Kiersten White

“Oh,umm Arianna,this is Jack.He, uh, well, what did he tell you?""He said he was here to inspect the beds. I figured he was one of your old friends.”

“Can I take a rain check? Weekends are busy for me."He shrugged, his perma smile back in all its dimpled glory. "You'd probably figure out a way to nearly get killed, anyway.”

“Jack was mid-jump when I burst into my room. I snatched his ankle,flipping him horizontal.He crashed down hard to my bed and rolled off onto the floor.And laughed."Let's do that again! But this time I'll jump even higher.""No! No,you won't! What are you going here?"He sat up on the floor and shrugged. "I was bored.""I don't care! I'm not your babysitter!"His blue eyes twinkled.Honestly, whose eyes actually twinkle? Then his face crumpled,his lower lip jutting out.He blinked his ridiculously long eyelashes at me. "I thought we were friends.""Oh,knock it off.”

“He's just a little unbalanced and lonely."He put his arms around my waist, frowning. "Can't he be lonely and unbalanced around someone else's girlfriend?""I'll suggest it.”

“I felt the exact same way.But if it helps,you look much cuter freaking out than I ever did."I peeked out through my hands."But what if I don't get in?"He wrapped his arms around me. "No more worrying about it.You'll get in.""Good.Someone needs to keep an eye on you and that dirty little dyrad of a lab assistant."He laughed,squeezing me until I couldn't breathe. "Why would I ever want a lusty tree nymph when I could have a hyperventilating Evie?”

“No worries.You go save the world.I'm gonna finish getting a cavity.”

“Lend and I certainly didn't start off on the right foot"-only Raquel would refer to Lend punching her and then us imprisoning him in an IPCA cell and interrogating him as being the "wrong foot"- "but he's always been good to you,and I have no doubt you two will be able to work this out.”

“Guy's a psychopath,even by vampire standards. And that's saying something.”

“Mostly because I'd flat-out refused to go back to the Center to debrief about the mission.Well to lie about everything,if you want to be technical.”

“I could feel the threads from that world, threatening to pull me in, and I'd take whatever anchor I could get. Even if he was a blond nightmare.I lifted my head to look at him "How did you find me?""Just lucky." The answer was smooth, but it felt like he blurted it out a litle too easily. I narrowd my eyes,but he continued."Why did you lie about the trolls?""I didn't." We sat there looking at each other, two seasoned liars,until i couldn't take it anymore."Jack?""Hmm?""Thanks." My voice cracked a little. "If you hadn't shown up...""If I hadn't shown up,you would have been fine.No need to get sappy on me when I've decided you mmight be some decent fun after all.Now,you happen to be wearing my nicest coat. I'll like very much to get it back, so let's take you home,shall we?”

“At least I'd done something right to day. Maybe. Probably.”

“A few painful shifts and I was comfortable, in a not-going-to-die-right-now-but-maybe-later sort of way.”

“Jack! "Where have you been,you miserable little creep?"He raised his eyebrows,a look of mock hurt on his face."This is the thanks I get?""Give me that bat and I'll show you how grateful I am, coward!”

“Then I'm afraid we'll have to lose our common ground." Flashing his fangs,he lunged forward.I drew my arm back and punched him full in the face."Ow!" we screamed in unison as he clutched his nose and I shook my poor, poor hand.Why didn't anyone ever tell me punching faces hurts?"You hit me!""You were trying to bite me!"We glared at each other,intensity somewhat diminished by the hand he still held to his nose. "So what now?" he asked,smooth voice muffled."I haven't thought that far ahead yet.”

“I let my face go blank and nodded slowly. "Yes.The trolls.Back. With me. Cannot form.Complete sentences." I shook my head. "Yeah,so not happening."He considered me,annoyed and at a loss for what to do next."I don't kill humans.""Me niether!See,common ground already.”

“Yeah,I know you're a creature of the night.Bringer of death,sucker of blood, needer of tans,so on and so forth. And oddly enough,I'm still unimpressed."He narrowed his eyes. "How do you know what I am,child?"What is it with paranormals and calling me "child?" I'd be seventeen in Decemder. How about a nice "ma'am" or something?”

“How hard I was going to hit Jack for abandoning me.That last one warmed me up a bit.”

“So you aren't hurting anyone at all." Well,crud.This made things more complicated.”

“Most of the trolls except Hulking Teeth Gnasher and Old Man Saliva left.”

“Give me a mirror.Or holy water. I'll drink it,even!" I gasped as someone threw water on the side of my face. "A little warning next time would be nice.”

