“I want you to love me. I want you to somehow make this better. But you can't. Nothing will ever work out. Nothing, nothing, nothing.”
“We need to go back.”
“I can't. I can’t.” My legs won't move.
“Ava, look at me.”
I do, and he does that thing where he pulls me in, making my brain go blank. All I see are his eyes: one green, one blue. My body stops shaking, stops freaking, just stops. I hear my heart and my blood and that's it besides the hum of the refrigerator.
“There,” he says, letting me go.
He takes my hands and gives me a zap of happy. It fizzles out quickly, but at least I'm not going to destroy anything or kill anyone. Although, if that social worker smiles at me like she's on happy pills, I might smash her face into the floor. Or maybe whack her with a bedpan. I imagine it with satisfaction.
“Okay, I'm ready.”
Twenty-Seven
Brooke
Once again, I had to hide. Helena left me in a cave in the middle of the desert while she went to find Di. She hadn't made me promise to stay, and I had no intention of doing so. She couldn't tell me what to do.
We'd left the road far behind us. No human could live out here. Helena ran quickly, but I was able to fly and catch up with her. I'd seen her mermaid tail and was convinced my wings were more useful.
Di was waiting for her under a lone tree. She looked like she was on fire, with red hair and a bright red dress that hugged her like the fabric had been wrapped around her body and then sewed to her skin.
“Helena,” Di said, as if she was both sad and surprised. Odd, I thought she was waiting here for her.
“Di. Long time no see.”
Di tipped her head to the side. “It has been a long time. You look well.”
“So do you.” There was a pause as they locked eyes. The only parts of them that moved were their hair.
“What do you want, Helen?” I'd never heard anyone call her that.
“I just wanted to see you, Diana. I just...”
“You seem to have taken to the modern language well.”
“It is easy to imitate,” Helena said, switching into her real accent. I'd heard it a few times since I'd gotten to know her. It was strange to hear her talk like a valley girl one moment and a Greek goddess the next.
“I think I can guess why you are here,” Di said, getting up and walking in a circle around Helena, brushing a strand of her long hair. “You are here about my boys.”
“Maybe I am. Maybe I missed you.”
Di laughed. “Oh, Helen, I'm not that stupid. What I don't know is how they roped you into it.”
“I am here of my own accord.”
“Of course you are. Such a sucker, Helen. You always were. Beauty and heart. Not a lot of common sense.”
Helena giggled, the sound cracking over the barren landscape like a gunshot. “You were always insulting me. Even when we were making love. Especially then.” She reached out and touched Di's shoulder.
Di looked like she wanted to give in, but she turned and walked away. “So what have you gotten them to promise you?”
“Nothing,” Helena said.
Di was surprised again. “Oh, come now. You can't get something for nothing.”
“I don't want it to go on anymore, Di. The binds... all they do is create hate. I just want there to be love.”
“So altruistic, sweet Helen. But binds can be about love, as you well know.”
“What happened to you? Why have you turned so bitter?”
A hot breeze tossed their hair around like scarves. “You made me this way. Or don't you recall?”
“If I could take it back, I would.”
“Such a liar, my Helen.”
“Remember that day when I met you? Remember after Akash changed me and we swam in the river and danced in the sun? Remember that day you painted the clouds on my skin with white paint?”
“Of course I remember. It's just not important. Don't you remember how I killed that boy you were infatuated with. What was his name? Tobias?”
“You know what his name was, Diana. Don't play that game with me. You pretend that you don't care, but I know you do, you have to. But why did you do it to them? To your boys? How could you?”
“That is my business, not yours.” Di turned and stormed away.
“Diana. I didn't come here to fight with you,” Helena's voice softened.
“You're doing a good job of it.”
Helena held up her hands in a pleading motion. “Can we just talk?”
“If you just wanted to talk, then what is she doing here?” Di points right at me. The wind must have shifted, bringing her my scent. I didn't see the point in hiding, so I came out.
“Brooke. You are not good at following directions,” Helena said.
“Not really. I don't really do what people tell me to do,” I said. It was part of what had gotten me into this immortal situation in the first place.
“Is this your new toy?”
“No. I am just here for moral support.” This was not exactly true, but it sounded good.
“Why don't I believe that? Did you bring anyone else with you? One of my lovely sons, perhaps? You may have heard, one of them was ended by a human. The very human who will end another of mine.”
“He loves her, you know? I know you made the bind that he wouldn't, but you can love more than one person at once. That was what you forgot.”
“He may love her, but he loves me more. Soon he will kill her and that will be the end of it. He will come back to me and we will be together again. I may have lost my Ivan, but my Cal will fill his place.”
“They can't fill my place, Diana. You would be gone if they had.”
Di was silent, unable to deny it.
“You left a place I couldn't fill. I need you, Diana. I miss you.” Helena touched Di's turned shoulder, and Di couldn't resist meeting her eyes.
“You didn't love me. You never did. You were obsessed with that human boy, even after you changed. I was never enough for you,” Di said.
“You were; you were enough. You are enough. I've spent every second of every day thinking about you. You know I would not be alive if I didn't love you.” Di tried to fight it, but Helena pulled on her shoulders, turning her around so their eyes could meet. “Prove it. Prove you don't love me.” Helena crushed her lips to Di's.
For a moment, Di fought her, but it was only a moment. Then she gave in.
Twenty-Eight
Ava
I don't end up killing the social worker, but I do end up freaking out and crying. I try my best not to break down in front of Mom, but when they tell me they are preparing for the worst, I kind of lose it. The social worker gives Peter her first nasty look, and I gave it right back to her. He is the only thing preventing me from going postal.