WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW
I dropped the communicator like it had burned my hands. It was real--I was connected to everything, to Vivian. Why didn't I pay more attention when she said what we were? And she said I was dying, or I was going to die, or...
I sat and put my head down on the table. This was so, so bad. So unbelievably bad. Not only did crazy paranormal killer know way more than I did and could sneak into my head, she also seemed to think we should be together. And the faeries were involved, of course.
What the bleep was I?
My earliest memories were of the foster system. The police had found me wandering naked and alone in a park when I was three years old. They never found any leads, so I became a ward of the state. What if--What if I didn't have parents to begin with? Where did I come from?
“She's delusional,” I whispered to myself, forehead pressed against the wood of the table. “She's crazy. We're not the same.”
“Evie?” I sat straight up, shocked and scared. Lend's dad was standing in the entry to the kitchen. “Couldn't sleep?”
“No, no, I couldn't sleep.” I wondered if I should tell him. But he liked me, trusted me. What would they do if they found out that this thing they were terrified of was my sister? That I might be the exact same thing as her? My eyes filled with tears. Why couldn't I just be normal?
“Yeah, me neither.” He got a glass of water and sat down at the table across from me.
“I have a question.” I wondered how I could get answers without giving anything away. If David even had any answers. I had a feeling I knew more than anyone else here now, which wasn't saying much. “Reth knew the words to that poem thing about Vi--about the girl that's doing this. Is it some sort of faerie prophecy?”
“He knew about it? Interesting.” David looked thoughtful. “Is Reth Seelie or Unseelie?”
“What?” Yet another thing I didn't know. Great.
“There are two types of faeries--two courts. The Seelie and the Unseelie. You didn't learn about that?”
“Never heard a word.”
He frowned. “They had you working with faeries but didn't talk about the differences? Did they teach you about faerie lore or magic?”
I shrugged. “Not really. Raquel wouldn't answer many of my questions. She always said that stuff didn't matter as long as we knew their names.”
“But they only worked with Seelie faeries, right?”
I shrugged. “I think they took whatever they could get.”
He sat back, rubbing his face wearily in the same way Lend did. “Idiots.”
“No kidding. So what's the difference?”
“Well, many faeries are more independent and not actively involved with the courts, but they're all divided into two basic groups. The Seelie faeries are the good faeries--good being relative, of course. They still manage to do quite a bit of mischief. But the Unseelie are even worse.”
“Oh, he's totally Unseelie then. You saw him. He was the one who brought Fire Girl into the Center, too.”
“And he knew about the prophecy. Hmm. I wonder why the fey would be involved. The banshee's insight was obvious since she heralded the deaths.” I nodded, pretending like I understood what he was talking about until I remembered Lend said they had gotten the info from a banshee.
“There was something else he mentioned.” I bit my lip. Time to lie. “He said something about being empty. That she was an Empty One?” I watched him for any reaction but he looked stumped.
“I don't know. It doesn't ring a bell. Faeries operate on a different level than we do. Long-term planning for us is years; they set things in motion centuries ahead. They meddle with human stuff the most, but all the true immortals are disconnected from our time frames. Take Cresseda.” He smiled sadly. “Try getting a straight answer out of her about anything. She just doesn't have the same sense of immediacy that we do. It's like her mind is on a different plane. Still, we take what we can get.”
“Yeah.” Cresseda! Maybe she could answer my questions. I'd have to wait until the morning since I wouldn't be able to find my way in the dark, but it gave me hope that I could figure some of this out.
There was one more thing, though. Vivian's message had come from Raquel's communicator. I didn't know what that meant, how she had gotten it, but it couldn't be good. “Umm,” I said, staring at the table, “I know that you probably don't like her, but Raquel”--my voice caught saying her name--“was always pretty good to me. And I'm worried that she might be...Did you find out anything yet?”
David smiled, patting me on the shoulder as he stood. “I was going to tell you in the morning. I know for a fact that Raquel is alive and well.”
“Really?” I looked up at him, tears of relief in my eyes. As much as she had frustrated and disappointed me, she was the closest I had to family. Knowing she was safe felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my chest. “Could you--” I wanted to send her a message. Something, anything to let her know that I was okay.
But she was bound to be disappointed in me. After everything I'd done--losing the trackers that Vivian used to trick her way into the Center, freeing Lend and running instead of following protocol, not coming back now that I was safe--no, she wouldn't be happy to hear from me. And then they'd look for me, too. It was best to leave it alone.