Her mouth was dry and her tongue felt large and sticky inside her mouth. She cleared her throat. “Okay, good.”
“I don't think she's coming back any time soon, though, so you don't have to worry.”
“But what if she did?” Portia asked.
“Yeah? What if she did?”
“What would you do?”
“I don't know,” Jim said. “I guess I'd tell her that she was an idiot for leaving, and then I would thank her.”
“Thank her for what?”
“For reminding me that I'm a real person. Because if she didn't get me out of the house and talking to people again, and if she hadn't have gone away, then I wouldn't have met you.”
Portia melted for Jim for the second time that day. “You must have read my instruction manual,” she said, “because those were the exact words I needed to hear.”
“I heard that real men don't need to read the instructions.”
“If you don't read the instructions, you'll never know how stuff works.”
“I know,” Jim said. “That's why I must not be a real man. And I like quiche.”
“Feirstein would be proud of you. I'm proud of you.”
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too. I gotta go.” She made a kissing noise into the phone. “Talk to me tomorrow.”
“Okay. Good night.”
“Night.” She hung up the phone and felt very, very relieved.
chapter 28
“Glest Slynn,” Gen whispered. “G.S.” She walked to the fireplace closest to her and threw the handkerchief into the fire.
“What’s wrong?” Shae asked. “I knew you were going to be upset but I don’t get it. What’s G.S.?”
“Those are my initials. Genevieve Summers. And the initials of everyone in my family. My parents named all of us with a G. name so we could share initials. They thought it was funny. Their favorite presents to give were monogrammed things. Then they’d say, ‘Isn’t it obvious who it’s for?’ They thought it was the funniest thing ever.” Gen watched the handkerchief smolder and catch fire.
Hope put her hand on Gen’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“No. I know one of the things he said is true. In the dream, my mom told me that Greg died. I don’t know how I could have stopped it if I was still there. But he could be telling the truth about my parents.”
“And Jim?”
Gen continued to stare into the fire. She didn’t respond.
“Shae, can you get Gen to talk to her mother in another dream?”
“I can try. But we don't know what time it is in here.” Shae paced and waved her hands around in frustration. “We can't see the sun or the moon or anything!”
Herron whispered to Gen, “They're probably listening in. I'm sure they can hear what we're saying.”
Gen whispered back, “Yes, but he said they'd show us to our quarters. If they separate us, we won't be able to talk at all.”
Herron shrugged. “If we don't go out there soon, I'm sure they'll send someone in.”
Gen sighed. She hadn't taken her eyes off of the fire. “Let's go see where they're going to put us.”
Herron opened the door. A tall pixie with wavy, dark blue hair was ready and waiting for them.
“My name is Lus Thirin. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your accommodations,” the pixie said. His voice was crisp and slightly over enunciated - a jarring contrast from Slynn's smooth, elegant tone of voice.
Herron glanced at the sky, or at least, what passed for sky in The Void. His wings twitched reflexively.
Thirin held up his hand and shook his head. “Sorry, friend. We can't allow you to do that. Are we going to have to take measures and restrain you? Threaten your friends? Have our archers shoot you down? Let you get lost out here in The Void?”
Herron glanced over his shoulder. Gen shook her head.
“I'm a restless spirit,” Herron smiled, “I didn't even realize I looked like I wanted to fly. My apologies.”
Thirin looked Herron up and down, then glanced at the rest of the fairies. “Your wings look frail. I wouldn't have expected that you'd be able to fly at all.” He shook his head suddenly. “And you have my apologies. I've never seen fairies before. We're similar but the differences are striking. I didn't mean to be rude,” he turned to Gen, “but why are your wings different?”
“I'm…” She paused for a moment, less for effect than to decide what she wanted to share with this pixie. “Special.”
“I didn't mean to pry into something sensitive.”
Gen shrugged. “No problem.”
