Supernaturally (4 page)

A Trashy Life

M
y
heart stopped. For one horrible moment I thought Reth was in my room. And then I picked up the nearest object—a shoe—and threw it straight at Jack’s head.

“What are you doing in here, you little weasel?”

He picked up my shoe from where it had clattered to the floor after hitting the door behind him. “How
do
you walk in these heels?” He sat and removed his own shoe, trying to jam his foot into my purple sling-back.

I stalked over and yanked it away. “What are you, five? Answer my question.”

He looked up at me, impossibly big blue eyes wide with innocence. “I thought we were friends, after you made me strip and all.”

“I’m calling Raquel.”

“Fine, fine. I was just doing some reconnaissance.”

“Reconnaissance?”

“Oh, sorry, that’s a big word, isn’t it? It means I was scoping the scene, getting the—”

“I know what it means! What, is IPCA investigating me now? Screw them, they can forget about any help from—”

“Do you ever let anyone else finish a sentence?” He smiled at my glare, flashing his dimples. “That’s more like it. You’re much prettier when you aren’t talking. True of most people, I’ve found. Anyhow, I needed to see the address Raquel gave me so that I could find it again.”

“Why?”

“As you so graciously pointed out the other day, I’m not a faerie. I need to see a place before I can open a door there. Or at least open a precise door there. Otherwise it’s anyone’s guess how close I’ll get.”

I sat down on the edge of my bed. As long as the weirdo was already here, I might as well get some answers. It had been nagging at me: how he could do what he did? It shouldn’t be possible. “How did you learn? To use the Paths, I mean.”

His mouth twisted into an impish grin. “Don’t let my good looks fool you. I’m terribly clever.”

I rolled my eyes. “Clearly. But you still shouldn’t be able to use the Paths.”

He shrugged, standing. “Watch and wait long enough, want something bad enough, and you can figure out a way to make it happen. I make a lot of things happen.” Smiling enigmatically, he reached out a hand to my wall. “I’ll pick you up later?”

“I haven’t agreed to anything.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Of course,” he said, distracted as he focused on the white lines snaking out to make a door. “So, I’ll pick you up later, then.”

“No! Don’t you listen to anything? Tell Raquel I’m not going to—”

Before I could finish my sentence he walked through the faerie door, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, “Girls are annoying.”

The wall formed again behind him, becoming the innocent recipient of my withering glare. Jack might look my age, but he was like a little kid on a sugar high—in need of a good spanking.

Good heavens,
that
sounded creepy. I lay back on my bed and closed my eyes. What a mess. I focused on letting the stress melt out of my body, letting myself drift into a restful, weightless state. It felt like if I could find peace, think things through, everything would be okay with my life, with Lend and me. I could figure out how to tell him the truth just right so that he wouldn’t even think of giving up on his mortal lifestyle. I’d come up with some way for us to work, some way for me to have all the important people in my life
in
my life, for as long as I wanted them to be.

A loud rapping on the door jarred me, shattering whatever epiphany I was undoubtedly about to reach.

“EVELYN, GET YOUR LAZY, SCRAWNY, PALE BUTT OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW.”

I opened my eyes with a roll, then walked out to the hall, feeling justifiably surly. “You have volume control on that mouth?”

Arianna shrugged. “You sleep like the dead. Nona needs help downstairs.”

“Great. Exactly how I wanted to spend my weekend. Lend free and grease filled.”

“Funny, I’d choose sleeping in and going shopping, but to each her own. Get down there.”

“What about our movie?” I whined, hoping that Arianna would help get me out of work.

“Creature of the night and all that jazz. I’m good with a late show.”

“Fine.” I stomped down the stairs, sulkily pulling my apron down off its hook on the wall and fastening it. It was great having an income now that I didn’t have an IPCA spending account (and, trust me, I missed that account something fierce), but working in a diner was a little less interesting than going on bag-and-tag missions.

