upstairs at last, I collapsed onto the faded, floral couch.
“Evie?”
“Yup.”
Arianna skipped into the room, a glass in her hand. I deliberately did not look at what was in it. I never avoided looking at Arianna, though, even if her shriveled corpse body beneath her normal glamour (if you considered freakishly white skin and spiked red and black hair normal) creeped me out like all vamps did. It hurt her feelings, and despite our rough start last spring, I really did think of her as a friend. It wasn’t like she asked to be what she was, and she never drank human blood. Plus, she could be pretty fun when she wasn’t pissed off at me.
“Big afternoon?” Arianna settled onto the love seat and grabbed the remote, turning the television to our show.
“You could say that.” I rubbed my tender hip, wondering how black and blue I’d be in the morning.
“Okay. Loser does dishes for a week. I bet Landon and Cheyenne hook up but have a fight and break it off by the end of the episode.”
Trying to sound more enthusiastic than I felt, I countered. “No, Cheyenne rejects him because of some misunderstanding, and he starts shooting up again.”
“You’re on.” Arianna leaned forward, devouring the drama playing out on the screen in front of us.
I looked forlornly at the ceiling, trying to ignore the faint tingling sensation in my fingertips. I knew I should listen to Lend, stay away from IPCA, be grateful for my normal, boring life. I should live for the weekends, when I got to see him, and ignore the nagging pain always pulling at the back of my mind that it didn’t matter how much time I spent with him, how much I loved him, he could never really be mine because I was temporary and he was forever.
I was fine. This was enough. Besides, Lend didn’t want me to help IPCA.
But Lend wasn’t here, was he?
up,” a voice like water rippling over rocks whispered in my ear. I smiled and reached out my arms until I found Lend’s neck. I knew what I would see when I opened my eyes—almost nothing. My Lend in his true form. Squinting against the midmorning light, I looked into his water eyes.
“Good morning,” he said, and I melted.
“Morning.” I tried to pull him down next to me, but he laughed and ducked out from under my arms.
“Get up, lazy. Unless you want to sleep instead of hanging out with me?”
“I don’t know.” I closed my eyes again. “I am pretty tired.”
He answered by tossing a pillow onto my face. I laughed and rolled out of bed, brushing my teeth and changing while he chatted with Arianna out in the living room. My room was tiny—a glorified walk-in closet, really—but I’d painted the walls “obnoxiously pink,” to quote Arianna. I missed my posters from the Center, but I was slowly making the place mine. Sketches from Lend took up most of the free space, which made me feel like he was around even when he wasn’t.
“Of course I’m a necromancer,” Arianna explained to Lend. She was sitting in front of the sleek desktop, her favorite game running. “It’s ironic. In real life I’m one of the hordes of the living dead, and in my online life I control them.”
She spent nearly every daylight hour there, running quests with violet-skinned, scantily clad digital cohorts. A few weeks ago I was annoyed at never being able to check email and snarked that she should find something productive to do with her time. She made a point of showing me just how long a vampire can go without moving from a single spot.
It’s a long time.
But even worse, a couple of days into her sit-in, I overheard her sobbing. I haven’t mentioned anything since about how she uses her time. Having eternal life seems like a cool enough idea, but having it forced on you in that form? Not so much. Immortals like Nona try out being humanish every now and again for fun, but they were built to be forever. People weren’t, and Arianna’s corpse body under her glamour was a constant reminder to me of that.
“And that’s why I had to kill him—the Knife of O’orlenthaal should have been mine all along, the little skunk. Now we have to fight his guild, which is where my ability to raise armies of the dead comes in handy.”
“So what you’re saying is, you’ve been busy.” Lend grinned at her, and Arianna laughed. She treated him like a little brother. Lend, in turn, treated her like she was totally normal. I loved that about him; he took every paranormal at face value, and I could tell that it meant the world to ones like Arianna and most of the werewolves, who struggled with what they were. Lend had an amazing knack for balancing paranormal and normal and making everyone feel like they belonged.
“Totally busy. I also designed a few dresses—those reality show morons have nothing on me.”