They each walked outside. In the stifling grayness of The Void, both Herron's purple hair and Shae's apple-red hair looked dull and washed out. Thirin walked them to one of the large wooden buildings and led them inside.
“Oh!” Shae squeaked. “It's really nice in here. I expected, like, a dungeon or something. And we all get to stay together?”
Thirin nodded. “Yes. You're guests, not prisoners. There are enough rooms for all of you.” He glanced at Hope and Gen, then back to Shae. “Tonight, dinner will be brought to you. Slynn guessed you would want some time to yourselves rather than join him for dinner, although if that's not accurate…?”
Herron nodded. “It's accurate. Thank you. And I'm not sure we're not prisoners, if we're not allowed to leave.”
“Call it what you like,” Thirin shrugged. “But you'll all be treated in accordance with your behavior. If we need to treat you like prisoners, I'm afraid to say, we will.”
Hope sneered at him as she pushed past him. She looked around the house. It was a single story structure with a large living room with a fireplace, several rugs across the floor, and three large sofas. The entryway to a kitchen led toward the back of the house and six doors, three on each side, were on the side walls.
Thirin gestured to one side, then the other. “Bathroom on each side through the center door. The others are bedrooms. Please, make yourselves comfortable and I will return in a few hours with your dinner.” He bowed and closed the door behind him as he left.
“I don't like that guy,” Hope sneered.
“Yeah,” Gen laughed. “I think we get that.”
Hope frowned at her. Gen winked. Hope grunted and opened one of the bedroom doors. She walked in and closed the door behind her.
Gen sighed. “This is not a good day.”
“We can't submit to this,” Herron said. “Neither of these options is acceptable. We let them keep two of our Realms and have two open borders to The Void, or they come and attack us? The Sky Council will never go for either of those options.”
“This isn't up to the Sky Council!” Gen tried not to raise her voice. “This is up to us! You think they're going to say, 'Okay, go back home and debate this with your committees and see what everybody feels like doing.' No! This is up to us!” By the end, her emotions got the best of her and she was shouting after all.
Herron shouted back. “And who are you? Are you qualified to make decisions for us? You're not one of us, Gen! You shouldn't be in control of our destinies!”
“I'm more 'one of you' than you know! I have both worlds in me. Nai wanted me to succeed her, and that's my Realm we're talking about bartering here.”
“Nai wanted Ivy to succeed her.” Herron's voice was low and cold.
“I am Ivy.”
“The hell you are, human,” Herron practically spat out the word.
“The more time that passes, the more of her that comes to me. Her energy, her spirit, is in me. You want me to tell you about the night we met? At that ridiculous party? And afterwards, we sat by the fairy ring and watched the sun come up.”
Herron narrowed his eyes at Gen.
“I'm a part of both worlds, Herron. And remember one of their conditions is that I abandon this one. And I leave you,” she turned to Shae, “and you,” then she looked at Herron and tilted her head toward the bedroom door that Hope had just gone through, “and her. And all of
the fairies in The Marsh who decided to put their faith and their trust in me.”
He crossed his arms and glared at her, still not responding.
“Have you had all of this resentment building up in you the whole time? This entire time we've been together? Everything we've gone through together, and you're holding onto all of this?”
“You killed my friend,” Herron whispered.
“That's bullshit and you know it! Jim and Ivy did what they decided had to be done! Why aren't you so pissed off at Hope, then, since her human was the one who went along with it?”
Herron stormed off, picking a bedroom on the opposite side of the house. He put his hand on the doorknob, but didn't open the door. Without turning around, he said, “Because you're right. She's in there. You look like her. You act like her. You talk like her. But you're not her. And nobody is making decisions for me.” He swung the door open quickly and Gen braced herself, expecting the door to slam, but Herron closed it quietly.
“Before you tell me that you want to be left alone, I want to tell you something.” Shae said. Gen had forgotten she was even there.
“Yeah, Shae?”
“I believe in you. You are special. And whatever choice you make, I'll stand by you.”
