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Vivian shrugged. She kept her eyes on the movie. “You can't keep going on your own forever, you know. ”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you're already on borrowed time. When they made you, they only gave you a little bit. ”
“Wait--made me?” Reth had said the same thing. “You mean our parents? Did you know them?”
“So you still don't think I'm real, but you want me to answer questions? Face it, you know it's true. Anyway, what makes you think we had parents?”
I frowned, fighting panic. “Don't be stupid. Of course we did. How else could we be sisters?”
“We're two of a kind. I figure that makes us related, right?”
“Fine, Miss Two-?of-?a-?Kind, what are we, then?”
“The Empty Ones. Didn't they tell you anything?”
“Who?” I was almost shouting now. She was so frustrating, and the temptation of the flames behind her grated on my nerves. I wanted them.
“No wonder you're so confused. What, did your faeries lose you as a baby or something?” She saw my blank look and laughed. “They did! Oh, that's rich. Gotta love faeries. Idiots. Here the court has been trying to pit me against you in some sort of epic showdown and you don't know a thing. ”
“I thought you didn't know any faeries. ”
“No, I said I'd never taken any soul from a faerie. They don't let me touch them--they're not that stupid. Anyway, what I'm saying is, who cares about them? They're always trying to meddle, fix things to line up with their stupid little poems. You and me, we're what matters. So screw the fey, let's be a family. ” She smiled at me, her face both tender and slightly manic.
What was she talking about? Had she been raised by faeries? And why wouldn't her dumb flames stop swirling around, drawing me in?
“I don't know. ” I closed my eyes. “I don't get anything you're saying. And I don't like what you're doing. ”
“Grow up, Evie. You'd better figure it out if you want to stay alive. ”
“Are you going to kill me, then?” I opened my eyes and glared at her.
“No, stupid. You're going to kill yourself if you don't get with the picture. I'm bored. I'm gonna go now. But check your communicator, then give me a call. We'll hang out--conscious, next time. ” She smiled at me, then the golden flames were sucked back into her. I shielded my eyes against her light, tearing up. I didn't know if it was from how bright the flames were or how much I wanted them to stay. To come to me, to make me warm.
“Evie?”
“What?” I opened my eyes and squinted against the expected light. There wasn't anything--not even the glow of the TV.
“We should probably go to bed,” Lend whispered. “I think you fell asleep. ”
“Oh, yeah. ” I shook my head, trying to get the insidious dream out of my mind.
“Are you okay?”
“What? Oh, yeah, I'm okay. ” I squeezed his hand, forcing a smile. “Really okay. ”
I wanted nothing more than to walk upstairs with Lend, maybe even kiss, but I couldn't get the dream out of my head. I bid him a quick good night to cover up my nerves and went to my room. When I took my shirt off, I risked looking down. It was probably just the power of suggestion, but my heart looked brighter. Fr
ustrated, knowing it was dumb and feeling guilty, I waited until I heard Lend's door shut, then sneaked back downstairs to the kitchen.
I was sure my communicator wouldn't be in there, sure that David would be suspicious enough to hide it, but I looked around anyway. And then, in a drawer filled with kitchen supplies, there it was.
I pulled it out. “This is ridiculous,” I whispered. There wasn't going to be anything weird there, because there wasn't anything real about those dreams. I looked at the screen. Twelve new messages were flashing. The top one had come in about two minutes ago, from Raquel's communicator. None from Vivian--Vivian who was not real, a figment of my imagination, not actually Fire Girl. I shook my head, relieved. Then, hit with a sudden pang, I missed Raquel. I wouldn't respond because that would give away my location, but I wanted to see what she was writing, make sure she was okay. I opened the message.
I shouldn't have.
“Hey, Stupid,” it said. “Where do you want to meet? Love, Vivian. ”