And by a little I mean a lot. Keeping with the charming diner cow theme, we had to wear skirts—poodle-style skirts—in cow print.
Cow print
. There are many animal prints that are fabulous in any style. Cow is not one of them. It’s insulting, really. Which was why I stubbornly kept my own skinny jeans on. I wasn’t scheduled, I wasn’t going to dress bovine.

Just my luck, Grnlllll (or was it four
l
’s? Or a double
r
, triple
l
? If you think Welsh is weird, try reading Gnomish) was in the kitchen. Gnomes are earth elementals and usually live under the ground, mining and digging. They even look kinda like moles, with furry heads of hair; small, squinty eyes; and noses more snoutish than anything else. They’re happiest burrowing around in the dark and damp. What on earth Grnlllll was doing in this bright kitchen I had yet to figure out, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t making her happy.

And her French fries? Not good.

Grnlllll growled something at me that I didn’t bother trying to interpret, and I went out to take orders. Afternoon business was pretty typical—mostly the local paranormals, which meant an abundance of steaks so rare I could hardly stomach looking at them and shakes, the ingredients of which I didn’t even want to think about.

Things picked up as evening began curling against the windows with its cold insistence. My feet and back ached, and if I had to smile one more time and pretend like I didn’t notice the vamp in the corner licking his lips whenever I walked by, I was pretty sure I would scream. It was bad enough that half of the local vamps tried to use their mind- control powers to convince me I didn’t want a tip.

I
always
want a tip, you undead creeps.

Still, it was kind of funny watching vampires get more and more frustrated when they couldn’t persuade me. David and Arianna had kept my glamour-piercing abilities secret, which I appreciated. It made things less complicated.

I ripped off the bill and slapped it down on Lip-licker’s table. “Fifteen percent, like always.”

He scowled, then his face smoothed into a stunning smile. Stunning if you couldn’t see through his glamour to notice that every single tooth was grinning out at me through his rotting cheeks. He reached out to try and take my hand, but I whipped it away.

“Seriously. Fifteen percent or I’m slipping garlic powder into your next Bloody Mary.”

He fixed me with a scowl that could launch a thousand horror novels. I smiled. Muttering murderous things under his breath, he pulled out his wallet and handed over the money.

“Come back soon,” I chirped, beaming as I went back to the cash register. I might not have Tasey on me regularly, but I could still best vamps.

Nona swished by. Even the way she walked looked like a tree swaying in the wind. Local guys, non-paranormals, came by the diner sometimes to watch her. If they could see her hollowed-out tree trunk of a back, complete with tail, they’d probably feel different.

Then again, you never know with guys. And she was a pretty hot tree.

She stopped in front of me, smiling. “Thank you for working tonight.”

“Sure. Oh, hey,” I said, remembering my earlier question. “I’ve been seeing more and more paranormals that I don’t recognize. Does David know about them?” I met with him and Arianna pretty regularly to go over paperwork and details for their little operation, but I didn’t know everything.

Nona waved a hand gracefully through the air. “There is no danger. Would you mind helping Grnlllll in the kitchen? She cannot get the trash out on her own.”

My stomach sank. Trash duty. Great. The gnome was shorter than the trash bags, but of course we couldn’t get smaller bags, oh no, so I got to be on call any time the filth was full. And taking out the trash meant the Dumpster, and I had to actually
touch
it to get it open, and it was sticky.

STICKY.

I’m really not a lazy person, but for the last eight years of my life all I had to do was pick up my things. I couldn’t exactly take the Center’s trash out to the curb, considering it was a sealed underground complex. Diner trash was enough to make me nostalgic for those sterile white halls. Better sterile than sticky and smelly.

Back in the kitchen Grnlllll pointed in the direction of the trash—which she had let overflow and spill onto the floor. Trying to ignore the gag building at the back of my throat, I heaved the bag out of the can. It flopped into my leg, leaving a vile, dark smear of disgusting on my jeans. Brilliant.

