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"I love you!" "I love you. " "I LOVE YOU, idiot!" "You are so-I hate you! I love you!" "Shut up and tell me you love me. " "Te amo!" Ah, yes, the guest arc of the Spanish hottie. That was a good season.
Given the number of relationships that show cycled through, the video lasted several minutes. When it ended, I heard Lend's laptop closing.
"Well?" I asked.
"I love you," he answered.
"I love you, too. " I put my palm against the wall, fingers splayed out. I would fix this. I didn't care if IPCA was taking over the world, or dark forces were conspiring to keep us apart, or if in opening the gate to another world I'd maybe die or Lend would leave this world forever. He was mine, no matter what I had to do to make it work.
"Umm, so, what was that you were saying when my dad and Raquel were in here? About double-dating?"
I rubbed my eyes. "You should really ask your dad about it. "
"I don't want to ask my dad about it, I'm asking you. "
"Your dad and Raquel are-were-well, they were really happy to be back together. Like, together together. I found some pictures in Raquel's room and I think we've solved the mystery of what the deal was between them. I think they were engaged or something before your dad met your mom. And, uh, they've rekindled the spark. "
Lend was quiet for a long time. Too long.
"Are you okay?"
"He's still married. "
"What?"
"My dad. Is still. Married. To my mom. "
I hadn't even thought of that, although I guess it would be difficult to sign a divorce agreement if your hands were made of water. "Yeah, but they haven't really been with each other in eighteen years. "
"She's my mom, Evie. And what, now that she's going to leave the planet he's suddenly jumping all over a woman who stands for everything he and I have fought against?"
"Whoa now. You heard. Raquel's not IPCA anymore. And she's never been as bad as you make her out to be. "
"Sure, because stealing my dad is really cool. "
"Who is she stealing him from? Your mom left him forever ago, and I'm pretty sure she stole David from Raquel in the first place!"
"What is that supposed to mean? I wouldn't exist if my parents hadn't loved each other!"
I looked up at the ceiling, breathing deeply. "That came out really, really wrong. Of course I'm glad your parents fell in love. They made the best thing in the entire world. And it is really weird that your dad and Raquel might be dating now. You have every right to be freaked out. Just, please, give her a chance, okay?"
He didn't answer. I could feel knots forming in my shoulders and neck. It was like my whole body was ganging up on me because it hated not being touched by Lend. Subject change time. "Did you find anything else out while I was gone?"
His voice was still terse. "Not much new, although it's getting crowded out there. They're gathering paranormals from all over. Everyone who wants to leave. "
"So they're taking it for granted that they'll actually have a gate?"
There was a pause. "I thought-I thought you were going to try to open the gate. Not that I want to push you, but. . . I don't know, I think it's the right thing to do. "
I scowled up at the ceiling, picking at the rug under my fingers. "Well, yeah, it probably is, but it pisses me off that they're just assuming I will. "
Lend laughed, the sound making some of the tension in my shoulders relax. "Yeah, that's paranormals for you. Always bossing people around. Prophecies this, prophecies that. "
"And do any of their prophecies say please? No, not a single one. " I rolled over onto my side, my nose practically touching the wall, and put my hand against the wallpaper. Amid the dry, static wind of the sylph's soul; the manic, buzzing energy of the vampire's; the fluid motion of the fossegrim's; and the horrible, cracking, burning frost of the faerie's, I tried to sense my own soul, tried to find that part of my core that was me and only me. But how could I find it when I didn't know what it felt like unless I was touching Lend?
I sighed. "I'm scared. Of it all. Of what will happen if I don't try to open the gate, yeah, but even more of what might happen if I do. Not only do I have no idea how to do it, but the last one I opened. . . I really thought I was going to die. Everything went rushing out of me so quickly and if it hadn't been for Lish's soul signaling me to stop, I don't think I would have been able to close the gate, or to
stop my own soul from flying out, too. I might want to help the paranormals, but I'm not willing to give up my soul for it. "
