Open Sesame

I blinked against the light, frozen with disbelief. I hadn't seen a faerie door since that night with Vivian and Reth. I had hoped I never would again.

Lend, however, wasn't frozen. Darting to the other side of the kitchen, he grabbed one of the cast-iron pans his dad always left out. A figure stepped out of the darkness, turning his head just in time to see Lend swing with all his might.

The faerie dove, executing a roll and jumping up several feet away. Lend turned around to close in again.

"Hey-oh, what's this?" the faerie said with a laugh.

There was something wrong, something off about the whole thing. I narrowed my eyes at the faerie. My height, with sandy blond hair, brilliant blue eyes, dimples, and-

"Lend, stop!" Reacting to my shout, he pulled his arm up short from the swing, lost his balance, and stumbled into the granite counter. He looked at me, confused. I shook my head, feeling the same way. I had no idea how it was possible, but there was no denying what I saw underneath the boy's skin.

Nothing.

"He's not a faerie," I said. I looked back at the door, but it was already gone. I had watched the whole time; he was the only thing to come out. No faerie at all.

This was impossible.

"Are you sure?" Lend still held the pan at the ready, not taking his eyes off the boy. Or guy, really. He looked about our age, maybe a year or two younger.

The non-faerie smiled at me and winked, jumping up to sit on the counter. "Not quite the reception I was expecting, but I'll give your boy this-he's exciting."

Raquel rushed into the room, then fixed a scowl on Blondie. "You're late."

He shrugged and helped himself to an apple from the fruit bowl next to him. "I got lost." He took a big bite, crunching loudly before he blanched and spit into the sink. With a regretful sigh, he tossed the apple to Lend, who dropped the pan in his instinctive reaction to catch it.

The metal was still clanging when David came in behind Raquel. "Who is that?"

"Not a faerie, that's for sure," I answered. Blondie stood up on top of the counter, his head nearly brushing the ceiling. Then, with a jaunty salute, he flipped off, landing on his feet.

I kept staring, looking for something, anything under his skin. There was no glamour. His clothes were normal, too, a light blue printed T-shirt and nice jeans. "How did you do that?" I asked.

"Lots of practice. You should see me walk on my hands."

"The door! How did you come through a faerie door by yourself?"

"Oh, that?" He ran a hand through his curls and looked back at where the door had been. "Easy. You walk up to a wall, and"-he leaned in close, all of us leaning with him, watching breathlessly-"open sesame!" He raised both arms dramatically in the air.

Nothing happened. "Huh." He turned around and shrugged. "Well, guess I'm stuck."

Raquel heaved a sigh I used to know well-it was her Evie, Evie, Evie sigh. But this time she followed it up with a tired, "Jack. Please stop playing around. We're here for business."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, eyes wide and earnest. Raquel turned around to go back into the living room and Jack tugged lightly on the end of my ponytail, then sauntered out after her.

Who on earth was this person?

Lend took my hand. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

I shook my head. I had never seen anyone who could go through a faerie door or navigate the Paths unless they were accompanied by a faerie. You couldn't even let go of your faerie's hand on the Paths or you'd be lost forever in the infinite darkness. I still had nightmares about being there alone.

David, Lend, and I walked cautiously into the other room, tensed for an attack. But Jack was sitting, casual as can be, on the back of the couch.

"Jack is who I was trying to tell you about, Evie." Raquel smiled smugly at us. "Thanks to him, we can transport you to and from sites with the same speed as a faerie. You'll never have to work with the fey."

"How?" I had seen it with my own eyes, but I still didn't believe it. Then something struck me. "Take off your shirt!"

"I'm not that kind of guy!" He frowned thoughtfully. "On second thought, why not?" He pulled the shirt over his head, revealing a lean torso that under other circumstances might have elicited admiration, but today was only more confusing. Once again there was absolutely nothing shimmering underneath it. So much for my theory that he was hiding something paranormal under his clothes.

I blushed angrily and looked at Raquel. "What is he? I don't see anything!"

