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"Are you sure it was Reth?"
I traced my finger through the condensation on the window, watching the leafless trees fly by. There wasn't any snow out, which just made everything dead and flat and cold and brown.
I hate brown.
"Pretty sure. We know they're in contact. But even if it isn't him specifically, it's a faerie. "
"Alright. No more Nona. You can stay with my dad more permanently than we had planned. Plus, it's safer there if IPCA decides to come knocking with their pet faeries. "
"Too bad your dad is my legal guardian. Otherwise there wouldn't be any way to find me through him. " My stomach dropped. "Oh my gosh, Lend. They can find him if they look, which means they'll know that he's not dead, either. " David had faked his own death almost twenty years before when he was an employee of the American Paranormal Containment Agency. Falling in love with a water elemental wasn't exactly conducive to working for them anymore.
Lend shrugged dismissively, resting his right hand on my knee. "My dad's been doing this a long time, Ev. He'll be fine. Don't worry about him. I'm just pissed Raquel is still IPCA's lapdog and didn't tell you what was really going on. "
I scowled, wiping away the hearts I'd traced along the window. "It wasn't like that. Something was up-something weird. She's definitely not acting like herself. I think she's scared about something, or. . . I don't know. It was like she couldn't tell me anything. Maybe she's trying to protect me by bringing me back in. Remember I told you I read all their documents about elemental paranormals going missing?"
He nodded grudgingly. "We still haven't heard from my mom in months. But she usually doesn't come out in winter anyway because of the ice. "
"It could be connected. Nona's getting weirder by the day; now she's having me followed. There could be something going on that Raquel knows about. "
"Why didn't she tell you what it is, then?"
"I don't know. But Raquel has my back. Always. "
"I have your back. "
I smiled and wove my hand through his elbow, leaning over to put my head on his shoulder. "I know. "
"Good. That settled, I hereby declare a moratorium on any and all talk of IPCA or paranormals stalking you. "
"Ooh, breaking out the fancy language. Why?"
"Because today is about fun. "
"I like fun days!"
"This is a special one. "
"It is?" Had I forgotten some sort of anniversary?
His face split into a sly grin. "It's your birthday. "
"No, it's not," I answered, confused. "I mean, I guess it could be, but since we didn't know when it was for sure we always said I was a year older on New Year's. "
"Ah, but when was the last time you checked your birth certificate?"
I laughed. "You mean the fake document your dad had Arianna compel the county records office into making?"
"Yup. You never noticed the date we put on it?"
"No. . . "
"December twenty-first. Which is today. " He pulled into the mall and parked. "Happy birthday, Evie," he said, leaning in and kissing me with his perfectly soft lips. I smiled under his mouth, letting everything else slip away. Best fake birthday ever.
"Okay, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm tired of the mall. " I sat on a bench, feet aching but heart happy. Lend had dragged me through the entire thing, even insisting I get a manicure and surprising me with a scheduled makeover appointment at one of the high-end salons. My hair twisted and curled just so, along with dramatic eyeliner, looked a little odd with normal clothes, but I felt special.
Lend finished texting someone and slipped his phone into his back pocket, then stood up. I'd never paid much attention to guys' jeans before (not for lack of desire, but rather lack of opportunity in the Center), but in the past few months I'd come to realize that most guys' jeans are really, truly horrendous. Too baggy, too tight, too low, etc. It's like guys don't realize that they can look great in a good pair of jeans. Shockingly enough girls, too, enjoy a well-framed butt.
Another area Lend was perfect in. His jeans choice, I mean. Well, his butt, too.
