Of course, once I thought about that, it really wasn’t any of the paranormals’ faults. It’s not like hags woke up one morning and thought, hey, wouldn’t it be fun to eat children? They were like vultures. Sure, they were disgusting and horrible, but that’s just what they were.
But did that make it okay? Did that mean they should be allowed to continue hanging out in ponds and swamps, hoping for a nice snack? The whole train of thought was giving me a headache. I needed a break from thinking.
“So, umm, would you feel really bad if I left to go see Lend?”
“Bleep no. Go see your weird boyfriend.”
I laughed, smashed my face against her glass as a good-bye, then made my way to Lend’s cell.
He was still wearing his standard, the dark-haired, dark-eyed hottie, and drawing in the sketchbook
I’d given him. When he looked up, relief flooded his face. “You’re back.”
I nodded, trying to smile. Then, to my immense embarrassment, I burst into tears. He jumped up and pulled me into a hug. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“It was there. It killed the hag and then it killed Jacques. I just ran.”
He didn’t let go of me. “Did you see it?”
“Sort of.” I described what little I could to him. “Oh! And it left a handprint! On the hag, on her chest. A shimmering, pale gold handprint that faded and disappeared while I watched.”
“On her body?”
“I think it was under her glamour. I doubt anyone else would have been able to see it. It kind of looked like what’s under my skin now. But Reth has an alibi.”
He frowned thoughtfully. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. It was—I’ve never been so scared. I really thought I was going to die. And Jacques
—I heard him die.” I started crying again. Lend led me to the bed and sat next to me, his arm around my shoulders. “Sorry,” I said, wiping my eyes.
“Don’t apologize. I’m just glad you got away. And you’re the first person to see anything. It helps a lot, actually.”
“Or it would if you weren’t locked up in here. But I’m going to talk to Raquel, try and make her realize that we need to work with you, not hold you like some criminal. This thing has to be stopped.”
He nodded, and I think he looked a little proud of me, too. Leaning over, he kissed me lightly on top of my head. How could I feel so terrible and wonderful at the same time?
DON’T CALL ME
Determined to be as good as my word, I pulled out my communicator and sent a message to Raquel right then, asking her when we could talk. After a few minutes it beeped. “Oh. She’s going to be gone for three or four days.” I turned to Lend. “But as soon as she gets back, I’ll talk with her. IPCA has it all wrong. They’re so busy being scared and trying to control things that they can’t see the paranormals who can help. Like you. I’m gonna convince her to let you go without a tracker.”
“I hope you can.”
“Me, too.” I sighed. Everything had gotten so complicated, so serious. “Tell me something about yourself—something fun, something easy.” I scooted back and leaned against the wall. He did the same, staying next to me.
“What do you want to know?”
“What’s your life like out there? I mean, you don’t have to tell me any secrets,” I added hastily.
“But, like, do you go to school?”
“I’m a senior. Just got all my college acceptance letters.” He smiled. “Of course, I don’t know how
I’ll make up the work I’m missing.”
“You’re going to college? That’s so cool! Wait, so normal high school? Wow. What’s it like? Did you go to the prom? Do you go to a lot of parties? Do you have lockers?”
He laughed. “Lockers?”
“They just seem cool.”
“Oh, yeah, they’re the best. High school’s actually kind of boring. It’s a little bit like living in the
Center. Everyone thinks they know everything about everyone else, but really there’s a lot more under the surface. But you already know that, don’t you?” He nudged me. “And as far as prom, no, I don’t really date.”
“Why? Look at you, you’re hot!” I blushed. “I mean, you can look like whatever you want, I’ll bet the girls love you.”
“Yeah, they always like this face.”
“Whose face is it really?”
He smiled enigmatically. “Mine. Kind of. But it’s just weird with other people—like I’m pretending, playing a part. And they only like the part. They don’t really know me.”
“I get that.” I didn’t add that I was really, really happy he wasn’t dating anyone. Best news I’d had all week. If Lend were like one of the characters on my shows, he would have hooked up with every single girl, on-and offscreen. For once I was glad real life wasn’t one of my television dramas.
Then I thought of something I really wanted to know. “Do you have a family?” My voice caught.
More than high school or prom or dating—or even lockers—family filled me with the most regret and sadness about my life. Aside from Raquel and Lish, I didn’t have anyone. I never had.
“That would fall into the category of things I can’t tell you about.” My face fell and he added, “Yet.
What about you? How did you end up here?”
“They kind of found me.” I told him the vamp-in-the-cemetery story.
“So you never had a family?”
“Nope, just the foster system. Some of the families were okay, but it wasn’t a really happy or stable way to spend a childhood.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, me, too.” I didn’t like to think about it; it hurt too bad knowing that whoever my parents were, they didn’t want me. Giving me away I could understand, but they had just abandoned me. I couldn’t remember them, or anything before the foster homes and the series of families that took me in and then passed me along. “It’s okay, though. Raquel’s actually a way nice person—she nags me so much I can almost pretend she’s my mother. She took me on my first bag-and-tags just to make sure I was comfortable, and she tries to make my life here as normal as possible. And Lish is an awesome best friend, even if she’s the worst hide-and-go-seek player ever.”
Of course, he hadn’t met Lish, so we talked about her and then everything else under the sun for a few more hours. I made him describe his typical day to me in excruciating detail, where he wanted to go to college, what he would study there. I thought he should study art, but he laughed and said he wanted to do something more practical. Then he asked about what life was like growing up in the Center. We traded stories, and I was grateful for the distraction.
Finally I was too tired to form a coherent sentence. “I need to go to bed. But I’ll come hang out tomorrow, okay?”