I cringed, wondering how bad a job I'd done all these months of pretending like I wasn't horrified by the way she looked under her glamour. "That's not you, though!"
"I know what I am. I just don't understand why. " She stood. "I shouldn't have woken you up. Sometimes I like to watch you sleep, though. I wish I could sleep. Sleep and never wake up. "
Before I could say anything she walked out of my room and out of the apartment. I sat, stunned, then flopped back onto my bed.
Why had I ever thought life would be easier out of the Center?
Chapter Thirty
Tree Hugger
Lend sat, touching me from our shoulders down to our feet, in the diner booth. One perk to being attacked by Uber-vamp was that Lend had been distinctly silent on the issue of IPCA's containment methods. Seeing firsthand what some paranormals did made IPCA's standards a lot less suspect.
Unfortunately that was about the only good thing to come out of last night. It was all I could do not to bounce up and down, my fingers tapping out a nervous pattern on the table. I felt keyed up, full to bursting with anxious energy. I didn't want to think where it came from. I hoped it wasn't Uber-vamp's soul inside me. It was just . . . I don't know, leftover nerves. That was it.
I jumped as Nona set our plates down on the table, then swished back to the kitchen.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lend asked.
"Fine. Fine. I'm fine. " I reached up to scratch my neck but stopped. It was sore but already healing. If it scarred, Uber-vamp was going to pay.
Then again, he already had. My stomach soured, the grilled cheese sandwich in front of me suddenly inedible.
"Hey, kids. " David slid in across from us, worry creasing his forehead as he looked at my neck. "How are you, Evie?"
I waved a hand dismissively, bouncing my knee up and down under the table. "Just tired. Skipped school today to sleep. I'll be okay. Where's Arianna?" She hadn't been home this morning. She was always home. The way she talked last night, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe she was tired enough of eternal life to do something about it. Poltergeist Steve flashed through my mind and I struggled not to panic. Whatever else Arianna was, she was my friend. I couldn't lose her.
"She texted, said she couldn't make the meeting today. "
I wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not. At least she was still in contact with David. I'd have to get her alone, talk to her, do something to make things better. If only I could figure out what.
"Raquel called this morning, too. "
I looked up, surprised. "Do you two talk a lot?"
David gave a noncommittal shrug. "She wanted to make sure I was checking up on you. She's worried. You think the attack last night was related to the fey?"
Lend gently removed my hand from where I was unconsciously peeling at the bandage. He kept my hand in his, stroking it with his thumb. I stopped bouncing my knee and took a deep breath. Focusing on Lend's hand helped me calm down.
"Yeah. I do. There have been too many weird things. First the sylph, then the fossegrim-"
"But wasn't that random? Jack dropped you in the water. "
"Oh. " I frowned. I hadn't thought about that. How would the faeries have known I would hit the water there, then? Maybe my luck just sucked. Then again, I already knew that. "But Reth's been here a couple of times, and then there was the faerie I saw walking down the street, plus a faerie showed up at the Center when I was there and Raquel had to get rid of her. And then the vampire. No one but a faerie could have pulled that off. "
"True. " David rubbed his eyes wearily. Lend did the exact same thing when he was worried. Sometimes their similarities, the way they laughed at old jokes I would never get, the warm playful ease they had with each other made me hurt. Lend was so lucky to have a dad like David. I wished it were my dad rushing here to check up on me instead of my boyfriend's.
I felt eyes on me and looked up to see the same froglike old woman that had ahemed at Lend and me kissing on the sidewalk what felt like an eternity ago. She was outside the diner, staring in through the window. At me. I narrowed my eyes, but then the woman looked past me at something and abruptly turned around and walked away. I whipped around to see Grnlllll, making a furious shooing motion with her small, pawlike hands.
"What was that about?" I asked, but the gnome ignored me entirely, going back behind the counter where she couldn't be seen. Kari and Donna were sitting there on barstools, halibut plates untouched as they watched me with their huge, round eyes. They broke into identical playful smiles. Mischievous smiles . . .
"Maybe this isn'tjust the faeries, though," I said, suspicion rising. I stood and walked straight back toward the kitchen. Grnlllll jumped out in front of me, trying to block my way and grumbling something, but I stepped over her and burst through the door.
Nona was back there, leaning over a large, intricately carved wooden bowl.
And talking to it.
". . . under our care. Continue the gathering. Things will be in place when the time is right, and-"