Regen Read online

  “Fine,” I said. “I’m listening. But what could I possibly do to help you?”

  “It isn’t me you need to listen to, dear girl, as I said before, I’m only the retrieval specialist. Let me take you to your new team leader, as I was attempting to do earlier. Before you attack anyone else while you are my responsibility.” The dwarf bustled off down the hallway.

  Wade motioned for me to walk ahead of him, but I shook my head. No way that guy was going to be at my back. Now that he knew I wasn’t so easy to kill, I wasn’t taking any chances, even if the dwarf had said they needed me.

  With a roll of his green eyes, Wade went off ahead of me. What I wouldn’t give for a weapon right now. He’d already proved I couldn’t do a thing against him without one. He was a brave man, looking the other direction. I wanted to ask him what his ability was, what Faerie was like, a million fae-related questions, but all of that would require talking to him.

  And then there were the more personal questions, like if he’d felt any regret at all when he pulled the trigger. Had everything we’d had been fake. I wasn’t following this dwarf because of the job, I was just giving myself time to think about how to get to Wade. After I took care of that problem, I’d figure out what to do about the taken away from the fosters problem. I hadn’t really thought about what I would do with Wade when I found him, but now a solution had presented itself. If something happened to him he would just appear in Faerie. Hopefully that meant he couldn’t come back, but I still hadn’t murdered him. Murdered him all the way, at least.

  Each door up the white hallway slammed shut as we got close. It was like we were walking down one of those funhouse hallways, the end never getting any closer, doors stretching on forever. I never got a good look at anyone in any of the rooms. It was like they didn’t want me to see them. The absolute pristine white of the hallway started to make my eyes hurt. Cumat led us past several more doors before choosing one that looked exactly like the rest. He pulled it open and bowed at the waist. “After you.”

  Wade waited a second, like he thought I would go in first, then snorted and stepped through the doorway when I planted my feet. After he was all the way through I followed slowly.

  “Where is this guy?” I asked, halfway into the room. “I need to get back home before Nina calls out the cavalry again.” And she would too. I’d lose my happy home if it happened again, whether I helped these people or not.

  “I am the one you need to speak with,” a smooth voice answered from the other side of the room. It belonged to a girl who, at first glance, looked about my age. After a moment though, I found it harder to guess how old she was. Something about her whispered she’d been around a while. Fae, so hard to tell. She could be a hundred just as easily as the twenty or so she looked like.

  The room was nearly bare and even more blindingly white than the hallway, if possible. The girl was wearing white too, making her blend in. Some Jedi robe outfit. Awesome boots that made me so jealous peeked out under this side of the desk she was behind. All the white made the girl’s jet black hair stand out like ink on one of Nina’s bleached sheets. Something about her made me really uncomfortable. Maybe the fact that she was probably the one that had ordered me snatched.

  She glanced up from her paperwork, her face showing her utter disdain for the entire situation. “My name is Starren.” She nodded and two chairs, exactly like the one she was sitting in, floated forward from the wall. “Sit.”

  Whoa, could I do that? Was that her special ability or was that something all fae could do? I wanted to ask her, but not in front of Wade. He didn’t need to know about the gaps in my fae education.

  I stepped forward and slid into the chair, half expecting it to grab me. With Wade being my only example of fae character so far, I was beginning to understand Mom’s paranoia. Easy to say I wasn’t a fan. But I would behave, follow along with their little games for now. Until I figured out if what Cumat had said was true or not.

  “Mr. Cumat, you are dismissed,” Starren said. “Job well done.” Ah, so maybe the rudeness was reserved just for me.

  The dwarf bowed to the girl behind the desk. “Thank you, milady.”

  Milady? Was she some kind of royalty or was that normal? Mom, why don’t I know any of this stuff? You taught me all kinds of things about the fae, but nothing relevant! At least relevant as far as I can tell. I waited while the dwarf left. Starren didn’t say anything until the door clicked behind him. “A great retriever but a terrible gossip. That’s why when he complains that we don’t tell him anything, he’s telling the truth.”

  “What do you guys want from me?” I asked, not even trying to find a polite way to get it out there. The sooner we got done in here, the sooner I could get out and the better chance I had of not being sent back to the group home because Dan thought I was being an idiot.

  Starren raised an eyebrow. She turned to Wade. “Are you sure she’s fae? She’s too direct.” True. I got that from the humans in my life. Fae were all tricks and games. Like Wade. Which reminded me how mad I was at him right now.

  I turned a heated look toward Wade who had taken the seat beside me. He raised his hands as if to say no contest, he knew what I was thinking. “I don’t really consider myself one of your kind,” I said.

  “Your services will only be forced for one job,” Starren ignored my comment. “After it is complete, you will be able to choose if you wish to continue working for us or to be left alone in peace. One retrieval and you will be free.”

  “And clarify why I would trust you? You sure changed your mind quick, one week having me murdered and the next asking me to help you go after someone else.” I really wanted to avoid getting caught up with these guys if at all possible. They were bad news, always. I had a feeling that was why Mom left Faerie in the first place.

