Supernaturally (7 page)

Deadly Reunions

I
n
the pitch black the only sensation was the spider’s eight sinister legs on my arm. “You’ll die in this room,” a voice whispered in my ear. I wouldn’t be the first. My chest tightened, thinking of Lish’s last moments. Was she scared? Did it hurt?

The lights flashed back on to reveal my entire body covered by a writhing mass of black widows.

“Oh, piss off,” I snapped, standing up. I’m sure I would have been scared, terrified even, if it weren’t for the fact I could see right through the scampering little arachnids. Poltergeists’ projections are a combination of glamour and manipulating air currents to create the illusion of sensation. Neat trick, really.

There was a pause, then the spiders disappeared, replaced by a howling wind. Blood seeped through the seams between the wall and ceiling, dripping down right in front of my face. I stuck my hand out and let the blood illusion pass right through it. “Maybe try corn syrup and red dye next time?”

A low growl echoed through the room, which proceeded to burst into flames, crackling as they devoured the walls and surrounded me.

“Are you about done yet? Because this is all very impressive, but it’s a school night and I’ve got homework to get back to.”

The flames winked out of existence, leaving the room as pristine and empty as before. “I’ll kill you,” the voice croaked, and something about it triggered a memory.

“Steve?”

The air shimmered in front of me to reveal the translucent image of—yup, Steve the vampire. Or at least, what used to be Steve the vampire. Considering he was
dead
dead now, instead of undead, he wasn’t technically a vampire.

He scowled at me. “You aren’t any fun.”

“Party pooper extraordinaire, that’s me. What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” He raised his hands and they burst into flame.

“Looks like cheap parlor tricks to me. Seriously though, the last time I saw you—” The last time I saw him, he was so wigged out over being brought into the Center that he bit Raquel, knowing it would trigger an injection of holy water and kill him. Again. But permanently.

His eyes flashed with anger. “Glad to see you remember me.”

“Of course. But why are you still here?”

“I’m going to make them pay. All of them. They’ll rue the day they ever brought me into this prison.” Steve had always had a flair for the dramatic. He should have raised one ghostly fist in the air as he said it, though, for the full effect.

I sat back down, settling against the door. “I guess that’s fair enough.”

“Aren’t you going to try and exorcise me?”

“Nah. Not my department.”

“Oh.” He bit his lip—or at least tried to, but failed due to the whole incorporeal thing. “Well, what now, then?”

“Ooh, can you make it look like bugs are exploding out of my skin?”

He dropped a few inches in his hovering. “Seriously?”

“Could be cool, right? If you want, I’ll even pretend to be scared.”

“It’s not the same if you’re faking.” He dropped down to my eye level; this left about half of him beneath the floor, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Sorry. I can’t help it.”

We sat there for a while, Steve shifting position like he couldn’t quite get his ethereal body comfortable.

“I have a question,” I asked, finally breaking the silence.

He perked up. “What?”

“I don’t get it. I mean, you hated the idea of this place, right? You committed hari-kari just to avoid being locked up here for even a few days.”

“Yes. And?”

“I don’t understand why, after all that, you’d choose to spend eternity here.”

His eyes went out of focus, the outline of his body fuzzing ever so slightly. “I— They need to— I’m making them pay.”

“Sure, I get that. But aside from giving them nightmares and being a nuisance, you can’t do anything, can you? All you’ve done is trapped yourself more effectively than they ever could.”

His shoulders slumped. Man, poor guy. I kept ruining his afterlives. I reached out to pat him on the shoulder but stopped short. It’d probably make him feel worse if I went straight through him. “Umm, don’t worry about it. You’re not really stuck, after all.” I waved my hand near his arm in a way I hoped was comforting.

He was already starting to lose definition. It’s not easy hanging on once you’re dead, and if you take the will to haunt out of them, they usually poof right on to where they’re supposed to be.

Wherever that is.

But most people couldn’t handle sticking around long enough to pinpoint the location for an exorcism, or, in this case, a good old-fashioned chat session. Which was where I always came in on poltergeist duty for IPCA.

Steve nodded. His extremities had already vanished. “You’re right. About time I gave being dead a shot.”

