“You don’t have a picklock on you, do you?” I ask, scratching him behind the ears. He purrs, then rubs his furry face against my cheek. My nose tickles. Apparently, kimkis do shed.
“Did Aren send you?” I ask quietly though I don’t know if kimkis can be sent anywhere. From what I’ve seen, they have minds of their own. Plus, Aren thinks I’m dead. Sosch has found me on his own before; my guess is he’s done it again.
Sosch chirp-squeaks, then scurries out of my arms, dragging his long body behind me. He nestles down between my back and the base of the wooden beam.
“That’s real helpful,” I tell him, but he’s warm. And I’m glad for his company.
I fade off. When I wake up, Paige is sitting against the wall beside the door. Sosch is still behind me. I don’t think she can see him, but I try to make myself take up as much room as possible, just in case. I don’t want the remnants to take him away from me.
When Paige doesn’t say anything, I take a closer look at her, and immediately, my heart sinks. Her eyes are red, puffy, like she’s been crying.
“You talked to Lee.”
She draws in a breath, nods, then lets it out.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “This is my fault.”
She closes her eyes. “It’s not your fault, McKenzie.”
“I was trying to hang on to my human life,” I tell her. “That’s why I was in school. That’s why I picked up the phone every time you called and kept agreeing to go on those blind double dates—which I hated, by the way.”
“None of those guys were right for you.” She smiles before she opens her eyes. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know you preferred fae.”
“I don’t prefer fae, I just…” God, it must seem that way.
She shrugs, then she picks up the tablet computer resting beside her. It’s so thin, I didn’t notice it before, but the screen lights up when she touches it.
“I’m surprised this works here,” she says.
“There’s no way to charge the battery, but the Realm doesn’t mess with tech.” The tech just messes with the Realm, according to some fae. “Do the remnants know you have that?”
She sniffs. “Yeah, Caelar’s not happy. He’s making me take it back to Earth.”
“He knows what’s on it?”
She looks up from the screen, meets my eyes, and nods. “The serum’s terminal, though. He’s not going to use it.”
But he would have. He’ll do anything to kill Aren and get rid of Lena.
“It’s funny,” Paige continues, toying with the edge of the tablet. “I was in Bedfont House because I tried to commit suicide. Now, ten years later, I’m dying, and all I want is to live.”
It’s not funny at all, but it’s just like Paige to underplay something like this. Back when we were roommates, she talked lightly about her deliberately reckless behavior—the street race that resulted in a bad wreck, the time she took a running leap off her roof and landed in the neighbor’s pool. The bottle of cold medicine she downed that led to her being institutionalized definitely wasn’t her first suicide attempt; it was just the first time her dad woke up and realized there was a problem.
I’m glad Paige is admitting she wants to live, though. The nurses and attendees at Bedfont House might have violated dozens of federal regulations, but the medicine and psychologists helped her work through her depression.
“Anyway,” Paige says, clearing her throat, “I dated this guy named Rob once. He’s getting his PhD in chemistry. I’m going to take the tablet to him, see if he can figure out what’s wrong with us.”
“You’re going to tell him about the fae?” The last part of that comes out a little high-pitched, partly because it surprises me but also because Sosch shifts, snuggling closer to my back.
“I don’t know why you didn’t tell me about them,” Paige says. “I would have understood.”
“You would have thought I was crazy.”
“No, I wouldn’t have. I would have—”
“You thought Lee was crazy,” I point out.
She deflates a little. “Well, I’ll make Rob understand. I’m not letting this beat me.”
Good. I give her a tight-lipped smile. Out loud, I say, “I’ve been thinking about what you said before, about the remnants not killing those humans. I think it’s possible it could be someone else. If we could get Lena and Caelar to meet—”
Paige shakes her head. “Caelar won’t negotiate. He won’t even talk to the rebels because of Brene.”
“The tor’um?”
“Yeah. They were going to…” She frowns, trying to recall a word. “Whatever the fae equivalent of marriage is. A bond or something.”
“Life-bond,” I say.
“Yeah, that. But then Aren captured her.”
She doesn’t need to say more than that. I know what happened afterward. I’ve seen her.
“You should see the way he takes care of her,” Paige continues. “It’s sweet. She’s crazy as hell, but he loves her still.” She draws in a breath, lets it out. “I have to admit, I, too, wouldn’t mind seeing Aren dead for what he did.”
My jaw clenches. I have to consciously make it relax. Aren’s past is his past. He’s not a ruthless, barbaric fae; he’s a fae who wanted to save the life of a friend. I don’t approve of what he did, but I understand it.
“Are you staying with the remnants?” I ask.
“I’m not going to let the rebels kill them,” she says, tucking the tablet under her arm. “But I can’t help them if I’m dead. I’m going back to Earth soon. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
I’m not exactly okay, but things could be worse. “If you could talk the remnants into giving me something to drink, I’d appreciate it.”
She stops midrise. “They haven’t given you water?”
“No.”
“What the hell.” She straightens fully. “I’ll be right back.”
She doesn’t come “right back,” but she does eventually return with a wooden mug filled to the brim with water. The liquid sloshes over the edge when I take it.
“I’m going to try to talk some sense into Caelar before I leave,” she says. “I don’t know if he’ll listen. It might help if the rebels send Brene back to him. It’d be a gesture of good faith.”
“They don’t know about Caelar,” I say, but she’s already closing the door behind her. I hear the lock click into place, sealing me in the dark.
Lightning flashes across the hand holding the mug. I lift it to my lips and something in it makes the tiniest thunk. I pause, midsip, and stare at the wooden bottom. My edarratae are bright enough to make out an object lying there submerged in the cold water.
I reach inside, pull out a key, a key that looks like it’ll fit in the tiny lock of my shackles.
Paige just handed me my freedom.
PAIGE put our friendship before the Realm. When the rebels caught her, I helped them keep her prisoner. I even tried to help them recapture her when she escaped with Tylan. I spend half the night feeling guilty about that and waiting for the right moment to make my escape. If my internal clock isn’t completely broken, something close to an hour passes without any sound or sign from the fae. I think they might all be sleeping.