Endlessly

“It makes sense,” Arianna said, her voice soft but thoughtful.

“What?”

“When you introduce an alien species into a new environment, it has to adapt or die out. And usually the way it adapts is by preying on the native species. Look at the dodo birds. They were fine until people came to their island with cats and dogs and pigs, then they became prey.”

“You do realize you just compared our entire race to dodo birds.”

She shrugged. “If they were never meant to be here in the first place, it’s not their fault they had to become predators.”

“Thank you, Animal Planet.” I turned back to Nona. “But what about vampires? And werewolves? Even zombies. They started out normal; they didn’t come here with you.”

“Vampires were created by the Dark Queen in an effort to make an Empty One. You know this. The others I cannot explain, but even without our kind your world has mysteries of its own.” She smiled.

“Okay. Fine. So, you were all brought here against your will and now you want to go back. You want me to just throw open a gate and let your little group skip on through?”

Cresseda shook her head. “No. All will have a choice this time. We have already started the Gathering.” Paranormals had a way of talking with capitalized letters I still didn’t understand. “It is nearly complete. And when we are together, we shall all leave this world.”

Arianna drew in a sharp breath next to me.

“All all?” I asked. “Like, every paranormal in the world? Including the faeries? And just how big a gate do you think I can make? Because I don’t think I can make another one, period. Last time it was mostly an accident, and it almost killed me.” The night felt even colder against my skin as I remembered what it felt like to channel all those souls through a gate in the stars. The burning, the agony: I really thought I wouldn’t survive.

It wasn’t that I didn’t get what they were saying or what they wanted, or even that I thought it was wrong. It wasn’t their fault they were here, and I knew they deserved a way home, wherever that might be. But the idea of making another gate terrified me, and I wasn’t willing to risk dying to try. They shouldn’t expect that of me. They couldn’t.

“I tire of this,” the dragon said, and when it opened its mouth I could see embers glowing from within. “The wee thing talks too much.”

“Evelyn,” Cresseda said, drawing my attention back to her. “Come with us now. We will help you do what you were made for, and make you whole.”

I looked from glowing paranormal to glowing paranormal, finally settling on Cresseda. They’d been here for thousands of years already; surely they could tough it out a few more. “I wasn’t made for anything. The faeries created this problem; they can solve it on their own. And I don’t need anyone to fix me.”

I turned my back on them and walked away.

I was halfway to Lend’s house when a huge spurt of fire shot up into the sky from the pond. I yelped and ran, the afghan trailing behind me like a dark shadow. It slipped and I looked back to grab for it, slamming right into Lend.

We both fell on the ground. “Are you okay?” he asked, searching my face. “What was that?”

“Probably the dragon. I think I pissed it off.”

“The dragon’s here? Why? What were you doing?”

“I got lured down to the pond by a bunch of paranormals. Including your mom.”

“She’s there?” He sat up and looked in that direction; the fire was gone now, thank goodness, but I thought I heard voices arguing.

“Yeah. Listen, Lend. They want me to open the gate for them and all the other paranormals. Your mom asked me to.” And suddenly it hit me—when she said all the paranormals on earth, she was including Lend in that. Ah, bleep. “They want to leave. All of them. Go back to wherever they came from. Probably with you,” I whispered.

“What did you say?” I couldn’t tell from the tone of his voice how he felt about it.

“I said no. I just—I’m done. I don’t know how to do what they want me to, and the idea of trying terrifies me. I’m done with the supernatural drama, tired of being caught up in the middle of it, tired of being a pawn in their stupid prophecies and petty fights. After everything that happened with Vivian and Reth, even Jack—I don’t want any of it. No gates, no other worlds, no being used. I just want here. With you.”

He was quiet for a while … too long. Oh no, what if he wanted to go with them? What if he thought his mom was right and that I should try to open a gate for them? Would I try if he asked me to? Would he take me with him? Did I even want to go with him if he chose that? If I survived opening the gate, that was.

He reached out a hand and stood, helping me up. With one last look in the direction of the pond, he put his arm around me and turned us so we faced the house. “It’s your choice, Evie. And for the record, I think you made the right one.”

“Yeah?”

He squeezed me. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

“I don’t think we should go,” Lend said, frowning at his dad the next morning.

“Nona asked very nicely. They only want to talk,” David said.

“I’ve already heard what they had to say.” I sat next to Lend on the couch with my arms crossed. His thumb pressed circles into the tight muscles along my neck. “I’m not interested.”

“She implied there was more to it than you let them say last night. Something with what the Unseelie Court is doing.”

“Again, not my problem. I didn’t ask to be involved in any of this.” It was easier to be annoyed with them than to feel compassionate. If I was annoyed, I could dismiss what they wanted instead of feeling guilty for not helping.

“But you are,” Arianna said softly from the doorway. I hadn’t heard her come in. She looked beyond tired, her shoulders stooped, hands shoved in the pockets of her black jeans. “At least get all the details before you decide to turn your back on them.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “Fine. We’ll go to the diner, Nona can tell me everything, and then I can say no. Okay?”

David and Arianna nodded, and Lend stood. “Let’s get it over with, then.”

We piled into the car, Arianna in front with David. He looked at Lend in the rearview mirror. “Did you talk to your mother last night?”

“Nope. And I’m not going to if she’s trying to take advantage of Evie and force her to do something she doesn’t want to.”

I put my head down on his shoulder. We were in this together, and Lend was right. We made our own choices, regardless of where we came from or what we were. He’d taught me that. I wasn’t going to choose to be used. I put my hand over Tasey’s reassuring bulk in my purse. I didn’t belong to IPCA or to the paranormals.

The diner was empty when we got there except for Nona, Grnlllll, and the selkies. Scowling, I sat down next to Lend at a table. Arianna hesitated, then muttered something about picking up some of her stuff and walked straight back through the kitchen and upstairs. I guess she didn’t belong at this conversation anyway since she wasn’t one of the paranormals looking to go back home.

David pulled up a chair and Nona sat across from me. “Thank you for coming, Evelyn.”

Well, at least she wasn’t calling me child. “Yup. I’m here. So talk.”

“It is not only for our sake that we ask this of you. I know how you have struggled to build a place for yourself in this world. But even that place is threatened by the faeries’ continued presence here. We have indeed been working with the Seelie Court.”

“I knew it!”

“But only because their desires align with ours. We have let go of our ancient enmity in order to move forward. I would ask you to do the same.”

I sat back and shook my head. “It’s not your place to ask, Nona. I’ve got nothing against you, really, but I don’t like any of this. You’d make me sacrifice everything I have—quite possibly my life—for something I don’t think I can even do. And I don’t want to. If the faeries got you all here without an Empty One, they can figure out a way to get you back.” There was no reason for me to be in the middle of this. I was sixteen—wait, seventeen now—and this shouldn’t be my problem.

“It is not simply that. Being here has separated all of us from what we were and should be. We have dwelt here too long, and we can feel that the time is drawing quickly to a close where it will be possible for us to rejoin eternity. If we cannot get back soon, very soon, we will become permanent fixtures of your Earth. Some of us have been too far removed already. But it is more than concern for ourselves. The Dark Queen has been making—”

Light drew my eyes and I whipped my head to the far end of the diner. A faerie door traced itself onto the wall and, in all his golden glory, out stepped Reth.

“I can’t believe you brought him into this!” I said to Nona, standing in a rage.