Paranormalcy (4 page)

O
ne
vamp I could handle. Heck, I could probably even handle five at a time—shriveled corpse muscles and all. But twenty vampires? I was not liking my odds. What was going on? Vamps were solitary by nature. This was weird. And very, very bad.

I gave my best embarrassed smile. They wouldn't know I knew what they were. “Whoops. I'm looking for the theater. Wrong building.”

Maybe if I made it back through the door fast enough, and then—click. Another four vamps had come in behind me and locked the door. I reached to my belt and hit the
panic button on my communicator. Then I pulled out Tasey.

Taking a deep breath, I put on my best stern face. “You're all under arrest under statute three point seven of the International Paranormal Containment Agreement, Vampire Protocol. You are required to report to the nearest processing—”

“You're IPCA?” one of the vamps asked. The others were shifting nervously in place.

“Yes. I'm going to have to ask you to line up for tagging.” I waited for them to start laughing.

“You aren't going to kill us?” the speaker asked, giving me a suspicious look.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Seriously, did I look like some sort of psycho assassin? Maybe it was the pink sneakers. Or the heart earrings?

The vampires turned toward one another, holding a whispered conversation. I inched closer to the door, Tasey at my side, as I pushed the panic button over and over again. Lish would see it. She'd send help. She'd never failed me before, but if they didn't answer my distress call soon, I would have to do something I
really
didn't want to.

Freedom was a foot away when they turned back to me. The one who kept speaking, a tall vamp with a handsome curly-haired glamour, shook his head. “Sorry.” He bared his fangs in an apologetic grin. “We're glad you aren't what's hunting us, but we're no friends of IPCA.
And we're all very, very thirsty.”

“What, no flirting?” I asked, trying to buy time. “Aren't you going to at least try to be sexy? Think of all those vampire fans out there—they'd be so disappointed.” I pulled out my silver knife. Probably should have paid more attention during my knife training. “Tell you what. Let me go and I promise not to tell anyone that you aren't suave.”

“Sorry, kid.”

“Okay.” I held up the knife in one hand and Tasey in the other. “Guess I am here to kill you then.” If I could get through enough of them—I just needed to get out of the room—I could outrun them.

Three jumped me and I flailed wildly. I hit two of them with jolts and they collapsed. The third tried to catch my arm, but I slashed at him with the knife and he drew back, howling in pain. I ran for the door but couldn't get it open. I turned and put my back against it.

“Everyone at once,” the leader shouted, and then it was a mass of hands—nice, normal flesh over the decay underneath—all grabbing at me. I struggled, but even vamps are strong enough when they outnumber you twenty to one. It only took a few seconds for them to have me pinned against the wall; I managed to hold on to Tasey and the knife but couldn't move to use them. The leader stood right in front of my face. I tried to look at his glamour, just his glamour, but the pure white eyes staring at me from sunken sockets were all I could focus on. He smiled. I wanted to cry.

My rescue would come too late.

“Aren't you going to scream?” he whispered, leaning in and tracing my neck with his lips. His dead, dead lips. I felt his mouth open and closed my eyes. All the horror from my first childhood run-in with a vampire flooded back in. No one would save me. I was out of options. A single tear traced down my cheek.

“Lorethan!” I shouted. The vamp hesitated; clearly it wasn't what he was expecting. “I need you! NOW!”

The pause was enough to save my neck. White light exploded into the room and the vamps jumped back instinctively. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist from behind and pulled me into the darkness.

“You called,” Reth murmured in my ear as he held me in the nothingness. “I knew you would.” I could hear the smile in his voice, the triumph. I had sworn I'd never use his real name again, never call on him. Instead I'd just negated all the commands to stay away from me. And my wording—why had I said I needed him? He could twist that any way he wanted. But the memory of the vampire's lips on my neck made me shudder. It didn't matter tonight.

“Just take me home, okay?”

He tightened his arms around my waist, his torso pressed against my back. I could feel his heart through my shirt, its beat strong but far too slow. “Home then.” He laughed his silver laugh.

That should have warned me.

I kept my eyes closed, trying to ignore his body against mine. Faeries couldn't care less about sex and physicality, but they did care about manipulation, and Reth knew how much I craved contact—any kind of contact. Growing up the way I had, there was never enough affection, never enough attention. More than Raquel, more than Lish, more than anyone, he knew how deeply lonely I was. I hated him for it.