“I’m telling you, start a website! You could make everything here and then sell online. You show me your dress sketches, I’ll make the site, and you and Evie can model.”
Arianna shrugged, squirming in her seat. She had been in fashion design school when she was changed. Lend was always trying to get her to pick it up again, but for some reason she never went through with it.
He looked up and smiled when he saw me in the hallway. “Ready?”
“Always. Sure you don’t want to hang out, Ari?” I asked. Please don’t want to hang out, I thought. We had plans for a movie with her this afternoon, but I wanted some time with just Lend for a few hours.
She waved a hand in the air, focused back on the computer. “Gotta finish this raid.”
A burst of affection for that stupid game welled up inside my chest. Hooray for role-playing and its effectiveness in de-chaperoning me!
Lend took my hand in his as we walked outside into the brisk October morning, a breeze rising to greet us as soon as we stepped onto the sidewalk. Summer had lingered this year, reluctant to give up her hold. Only in the last week or so had a chill crept into the nights. The leaves were hinting at change, gold and red weaving their way in. After living in the climate-controlled Center for so long, I was definitely a fan of this whole seasons thing.
I was also a fan of my boyfriend. The sunlight gave an extra sparkle to his water eyes, and his nearly black glamour hair was shiny and oh so adorable. The day couldn’t have been more perfect.
“I have a present for you,” Lend said. Did I say the day couldn’t have been more perfect? Because it totally just got better.
“What for?” I squealed, not trying to hide my excitement. Presents in the Center had been few and far between, and, with Raquel as the main giver, painfully practical. There was the travel-size first aid kit for my twelfth birthday, the infamous encyclopedia Christmas (honestly, who buys those anymore? It’s called the internet), and of course, the pinnacle of craptacular gift giving: socks. Every. Single. Year.
But the box Lend took out of his pocket definitely didn’t have socks in it. “Is it sparkly?” I bounced impatiently on my heels as he opened it.
He laughed and pulled out a delicate silver chain, threaded through an open heart-shaped pendant. Three pink stones lining one edge stood out in contrast to the dark metal of the heart. I pulled my hair off my neck and he clasped it there, the trace of his fingers against my skin raising goose bumps.
I fingered the cool metal. “It’s beautiful!”
“Oh good. I’ve never given jewelry before.”
“Well, you’ve set a ridiculously high standard for yourself. Should have started out with something tacky.” I put my arms around his neck and hugged him close, breathing in his cool scent.
“It’s not just pretty, though.”
“No?”
“Practical, too. The heart is made of iron.”
Warmth flooded through me, a spurt of affection I should have been used to by now but that still always managed to surprise me. Leave it to Lend to find a way to protect me with faerie-repelling iron. Of course, this meant that he was almost as practical as Raquel, but his practical was sparkly and pretty. I ran my fingers through his hair. “Perfect.”
“It is?”
“You are. But the necklace is, too.”
We kissed until an old lady walking her dog coughed loudly in our direction, reminding us that we were, in fact, on the sidewalk and not in our own little world. I smiled sheepishly at her, only then noticing that she was a glamoured paranormal. Her froggish face, mottled green, didn’t really go with her floral housedress and slippers. This town? Weird.
She wouldn’t quit staring; I couldn’t figure out what she was, and suddenly I was nervous. I glanced at the sky, to check for errant clouds, but didn’t see anything. Tugging Lend’s hand so we’d keep walking, I shook off my unease. “What else is on the agenda for this morning?” I asked.
“Doesn’t the necklace get me off the hook for planning things?”
“Fine. But it only buys you today. You still have to figure out something for us to do tomorrow. And as for right now, I think food is in order. Lots. I forgot breakfast.”
“Okay, we can—” Lend’s phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, frowning at the number. “One sec.” He answered it and I plotted what to do with the rest of the hours in the weekend. The movies this afternoon with Arianna, after which I had a secret plot to drag her out for karaoke. She denied it, but I totally caught her belting Duran Duran in the shower. If that didn’t work out, I was thinking bowling. I’d never gone and was guaranteed to be horrible, but it’d be fun with Lend. Maybe we could even double with Carlee and whatever boy she was currently dating.
