Endlessly (Paranormalcy 3)

I bounced nervously on my toes as Raquel and the faerie went into the kitchen. I'd be able to hug Lend soon! And hold hands! And make out like crazy! And then figure out how to help Reth with whatever that faerie did to him. And then figure out how to deal with whether or not to open the gates, and how. But still!

After what felt like an eternity I heard the faerie speak again. "I cannot undo it. "

"Are you Unseelie?" Raquel asked.

"Yes," the faerie hissed. "But this curse is not a pattern I can weave or unweave. "

"Very well," Raquel said, and then she sighed, a sigh of defeat. I slumped onto the couch. "Althenam, leave this place, never return, and reveal its location and occupants to no one. " She paused. "And never return to IPCA or answer their calls again. "

I couldn't hear the faerie door, but there seemed to be a certain shift of energy, like that vaguely disturbing silence that settles in when the power shuts off, signaling the faerie was gone.

As were all my hopes.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

MORE MONSTERS IN THE DARK

We'll figure something else out. " Lend's voice was soft and barely loud enough for me to hear from around the corner. Raquel had run outside with David, already shouting the names of every faerie under IPCA control. I had to hand it to her-I hadn't even thought to use her to free them from IPCA. It didn't mean Anne-Whatever Whatever wouldn't have faerie help from the Unseelies, but it would sure make her life harder. I didn't have the energy to follow them, instead slumping against the wall to the kitchen.

"What if-" I stopped, swallowing hard. Nope. I couldn't even say it aloud. We'd figure something else out because we had to. Time for a subject change before I lost it. "What did your mom say?"

"Mostly that she thinks my hair is getting too long and I should cut it. "

"That's not helpful. "

"That's my mom for you. " He was trying for humor but his voice caught, and I wondered if he was thinking about how if she left and he didn't, he'd never ever see her again.

"So," I said, sitting on the floor against the wall as close to the kitchen doorway as I could get without Lend dropping like a rock, "do you want your Christmas present?"

"You got me something?" He sounded surprised.

"I've been working on it for a while. "

"I, uh, didn't find you anything yet. I was actually setting up for your party, not Christmas shopping like I said. "

"Being kidnapped by the Dark Queen and then cursed gets you off the hook for a lot. Besides, my birthday party totally counted. "

"This isn't how I wanted our first Christmas to go. We were going to go all out, pick out a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, decorate it, watch cheesy holiday movies, drink hot chocolate, let my dad make his eggnog and then complain about how disgusting it was, then I was going to deck out my entire room in mistletoe. . . "

"Wait, you mean you didn't plan for us to be stuck in different rooms for the holidays?"

"Well, that part's kind of nice. " I heard his head bang against the wall where he was sitting right on the other side of it from me. "I mean, who wants to actually be able to touch their super hot girlfriend? Overrated. "

"I know, right?" I tried to laugh, but it came out choked. I swallowed, forcing my tone to come out light. "And I totally dig watching people sleep. It's so sexy. "

We were both quiet for a bit. With my last brilliant idea a failure, the reality that maybe we could never fix this hung like a chain around my neck, cutting off the air. I'd fought so hard to get-really get-Lend. From escaping the Center to stopping Vivian to overcoming my own stupid issues, I'd been fighting for this relationship since the day I first saw his water eyes. I couldn't have come this far just to lose him physically forever. It wasn't fair. And I was sick and tired of things not being fair.

"So, where's my present?"

I wiped under my eyes. "Oh, right. You have your laptop in there?"

"Yeah. "

Smiling, I grabbed my laptop off the coffee table and emailed him the link, then waited.

"Ooh, I've got mail. " After a few seconds I heard the video playing, and Lend laughed. "How long did this take you?"

"I had a lot of time on my hands while you were in finals. " I leaned my head against the wall as I heard the soundtrack to the clips. I'd gone through all four seasons of Easton Heights and found every single time any of the characters said "I love you," then (with copious amounts of help from Arianna) pieced them all together back to back to back, with one of Lend's favorite songs as the soundtrack.