Jack pushed the button, then looked at me. "That was . . . subtle. "
"Screw it," I muttered. If the general populace was finally clued in to the fact that the supernatural was alive and well among them, was that really such a bad thing? By protecting them from knowing about these things, we were also creating victims like Arianna.
Besides, luring the vamp would have taken too much time. And facing the vamp alone . . .
It wouldn't have tempted me. I wanted to go home is all.
As soon as the transporters got there, I shoved Jack toward the wall. "Home, now. " He mock bowed, escorting me through a door and the darkness, back to the familiar comfort of my room/glorified closet. We walked through and the first thing I saw was a letter.
On my bed.
A white letter.
With a return address I'd wanted to see for weeks.
In an envelope that was far, far smaller than it should have been.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Going Nowhere, Going Somewhere
Evie? Evie! Ouch!" Jack yanked his hand out of mine, shaking it and glaring at me. "I need these fingers later. "
I couldn't move. My future was lying on my bed-how did it get there? Why wasn't it in the mailbox?
Grnlllll. She had been trying to get my attention when I came in from school. She must have gotten the mail, which meant she knew my letter was here. Arianna probably knew, too, since Grnlllll didn't climb stairs. Arianna would have been the one to put it on my bed.
My eyes burned with tears and shame, my stomach already twisted up in a sick knot.
Maybe it wasn't a rejection. Maybe they were jumping on the whole "green" bandwagon, and it was an acceptance with directions to access the information I needed online.
Maybe.
Please.
Please, please, please. I grabbed my necklace off the dresser, clutching it like a talisman as I walked forward, each step making my stomach hurt a little more. I picked up the envelope, trembling. Why couldn't they have waited another two weeks to send it to me?
"I can't do it," I whispered.
"Can't do what?" Jack asked, curious enough by now that he'd let the faerie door close behind himself.
"I can't open it. " Squeezing my eyes shut, I held it out to him. "You do it. "
For once he didn't make a stupid comeback, just took the envelope from my hand. Each sound of tearing paper ripped a piece of my soul away. Maybe it wasn't a rejection. Maybe it wasn't a rejection. Maybe it wasn't . . .
"Dear Miss Green, blah, blah, blah, like to thank you on behalf of blah, blah, blah, regret that at this time can't accept-" He stopped, and so did my heart.
I couldn't open my eyes. I wouldn't. I wasn't going to Georgetown. That was it. Everything I'd worked for, everything I'd chased since leaving the Center, gone. I'd work in the diner for the rest of my life, sneak in pointless odd jobs for IPCA, and Lend would get bored with me and marry the lusty lab assistant, and they'd be happy and beautiful forever, and I was
never
going
anywhere.
My future was a gaping void, worse even than the Faerie Paths, because at least they always had a destination. I had no destination now.
"You're scaring me," Jack's voice finally cut through, and I opened my eyes, barely able to see him. "Okay, good, yes, breathe. Breathing helps one stay alive, I've found. What on earth is so bad about a stupid school saying no?"