"He's not 'anything.' Just a talented boy."

"Then how did he make a door? How did he get through the Paths?"

"Wait, so am I allowed to put my shirt back on? Or did you want me to remove my pants, too?"

Lend and I joined forces in a dark glare. "Only if you want me to vomit," I snapped.

Raquel's communicator let off a small beep and she pulled it out, scanning the message. "Jack, we've got to go. Evie, think about my offer and we'll talk again in a few days." She looked up at me and smiled, this one touching her stern eyes and making her surprisingly lovely. "And it was nice to see you again."

I threw my arms around her in a hug. "You, too."

"David," she said, her voice tighter as she turned to him and nodded. He nodded back, his eyes lingering on her a little longer than they needed to. "Lend."

Lend shook his head, looking to the side in frustration.

Jack jumped off the couch, pulling his shirt back on. "Next time, if you'd like, I'll just come without one," he said, grinning at me. Taking Raquel's hand, he walked up to the living room wall and put a hand on it. For the first time his face lost its cocky, playful cast, and he seemed to be straining in concentration. Far slower than it would take a faerie, the bright outline of a door formed on the wall, opening into black. Raquel and Jack walked through, and it closed behind them, leaving no evidence that it had ever existed in the first place.

Lend turned to me. "Well, that was interesting. And a waste of time. However, since I'm already here, what do you say we make up for your sucky afternoon?"

I wished I could make him understand that Raquel wasn't just my former employer-or worse, my captor, as he seemed to view anyone who worked for IPCA. And Jack puzzled me to no end. But extra time with Lend quickly took my mind off those particular problems. "What are you thinking?"

"How about the Mall?"

"Wait-you mean the Mall, as in a bunch of museums in DC that we would wander around and I'd pretend like I understood modern art while really thinking, holy crap, a gremlin could have painted that and for all we know did, or the mall, as in picking out a new pair of shoes, eating food that's terrible for us, and making up life stories for all the people that pass us?"

"I can see now that I must have meant the second."

"What a smart boy." I smiled and he pulled me close.

"I still say that guy was CIA. Spy all the way."

I laughed, turning to face him as he parked in front of the diner. "Lend, he was like five foot nothing."

"Exactly! You'd never suspect him. He's the quiet, nondescript-looking guy, doesn't seem like a threat at all until-BAM. Say good-bye to all your country's secrets!"

"Okay, fine. He was a spy."

"We should have gone to that movie, though. I think some explosions would have done you good, helped you relax after a hard day."

"It's not my fault I wasn't allowed in without an adult and you forgot your license."

Lend rolled his eyes. Silver shot through his nearly black hair and I laughed, shoving him.

"Knock it off. That's creepy. Besides, if you pretend to be old to sneak me in, it'd be super gross if we started making out or something. No more gray."

"Fine." His hair rolled into corkscrew curls, turning a coppery red.

I laughed. "Quit it! Someone will see you."

His eyes got serious and his hair shifted back to its normal appearance. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay? I can blow off classes tomorrow if you aren't feeling well."

"You really don't have to." Lend never missed class; I loved that he was willing to skip for me, and part of me was tempted by the offer . . . but I'd feel too guilty.

He sighed. "I do have a bio lab. You're really okay? Nothing hurting from your fall? No weird side effects from the sylph?"

"I'm okay."

"Alright. I'll see you on Saturday."

"Not Friday night?" I hated the whine that crept into my voice. I wouldn't be that girlfriend, the whiny, clingy one who couldn't have a life outside her boyfriend. Even though she totally justifiably wanted nothing more than to spend every minute of her life with him. Nope. Not that girl.

"I've got a group project in vertebrate anatomy, and the only time we could schedule it was then. I doubt we'll get done early enough for me to get here at a decent hour, and if I stay in my dorm where there are no beautiful, fun distractions, I can finish up my homework and be absolutely yours all weekend. So first thing Saturday morning."