My stomach sank as I tuned into the conversation.
“All of it?” Lend asked, his voice tight. “Can you— No, calm down, it’s okay, it’s not your fault. I’m glad you didn’t get hurt. I can come back up. Are you sure everyone’s stuff is gone?” He closed his eyes, holding back a sigh. “Okay, give me an hour or two to get there.” He hung up and stared at the phone as though he could erase the conversation.
And, just like that, my weekend evaporated. “What?”
“Natalie, a girl in my group, was in charge of compiling everything. Some guy stole her bag at the Metro station—took her laptop, all the notes, everything. We’re screwed. I’ve got to go and help them put it all back together. It’s three weeks’ worth of work.” His jaw was clenched with stress.
For the briefest moment I was tempted to tell him that getting a double degree in biology and zoology didn’t matter. At all. In the grand scheme of his immortal life, this one stupid college group project? Not even a drop in the bucket. But … if he knew he was more elemental than human, would he quit school? Quit normal life?
Quit me?
Yeah, so not telling him. Not right then, anyway. I mean, if he had eternity, what difference did it make if I told him tomorrow or ten years from now? He wasn’t getting any less immortal. Of course, maybe if I told him, I could be around him without feeling guilty. But I’d waited this long, and I didn’t want to make today even worse.
“Evie?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I know this sucks.”
“Oh, yeah. I mean, it sucks, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?” I gave him my best aren’t I a supportive girlfriend? smile.
We hurried back to the diner, the happy spring in my step dead. So the trees were changing color. Big bleeping deal. Lend made a few calls, but in spite of his best efforts it was clear he needed to be there to help fix it. He left me with a lingering, regretful kiss and nothing to do for the next two days except homework.
“Back already?” Arianna asked when I walked in, headphones on and voice way too loud.
“He had to go back to school.”
“Lame.” She actually looked up now and frowned, seeing my face. “That kinda makes your weekend suck, doesn’t it. Wanna go … I don’t know, hang out in some dark alley with me until the sun goes down?”
I forced a laugh. “No worries. You keep exacting virtual revenge. We’re still on for the movie this afternoon.”
“Fine, but I’m not holding your hand.”
“Thank heavens for that.”
She put her headphones back on. I trudged to my room and flopped onto my bed.
And screamed as my door slammed shut. A figure stepped out from behind it. “Rather pink in here, isn’t it?”
heart stopped. For one horrible moment I thought Reth was in my room. And then I picked up the nearest object—a shoe—and threw it straight at Jack’s head.
“What are you doing in here, you little weasel?”
He picked up my shoe from where it had clattered to the floor after hitting the door behind him. “How do you walk in these heels?” He sat and removed his own shoe, trying to jam his foot into my purple sling-back.
I stalked over and yanked it away. “What are you, five? Answer my question.”
He looked up at me, impossibly big blue eyes wide with innocence. “I thought we were friends, after you made me strip and all.”
“I’m calling Raquel.”
“Fine, fine. I was just doing some reconnaissance.”
“Reconnaissance?”
“Oh, sorry, that’s a big word, isn’t it? It means I was scoping the scene, getting the—”
“I know what it means! What, is IPCA investigating me now? Screw them, they can forget about any help from—”
“Do you ever let anyone else finish a sentence?” He smiled at my glare, flashing his dimples. “That’s more like it. You’re much prettier when you aren’t talking. True of most people, I’ve found. Anyhow, I needed to see the address Raquel gave me so that I could find it again.”
“Why?”
“As you so graciously pointed out the other day, I’m not a faerie. I need to see a place before I can open a door there. Or at least open a precise door there. Otherwise it’s anyone’s guess how close I’ll get.”
I sat down on the edge of my bed. As long as the weirdo was already here, I might as well get some answers. It had been nagging at me: how he could do what he did? It shouldn’t be possible. “How did you learn? To use the Paths, I mean.”
His mouth twisted into an impish grin. “Don’t let my good looks fool you. I’m terribly clever.”
