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30
Archer
Lena is tripping balls. She’s so high that she’s talking to people only she can see. Oh, hell, maybe she’s still seeing ghosts. Did that even work? One second, she was meditating in the clearing, the next she was weeping like her heart was breaking. Then she was laughing hysterically to God only knows what joke. Lena’s normally quiet and buttoned-up, so seeing her like this is disconcerting, to say the least.
“What the fuck?!” Ruby cries out as she stumbles back against Ezra. He wraps a protective arm over her shoulders and Ruby actually lets him. What the hell has her so spooked?
I pull Lena against my body, and she sinks into me. Her arms wrap around my waist and her nose nuzzles against my chest. I turn us around to see what everyone else is looking at. My heart stutters to a stop as a woman appears at the edge of the woods. Her face is hidden beneath the shadow of a pine tree, until she steps out toward us, revealing her face. What in the actual fuck is happening right now?
We all stare at the woman, who looks like a strait-laced version of Ruby.
“Holy shit, Ruby, it’s your poppydanger. No, your dopplerradar.”
I frown down at Lena as she sticks her tongue out and loudly blows out air in frustration.
“Your boppyranger. Fuck, someone help me.” Lena dissolves into a fit of giggles, and I almost laugh, but this shit is too intense.
“Doppelganger,” Ruby hisses out through clenched teeth. Lena slaps my chest and shouts out a thank you. Ruby doesn’t seem amused as she stares at the woman who looks just like her. Only where Ruby has violet hair and clothing choices that could fondly be called unique, the other woman has light golden blonde hair and is dressed in baggy sweats and—
“Is that my sweatshirt?” I squint my eyes in the dark with only the light of the moon and the few lanterns we set up around the perimeter of the circle. I recognize the damn thing. It’s been missing for years.
“S’mine,” Lena murmurs into my chest, and I shake my head like that might clear out my confusion over what’s going on.
It’s fucking chaos.
Rhys is giving himself whiplash. His head swivels back and forth between the woman in my sweatshirt and Lena, like he can’t decide which is more upsetting. He’s definitely pissed about Lena, who is firmly in my arms. Her hands are pressed to my lower back, although they’re slowly inching under my shirt until she dips her fingers into the waist of my jeans.
“Luna, sweetheart, you should watch the hands.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Rhys growls, shoving his hands in his hair as his eyes move toward Ruby’s doppelganger again. His gaze cuts back to Lena, and he curses, pushing Davis aside to get to us. He tries to pull her from me, but her arms are wrapped around me like a python.
“Stop it, Rhys.” Lena giggles, like the two of them are wrestling.
“Jesus, what the hell, man?” I angle my body, so he can’t get to Lena, but he manages to pull her away before I can shift us.
As soon as she’s out of my arms, his fist collides with my jaw. My head snaps back and instinct takes over. I run for him, shoulder down, tackling him to the ground. Rhys grunts as he hits the hard ground, and I fall on top of him, getting in a punch to his ribs before he bucks and knocks me off. I scramble to my feet, but not fast enough. Rhys barrels into my legs, knocking me on my ass, throwing another punch to my face that I just barely block.
“Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time?” Rhys bellows while Lena is shouting at the both of us. Davis and Ezra are suddenly there, pulling us off one another. My heartbeat is roaring in my ears, blood is trickling down onto my upper lip from a punch Rhys landed on my nose.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Davis snarls at the two of us, pushing us apart. Ezra holds Rhys back and Lena stands between the two of us looking pissed off, confused, and still high as fuck.
A screech tears out of Ruby’s mouth, and I spin around to look at her.
“Can you assholes keep it together for two minutes while we figure out what the fuck is going on?”
The woman from the woods is still standing a few feet away from us, watching the entire debacle with barely any interest. She looks like she’s seen way more shit than we could even imagine. Rhys and I are both panting, and he’s clutching his side, wincing with each breath. I feel kind of bad, but at the same time, he deserves the beating. He needs to get over this. Me and Lena, we’re happening, and nothing is going to keep us apart.
He points at me even though his eyes are locked on the woman in my sweatshirt. “We’re not done talking about this. Later.”
“Who are you?” Ruby asks the woman, although she doesn’t move any closer. She looks rooted in place, her face pale under the cool light of the moon.
When the woman finally speaks, a shiver cascades down my spine. Her voice is eerily similar to Ruby’s.
“I’ve been trapped in Fairy. I don’t know who I am.”
* * *
After the bomb dropped back in the clearing, a decision was made for us to split up. Rhys, Ezra, and Ruby took the woman back to Ruby’s place to get more answers, while I took Lena back to my house to take care of her. Miri and Davis headed home since Ruby’s apartment is small as hell and I didn’t need their help putting Lena to bed. Rhys had barely had a reaction when I said I was taking Lena home. Although with the way he kept looking at the woman, I can’t say I’m surprised.