“That’s the spirit!” I smiled encouragingly.

“Thanks. At least one of us will finally be free of this nightmare.”

“Oh, I—” I was going to explain that I was free now and it was my choice to be here tonight—or at least, kind of, since Jack hadn’t really given me a chance to turn him down—and honestly, I had such mixed feelings about the whole thing, I wasn’t sure what to tell Steve, other than that I wasn’t a prisoner or even an employee and he shouldn’t assume I was—

Before I could form a coherent thought, he had disappeared. For good, this time. I hoped.

“Bye, Steve,” I whispered to the empty room.

I sat there for a few seconds, but being alone here was far more frightening than any haunting could have been. This room didn’t need dramatics to give me nightmares. I scrambled up, waited for the door to open, and stumbled into the hallway.

“Raquel?” The blank hall stretched out, empty. Great.

I walked toward her office, lost in thought about Lish, and poor Steve, and all the other souls I’d sent out of this life, some quite literally. Where did they go? Did Steve go the same place as Lish? And was it vampire Steve or normal Steve? What exactly happened to the souls when their human bodies died and became vampires? And then when the vampire bodies died?

Hello, headache.

I sighed and put my hand on the door pad. Only when it didn’t open did I look up and realize I’d unconsciously gone back to my old unit.

I stared, dumbfounded, at the door. It felt like part of me, old Evie, should break off from the rest, smile and wave, then go through and flop down on the purple couch. Instead, all of me stood on the threshold, barred from a life I said I was done with.

I had thought so many times about the things—actual, physical things—that I’d left behind. A pair of red peep-toe heels in particular plagued me. Now I actually had excuses to wear them, and they were stuck in my unit. I had even composed a running list in my head of all the stuff I would snatch from my room if I ever had the chance.

But I couldn’t get in, couldn’t go back. I didn’t think I wanted to, either. That unit was a tomb for the Evie who had lived there, oblivious to the complexities of the world around her, clueless as to what she really was. I didn’t want anything from her.

I turned and made my way carefully to Raquel’s office. I needed to get out of here. Now. Claustrophobia had set in with a vengeance, and the sudden panic of realizing I couldn’t get out unless they
let
me out made it hard to breathe. I turned the corner and nearly ran into Jack, who looked equally startled to see me.

“Why, Evie, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Har, har.” I felt wrung out, empty. I wanted to go home. “Is Raquel in her office?”

“How would I know?”

“Weren’t you just there?”

“Nope.”

“Oookay.”

“Evie?” I turned in relief at Raquel’s voice as she walked up behind me. “How did it go?”

“The Center is officially Not Haunted.” At least, not by any poltergeists. If memories were ghosts, it was positively oozing with them. And now I was, too. “Can I go now? I’m pretty tired.”

“Of course. Jack, if you’d—”

We were interrupted by a door forming on the wall next to us. A tall faerie with pure white hair and skin the color of a ripe peach stepped through. “You!” Her voice rang like cold metal through the hallway.

I jumped back. “I won’t—”

“I didn’t do it!” Jack shouted, interrupting me. I looked at him, puzzled. Did he think the faerie was after him?

She took a step toward us. Jack turned, booking it down the hallway and sliding around the corner, leaving Raquel and me with the faerie. The way her cobalt eyes tracked him, I wondered if maybe she really was after him.

Who was I kidding. With faeries it was always about me.

Raquel recovered faster than I did. She reached into her suit jacket and pulled out a small iron cylinder. With a neat flick of her wrist it telescoped out into a baton of sorts. “I suggest you leave.”

The faerie regarded her coolly, then backed through the wall and out of the Center. I looked wide-eyed at Raquel. “Holy bleep, Raquel, you were totally bad—”

“Please don’t finish that phrase.” She slipped the baton back to its smallest size and tucked it into her jacket. “Now, do you have any idea what that was about?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Reth visited me the other night, but he didn’t try and take me again.” Well, mostly he didn’t try. Had he tried? Stupid Reth. “But that makes three now—the sylph, Reth, and that faerie. And it seems like there are a lot more weird paranormals turning up in town.” I remembered the frog woman in the housedress. It wasn’t just that they were weird; it was that they were noticing me. Interested in me. I bit my lip, suddenly nervous. It was too much to be a coincidence. Something was going on.