Grnlllll’s voice graveled something at me as she pointed angrily to the streak I was creating as I dragged the bag along the floor, but at this point I didn’t care. I
should
have had this whole weekend off. I
should
have been snuggled up next to Lend right now, making fun of a bad movie with him and Arianna. I didn’t ask for this.

Besides, she may have been too short for the Dumpster, but she wasn’t too short to mop.

I kicked open the metal door leading to the dark back alley, gulping at the night air as the stench of rotten food assailed my nostrils. I could feel it lodging in my sinuses, and I wondered if I would ever be able to smell anything else.

The single light above the door flickered. I’d probably have to replace the bulb, too. Stupid gnome. Taking a deep breath, I walked to the Dumpster between our brick wall and the next building, flipped open the lid, and threw in the bag—and a big glop of something fell straight out onto my shoe.

“Bleep!” I screamed to the wall in front of me. “Bleep, bleep,
bleep
!” I kicked the Dumpster, then grabbed at my foot. Now I was dirty, my toes hurt,
and
I felt like an idiot. I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. It was okay. This was okay. I would go upstairs, take a shower, and go to bed. For the rest of the weekend.

The light flickered off, then came back on. Too bright. Way too bright. I opened my eyes to see the lines of another faerie door forming on the wall next to the Dumpster.

“Go away,” I snapped. “I’m not in the mood.” If Raquel thought sending idiot Jack repeatedly would help her cause, she was wrong.

A figure, taller than Jack and more beautiful by far than anyone else I knew, stepped out of the door.

“Now really,” he said, his voice liquid gold, “that’s hardly the welcome I expected, my love.”

Ex Marks the Spot

R
eth
. In front of me. In the alley behind the diner. I couldn’t sort out whether the fluttering in my stomach was fear or excitement. How had I forgotten what a beautiful, beautiful thing he was? Looking at him now, glowing faintly with warmth in the cold dark, all the feelings for him I’d ever been overwhelmed with flooded back in.

Including all the terror and pain he’d caused, so yeah, I wasn’t going to jump him or anything. But still, he was pretty to look at. And the last thing I wanted to see right now. Or ever, really. I held up a hand, palm out. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

Reth raised one eyebrow. “There’s no need for crass threats. I don’t wish to take you anywhere. Except perhaps out of this alley, in an effort to escape
some
of the stench.” He looked pointedly at my stained apron.

“Oh.” I lowered my hand, deflated and confused, and put my nose surreptitiously to my shoulder. Did I really smell? And since when did Reth not want me? He always wanted me. But I didn’t want him to want me—so why was I disappointed? Leave it to him to take me from angry to confused in five seconds flat.

“Walk with me? I would offer my elbow like a gentleman, but your hand looks rather sticky.”

I scowled. “Why on earth would I walk anywhere with you?”

He held out one perfect, slender hand toward the kitchen door of the diner. “My apologies; by all means, go back in. No doubt more filth awaits.”

I looked at the door, at war with myself. On the one hand, I hated doing anything Reth wanted me to. On the other hand, there was a mop with my name on it inside. . . .

“Fine, but if you try anything—”

“Really, Evelyn, how I’ve missed your charming company.”

Keeping a wary eye on the faerie, I followed him through the alley. We made our way down the lamp-lined street, his step so light it bordered on dancing. I felt like a graceless clod next to him. Then there was the aspect of his ethereal, near-angelic beauty compared to my . . . well, for the sake of my self-esteem, it was probably best not to compare.

I hugged myself, shrugging inward against the cold, tickling breeze as my breath fanned out in front of me. I had no doubt I’d regret going with him, but part of me was glad for these strange new happenings. They reminded me I wasn’t just a girl who was bad at soccer. Even though I no longer knew his true name and thus couldn’t control him, for once I felt almost equal to Reth. The knowledge that I could hurt him if I needed to—if I wanted to—gave me a heady feeling of power.