He leaned in and kissed me. I wished he could melt away his glamour and kiss me as himself, talk to me as himself, but it wouldn't do for someone to walk by and see me making out with a nearly invisible silhouette. The downside of dating a half-human, half-water elemental, I suppose.

Pulling back far sooner than I wanted him to (which, let's face it, could have been several hours-I never got tired of kissing him), he got out and opened my door for me. The second I stepped out of the car, a strange chill breeze wrapped itself around me. All the hairs on my arms stood up in response. Shivering, I hugged Lend tightly, ignoring my bruises.

"Don't do it, okay?" he whispered.

"Do what?"

"Work for IPCA again. Just-just don't do it."

I looked up into his face. "What if I can do some good?"

"You're doing enough good being yourself. I worry about what might happen to you."

I frowned, making a noncommittal noise, which he seemed to take as an agreement, judging by his smile. "I'll see you Saturday." He kissed me again and then waited for me to walk up the steps before getting back in his car and driving away.

Long-distance relationships? Suck. Majorly.

Sighing, I walked in and through the brightly lit diner. David bought On the Hoof a decade ago as a front for his paranormal-hiding operation. It provided jobs for paranormals in need and a good place for everyone to meet and keep track of one another. The decor was cheerful, a slightly tired fifties theme. Nona, the manager, waved at me, her gorgeous blond glamour hovering over oaky brown skin and greenish, mosslike hair. Allegedly she lived in the upstairs apartment with Arianna and me, but really she went back to the forest at night, setting down roots until the sun came up. Tree spirits-another species of paranormals I'd never met on bag-and-tag duty at IPCA. I was all about the violence and mayhem back then.

I nodded distractedly at several of the regulars, mostly vamps and werewolves, noting yet another new paranormal I'd never met, who made my heart hurt a little-she looked like a cross between Lish and a human, complete with gills on her neck and fins lining her bare legs beneath the glamour. Lately we'd been seeing more and more species neither David nor I had ever come across.

Come to think of it, a lot of new paranormals other than the werewolf or vamp variety had been visiting Nona, hanging around the diner or meeting her out back. And the sylph was certainly new. Maybe Nona would-

I shrieked, narrowly avoiding tripping over the kitchen gnome, a particularly grouchy specimen named Grnlllll. At least, I think that was her name. Or his name. Hard to tell with gnomes. Maybe that's why she-he?-hated me. The glare seemed pretty feminine, though.

The desire to get away from Grnlllll's baleful looks outweighed my desire to talk to Nona, and I slipped through the kitchen door. Upstairs at last, I collapsed onto the faded, floral couch.

"Evie?"

"Yup."

Arianna skipped into the room, a glass in her hand. I deliberately did not look at what was in it. I never avoided looking at Arianna, though, even if her shriveled corpse body beneath her normal glamour (if you considered freakishly white skin and spiked red and black hair normal) creeped me out like all vamps did. It hurt her feelings, and despite our rough start last spring, I really did think of her as a friend. It wasn't like she asked to be what she was, and she never drank human blood. Plus, she could be pretty fun when she wasn't pissed off at me.

"Big afternoon?" Arianna settled onto the love seat and grabbed the remote, turning the television to our show.

"You could say that." I rubbed my tender hip, wondering how black and blue I'd be in the morning.

"Okay. Loser does dishes for a week. I bet Landon and Cheyenne hook up but have a fight and break it off by the end of the episode."

Trying to sound more enthusiastic than I felt, I countered. "No, Cheyenne rejects him because of some misunderstanding, and he starts shooting up again."

"You're on." Arianna leaned forward, devouring the drama playing out on the screen in front of us.

I looked forlornly at the ceiling, trying to ignore the faint tingling sensation in my fingertips. I knew I should listen to Lend, stay away from IPCA, be grateful for my normal, boring life. I should live for the weekends, when I got to see him, and ignore the nagging pain always pulling at the back of my mind that it didn't matter how much time I spent with him, how much I loved him, he could never really be mine because I was temporary and he was forever.

I was fine. This was enough. Besides, Lend didn't want me to help IPCA.

But Lend wasn't here, was he?