“This complicates things. I’d thought we were past the faeries’ interest in you. I’d feel safer if you stay here tonight.”

“I—oh, no. No. I don’t want to stay here. Jack can take me home.” I turned, but Jack was still nowhere to be seen. Raquel smiled, and I was stuck in the Center.

Again.

Bite My Tongue

L
ook
,” Arianna snapped. She slammed to a stop in front of my school so fast I was nearly strangled by my seat belt. “If you don’t want to hang out with me, fine. But don’t just ditch me and then go stay with a friend for two days without even bothering to call.” Huge shades covered half her face, but I could read it well enough by now. She was hurt.

“I emailed,” I said lamely.

“Yeah. Great. Just—whatever. Get out.”

I opened my door and stepped out onto the curb. “Thanks for the—” She peeled out, the forward momentum of the car slamming the door.

Fabulous. What a nice way to start my first morning back. I hadn’t meant to abandon her—really. None of this was my fault. I’d practically been kidnapped by Jack, after all.

“Evie, are you okay?”

I looked up into Carlee’s concerned face. I hadn’t realized I was still standing on the curb, shoulders slumped and head down. “I’m just tired.”

That was an understatement. I’d barely slept at all the past two nights on Raquel’s couch. Not only was I freaked out at being stuck in the Center, but for such a small woman, Raquel snores like a hippo. Go figure. Jack, the little fink, finally showed up this morning, and I barely made it back in time for first period. One stupid mission and I felt completely sucked back into IPCA—Raquel had even asked me to file reports on unaccounted-for elementals while we waited for Jack to wander back in. I had a sneaking suspicion that she loved every minute of it and that, if she had her way, I’d move back in.

The bleep I would.

“We have fitness testing today in gym—don’t forget.” Carlee walked ahead of me, her step light and bouncy.

I jostled my way through the student throng. Faerie fears, sylph paranoia, and as always my increasing guilt over not telling Lend he was immortal twisted together in my stomach. Now I could add lying to him about working for IPCA again. That’s what made this the hardest—not being able to talk to my best friend about everything.

I stood in front of my locker, hand on the lock. And, for the first time since I got it, I couldn’t remember my combination. “Bleep,” I muttered. Even my locker was losing its charm.

“I don’t think Miss Lynn’ll let you be sick again. She hates you,” Carlee said.

“I know.”

“No, she, like,
really
hates you.”

“No, I, like, really know. Trust me.”

She sat down on the bench next to me, where I was still contemplating the pile of yellow and brown putridness that was my gym clothes.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Carlee was my friend. Why not try being honest with her for once? “I’m worried that I’m dying, faeries might be launching another offensive to steal me, and also I can’t get this strange tingling sensation out of my hands since I sucked some of the soul from a sylph, which I definitely should not have done.”

She blinked. Slowly.

“Kidding.” I flashed her a grimace that I hoped would pass for a smile. “Haven’t been sleeping enough.”

“Oh. That’s easy. Drink chamomile tea before bed. My mom totally swears by it.”

“Chamomile tea. Will do.” No doubt that would solve all my problems.

“So, about the other day.”

Oh, Jack. We hadn’t talked since she backed me up. “Thanks again, by the way. You saved my butt with Miss Lynn.”

“Of course! But who was that guy?”

I rolled my eyes. “A nuisance.”

“Because, well, John and I broke up again, and that guy was pretty cute, and I was thinking maybe—”

“NO!”

Her eyes widened in shock. “I’m sorry, I . . .”

“No, really, I mean, he’s kind of crazy, you know? Like, unstable. And he refuses to take his medication.”

“Really? Bummer. Those dimples . . .”

“Totally psychotic!”

She shrugged, smiling as she stood up. “Better get dressed.”

“Green!”

“Too late,” Carlee whispered.

Miss Lynn came around the corner of the row of lockers, glaring daggers. No, daggers would be too delicate a weapon for her. Glaring sledgehammers was probably more appropriate.

“What?” I asked with a sigh.

She jerked her thumb toward the door. “Office.”

I stood up, sputtering. “I’m not tardy! I haven’t done anything wrong today!”

