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He was quiet for a long time. I didn't ask what he was thinking; I knew how much pain he harbored, how much hate seethed inside for the faeries that stole his life away. He'd wanted me to send them to hell, and instead I was giving them-well, most of them, anyway-exactly what they wanted.
"I guess," he said, finally, "that's okay, then. Gone is gone, right?"
"Right. " I smiled sadly at him. "No more faeries. "
"But it makes me wonder-without faeries, what happens to those of us who depend on the Faerie Realms for our food? And what about all those new people the Unseelies have taken? Will they even be able to take care of themselves without the faeries there?"
I bit my lip, thinking. There were a lot of logistical problems. I was more worried about actually being able to make the dang gate in the first place, but other things needed considering. I shrugged. "I know this guy. He's a total idiot, but he's also kind of smart sometimes, and he figured out how to make faerie doors and use the Paths. Which means that he can go back and forth whenever he wants, and take anyone else back and forth. I used to think he was worthless, but, I dunno, he's kind of grown on me. I think he's up for being responsible to a whole lot of innocent people who'll need his help. "
Jack looked up at me with the most open and sincere look I'd ever seen on his face. "I will, Evie. I promise. You get the faeries out, and I'll take care of everyone they hurt. "
I smiled at him, the cold soul seething in me pushed out of the way by my own warmth. "I know you will. "
The dragon yawned with a tremendous clacking of its tusks and teeth. "I should have eaten one of them," it said, settling down to the ground and glaring in the direction of the police cars that were now executing three-point turns to get out of the driveway, all lights turned off.
"Sooner the better on that gate," Jack said.
For once, we were in complete and total agreement.
Chapter Thirty-Two
SWEATY MESS
Hey, can you get Reth?" I asked the dragon. It gave me a look filled with such venomous disdain I half expected fire to come from its eyeballs instead of its mouth. "Just kidding! Yeah. Totally kidding. "
With a flick of its tail snapping the space right in front of my face, it ran, hopped a couple of times, and then snaked through the air back into the trees.
"Grouchy, that one. I asked it to roast some marshmallows earlier; it nearly ate me. " Jack scratched his head, then stood. "Right, then, I'm going inside where it's warm. "
"Stick around, though. I'm going to need all the help I can get to figure all this out. "
"That's me! Mister Helpful. Captain Dependable. "
"That sounds like a brand of adult diapers. "
"The nickname needs some work. Lord Wonderful? The Incredible Hunk?"
"Please, for the love, go inside. "
He laughed, then clomped up the steps and into the house.
"Reth," I shouted. "Reeeeeeeeth! Reth! Reth, Reth, Reth! If you don't come in the next thirty seconds, I'm going to go find David's golf clubs!"
"That tone and level of voice does nothing attractive for you, my love. "
I jumped, startled, but of course Reth would be behind me, leaning heavily on the porch railing.
"You," I said, glaring. "Fix it. Now. "
A look of disdain on his face, he leaned over and trailed his fingers across Lend's forehead. A single whispered word, and then. . .
Nothing.
"You liar!" I shouted, standing so abruptly that Lend rolled off my lap and down a step. As he hit the first one, color bloomed through him into his usual glamour and his eyes flew open in panic.
"He was asleep, Evelyn. " Reth's lips were pursed, but I knew he was smiling gleefully on the inside.
"Lend!" I lunged forward, knocking into him, and we both rolled down the next two steps, landing in a heap on the gravel at the bottom. "You're awake!"