“Thanks. Any insight on what choice has a better outcome than the other?”
Shae shook her head. “They're both bad, Gen. I'm sorry, but I have to tell you the truth. Neither one is very good. I don't want to see war like this. It's ugly and terrible and a lot of fairies are going to die. But, honestly, if I had to pick, I'd pick the future where you stay.”
“It's worth all of their lives just to have me stay?”
Shae nodded. “You're special and we all need you. There are things coming up that no one else is going to be able to do. And, sure, the Realms will survive without those things, but we'll be far better with you doing them.”
“It sounds like you think my staying does have the better outcome, then.”
Shae closed her eyes and concentrated. “The open borders to The Void are dangerous. We'll lose fairies who wander in. We'll lose fairies to the threats that come out. I can't see far enough to know whether the pixies keep their word and don't invade, but it makes the Sky Council very concerned. I think they might try to strike first.” She opened her eyes. They were glistening with tears. “It's not safe either way. And you can do some good here. I know you can.”
Gen threw herself on to one of the sofas and buried her face in one of the cushions. She and Shae spoke at the same time.
Gen's voice was muffled. “I'd like to be alone.”
“I'll just leave you alone,” Shae said.
Shae started toward a bedroom, then stopped abruptly and turned back to Gen. “I forgot which room Herron picked.”
Gen kept her face in the pillow but raised her hand to point at the far door.
“Thanks!” Shae went to the other door and closed it behind her.
Gen put her hands on the back of her head and screamed into the cushion, hoping nobody else in the house could hear.
chapter 29
Gabby started out the window of the Saab, looking at the houses in the neighborhood while Geoff drove.
“These houses are a little ostentatious, don't you think?”
Geoff looked at Gabby's side of the street. “It's a suburban, yuppie, affluent but not super rich subdivision. It looks exactly like our neighborhood.”
“This is much more in-your-face. Look at their cars. BMW, Mercedes, Lincoln.”
“Sweetie, we're driving a nine month old Saab from our yuppie neighborhood, where our neighbor across the street has a fire engine red Porsche in the driveway, to our future daughter-in-law's yuppie neighborhood, where that neighbor had a Mercedes, but that neighbor,” he pointed at another house, “has a rusty Plymouth Reliant in their driveway. Calm down and stop being so judgy.”
“Future daughter-in-law,” Gabrielle echoed. “I mean, he could probably do better, right? If he wanted? He was saying that she's not a fantastic cook, and his shirts aren't all pressed when he comes over…”
“Stop it. Don't be a wicked stepmother. In law,” he laughed. “Laura's sweet and George loves her. She's nice and she's helpful and she's smart. He said she's going to be a scientist in the spring.”
“A scientist! See? They don't make a lot of money.”
Geoff laughed again. “So first you want her to cook and clean and iron for him, but now you want her to support him?”
“I just don't want to have to worry that he'll be miserable and he'll move back home in three years after a horrible, painful divorce and they'll have to figure out how to split up time with the children and divide their house and cars and mutual funds!”
“In three years?”
Gabby huffed and looked back out the window. “Look! They still have Halloween decorations up! Who decorates for Halloween, anyway?”
“Gabrielle, be quiet. You sound like your mother.”
“Geoffrey!”
He shrugged. “Well, you do.”
“Oh! Look!” Gabby pointed out the window at a large ranch-style house. “I can't see the house number but that house has a ramp to the front door. I bet that's it. Yep! Eighteen-eighteen. That's the one. And there's George's car! How do I look? Do I smell okay?”
“How do you go from judgy mamma bear to excited, nervous teenager in less than a second?” Geoff parked the black Saab behind George's little orange Datsun.
Gabby smoothed the ruffled collar of her top and checked her makeup again in the visor mirror.