“It'd be okay,though.Jack knew where I was. He'd get help and bring it back...just like when he'd disappeared and left me stranded in the Center for two days.I was so screwed.”

“If I ever saw him again,he was going to get a proper introduction to Tasey.”

“Supposedly you could kill them by saying their name but a)how would you find it out in the first place,and b) its a little hard to talk when your lungs are slowly filling up with water. Still,legend had it they were occasionally benign,giving music lessons and even marrying mortals every now and again.I didn't get the impression this one had any intentions of taking vows."So you aren't going to be best friends.""I dunno-he could be fun at a pool party. Assuming you hated everyone you invited.”

“There's nothing we can do about your pants-mine probally wouldn't fit,and it wouldn't do for me to go around pantless, much as it would be the best day of your life.”

“Are you okay?"I sighed,my sodden coat chilling me to the bone. "Peachy.Made a new friend."He pulled me up by the hand,unzipping my coat and yanking it off me. "Shirt,too,please.""No!""It's only fair. I seem to recall you making me strip the first time we met.”

“I let go and stepped through.Right into a free fall.”

“Something else we have in common,then, besides the world's most perfect hair color.”

“He held out his elbow in a disingenuously gentlymanly gesture."How about we go and have some real fun?""What,shattering my one remaining fantasy wasn't enough?" Faeries didn't have wings and bordered on evil; pixies were dirty,feral, and tended to bite' and mermaids had neither glorious hair nor seashell bras. Now this about unicorns. Sometimes reality sucked."You can always chase the unicorn, if you want.Take it for a ride."I shuddered at the thought and sat down, leaning my back against the tree and unzipping my coat. "No,thanks.”

“jack laughed at my attempts to avoid being felt up by a mythical beast. "Apparently you're a virgin.""Shut up!Like that's any of your business!"He shrugged,the motion less effective upside down."Unicorns love maidens. Haven't you done any research at all?""What,you have?"He flipped off the branch,startling the unicorn so badly it bolted from the meadow. Thank heavens.”

“The dang thing kept trying to nuzzle me while I did my best to dodge it.So much for dramatic images of knights on unicorn stallions,too.This creature couldn't carry a child,much less a man in armor.Its head barely came up to my chest,which added a whole new level of discomfort to its continued nuzzling attempts.”

“How do you know about all this?""I just happen to be smarter than you is all.”

“Having a plan made me feel better,so when I walked into my room to find Jack sitting on my bed flipping through my pink journal,I didn't even yell at him.Much.Once I finished smacking him over the head with said journal,I put away my school stuff and pulled on a warmer coat.”

“Lend sat up,craning his neck to see down my shirt,which I hurriedly pushed back into place. "Last time I checked, you couldn't see souls."He shrugged,an exaggerated look of innocence on his face. "Still,it wouldn't hurt for me to try,would it?""You have got to be the most sefless boyfriend alive.""Like I said,anything worthwhile is worth making sacrifices for.""Speaking of which,weren't you going to give me a tongue demonstration?”

“Oh,you. The usual. With you gone and Easton Heights in reruns, my life is a black hole of boredom and despair.""So basically you've been doing homework.""Like I said,black hole.”

“Just because you've got a wimpy tongue doesn't mean I do," I said.He smiled slyly at me."Wimpy tongue,huh? I'll have to show you what it can do later."i smacked him in the shoulder,unable to hold back another laugh."Oh,I'm a fan of your tongue,no worries there.""I'd like to get that printed on a shirt.""At least I know what to get you for Christmas."We walked into the restaurant, and an hour later walked back out. Lend scowled in frustration. "One of these days I will find something too spicy for you.""Too bad we'll have to go on so many dates while you search.""Alas, all noble causes require sacrifice.”

“Miss Lynn came around the corner of the row of lockers,glaring daggers. No, daggers would be too delicate a weapon for her.Glaring sledgehammers was probably more appropriate.”

“I walked toward her office,lost in thought about Lish, and poor Steve,and all the other souls I'd sent out of this life,some quite literally. Where did they go?Did Steve go the same place as Lish?And was it vampire Steve ir normal Steve? What exactly happened to the souls when their human bodies died and became vampires?And then when the vampire bodies died?Hello,headache.”

“Man,poor guy.I kept ruining his afterlives.”

“Ooh, can you make it look like bugs are exploding out of my skin?"He dropped a few inches in his hovering. "Seriously?""Could be cool,right? If you want, I'll even pretend to be scared.""It's not the same when you're faking." He dropped down to my eye level; this left about half of him beneath the floor, but he didn't seem to notice.”

