Wicked(42)

Had I made the right decision?

Unease blossomed deep in my belly as I shifted from one foot to the next. Maybe I shouldn't have told her about Ren and the Elite.

Finally, she stopped and planted her hands on her hips. "You believe him?"

"Yes."

"Okay," she said, exhaling roughly as she scrunched up her nose. "If you believe him, then I believe him. I'm probably more certifiable when it comes to craziness than you could ever hope to be."

Relieved, I felt the tension bleed out of me. The tendril of unease was still there, but that was understandable. I had just told a huge secret.

"So what's the plan?" she asked.

I blinked. "Oh, I don't really have one. David isn't going to say anything if he knows anything. I was thinking about seeing Merle today. If anyone knows about the gates, it would be her . . . depending on her mood."

Her features sharpened. "I'll go with you."

A laugh burst out of me. "The last time you visited Merle and Brighton with me, she called you a harlot."

"Oh yeah, she did." She grinned. "I'm sure she's forgotten."

"Ah, no. Every time I talk to her she asks if I'm still hanging out with the 'slut of Satan' and all that jazz. She hasn't forgotten."

"Slut of Satan? Wow. That's an impressive title."

"It is." I grinned. "Anyway, I think it's best if I do that alone."

She pursed her lips. "Is Renny boy going with you?"

I laughed as I stepped away from the tomb. "No. I told him I might know someone but didn't tell him who."

"Smart girl." She looped her arm through mine again and rested her chin on my shoulder, her curls tickling my cheek. "Thank you for trusting me. I was worried. Well, now I'm really worried, but for different reasons."

"I feel you." As we started to walk back through the cemetery, I asked her, "What do you think the ancients are up to?"

Her forehead wrinkled as her brows knitted. "If they want to open the gates then they would want to bring more ancients through. My maw-maw used to talk about the ancients a lot," she said. That was something I didn't know. "You know, the ones who ran the courts in the Otherworld. She said when they joined the Summer and Winter, there was only one prince, one princess, and the king and queen. That they were the most powerful and they controlled the knights—they controlled all the fae. I don't know if that part is true, but does it matter? What if the ancients here want to free them?"

A shiver coursed down my spine in spite of the bright sun. "That would be very bad."

I once asked Tink why the fae didn't stay in their world, why he didn't. He hadn't been all that happy to answer, but he'd explained how the fae had ruled over all the creatures of the Otherworld, enslaving them and nearly killing off entire species. He also said that those actions had severe consequences, but he never elaborated on them. To me, the reason why the fae were here was simple. They'd taken over their realm and now they wanted ours.

With the gateways to the Otherworld closed, they couldn't bring mortals over to their realm to feed on and entertain themselves with.

But no matter what they did, they wouldn't get those gates open.

"Tell me what you find out." Val reached over, slipping my sunglasses off and placing them on her face. I had to say they looked good on her. "I'll help you however I can."

Val and I left Lafayette, heading for the bookstore "Okay. More normal conversations," she said. "You ready for that?"

"Of course," I said, feeling a thousand times better after telling her. Truth kept the soul light.

"So what do you think about this new guy?" she asked as we stepped into the small shopping center across the street from the cemetery.

"Ren?" I looked away quickly because I could feel my cheeks start to heat. I thought about this morning and how his face had popped right into the forefront of my thoughts. "What do you mean? I told you I believe him."

"That's not what I mean. He's hot. Like really freaking hot. And he belongs to a secret organization within a secret organization, so that like tips the scales of hotness. When he was in the meeting Friday night, he smiled and my panties caught on fire." Across from the law offices, Val opened the door to the Garden District Book Shop. "You likie? Because I'd like to get me a piece of that, but only if you're not interested."

I opened my mouth to say no but nothing came out. Nothing. Not a no or a yes. Nothing.

Val spun on me, her eyes wide as she grasped my shoulders. "Oh my God, you're interested in him? You want him to set your panties on fire."

"I really don't want my undies to catch on fire." My God, why did everyone want to talk about sex right now? "At all."