Tree Hugger

Lend sat, touching me from our shoulders down to our feet, in the diner booth. One perk to being attacked by Uber-vamp was that Lend had been distinctly silent on the issue of IPCA's containment methods. Seeing firsthand what some paranormals did made IPCA's standards a lot less suspect.

Unfortunately that was about the only good thing to come out of last night. It was all I could do not to bounce up and down, my fingers tapping out a nervous pattern on the table. I felt keyed up, full to bursting with anxious energy. I didn't want to think where it came from. I hoped it wasn't Uber-vamp's soul inside me. It was just . . . I don't know, leftover nerves. That was it.

I jumped as Nona set our plates down on the table, then swished back to the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lend asked.

"Fine. Fine. I'm fine." I reached up to scratch my neck but stopped. It was sore but already healing. If it scarred, Uber-vamp was going to pay.

Then again, he already had. My stomach soured, the grilled cheese sandwich in front of me suddenly inedible.

"Hey, kids." David slid in across from us, worry creasing his forehead as he looked at my neck. "How are you, Evie?"

I waved a hand dismissively, bouncing my knee up and down under the table. "Just tired. Skipped school today to sleep. I'll be okay. Where's Arianna?" She hadn't been home this morning. She was always home. The way she talked last night, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe she was tired enough of eternal life to do something about it. Poltergeist Steve flashed through my mind and I struggled not to panic. Whatever else Arianna was, she was my friend. I couldn't lose her.

"She texted, said she couldn't make the meeting today."

I wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not. At least she was still in contact with David. I'd have to get her alone, talk to her, do something to make things better. If only I could figure out what.

"Raquel called this morning, too."

I looked up, surprised. "Do you two talk a lot?"

David gave a noncommittal shrug. "She wanted to make sure I was checking up on you. She's worried. You think the attack last night was related to the fey?"

Lend gently removed my hand from where I was unconsciously peeling at the bandage. He kept my hand in his, stroking it with his thumb. I stopped bouncing my knee and took a deep breath. Focusing on Lend's hand helped me calm down.

"Yeah. I do. There have been too many weird things. First the sylph, then the fossegrim-"

"But wasn't that random? Jack dropped you in the water."

"Oh." I frowned. I hadn't thought about that. How would the faeries have known I would hit the water there, then? Maybe my luck just sucked. Then again, I already knew that. "But Reth's been here a couple of times, and then there was the faerie I saw walking down the street, plus a faerie showed up at the Center when I was there and Raquel had to get rid of her. And then the vampire. No one but a faerie could have pulled that off."

"True." David rubbed his eyes wearily. Lend did the exact same thing when he was worried. Sometimes their similarities, the way they laughed at old jokes I would never get, the warm playful ease they had with each other made me hurt. Lend was so lucky to have a dad like David. I wished it were my dad rushing here to check up on me instead of my boyfriend's.

I felt eyes on me and looked up to see the same froglike old woman that had ahemed at Lend and me kissing on the sidewalk what felt like an eternity ago. She was outside the diner, staring in through the window. At me. I narrowed my eyes, but then the woman looked past me at something and abruptly turned around and walked away. I whipped around to see Grnlllll, making a furious shooing motion with her small, pawlike hands.

"What was that about?" I asked, but the gnome ignored me entirely, going back behind the counter where she couldn't be seen. Kari and Donna were sitting there on barstools, halibut plates untouched as they watched me with their huge, round eyes. They broke into identical playful smiles. Mischievous smiles . . .

"Maybe this isn'tjust the faeries, though," I said, suspicion rising. I stood and walked straight back toward the kitchen. Grnlllll jumped out in front of me, trying to block my way and grumbling something, but I stepped over her and burst through the door.

Nona was back there, leaning over a large, intricately carved wooden bowl.

And talking to it.

". . . under our care. Continue the gathering. Things will be in place when the time is right, and-"

Nona looked up, surprised to see me. "Who are you talking to?" I demanded, rushing over. Before I could get to the bowl she swished her hand in it, and when I leaned over all I saw was rippling water. "What are you doing?"

Her beautiful lips broke into that same infuriating smile. "Nothing, child."

"Liar!" I shouted. I heard the door behind me open again.

"What's the problem?" David asked.

"She is!" I pointed an angry finger at the tree spirit. "She's lying! She was talking to a bucket of water. Something is going on, but she won't tell me what. First she was meeting with Reth, now there are all the weird new paranormals in town, and they watch me! I know they're watching me!" I turned my glare back to her. "You're working with the faeries, aren't you?"

Nona's face went serious. "No, child. I am not. The fey are no friends of my kind. And I promise you what I have always promised-you are safe here. I will never let harm befall you while you are under my care."

"But I'm not under your care!"

"Evie," David said, his voice even as he put a hand on my shoulder. Lend stood protectively on my other side. "I've known Nona for a long time now. And huldras can't lie. She isn't trying to hurt you."

"Please excuse me," Nona said, picking up the bowl and carrying it out the back door.

I was left fuming. "How do you know they can't lie? Besides, what is she even doing here? Why would a tree spirit want to run a diner?"

David shrugged. "A lot of elementals and paranormals mix with humans every now and again. It's entertaining, I guess." Was that how he viewed Cresseda's relationship with him? He entertained her for a bit? I didn't understand how he lived with that kind of pain and rejection.

I shook my head. "I don't buy it." My head hurt. My neck hurt. My brain hurt. My whole life hurt today.

"If Nona wanted to harm you or turn you over to the faeries, wouldn't she have done it already?" Lend asked. "I mean, you've lived here for months now. I know weird things have been happening, but I really don't think Nona's behind them."

I sighed. He was probably right. "But what about the staring? They're always staring at me!"

"You are rather nice to look at, you know."

"Har, har."

"Seriously, though, they're probably just curious. Most of them don't know what you are, but they know that you know what they are. It's not normal. Simple curiosity."

"Fine," I mumbled. Maybe I was being paranoid.

Lend put his arms around me, resting his forehead against mine. "Believe it or not, I worry more about your safety than you do. And if you're really worried about it, let's get you out of here. You can move back in with my dad. Right?"

David nodded. "If it'll make you feel better, of course."

I shook my head. I didn't want to live with David again without Lend there. I liked him, but, awkward. And I really didn't want to leave Arianna alone. They were right. I was probably overreacting about Nona. This was faerie mischief, not hers.

Still, I knew when I was being lied to. And I was never taking the trash out for that ratty little gnome again.