Pure (Book 1, Pure Series) (46 page)

           
"What if I don't want it to be the last time you see me?" I asked.

           
William shook his head.
 
"It has to be."

           
"The other night," I said slowly, "the night before the Mstislav ball, you took me home.
 
I looked out the window at you, and you looked really deeply unhappy.
 
Why was that?"

           
"Because I knew I was going to go after Gleb.
 
And I knew that I would never see you again if I succeeded in destroying him.
 
But I certainly couldn't hope that I would fail.
 
Gleb was too dangerous to let go for even a day."

           
"So, you
were
going after him," I said, "but you let me believe that you wouldn't go after him."

           
"I had to," William said.
 
"The alternative was to let you be used as bait for Gleb.
 
I couldn't do that."

           
"William, everything you've said makes it sound like you really do want to see me.
 
And I want to see you, too."

           
"Katie," he said.
 
"I'm the only one like me – and I can barely remember most of my life."

           
"I'm the only one like me, too," I said.
 
"And I didn't even know what I was until I got here."

           
William shook his head.
 
"Katie, though you have Sídh blood, you're really human at heart.
 
You deserve a normal, happy life with your own kind."

           
"What could be worse?" I asked suddenly.

           
"What do you mean?"

           
"What could be worse than what we've already been through?" I asked.
 
"You say you're cursed.
 
Well, maybe I am, too.
 
I'm not entirely human, and I had a crazy, murderous undead creature after me.
 
Maybe I'm just as cursed as you are.
 
Cursed people should stick together."

           
William couldn't help smiling, and I felt hope stir in my heart.

           
"You have a point," William said.
 
"We have been through a lot together in a very short time.
 
But you live in another country – you have a home and school and a whole life in front of you there.
 
I live here in the Pure Woods.
 
There's no way we can see each other again."

           
"There are woods not far from my house in Elspeth's Grove," I said.
 
"You could live there."

           
William laughed, despite himself.
 
"You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

           
He stood.
 
"Katie, you are very young.
 
And though I look young, I am not.
 
You don't really understand what you're saying.
 
You think that you're in love with me.
 
And at your age, love flares up like a lit match and then goes out.
 
You will forget about me completely in a few months' time, and that's exactly the way it should be.
 
I only came here to say good-bye."

           
I jumped to my feet.
 
"But you do feel something for me, don't you?"

           
"Yes, I do," William said.
 
"But this can't be."

           
He kissed me on the forehead and then turned to go.

           
"William—" I began.
 
Words failed me.

           
He stopped and looked back at me.
 
Then he walked out.

           
I sat down on the couch.
 
I felt unpleasantly like I was drowning.

           
GM returned a short time later.
 
I figured she must have heard William leave.
 
She took in the expression on my face and sat down next to me.

           
"Things did not go well with your young man?" GM asked.

           
I decided to give her the abbreviated version.
 
The full version was too complex.
 
"He said he lives here, and I live in another country, so we can't be together."

           
"He's the same one, isn't he?" GM said after a time.
 
"He's the one who got us out of the house in Elspeth's Grove."

           
"Yes," I said.
 
"He followed Gleb to the U.S.
 
That's how he knew to get us out."

           
"So, he had a mission when he came to our country.
 
But his home is here?"

           
"Yes," I said.

           
"Then it is true, Solnyshko.
 
The two of you will have to be apart."

           
I did not reply.

           
"I'm sorry, Solnyshko.
 
In time things will look brighter to you, though I'm sure that doesn't seem possible now.
 
You have been through a very trying experience, and your emotions are running high.
 
Please just give yourself some time."

           
I nodded and rested my head on GM's shoulder.

           
That night at dinner, GM announced that we were leaving.

           
As she buttered a slice of bread, GM gave a despairing shake of her head.
 
"I had hoped to hear news of Odette before we left, but that doesn't seem to be likely to happen soon.
 
The poor child.
 
I hate to leave her like this."

           
She looked at me.
 
"But you have to get back to school, and this is not where we live – not anymore.
 
Galina has said that she will keep me apprised of any developments."

           
"Are you and Galina getting along better now?" I asked.
 
"First you borrow Aleksandr's laptop, and now Galina is going to keep in touch."

           
"Yes, I think so," GM said.
 
"Of course there are things we will never agree on.
 
But maybe the past does not need to be a complete blank."

           
She looked around the kitchen.
 
"We should give the kitchen a good cleaning tonight.
 
We don't want Odette coming back to an untidy house."

           
Later that night, I climbed the stairs to my room to pack.
 
We were going to drive back into Georgia, and then take a flight to the U.S. the next day.

           
I paused on the landing and looked toward Odette's door.
 
On impulse, I went into her room.
 
Her closet was still standing open, and there were dresses lying on the floor.
 
In amongst the tangle, I spied something dully gleaming.
 
I bent to pick it up.
 