It probably wasn’t healthy.

Still, if he did something stupid and forced me to drain him, well, I wouldn’t cry about it. “So, is there any point to this walk? Because I’m kind of cold.”

Reth laughed, that silver, ringing laugh, and unconsciously I leaned in closer to him. Shaking my head, I took a firm step toward the street. We were nearing the border of thick trees that pushed in along the small town’s edges. I looked over at him, noticing for the first time that he had his glamour on. Not that it was much less gorgeous than his real face, but it surprised me. When he was IPCA and required to wear a glamour he almost never did; I couldn’t figure out why he would care now that he was free. (Which was mostly my fault, but, really, a girl can’t be expected to outsmart a faerie when running from her own death, now, can she?)

“Still cold, my love? I can take care of that.”

“Yeah, I remember. I think I’ll pass.” I rubbed my wrist, where I could see the faint pink print of his hand, forever burned there. I’d had enough of his warmth to last a lifetime.

Reth stopped and I did, too, reluctantly facing him. Latent rage welled up. I wanted to scream at him, attack him. It was his fault that Lish was dead—he was the one who let Viv into the Center. But if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t ever have gotten out of IPCA. And I definitely wouldn’t have been able to rescue Lend. For all I knew, he would still be in a cell in the Center and Vivian would still be slowly but surely killing every paranormal around. It made me sick to think about.

Nothing was ever, ever simple with Reth.

“Why are you here?” I asked, all my pent-up anger draining away to exhaustion.

He reached out a finger, nearly touching my face but instead stroking the air in front of it. “Would you believe I merely wanted to see you?”

“Nope.”

He smiled. “No, I suppose not. Initially I thought to take you. I could, you know. I’ve always been so gentle with you.”

“Gentle?”
I glared incredulously at him.

“Yes, I can’t fathom it, either. Other methods would have been so much simpler. But for whatever reason I find myself charmed by you and concerned with your best interests.”

“You just can’t help topping your own levels of crazy, can you? My best interests? You kidnapped me! You burned me! You tried to force me to become something I never wanted to be!”

“Evelyn, dear child, simply because you cannot understand what is in your best interests doesn’t mean that I do not. And if what is best for you also hurts you, well, that doesn’t change the necessity of becoming what you should be.”

“You’re—I—
AUGH
! You have no idea how insane you are. If you really cared about me, you wouldn’t hurt me. But you don’t care, because you can’t! You can’t care about anything except yourself.”

His eyes flashed, the gold darkening. “I care for you more than anyone in this sad, spinning world does. I couldn’t have poured my own soul into you if that weren’t true.”

I was glad I’d let out whatever soul Reth had given me along with all the others. Knowing that I’d had part of his soul in me made me feel, well, icky. I raised my chin defiantly. “Lend loves me. He’d never hurt me.”

“And no doubt he’d do anything for you.”

“Yes!”

“Do whatever it took to protect you.”

“Yes!”

“And if the only way to protect you and save your life was to hurt you?”

I snapped my lips shut against the yes that was about to come out. Could I hit Reth? Could I please, please just hit him?

He smiled, knowing he had me there. “Lend can’t love you because he doesn’t truly know you. No matter how much you want this life, it isn’t yours. It never has been. This isn’t your home, Evelyn.”

Angry tears pricked my eyes. “Go away.”

“Come with me.”

“Never! And you can’t make me. If you really could have taken me, you would have by now.”

He clicked his tongue impatiently. “My previous methods met with . . . disapproval from my queen. Sometimes I wonder if I chose quite right when aligning myself with a court.”

“What do you mean? You’re either Seelie or Unseelie.” I might not know as much about faeries as I should, but I did know they were in one of the two courts: Seelie, meaning good—or rather, goodish, since no faeries were really good—or Unseelie, meaning definitely,
definitely
bad.