“Steve always had a flair for the dramatic. He should have raised one ghostly fist in the air as he said it; though,for the full effect.”

“He scowled at me."You aren't any fun.""Party pooper extraordinaire,that's me.”

“Are you about done yet?Because this is all very impressive,but it's a school night and I've got homework to get back to.”

“Jack waved cheerfully, got a running start,and did several roundoffs down the length of the hall.I turned to Raquel."i think he's broken."She heaved a don't I know it sigh. "Jack's past isn't one that contributes to stability.But he's a good boy."He nearly got me disembowled by my gym teacher.Good boy he was not.”

“Heaven and hell,your hands are cold.""I never thought I'd prefer the dead silence of the Paths over anything,but it had to be better than listening to this idiot. And I didn't need any reminders that my hands were cold. Cold,mortal,dying hands. "Can we not talk?""But you're such a charming conversationalist. Still,if you'd prefer to simply bask in the glory of my company, I understand. You're probably overwhelmed by holding my hand and want to enjoy the moment."I rolled my eyes. "It's all I can do not to swoon,but I'll try to contain myself.""I think swooning is highly underrated. You could bring it back into vogue."I turned my head to look at him rather than focus on the inky black around us. It was like people on the Paths existed outside anything else.Jack and I were the only two creatures alive,for all you could tell.What a horrible thought."Where on earth did you come from?" I asked.He grinned,but there was a strange tightness to his face. "Telling that story would require talking,which I seem to recall you requested not happen.And here we are!" With a flourish he waved a hand-at nothing.”

“Whoa,calm-"I whipped around, slapping my palm flat against the chest of-Jack. Again. Seriously,one of these times I was going to kill him by accident. Or on purpose.And I wasn't going to be sorry.”

“I guess I can swing it,then." A night free from cow print and grease? Bleep yes I could swing it. "So where to? Italy? Iceland? Ooh,I could go for Japan.”

“What were you thinking,sending that rabid monkey child to my school?" I shouted into my communicator."Beg pardon?" Raquel asked."Jack.My school.The girls' locker room. Ring any bells? If Carlee hadn't sworn to my ogre of a gym teacher that Jack was neither my boyfriend nor my brother, I probably would have been suspended!""Your gym teacher is an ogre?""Focus!If I get suspended,my grades take a hit. If my grades take a hit, I might not get into Georgetown. And I will get into Georgetown.""I'm pleased to see you finally taking ownership of your education. And I'm sorry about Jack;I asked him to contact you discreetly.""That boy wouldn't know discreet if it tap--danced on his stupid blond head.""Still,if this discreet were tap dancing,it wouldn't be very discreet,now, would it?”

“How about I call? We'll do lunch." he blew a kiss toward Miss Lynn's increasingly purple face and jumped off onto the next row.Miss lynn shoved past me, running to block the exit. "Guard the gym door!" she shouted,eyes blazing as she took up her position and waited.And waited.And waited.But jack was long gone,having eluded both Miss lynn and any repercussions for his idiotic actions.”

“Jack fell to his knees on the bench,his eyes rolling back in ecstasy as he clutched both hands to his heart. "Oh, heavens above,to have seen such beauty with my own eyes! It's more than I ever hoped for. But how can I live now, knowing that you're not mine? Please." He crawled forward to the edge of the bench. "Marry me. Nay,marriage will cost us precious moments together. Let us make sweet, passionate love right here.Let me bear your children."A primal growl signaled Miss Lynn getting over her shock at being thus addressed. She lunged forward; Jack deftly rolled off the bench, jumping up out of her reach."Goodness, I didn't expect you to be quite this enthusiastic about my advances. If I don't play hard to get, how will I ever know whether or not you respect me?"Another growl,this one sounding like "you!" Or prehaps "eew!" because that's certainly how I felt about the whole exchange. Everyone stopped laughing and watched, wide-eyed with horror, unsure whether to stay or distance themselves from the inevitable outcome, which would quite possibly involve jack's dismemberment. I didn't know who to root for.”

“I was dead.I was so,so dead.I was going to be expelled and then I'd never get into Georgetown,and I'd work at the diner for the rest of my life and lend would marry the dyrad lab assistant and they'd have half-tree-and-one-quarter-water-thing babies,and no one would know quite what they were,but they'd be beautiful.And I'd serve them French fries when they came home to visit.”