“You look fantastic,” Geoff said. He got out of the car and walked around to open Gabby's door. As they walked up the ramp to the front door of the house, Geoff looked back over his shoulder at the shiny black Saab. He wasn't a car guy like George, but he loved the look of this car. He raised his finger to ring the bell but George opened the door.
“Hey!” He kissed Gabby on the cheek and shook Geoff's hand. “I'm so glad you guys are here. Come on in!”
Gabrielle and Geoffrey followed George into the Lachances' house. It was tastefully decorated and it smelled like pumpkin pie. There were lots of pictures of Laura and her sister on the walls. There were photos of Wes in a basketball jersey by himself and with other men in wheelchairs in matching jerseys. Gabby stopped to look at a photo of Wes standing next to a gleaming black BSA motorcycle. She looked back at the pictures of him in the wheelchair.
“This is the only picture of him from before,” Gabby said quietly.
George nodded. “There are a few around the house, but this is the only one in the front. You know what? He still has that motorcycle. You should ask him about it.”
“Oh,” Gabby fluttered her hands in front of her, “I couldn't.”
“He's cool,” George said. “They both are. Come on, they're out back. We're going to light a fire in the fire pit before it gets dark.”
George led his parents through the dining room and the kitchen and out the patio door. Laura stood up and hugged Gabby and George, then turned and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Summers, my parents. Wes and Anne.”
George shook Wes's hand, then Anne's. “Geoff, and my wife Gabrielle.”
“You have a lovely house,” Gabby said.
“Oh,” Anne smiled, “thank you very much. We appreciate you guys trekking all the way over here.”
George and Laura sat back down together. Geoff and Gabby sat in a pair of adirondack chairs facing the fire pit.
“Our house isn't really that accessible,” Geoff said. “I'm sure we'll figure something out whenever you do come over.”
“No, no.” Anne shook her head. “This was far easier, and really, we're going to be family! Shouldn't we start out with it being easy?”
“Absolutely,” George agreed.
Gabrielle nodded.
“Wine?” Anne offered.
“Please,” Gabby said.
“Geoff?”
“Yes, please.”
Anne stood and wen
t into the house.
“What do you do, Geoff?” Wes asked.
“I'm an investment manager at Bank One. You?”
“Corporate law and copyright law at Bell Labs. Gabrielle?”
“Call me Gabby. I mostly stayed home with the kids. But now… I might go back to work. I was an executive assistant before I left work to take care of the kids.”
Wes nodded and rearranged the logs in the fire. George whispered something in Laura's ear and she laughed, then covered her mouth. George made a “you were supposed to be quiet” face at her.
Anne came back out with a fresh bottle and two more wine glasses. She poured them both halfway, put the bottle on the table and sat down in the chair next to Wes.
“That's a great looking motorcycle in your picture, Wes,” Geoff said. “George said something about you still having it?”
Wes grinned. “Yeah. It was a dream, that bike. I always said it was so beautiful that even if I couldn't ride anymore, I'd still keep it. And I did. It's in the garage. I still polish it and wax it. It's gorgeous. But it doesn't get ridden.”
Geoff nodded and quietness settled over the patio. Everyone watched the fire as the sky darkened.
Anne suddenly piped up, “Everyone ready for dinner?”
“Sure,” Gabby said, “let me help you with that.”
Anne and Gabby went inside.
“Why don't you go help your mother?” Wes said to Laura.
“Okay, daddy.” Laura went inside, too, leaving Geoff, George, and Wes out on the porch.
“Really sorry to hear about everything that's happened,” Wes said.
Geoff nodded. “Thanks.” He took a large swallow of wine. God, he thought, I hope that's the last we have to talk about any of that stuff.
-
Geoff and Gabby were quiet as they drove out of the Lachances' subdivision and headed back toward the tollway. Gabby looked out the window and absent-mindedly put her hand on Geoff's thigh. He smiled. She was coming back to him a little more all the time.
“That was a little awkward,” he said.
The Void Hunters (Realmwalker Book 2) Page 20