His smile shifted, and I saw something feral and primal beneath his refined features. “No one is either good or bad, my love. We all have bits of both; we simply choose to align ourselves with whichever side has a stronger pull. My choice to get involved was motivated by a very sad, empty girl with eyes like streams of melting snow.”

So now Reth was saying he only went with the good court because of me? Or was he saying something else entirely? Only he could do this to me—make me feel this awful and confused. When I was with Reth, everything lonely and heartbroken in me seemed to well to the surface, begging to let him take it away. “I hate you,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

He locked his eyes on mine, drawing me closer, his voice slipping around me like a golden net. “Nonsense. My queen’s forbidden me to force you to come with me again, but I can’t understand why I should need to. It doesn’t have to be this way. It can be easy, safe, warm. And when you come home, none of this will matter—it will slip away, all the dark and cold, less than a dream. You’ll never have to worry or wonder again. Just
choose
it, Evelyn. Quit clinging to this world of loss and come with me. I can fill all the emptiness that you are. Become what you should be, and help us get back to where we belong.
Leave with me
.”

I sighed, breathing in deeply, my cheek against his chest. The heartbeat there was strange, too slow, but he was warm, and his arms around me were wonderful, and how did I get here again? I didn’t want his arms around me. Did I? There was someone . . . something . . . some reason. Did it matter?

Reth jerked away, his perfect nose wrinkled. “Oh, that necklace is monstrous. Where did you get such an abominable thing?” I blinked, dazed, and my fingers drifted up to my pendant. When I touched the cold iron, reality snapped back into place.

“Are you kidding me? You come here and use your stupid faerie mojo and then
you
back away from
me
? Is there anything in your golden head that makes sense? What, you thought, hey, Evie’s probably having a bad night, why don’t I go mess with her? While you’re at it, there are probably some puppies you could kick!”

I whipped around, stalking back to the diner. I should have known—had known—this was a bad idea. Idiot Evie.

Turning a corner, I stopped short at the sight of Reth, leaning casually against a lamppost, surrounded by a puddle of light and looking like an ad for an impossibly perfect reality.

“You need to come with me. Things have been set in motion, and I cannot control all the variables. I can’t hide you forever. I can, however, keep you safe and make you happy. Give me your hand.” He held his out; I could almost see waves of heat radiating from it.

I frowned, thinking of the sylph. Clearly
something
had found out where I was. Come to think of it, who was to say he didn’t set the sylph on me himself to trick me into thinking I was in danger? It would be just like him. The whole thing reeked of faerie mischief.

“Screw you. Me and my magic hands will be fine, thank you very much. I’m staying right where I am.”

He smiled, straightening to stand in front of me. “Very well. Clearly this life you so desperately craved is everything you hoped it would be. It warms me through to see you this fulfilled and”—he leaned in, whispering right in my ear—“
happy
.”

I closed my eyes, clenching my jaw. If he thought he could swoop in here and start messing with my life again, he was wrong. “Look, just because—”

I opened my eyes to find myself utterly alone. The lamplight that seemed to glow before was now harsh, creating shadows and sharp lines but illuminating nothing. The darkness of the night pressed in on me from all directions, and my teeth started to chatter.

“What am I doing here?” I whispered. And then quickly corrected: “
Out
here. I meant
out
here.”

I walked back to the diner. Ignoring Grnlllll, I went straight upstairs, stripping off my filthy clothes and standing in the shower until the hot water ran out. Miserable and unaccountably sad, I wanted to call Lend. I never felt empty around him. But then I’d have to tell him about tonight, and he’d be worried that Reth showed up again, and I didn’t want him to stress out about it. Instead I told Arianna I felt sick, climbed into bed, and willed myself to sleep.

Things would feel better in the morning. They had to.

My brain and body finally disconnected and I drifted off to blessed sleep.

“Hey, stupid,” Vivian said.

“Oh, Viv.” I broke into tears. “I’m so glad you’re here.”