It was my iron cross.

           
I curled my fingers around the charm and stood up.
 
"Come back, Odette," I whispered.

           
I looked around her room, which was still a little girl's room.

           
I hoped she would come back to it again after we were gone.
 
She could live in this house forever now – forever young and forever beautiful.

           
The next morning, GM and I left for Georgia, and the morning after that we left for the United States.
 
I was back to speaking English again.

           
On my return home, I had police to deal with once more, but Irina, James, and I all had matching stories, and Mr. Del Gatto's body was properly identified.
 
Large numbers of people from the school turned out for his funeral.

           
Gleb's smoke had disappeared from the town and my house, something for which I was grateful.

           
In a few days, I was back at school.
 
Charisse and I were friends again, and Charisse and Branden were back to normal dating – there was no more talk of marriage or illegal documents.
 
Simon was happy to see me, and I was happy to see him, but I kept a bit of distance between us.
 
It wasn't fair for me to let him think we could be any more than friends – especially when my mind was always on someone else.

           
The days passed and soon it was Halloween.
 
I agreed to go to a Halloween party in a group with Simon, Charisse, and Branden.
 
I thought it would be a good distraction – I was spending entirely too much time thinking about William.
 
I thought about calling him, but I was afraid he wouldn't come.

           
In addition to the party being a distraction, I had another reason for going – it was being hosted by Irina's father.
 
It was well known in Elspeth's Grove that Mr. Neverov held a Halloween party every year.
 
But this time he was allowing Irina to invite guests, too, and she invited my friends and me.
 
Irina and I were getting along better than we had in a long time.
 
The party was going to be a pretty formal affair, but we were still encouraged to wear costumes.

           
While I waited for Charisse to pick me up on Halloween night, I helped GM give out candy to trick-or-treaters.
 
GM always enjoyed dressing up for Halloween, and this year was no exception – she was 'raining cats and dogs.'
 
She had a yellow raincoat on and an umbrella with stuffed dogs and cats hanging from it.
 
Every time the doorbell rang, GM would bring out the umbrella, and the children at the door would giggle.

           
It had been years since I'd had to come up with a Halloween costume, and unfortunately all the easy ones I could think of were kind of creepy – ghost, witch, vampire.
 
I'd had enough of darkness lately – I really didn't want to go as anything scary.
 
I'd managed to find an old pair of wings that had been part of a sugar plum fairy costume that I'd worn one year.
 
I found a dress in my closet that was pretty close in color to the wings, and I was going as a butterfly.
 
I wanted to keep things light.

           
The doorbell rang once again, and GM answered it, her umbrella at the ready.

           
Instead of a group of children, it was Charisse, Branden, and Simon – we were all going in one car.
 
They were all wearing coats, but I could see that Charisse was holding a bouquet and was wearing a veil and a long white dress, Branden was a green-faced Frankenstein's monster with bolts in his neck, and Simon was impersonating Abraham Lincoln with a drawn-on beard and a stovepipe hat.

           
GM flourished her umbrella anyway and was rewarded with a laugh.

           
"Don't you three look adorable," she said.
 
"Surely, you deserve some candy."

           
"No, thanks, Mrs. Rost," Charisse said.
 
"Is Katie ready to go?"

           
I peaked under GM's umbrella.
 
"I'm ready.
 
I'll just get my coat."

           
Putting on a coat while wearing wings turned out to be tricky, so I ended up taking off the wings and carrying them.
 
Then I went outside.

           
As we walked to Charisse's car I gave her a dubious look.
 
"You're going as a bride?"

           
She lifted the hem of her skirt to show me her shoes.
 
She was wearing sneakers.

           
Charisse giggled.
 
"I'm a runaway bride.
 
It was Branden's idea."

           
Charisse drove us to Mr. Neverov's house, and it took her a little while to find a parking spot.
 
The entire block seemed to be taken up already by Mr. Neverov's guests.

           
At last, Charisse found a spot and the four of us walked up to Mr. Neverov's house.
 
There were candles in all the windows, and intricately carved jack-o-lanterns lined the paved walk up to the door.

           
Charisse knocked, and the door opened to reveal Irina in a sequined gown, a tiara, and a sash that read 'MISS AMERICA.'
 
Next to her was Ms. Finch in a gray suit with a pair of cat ears nestled in her sleek hair.

           
"Hey, guys," Irina said.
 
"Thanks for coming to our party."

           
Once Ms. Finch had ascertained that we were indeed on the guest list, we were allowed in.
 
I looked around.
 
The lighting was low, and there were a lot of people in very impressive costumes.
 
Black-cloaked servers moved amongst the guests, serving hors d'oeuvres and drinks on trays.
 
For one terrible moment, I was reminded rather forcefully of the ball at the Mstslav mansion, but I pushed the memory aside.
 
I was safe now, and I was at this party to have fun.