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"Meet my sister, Vivian. "
"Wait, the one you put in a coma because she wanted to kill all the paranormals?"
"Yup. "
He reached down and took one of her hands in his own, bending over to kiss it. "Anyone who's personally tried to rid the world of faeries is a friend of mine. "
Vivian laughed again, this throaty laugh that was so unlike mine. I liked it. "Charmed, I'm sure. Now bug off so I can sleep. "
I walked away from Viv, Jack following me, and stood next to Reth, looking at the crowd. He swayed and I moved closer, nudging him with my shoulder until he leaned against me. He was lighter than I thought he'd be, for all his impossible faerie strength.
Most of the people still here had calmed down more or less, and I could see Carlee going from group to group, smiling or listening as the situation called for it. I loved her. It was super bad luck that she'd been sucked into all this but good luck for everyone else. No one could beat Carlee's infinitely perky, innately bubbly personality.
"Keep an eye on Vivian, okay?" I said to Jack. "Just. . . well, make sure she doesn't hurt anyone. You probably want to start taking everyone back right now so you'll all be safe in case the Faerie Realms get messed up. Also bring as much food as you can carry. "
"That sounds promising. "
I shrugged, my attention elsewhere.
Jack followed my eyes to the group of pregnant girls, sitting together away from everyone else. "They're not doing very well," he said. Most of them sat listlessly on the ground, staring into space. One was biting her arm and rocking back and forth. The blond girl was slowly and methodically ripping out her hair. My stomach turned, sick with grief for them.
"Is there anything we can do?" I asked Reth.
"Take them back to the Dark Queen and give them to her. Let the Dark Court take the new Empty Ones so they will think they can leave your world on their own terms with their human pets and reject our offer. "
I closed my eyes, pressing my hands over my stomach, feeling like my own soul wanted to break into a million pieces from too many impossible decisions. "We can't. "
Reth reached out and took my fingers in his own, his touch light but comforting. "I've found that sacrifice is called that for a reason. We have all lost much of what we were or could have been because of the mistakes of my people. We'll yet lose some things to set it right. But when you join eternity, you will not feel the sting of this life with such intensity. "
"You mean I wouldn't feel at all?"
"I feel, my love. Simply not in the same way you do. And thank heavens for that, because you are quite an embarrassment at times. Your inconsistent and flailing passions will no longer be a concern. "
Leave it to Reth to go from comforting me to insulting me in the course of one short conversation. With one last long look at the girls I probably wouldn't be able to save, I tightened my hand around Reth's as he stood straight.
"Okay. Let's go convince the Unseelies I'm their only option and get you all the bleep off my planet. "
Chapter Forty
LIGHT AND DARK
Neamh. Evie. Neamh. Evie. Lend, Lend, Lend. Neamh. Evie.
"What are you doing, my love?"
I scowled at Reth for breaking my concentration. "Thinking. Shut up. " The Light Queen was speechifying up on a podium made of liquid light, her radiance bathing all the faeries in a glow that was nearly overpowering. Within a few seconds of being around this much faerie glamour I was having a hard time seeing straight and found myself slack-jawed and dazed. Thus, the name equivalent of pinching myself.
I realized at some point she had stopped talking, and now every single set of faerie eyes-a few hundred of them-were trained intently on me.
"Oh, uh, hey. " I waved. "What did I miss?" I whispered to Reth.
"You're supposed to tell us how to convince the Dark Court to join us. "
"I-What? Seriously? I'm only here to make sure everything happens. I thought the queen would have a plan! I'm a glorified doorman. I open the gate, I close the gate. Nowhere in my job description of Empty One does it say I also manage to convince a mob of anti-Evie faeries to saunter on through the gate. "
Reth smiled. "And just when she'd finished praising human ingenuity and assuring us that everything will work out according to plan. "
"Yes! Plan! Her plan! Gosh, you guys are sucking it up all over the place. Aren't you supposed to have these things in place for centuries, or were you too busy writing pretty little poems to describe the plans that you never bothered actually making them?"