I expected him to take my hand and walk; instead all I felt was a slight breeze, then it was bright and warm. I opened my eyes to a room. Not mine. The light was soft, emanating from an unidentifiable source. Elegant furniture was placed at random, and the walls appeared to be solid, pale rock. The fabrics were all silks and velvets; deep reds and royal purples with gold accents. There was no door.

“I said home.”

He laughed again. “You didn't say whose.” Furious and too tired to deal with any more faerie crap, I opened my mouth to tell him exactly where to take me and where he could go after that. I wasn't sure a faerie could obey a command to go to hell, but I was going to find out. Before I could say a word he lifted his slender hand and stroked my throat.

“Shhh,” he whispered.

My voice was gone. Not scratchy-throat-rasping gone. Completely gone. I couldn't scream. I couldn't even whisper. I wanted to find the genius who thought we could control faeries and kick him where it hurt. Twisting away
from Reth's arms, I rushed over to put one of the antique-looking couches between us. “Fix it,” I mouthed.

He smiled at me. His eyes were golden like ripe wheat and his hair shone nearly the same shade. Everything about him was gold, except his laugh. That had always been silver. I couldn't look at his face anymore without risking never wanting to look away, but I didn't want to take my eyes off him and let down my guard. I was so dead.

“Evelyn.” My name in his mouth was like a caress. “Why are you fighting me? You want to be with me. And I want no one else forever.”

I had goose bumps. Reth had probably taken countless mortal girls into the Faerie Realms. He knew we didn't last forever. Either he was manipulating me again, which was likely, or was up to something seriously frightening. “Why?” I mouthed. I knew he was telling the truth—he wanted me. And that made everything even harder; not many people in my life ever wanted me. My own parents had abandoned me when I was a toddler.

He sat gracefully. A small claw-footed table next to his chair held a crystal bottle and two goblets. He poured a clear liquid into both of them, then held one up to me. “Drink?”

I shook my head. I wasn't born yesterday. You never, ever accept food or drink from a faerie anywhere, especially on their turf. You'll never get out again.

Nonplussed, he drank it himself. I racked my brain for
what to do without my voice. Then, idiot that I was, I realized I still had Tasey and the knife. I was clutching them both so hard my hands ached. Glad my actions were hidden by the couch, I put Tasey away—not any good for more than a few seconds with faeries. With a hand free, I pushed the panic button again. I had no idea where we were, but really, really hoped it was somewhere Lish could send a retrieval.

“Aren't you tired of being cold?” he asked, trying to draw me in. “Cold and alone. You don't have to be. Our time grows short.” His eyes were pools of amber, deep and eternal. Pools you could drown in. “Dance with me again.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. He was right. I was tired. I had been alone my whole life. The foster homes, the Center—what was the difference? Why was I resisting him? I felt his hand on mine; he was so warm. The heat started to spread up my arm, slow and insistent. Why not give him my heart, my soul? No one else wanted them.

He could feel my surrender and pulled me close. “There is no one else for you, my love. Let me fill you.” There was no one else for me. I opened my eyes and looked into Reth's golden ones—and the image of other eyes, eyes as clear as water, flooded into my memory. Why I thought of Lend right then I have no idea, but it was enough to pull me back. I lifted the silver knife and held it between us like a talisman.

Reth looked surprised, then angry. “What are you
doing, child?” He hadn't let go of my other hand, but I resisted the warmth. It was barely past my shoulder, now slowing. “Don't you know what I'm trying to give to you?”

I shoved the flat of the blade against his chest and he let go of my hand, backing up a step. Iron is the best against faeries, but they aren't fans of silver, either. “Enough,” I mouthed, pointing to my neck. Glaring, he flicked his hand and my throat tingled.

“Why are you fighting this?”

“Because you're a lunatic! I don't want this! I don't belong to you! I never will!”

A half smile twisted his perfect face. “You're wrong.”

“Well, I've got a silver knife that begs to differ. Now—”

“Take you home?”

I nodded.

His smile spread. “That wasn't a command, and you've got to sleep sometime.” Before I could command him to take me home he disappeared, his silvery laugh lingering in the absence.

I was starting to miss the vampires.

