Oh, So Busted

I stared openmouthed at Lend. What could I say? How could I talk my way out of this?

"Hey-oh! Glad there are no frying pans handy tonight!" Jack grinned, then looked from Lend to me and back again, shoved his hands in his pockets, and backed up through the door. "Uh, good luck with that, then," he said as it closed.

I half expected Lend to start yelling, which he had never done to me before, but he just stood there. Anger and hurt bled together on his face, and it killed me.

"Look, Lend, I can explain. We-"

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long have you been working with IPCA?"

"I haven't done much, really! Something with a poltergeist in the Center. And just now I wasn't even working for them!"

"So, what, you two were hanging out?"

"I-no-I thought- Jack said something about a mission, but then there wasn't one." Lend couldn't be jealous of Jack. It might look bad, but he had to understand there was no one else for me. Jack was fun, cute even, but there wasn't anything in me that was attracted to the little maniac.

Lend shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, avoiding my eyes. "The two days I couldn't get ahold of you. You didn't lose your phone, did you?"

"No," I whispered.

"Where were you?"

"I got stuck in the Center after the poltergeist thing-it wasn't a big deal."

He looked at the door. "Thought I'd surprise you and come hang out while you worked. I've got to-I'm going to go now."

"Lend, wait!" I grabbed his arm. "Listen! I missed Raquel, and she needed my help, and I'm not doing anything that's dangerous or would hurt paranormals. Besides, they're paying me, which means I have enough money for school now, so your dad doesn't have to try and help me. It's really not a big deal!"

"It is a big deal! You lied to me. You've been lying to me this entire time. How is that not a big deal?"

I felt the tears build in my eyes and fought them back. "I didn't want you to get mad."

He let out a strangled laugh, started to say something, then shook his head and walked out. I followed him desperately down the stairs.

"Can't we talk about this?"

He paused at the door to the diner kitchen and took a deep breath. "Yes. But not right now. I'vealways been honest with you, and it kills me that you don't trust me enough to be the same. Even if you think it's going to bother me. Especially if you think it's going to bother me."

"Lend, I-"

He shook his head. "I'm too mad to talk right now and I love you too much to say anything I'll regret."

"Okay," I agreed, my voice wavering. I didn't want to push it, but I needed to know that we were going to be okay, that we'd get over this. He hesitated, then leaned over and kissed me roughly on my forehead.

"I'll call you later." He opened the door and looked back at me. "Is there anything else you're hiding?"

"No!"

He nodded and walked into the kitchen. And swore loudly. I scrambled after him.

Reth stood with Nona and Grnlllll near the stoves, filling the kitchen with his radiance. He looked up at us and beamed. "Lovely to see you again, Evelyn."

I pointed at him, looking at Lend as my voice rose at least an octave. "I did not know he was here!"

"Nona?" Lend asked, tensed as though he wasn't sure if he should fight Reth or turn and leave us all behind.

"Calm yourself, child. The faerie's business is his own."

"He's dangerous."

"And leaving." Reth dipped low in a mocking bow, then winked at my livid boyfriend. "Well met, as always." He left through a door in the wall, the kitchen positively exploding with silence in his absence.

Lend turned his scowl on Nona. "Does my dad know you're working with faeries?"

Nona smiled at Lend, swishing by and patting him on the shoulder as she moved to go out front. "Don't worry yourself. She will always be safe here. Evie? We need you on the register tonight."

"I-seriously? After that, him, here, you still expect me to work?" Nona kept that same insanely calm smile on her face. I glared at her; I'd always trusted her, but to see her talking with Reth like it happened every day . . . I didn't know. Maybe she was just telling him to leave. And he was gone, after all. I turned to Lend. "Will you wait?" I asked, desperate to fix this.

"You really didn't know Reth was here?"

"No! Are you kidding? I hate Reth. You know that."

Lend rubbed his eyes wearily. "I need some time to work through this. I'm gonna go. I'll see you this weekend."

I nodded, biting back everything I wanted to say to him. He needed time to process. We'd talk soon. It'd be okay.

Three hours later, my feet aching, I scowled at Kari and Donna, a pair of selkies still hanging out in the corner booth, taking their sweet time with their watercress sandwiches. Kari and Donna weren't their real names, and I was never sure who was who, anyway, but since their actual names came out as yips, barks, and an awesome kissing sort of noise, it was easier for everyone to use their nicknames. Their huge, round, watery brown eyes were almost entirely iris, with barely any white showing. They were strange in that they didn't put on a glamour to look human-they actually removed their seal skin. But besides a faint haze that always clung to them (and that only I could see), there was something off. The way they used their fingers was clumsy, and they often laughed as they tried to pick things up, resorting to using their whole hand like a flipper. I guess they were new to the area-David hadn't even known they were here until I pointed them out.