“Family emergency,” she growled. “Get out of here.”

“I—oh. Okay.”

Checked out again? What was Raquel doing? I had the communicator in my bag. She definitely hadn’t been trying to get ahold of me in the few hours since I left.

Still, the timing couldn’t be better. I threw my gym clothes into the locker and tried to look nervous as I walked past Miss Lynn. Really it was all I could do not to skip. I didn’t even care if I was kidnapped again, as long as it got me out of gym.

I threw open the door to the office and stopped in my tracks. No Raquel this time. It was Lend’s dad.

Or at least as far as the flirty attendance secretary was concerned, it was my legal guardian, David. She couldn’t see straight through the glamour to the clear-as-water-barely-there face of Lend.

He turned and smiled at me with his dad’s face, and after a few seconds I was able to replace my shocked expression with what I hoped was a foster-daughterly smile. “Umm, hey.”

“Thanks again, Sheila,” Lend-as-David said, smiling at her. I didn’t know whether to be jealous, mortified, or amused by her googly-eyed grin.

I walked stiffly next to him out into the parking lot, loving that he was here, wanting nothing more than to throw my arms around him and get the hug I so desperately needed today, but not about to do that when he looked like his dad.

We climbed into his car and I looked over, trying to see only
him
underneath his glamour. “What’s my family emergency?”

“I’ve been worried. You haven’t answered your phone in a couple of days.”

That would be because the underground Center had zero cell reception. “I lost it,” I lied, hating myself.

“I figured. Being worried was just an excuse to break you out.” He flashed a grin, pulled out of the lot, and drove through the tree-lined streets toward the freeway. “My afternoon class got canceled, and I had a sneaking suspicion you wouldn’t mind missing gym.”

“Gorgeous
and
smart. I’m a lucky girl. But, umm, it’s kind of creeping me out to be attracted to you when you look exactly like your dad. Glamour shift?”

He laughed, his dad’s face shimmering into Lend’s standard dark-eyed dark-haired hottie. “Better?”

“Definitely. I won’t need therapy now. Well, much.”

He laughed again, reaching out and taking my hand in his. “Still, it’s a nice trick for rescuing my girlfriend from torture.”

“I’m not complaining.” I settled back in my seat, loving the feeling of Lend’s skin on mine. I never got tired of the contours of his palm, the way his fingers laced through mine like they were designed to fit together, or how he unconsciously stroked my thumb with his.
This
was where I belonged.

He pulled off in an unfamiliar area, parking in front of a hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant.

“What are we doing?”

“We’re going to see if we can’t finally find something too hot for you.”

Ever since he found out a few months ago that I could eat spicy foods—ridiculously spicy foods—without batting an eye, he’d made it his personal mission to find something too hot for my tastes.

“Just because you’ve got a wimpy tongue doesn’t mean I do,” I said.

He smiled slyly at me. “Wimpy tongue, huh? I’ll have to show you what it can do later.”

I smacked him in the shoulder, unable to hold back another laugh. “Oh, I’m a fan of your tongue, no worries there.”

“I’d like to get that printed on a shirt.”

“At least I know what to get you for Christmas.”

We walked into the restaurant, and an hour later walked back out. Lend scowled in frustration. “One of these days I
will
find something too spicy for you.”

“Too bad we’ll have to go on so many dates while you search.”

“Alas, all noble causes require sacrifice.”

We drove back toward home, but rather than taking me to the apartment, Lend turned down a narrow road that led into the trees and meandered around until it dead-ended.

My communicator beeped loudly in my backpack and I jumped. Lend looked over, raising an eyebrow. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, I was busted.

“Looks like we found your phone.”

I let out a nervous bark of a laugh. “Yeah. In my backpack the whole time. Whoops.” He smiled and parked while I tried to calm down my heart. Keeping secrets was going to kill me one of these days.

He turned off the engine. “This is our stop.” I looked around, seeing nothing but trees. He pulled a couple of blankets out of the back, then opened my door for me.

We walked through the woods and stopped at a tranquil pond. The autumn leaves reflected around the edges, making it look like the water was burning. Lend spread one of the blankets out on the ground and lay back on it, patting the space next to him. I started to cuddle in, then sat up, looking warily at the water.