I
screamed for him to come back, then sat heavily on one of the couches. He was right. I was exhausted from not sleeping last night plus a very full day and rather stressful evening. And if I fell asleep, I couldn't hang on to the knife. And if I couldn't hang on to the knife…

It was a problem. I didn't know what he was trying to do to me, and I didn't want to find out.

Not surprisingly, there was no signal on my communicator. I didn't even know if I was technically on the planet anymore. The Faerie Realms coexist with ours, but cross time and space and all sorts of other boring and weird
physics things that I never cared about before now. I added Faerie Realms and knife fighting on my list of things to pay more attention to.

I could call for him using his real name again, and he'd have to come. But that worked out
so
well before. The phrasing I used still killed me. I
need
you? The way I figured it, he took that as the command and would now fill what he thought my need for him was. If I called him back and negated my command before he took my voice again, there was no telling how he would interpret it. If you give a faerie conflicting commands, they can't fill them and therefore come up with something completely different (and always bad). I was so screwed.

Faeries are the slipperiest things in the world. IPCA (before it was IPCA and back when it was APCA and all sorts of individual country acronyms) worked for decades to find a faerie, any faerie, and learn his true name. Their plan involved using pretty young girls as kidnap bait. Dozens of pretty young girls, none of whom were ever seen again. Except one girl, who discovered a great secret.

Faeries are unaffected by alcohol, but much to her surprise—and the faeries' undoing—they get very,
very
drunk on carbonation. Using copious amounts of Coke, she was able to discover a single faerie's true name. With that she was able to force that faerie to do her will and reveal several other faeries' names—who were forced to reveal other faeries' names, as well. Thus followed the
great Faerie Catalog and Control Operation of '95.

It sounds more impressive than it was. A whole bunch of workers on the project ended up dead or missing, and faeries guard their names closely even from one another, so IPCA only got a fraction of them. Here's what IPCA should have learned, still hasn't quite learned, and probably never will learn: you cannot control fairies. Can. Not. They aren't logical or rational. They don't obey the same laws (physical, social, emotional, traffic—you name it) that we do. They always have their own agendas and are just plain smarter than us. Plus, in finding and using their names, we were messing with paranormal magic deeper and more powerful than any of us understood.

I say us. I mean arrogant IPCA.

I pondered all this as I sat on Reth's couch, trapped in the Faerie Realms and wondering how long I could hold out before I had to sleep, eat, or drink. Or pee for that matter, because I wasn't seeing a toilet. Stupid immortals. Was faerie magic really worth all the mess and risk we incurred by working with them?

There had to be another option. I couldn't—wouldn't—call Reth back. I knew he would never let me out, and there was no way to escape other than the Faerie Paths.

Another faerie! It was perfect. The faerie names I had been assigned were to be used only in dire straits. These were dire enough for me. I opened my mouth and stopped.

I still couldn't remember. The names were so strange,
and I had been so scared I'd blocked it out. Lying back on the couch, I stared at the ceiling; it shimmered with crystals. I watched it and racked my brains for the ruby-haired faerie's name.

The crystals reflected an unidentifiable source of light. It seemed like there was some sort of meaning, a pattern. And now I was detecting faint colors, too. They were telling me something. If only I stared long enough, hard enough, didn't think about anything else…and if I closed my eyes and didn't think, it would be even better and it would all work out….

“No!” I sat up, blinking to keep my eyes open. No more ceiling.

What was her name? I knew that I knew it. And then I remembered—she was the faerie Lend had hitched a ride with. Fehl! Fehl was her nickname. And her full name was…

“Denfehlath!” I shouted, triumphant. After a few seconds the outline of a door formed on the wall and she walked through, still looking bored.

“Oh.” She frowned.

I jumped up, giddy with relief, but stopped myself before I said anything stupid. This time I would be careful. Specific. “Please take me back to the IPCA Center where I live.”

She held out her hand and I took it.

“Stop!” Reth commanded from behind us. I didn't let go of Fehl's hand as I turned to look at him. “She's mine.”

Fehl gave him a sharp smile. “It's a named command. I
have no choice.”

Reth's golden eyes brimmed with rage. That's another thing about faeries. Nasty tempers. I had seen him lose control once before—it was what finally shocked me into giving him up.

