Supernaturally. Kiersten White

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 СКАЧАТЬ