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That's when it clicked, why Stacey looked so familiar. This, then, was the family member Charlotte had attacked and felt so guilty about she'd tried to kill herself.
David and Arianna stood; Lend and I followed them out to give the sisters some privacy. Guilt twisted, sharp and gnawing in my stomach. I knew none of it was my fault. I hadn't turned Charlotte into a monster, hadn't made her bite her sister. I hadn't personally separated them when they needed each other the most. But then again, I'd helped IPCA every step of the way.
“So, any other news?” Arianna asked, lighting a cigarette as we gathered on the porch.
“You know I don't like you smoking those things,” David said, frowning.
“Yeah, 'cause they might kill me?” She grinned bitterly, but put it out.
David sighed. “The news isn't good. IPCA lost another center. ”
“Which one?” I asked, fear tightening my throat.
“Bucharest. ”
Bucharest, so mostly vampires. I was instantly relieved, and then felt even guiltier. Would I have been relieved if Arianna were one of the victims?
“At least Bucharest is far away,” she muttered.
“The attacks are getting worse. I'm going to send as many of the paranormals away as I can. It's not safe anymore, having such a high concentration here. We don't know how she's finding these places; we can't take any risks. ”
“What about everyone who stays?” Lend asked.
“We'll make do. It seems like she's got some sort of target on IPCA, so hopefully we'll stay under the radar. In the meantime, my contacts are going to smuggle out as many tagged paranormals as they can and filter them through us. ”
“What's IPCA doing?” I asked. Surely they were doing something more to protect themselves and the paranormals.
“Near as I can tell, running around like a chicken with its head cut off,” David said with a sigh. “They're trying to work in some emergency plans, get things moving, but they've always been the bully, never the victim. They don't know how to handle it. ”
“What can we do?” Lend asked.
“You can go inside and do your homework. ”
Lend looked ready to protest, but David silenced him with a raised hand. “None of this is your problem. Inside, homework, now. ”
I followed Lend, sitting by him on the couch as he glowered at his calculus book. I knew he was frustrated, but I was with David on this one. If IPCA couldn't do anything, who could? The best we could do was protect paranormals and hide.
Hearing the murmurs from the kitchen made me nervous. I didn't know what to say to Charlotte, what I could possibly do to make up for what had been done to her. What I had been a part of.
After about an hour she came out with Stacey and Luke, along with a couple of suitcases. Stacey gave me a tight smile as she walked out, but Charlotte stopped. I stood awkwardly, staring at the ground.
“Charlotte, I didn't know about--I'm so sorry. ”
She put her hand on my shoulder and I looked up. Her warm blue eyes sparkled over her yellow wolf ones. “Please don't apologize. We're both free now. Enjoy it. ” She leaned in and pecked me on the cheek, then left, giving me one last smile. For once, it had no trace of sadness at all.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
HEY, STUPID
I was relieved later when Lend finally shut his books; I'd had too much time to sit there, stewing over lost friends, werewolves, and Fire Girl's escalating attacks. I was tired of feeling guilty and scared.
“Want to watch a movie or something?”
I enthusiastically agreed, and we scanned through the channels, debating the merits of various movies they had on demand. Settling on a romantic comedy (yeah, I totally won the debate), I snuggled into the couch while Lend made popcorn. When he came back, he sat down so we were touching.
Just after the opening credits, he took my hand and wove his fingers through mine. I knew from the triumphant, happy flips my stomach was doing that, this time, we were holding hands for real. And it was the best thing ever.
Have I mentioned how amazing Lend's skin was? Unbelievably soft and smooth. And his hand was so warm, it felt wonderful. Not weird, creeping-?up-?my-?arm warmth like Reth, just nice, very-?normal warm. Tingly and happy-?all-?over warm. Over-?the-?moon, I'm-?holding-?hands-?with-?a-?super-?cute-?guy-?who's-?taking-?me-?to-?the-?prom warm.