“Let's go, now.” I pulled on her hand. The ambient light in the room had shifted; now everything seemed to glow with a red, menacing hue.

We darted through the door and into the Faerie Paths. More frightened of what was behind me than around me, I kept my eyes open for once. Fehl squeezed my hand so hard it hurt; the look on her face was pure fury, tinged with a hint of smugness. I wondered if there was something going on. Those two had a weird dynamic. Whatever. I didn't care as long as I got home.

But then I had a brilliant idea. “Can you open a door to Lend's room?”

She gave me a glare so cutting I was surprised I didn't bleed. A few more steps and the white lines opened in front of us. She shoved me out and disappeared into the black.

The room was the same boring color scheme as the rest of the Center. A door to a small bathroom was open; other than that the room was a simple square with a gray bed against the wall. Lend, wearing me of all things, was sitting on it. He glanced over, surprise flitting across his/my features. Then he looked away, and I realized Raquel was talking.

I backed up against the wall. She must have been standing in the hallway, because I couldn't see her and was pretty
sure from the lack of reaction that she hadn't seen me. Not busted. Yet. And now I knew where Lend was. Sometimes faeries came in handy, after all.

“…would all be much easier if you'd just give us some simple information. I'll let you think about it.” Raquel finished and I heard her pumps tapping away down the hall.

Lend-as-me looked over and raised one eyebrow quizzically.

“Hey, no fair!” I whispered. I'd never been able to raise just one eyebrow at a time. And not for lack of trying, either. He looked confused, so I gestured to my own eyebrows and shook my head. He grinned in response and I melted away, replaced by the dark-haired dark-eyed hottie.

“What are you doing here?”

I shrugged, sliding down the wall and sitting against it. “Just thought I'd drop by for a visit.”

“Really.”

“Yeah. I was bored.”

“Me, too.” There was a long, awkward silence. “Are you planning on staying for a while?”

“Not sure. I think I'm missing.”

“Raquel did seem very on edge.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I should probably let her know I'm not dead.” I didn't get up.

“You look tired.” He briefly shifted back to wearing me, showing me my heavy eyelids and the dark circles under my eyes.

“Gee, thanks. I love hearing that. Why not just tell me I look like crap?”

He laughed and switched back to the cute guy. “I still can't get your eyes.”

“I'm an original,” I said cheerfully.

“More than you know, I think.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged. “Just that I've never met a human I couldn't replicate exactly.”

I stood, scowling. “Look, Water Boy, the only paranormal in this room is you.”

“If you say so.”

I was too tired for Lend's nonsense. The doorway was wider than a normal door and totally open. “What's the security on this room?”

He lifted the foot with the ankle tracker. “If I cross the threshold of the room, an alarm goes off and my ankle thing goes zap.”

No problems for me then. “Excellent. I'll see you later.” I walked out without another word.

I didn't spend much time in the security sections of the Center. By the time paranormals got here, my work was done. Guessing, I turned left and followed the hall to a familiar area. I was pretty close to Central Processing, so I went in and found Raquel talking frantically with Lish. “That's not acceptable! The werewolves have to be able to find
something
!”

Lish looked up, saw me over Raquel's shoulder, and
promptly burst into tears. At least, I think that's what she was doing. I'd never seen her cry, and there weren't tears since she was already in water, but the facial contortions and shoulder movements were enough to clue me in.

Raquel turned around and yelped, then threw her arms around me. “They didn't eat you!”

“No, they didn't eat me.” I had to laugh at the odd symmetry, pushing back my own tears of relief. I was so glad to be back here, with Raquel and Lish. For a while there I'd honestly thought I might not ever see them again.

Regaining her composure, Raquel pushed me out to arm's length, holding onto my shoulders. “What on earth happened? Where have you been? And why did you kill all those vampires?”

“I—Wait, what? Kill the vamps?”

She nodded, looking severe. Killing paranormals is
not
okay for employees of IPCA. All paranormals are classified as endangered; that's why even the icky ones just get neutered instead of, well, dead.

“I didn't kill them! They were one bite away from killing me! I tased a few and slashed around with my silver knife, but I'm sure I didn't pierce any hearts.”

“How did you get away?”

I looked down at the ground. “I called for Reth.”

She let out a
this is going to be an even bigger mess than I thought
sigh. “Then who left twenty-five vampires dead?”