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It probably wasn't healthy.
Still, if he did something stupid and forced me to drain him, well, I wouldn't cry about it. "So, is there any point to this walk? Because I'm kind of cold. "
Reth laughed, that silver, ringing laugh, and unconsciously I leaned in closer to him. Shaking my head, I took a firm step toward the street. We were nearing the border of thick trees that pushed in along the small town's edges. I looked over at him, noticing for the first time that he had his glamour on. Not that it was much less gorgeous than his real face, but it surprised me. When he was IPCA and required to wear a glamour he almost never did; I couldn't figure out why he would care now that he was free. (Which was mostly my fault, but, really, a girl can't be expected to outsmart a faerie when running from her own death, now, can she?)
"Still cold, my love? I can take care of that. "
"Yeah, I remember. I think I'll pass. " I rubbed my wrist, where I could see the faint pink print of his hand, forever burned there. I'd had enough of his warmth to last a lifetime.
Reth stopped and I did, too, reluctantly facing him. Latent rage welled up. I wanted to scream at him, attack him. It was his fault that Lish was dead-he was the one who let Viv into the Center. But if he hadn't, I wouldn't ever have gotten out of IPCA. And I definitely wouldn't have been able to rescue Lend. For all I knew, he would still be in a cell in the Center and Vivian would still be slowly but surely killing every paranormal around. It made me sick to think about.
Nothing was ever, ever simple with Reth.
"Why are you here?" I asked, all my pent-up anger draining away to exhaustion.
He reached out a finger, nearly touching my face but instead stroking the air in front of it. "Would you believe I merely wanted to see you?"
"Nope. "
He smiled. "No, I suppose not. Initially I thought to take you. I could, you know. I've always been so gentle with you. "
"Gentle?" I glared incredulously at him.
"Yes, I can't fathom it, either. Other methods would have been so much simpler. But for whatever reason I find myself charmed by you and concerned with your best interests. "
"You just can't help topping your own levels of crazy, can you? My best interests? You kidnapped me! You burned me! You tried to force me to become something I never wanted to be!"
"Evelyn, dear child, simply because you cannot understand what is in your best interests doesn't mean that I do not. And if what is best for you also hurts you, well, that doesn't change the necessity of becoming what you should be. "
"You're-I-AUGH! You have no idea how insane you are. If you really cared about me, you wouldn't hurt me. But you don't care, because you can't! You can't care about anything except yourself. "
His eyes flashed, the gold darkening. "I care for you more than anyone in this sad, spinning world does. I couldn't have poured my own soul into you if that weren't true. "
I was glad I'd let out whatever soul Reth had given me along with all the others. Knowing that I'd had part of his soul in me made me feel, well, icky. I raised my chin defiantly. "Lend loves me. He'd never hurt me. "
"And no doubt he'd do anything for you. "
"Yes!"
"Do whatever it took to protect you. "
"Yes!"
"And if the only way to protect you and save your life was to hurt you?"
I snapped my lips shut against the yes that was about to come out. Could I hit Reth? Could I please, please just hit him?
He smiled, knowing he had me there. "Lend can't love you because he doesn't truly know you. No matter how much you want this life, it isn't yours. It never has been. This isn't your home, Evelyn. "
Angry tears pricked my eyes. "Go away. "
"Come with me. "
"Never! And you can't make me. If you really could have taken me, you would have by now. "
He clicked his tongue impatiently. "My previous methods met with . . . disapproval from my queen. Sometimes I wonder if I chose quite right when aligning myself with a court. "
"What do you mean? You're either Seelie or Unseelie. " I might not know as much about faeries as I should, but I did know they were in one of the two courts: Seelie, meaning good-or rather, goodish, since no faeries were really good-or Unseelie, meaning definitely,definitely bad.
