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"The first three I accept; no innocent paranormals will be harmed, I will ensure that every faerie forever leaves these realms, and no humans will be taken with us. But I am afraid I do not understand the fourth. "
I narrowed my eyes, trying not to be lulled into the calm that radiated from her stupid, moonlight voice. "Your evil sister took my boyfriend, Lend, Cresseda's son. I got him back, but she cursed him or something because whenever we're in the same room he immediately falls asleep. "
She blinked slowly. "My sister did that?"
"Yeah, and I can't figure out how to break it. We had an Unseelie faerie come, but she said she couldn't. "
"I cannot fathom it. My sister's arrogance would not allow her to even consider the possibility you could get the boy away from her once she had him. She has always underestimated mortals. Why she would see the need to glamour him is beyond me. What do you think?"
She turned to Reth, who avoided her eyes, staring determinedly into the sparkling pink distance. "You are the queen. Why are you asking me?"
"Because I value your opinion. "
"Excuse me," I said, since obviously she wasn't used to Reth's sneaky circular way of talking. "You do realize he didn't answer your question, right?"
Reth glared at me, then looked back at the Light Queen. "I could not say what I think. "
The Light Queen narrowed her eyes. "Could not say, or will not say?"
"Slim difference between the two. "
"My golden son, the mortal realms have changed you. Would you deceive even me?"
I snorted. "You don't know Reth very well if you think he's ever straightforward about anything. "
His full lips twitched toward a smile. "Will not say. "
"I command you to. "
The smile bloomed, full and sly. "Ah, but not even you know my name now. "
Her huge cat-shaped eyes went round with shock. "Have you no loyalty?"
"I do. I am loyal to myself and I am loyal to what Evelyn should become. Everything I do is to those ends, to securing the eternity we should have together. You can trust that I will do whatever it takes to help her make that gate and transport us home. But how I get there is up to me entirely, and I am done following any sort of command from you. None of the direction you have given me from the beginning has accomplished anything or moved us forward to where we are now. Evelyn should be full, should be as we are by now. Your excessive caution and then refusal to allow me to act have held everything back, forced me to stay on Earth while you remain here, disconnected and free from the taint of the mortal realm. I do as I see fit. Fortunately for you, my desires coincide with your own. "
I'd never been quite sure what the term "gobsmacked" meant, but I was pretty sure that was the only way to describe the look on the Light Queen's face.
"Now, if that's everything, I will be taking Evelyn back so those of us who are actually involved can finish the preparations. "
I expected her to strike him down with some crazy finger lightning like these all-powerful beings always seem to have in movies, but to my surprise her face shifted into a gentle smile. "You surprise me. How remarkable to see so much change in one of my own. "
Reth frowned sharply like she'd said something incredibly offensive. "Evelyn, time to go. " He held out his hand, but I took a step back and folded my arms.
"She might be okay with your remarkable change, but you didn't answer her questions and I didn't get what I came for. I'm not doing anything-anything-until one of you figures out how to fix Lend. "
The Light Queen gave Reth an amused smile. "Time to do as you see fit?"
He stalked over and tried to grab my hand, but I snatched it out of the way. He stood straight in front of me, golden eyes burning. "We can't very well do anything for him from here, now, can we?"
"Wait, you can fix it? You could have fixed it all along?" My voice was getting higher and louder, echoing off the pink rock formations with a gentle tinkling bell sound. "What is-"
He grabbed my hand and the landscape shimmered around us, and with a stomach-twisting blur we were back in what I recognized as his room from when he brought me here before. It felt like an eternity ago, back when I was still with IPCA and he was trying to slowly fill me with more soul on his own. I closed my eyes and steadied myself against the lush red velvet chaise longue. Although I kind of wanted to puke all over his room, because really, it'd serve him right.
"Okay. " I opened my eyes, pleased to see that the room had stopped tipping to one side. Reth was reclining on the couch, arms folded petulantly across his chest, his face flushed. I'd never seen it that way. "What is your problem? You could have fixed Lend all along?"
"No, I couldn't have. "
"Yes, you could have! What would have changed between now and when we first rescued him?"
