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“It's a woman? What is it?”
Lend shrugged. “Looked like a totally normal girl to me. But Evie can see through glamours. ”
Every time I thought David couldn't look any more surprised he topped it. “You can see through glamours?”
I nodded. “It's a glamourless life. ” My favorite joke hurt tonight. Lish always liked that one.
He sat down heavily in another chair. “Wow. The possibilities--I've never heard of anyone being able to--That's amazing. No wonder they were finally able to find common ground to form IPCA. So what is this thing?”
“I don't know. I've never seen anything like her. ” My wrist shone up at me. Well, that wasn't quite true. Stupid, stupid Reth. “She's like--like living, liquid flame. She's so bright it hurts my eyes. ”
“That's new. What's her glamour?”
Lend gave me an apologetic look, then shimmered as he transformed into Fire Girl. David swore softly, looking from Lend-?as-?fire-?girl to me.
“I can't get her eyes right,” Lend said. Fire Girl's voice coming out of his mouth made me shudder. “Can't get Evie's, either. ”
I felt guilty and dirty, even though I hadn't done anything wrong. David gave me a wary look. “And you brought her home?”
Lend shifted back to normal. “Dad, no, don't even start. She saved my life. That thing would have killed me. And Evie didn't just save me, she saved every werewolf there. She doesn't know who or what it is any more than we do. ”
David shook his head, bothered. “Well, I guess we know what we're looking for now. Or at least a description. I have no idea what she is. ”
I didn't know if he was talking about me or Fire Girl. “I'm not--You have to believe me. I'm not like her, whatever she is. She's horrible, and she killed--she killed my best friend. ” My voice cracked. She took Lish away from me, from the world. I didn't ever want to think about her again, and I couldn't stand Lend's dad suspecting I was somehow in league with her.
“She broke into the Center tonight. ” Lend put his arm around my shoulders. I appreciated that one little gesture more than I could say. He believed me no matter what. When I looked up, I could tell his dad did, too. His eyes were gentle and kind again. “She must have planned everything, because they had called all their paranormals in and the werewolves were sleeping, so easy targets. We barely got out. I need to talk to Mom about what we saw. ”
I was surprised again. I don't know why I'd assumed he didn't have parents. Maybe he was adopted; things like Lend don't just happen. And the timing of his dad leaving APCA would have been right around when Lend was born. I definitely wanted to hear more about this.
“Can't visit her tonight, it's too cold,” Lend's dad answered, which was even more confusing.
“Evie? Are you okay?”
I was shaking. “I'm cold,” I said, trying not to let my teeth chatter. More than that I was overwhelmed and beyond exhausted.
David stood. “I'm going to give you something for your leg; it'll hurt when the numbing wears off. And if it's okay I'll give you painkillers with a sleep aid. Would you like that?”
“Yeah. Thanks. ” I wasn't looking forward to trying to fall asleep tonight on my own. I wanted to check out, leave reality.
He went through a cupboard, coming back with a couple of pills and a glass of water. I chugged them; they couldn't kick in fast enough as far as I was concerned.
“Where are we going to put her?” David asked. “The guest rooms are off-?limits tonight. ”
“Oh, yeah. She can sleep in my room. I'll take the couch. ”
“That's okay, I'm fine on the couch. ” I didn't want to be any more intrusive than I already felt.
“Saving Lend's life and breaking him out of the Center earns you a bed, I think,” David said with a smile.
“I'll take you up and get you a sweatshirt so you won't be so cold. ”
“Thanks. ”
“Come back down when you're done, young man. We've still got some things to talk about. ”
Lend held back a sigh and nodded. The phone rang and David answered it. “He's home. ” He sounded relieved. “Everything's okay. We've got some new intel, too. ”
Wondering if that was Lend's mom, I stood and followed Lend up the stairs. He passed a couple of doors. Both were bolted shut with thick locks--on the outside. Nervous that his door would feature that nifty little security measure as well, I was relieved when he stopped and opened a bolt-?free door.