Normally I didn't mind the selkies, since they were pleasant and playful and decidedly vain, always showing me new tricks for doing my hair, but tonight I wished they'd hurry the freak up. What was it with paranormals and not paying any attention to the time?

A luxury of immortality, I suppose.

Finally they finished and I closed shop, dragging myself upstairs to curl up in a ball of misery and stare at my phone, willing Lend to text me.

He didn't.

I let my head rest against the diner window, watching cars pass and wishing Lend were here. We'd pick a number, say four, and the fourth car to pass was ours. Somehow I always ended up with beaters. Lend usually got minivans, so that evened it out a bit.

But he wasn't here.

"Okay, so we need birth certificates for Stephanie and Carrie, Patrick needs another license because he looks way too young for his birth date now, and that new werewolf family needs cages installed in their basement." David looked up from his agenda.

Arianna slouched down further in the bench next to me. "I'm on the official documents. New guy at the county record's office. One look at my mesmerizing eyes and oddly enough he's willing to do anything I ask . . ." She tapped the saltshaker, bored, like talking about her vamp ability was the same as any other job skill. Excellent typist, always on task, can compel others to do my bidding.

"Excellent. Evie, I was wondering if you could meet with a couple of vampires who want to sublet the apartment next door, just make sure everything's on the up-and-up. They can't compel you, so you'll be able to tell very quickly if they're lying about anything."

"Sure." I stabbed sullenly at my eggs. Normally I liked my weekly meetings with David and Arianna. Since paranormals weren't running scared from Viv anymore, things had calmed down, but there was always something that needed to be done in their little operation. Today, however, it felt pointless. It all felt pointless. Lend still hadn't called. It had only been two days, but it felt like a lifetime. We'd never gone this long without talking.

I wondered, too, whether or not he'd told his dad I was back with IPCA. David hadn't said a word, had greeted me with his usual warm smile and a side hug. Not that it was any of his business, either. He was my legal guardian, but, as Raquel pointed out, there really wasn't much that was legal about it. Still, he'd taken me in when Lend and I broke out of the Center, trusted that I wasn't going to betray their secrets, and always did whatever he could to help me out. I didn't like feeling as though maybe I'd betrayed him, too.

I didn't like any of this.

I scowled out the window again, directing my foul moods at the innocent bystanders walking down the sidewalk. A mom and dad walked by with a little girl between them, all holding hands. For some reason it made me want to cry.

A car honked loudly, drawing my attention away from the family to a woman, calmly walking down the middle of the street as though she owned the place. She wore a flowing purple dress, had shiny brown hair, and-

Yelping, I ducked beneath the table.

"What the-? Evie?" David asked.

"Faerie!" I hissed. "Outside!"

Arianna leaned toward the window. "Where?"

"The woman in purple! No, don't look! I mean, you won't be able to tell-she's glamoured! But don't draw her attention here."

After a tense minute that felt more like an hour, Arianna kicked me. None too gently. "She's gone. You can get up now."

I peeked hesitantly out, scanning up and down the street to make sure the faerie really was gone, then sat down. My heart was racing.

"Did you know her?" David asked, frowning.

"No! Never seen that one in my life."

"I wonder what she was doing here."

Reth's warning about my safety flashed through my mind. "Looking for me?"

"I dunno," Arianna said, tracing patterns into a thin sheen of ketchup she'd poured onto the table. "She didn't really look like she was searching for anything. She just sort of walked down the street casually, not even looking from side to side."

"It can't be a coincidence. How many faeries do you get here?"

David shrugged. "I have no idea, actually. For all Arianna and I know, she could be here constantly. She looked like a normal person to me."

"Hotter, though," Arianna added. "So should we tell you any time we see someone who's really hot?"

I glared at her. "Yeah, that'd be really helpful, thanks."

"Still, you're right. This is unusual." David frowned thoughtfully. "I'll ask Nona about it."

"Fat lot of help she'll be."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "There've been a lot of weird paranormals in here lately. And Lend and I caught her talking with Reth in the kitchen the other night."

"Really? That . . . that is weird." Scratching at his stubble, David stood up. "I'll go talk with her right now. Been meaning to, anyway. I still haven't been able to see Cresseda, and Raquel was saying something about missing fire and earth elementals." He gazed at a spot on the wall, lost in his own thoughts, then shook his head and smiled reassuringly at me. "I always want you to feel safe here, Evie, and you know I'll do whatever I can to make sure that's possible."

"Thanks."

Brilliant. Just what I needed-further confirmation that something was going on. And even less of an idea what it was. I stood and turned to go up to the apartment, only to find Grnlllll standing by the counter, black eyes staring intently at me. Then, she did the creepiest thing I'd ever seen her do.

She smiled.

Something was definitely up.