“Your mom isn’t in there, is she?”

He laughed. “No. It’s just been too long since I was around water.”

I frowned, troubled. Was water calling to him now or something? Or did he simply find it soothing because of his childhood? I lay back down, snuggling into his side with my head on his chest. The hand stroking my hair lost its pigment and I released my breath and smiled, even though I couldn’t see his face. He was still
my
Lend. The Lend no one else could see.

“I haven’t seen my mom in a while,” he said, a hint of worry in his voice.

“You haven’t?”

“No. I think this might be the longest she’s ever gone without showing up.”

Something from one of the forms I’d filed tickled my memory—something about being unable to account for local elementals. I made a mental note to ask Raquel about it, since I couldn’t very well bring it up with Lend.

Wanting him to talk, I asked, “What was it like, having her as a mom?”

He shrugged, my head on his chest rising with the gesture. “I don’t know—it’s not like I have anything to compare it to. I think my dad compensated the best he could, and when I was a kid I didn’t know any better. He had to keep me isolated, so I figured most moms were sometimes there and sometimes not, talked funny, and gave their kids presents of tropical fish schools in the middle of a pond in Virginia.”

“I think it sounds sweet.”

“It was. I love my mom. It was hard for a while, when I realized we’d never really share a life, but it is what it is. And I know she loves me.”

“How could she not?” A familiar ache settled into my chest. Even Lend with his water elemental mom at least had that: the knowledge that he was and always had been loved. And always would be, too, since he would live forever just like Cresseda.

“Do you ever wonder, if maybe yours are still . . .” he asked, trailing off, but I knew how he’d finish. Out there. If somewhere my parents (if I even had parents) were living and going about their normal lives. Without me.

“I don’t know. I don’t like to think about it. What if they really did just abandon me, give me to the faeries? Or what if I
was
made—if the faeries were—are—
I don’t know
. It’s not worth thinking about.”

He reached up and stroked my hair. We’d talked about my family issues before, but what was the point? I wasn’t getting any answers, and I didn’t like the questions. I’d never had a real home or a mom who brought me schools of fish for entertainment, and I never would. It was fine.
I
was fine.

“It’s been too long since we got to be together like this,” Lend said after a few silent minutes. His real voice was like a cascade, warm and liquid and so deliciously sexy I could listen to nothing else for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. I let it work its way through me, releasing the tension I’d built up in my shoulders. That stuff didn’t matter. This was what mattered.

“Mmm hmm.” I closed my eyes and breathed him in. A cold breeze stirred over us, and I felt my hair lift in response, all my limbs feeling lighter, disconnected and more connected at the same time. It was like my body answered the wind.

That was new. I darted a quick glance at the sky, but there were no signs of sylphs. Lend pulled the other blanket on top, disconnecting me from the breeze. I was both relieved and strangely disappointed at the loss of the new sensation.

“Tell me about school,” I said, banishing all thoughts of paranormals. Besides us, of course.

I listened, half paying attention to his excited stories of professors and classes as I enjoyed the rise and fall of his chest. He was always so animated, talking about schedules for the next year, seminars, internships. His goal was to get degrees in biology and zoology, then pursue a masters in zoology, with the end being intensive studies of cryptozoology, studying the creatures on the verge of science. Given what he knew, he had a natural advantage. And really, it was perfect for him. He could be normal but still help the paranormals he loved so much. His main aspiration right now was to study werewolves and try to isolate what caused it—maybe even cure it.

He loved thinking about, planning for, and working toward the future. It made my heart ache. I wondered again how things would change when he found out he wasn’t mortal. Would he still be so set on this future he’d mapped out? Or would it feel pointless to him in light of the fact that he had eternity? Would he switch to immortal pursuits like . . . umm, living in ponds and dispensing incomprehensible advice?

I wondered what was wrong with me, too. I didn’t have any goals. Whenever I tried to think of something I’d be happy doing for the rest of my life, I could only worry that the rest of my life wouldn’t be long enough to do anything at all. I desperately wanted to go to Georgetown, but that was just so I could be with Lend. My future felt like a huge blank, dependent on variables I couldn’t control.