  Starren winced. “About that. Most fae’s powers don’t manifest until the day after their eighteenth birthday. According to your paperwork with the homes you’ve been at, you aren’t there yet. You were supposed to be transported to Faerie where you could be properly trained. No one intended for you to die. How long have you been regenerating? Because you were unregistered, we don’t know who your parents are and therefore don’t have a good guess at your abilities. Do you have any other talents?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Me too, actually. I wasn’t supposed to start healing until eighteen? I’d started years ago.

  “Trish, cut the crap,” Wade mumbled. “Not here.”

  I ignored him, keeping my gaze on Starren. She seemed totally unfazed by my lack of cooperation.

  “We suspected as much.” Starren said. “We weren’t even sure that you were fae. One of our trackers noticed something odd when he was doing a sweep and discovered you. Wade was sent to investigate. Once we knew that you were indeed fae, he was forced to act.”

  Forced? I sent him a glare to tell him I didn’t believe it for a second.

  “After our superiors heard of your ability, they decided to bring you in on this job. We are prepared to make you a deal. You obviously did not go back to Faerie. The Court frowns on this,” Starren said. “In normal circumstances we would be taking you there now, with or without your consent.”

  So, she was a backstabber like Wade. Good to know. And this situation could become a whole lot more serious than I’d thought. Also good to know.

  “If you help us complete this job, you will be left here where you wish to be. Otherwise you will be collected for training.”

  Collected? I held back a shiver. She said it so calmly, like it was an everyday thing. Maybe it was for her. My interest in bumping Wade off today was slowly waning as I figured out how bad a mess I was in. They would really just drag me off? What was I thinking, of course they would. And I’d just walked into their lair. This was so not good. I wiped my palms on my jeans, then snapped my arms up to my chest to keep it from happening again. Wade didn’t need to know how I was feeling.

  “As I s
aid before, once this job is finished, you will be able to choose if you wish to continue working with us or not. I can guarantee you that the rewards for continuing to help with the Council’s work are extremely beneficial. We are hoping this will be the first of many times you assist, that you may become part of the team eventually.”

  Okay, this was a little freaky. Why did they need me so bad that they would offer a deal like this? Something felt off. “So tell me about it. The job. I don’t want to sign on without knowing what it is.” I didn’t want to sign on at all, but if it was something simple and they would leave me alone afterward, it would be worth it. If it was legit.

  “Does it matter? Do you wish to be dragged to Faerie and placed in training?”

  Good point. I eyed Wade in a sideways stare. I could probably get away from these thugs, but I would have to run for the rest of my life. That could potentially be a very long time. And there would be absolutely no chance of seeing Dan and Nina again. Unless it was at their funerals when the fae took it out on them that I had escaped.

  But back to that whole why me thing. Didn’t they have a whole civilization to choose from? Why would they ask me, someone they didn’t know? Might as well find out. “Why do you even want me?”

  “Your healing ability speaks for itself. It is an uncommon gift. And you know humans, which could be very helpful. The fae have studied them since the beginning of time and yet they still surprise us. You grew up among them. Also, the job may require someone that can blend in, and won’t be easily recognized by another fae. If you agree to give the job at least some good consideration, I will give you the basics.”

  I crossed my arms tighter and slouched back in my chair, which was really uncomfortable. What did they do to these things to make a person want to sit straight? I ignored the ache and held my ground. Distrust the fae or not, it looked like I wasn’t going to be given many options. “Fine. I agree.” That needed clarifying. “To consider it.”

  “You must also agree to not speak of what I’m about to tell you to anyone other than those of us on this team. Including Cumat.”

  “That means no humans either, Trish,” Wade added.

  One of Starren’s perfect eyebrows rose. “I should think that would go without saying.”

  “She grew up with them. She doesn’t know any better.”

  Well that was vaguely insulting. This I had to think about for a second. It wasn’t as quick a decision for fae, agreeing to something, because we can’t change our minds whether the circumstances change or not. It had something to do with the no lying thing, but no one had ever really explained it to me. But who was I going to tell anyway? Somehow I didn’t think Dan or Nina would take the news well. They knew I was kind of a brat, they didn’t need to know I was a freak too. “Fine.”

  Starren touched something on her desk and a bright color photo of an extremely dreamy guy showed up against the far wall. Dark hair, dark eyes. All fae were good looking, at least the human type ones, according to my mom. Somehow that seemed to have skipped me. I believed her though, now that I’d met a few. Even after what he’d done to me, I couldn’t stop my gaze from wandering toward Wade. As soon as I noticed, I snapped my attention back to the picture.

  “As hard as we try to keep Faerie and Earth separated, once in a while a new breach is formed that allows fae to travel to Earth without going through the proper channels.” She stuck a thumb over her shoulder, pointing to the picture. “This is Jaden Martan. He found one of them.”

  Another tap on the desk and the picture changed. In this one Jaden no longer looked nearly as good. His face was haggard, eyes dark with exhaustion. I felt a pang of… something for him. Empathy maybe. That was probably how I had looked Saturday when the fosters showed up to save me from Vince and the Land of No Food but Junk Food.

  “Why did he do it?” Starren stopped talking at my question. I ripped my gaze from the picture and looked at Wade, who had a disgusted look on his still handsome face.

  “Who did what?” Starren asked.

  “Why did this guy disobey the rules and cross over when he had to know the consequences?”

  Starren’s face went stormy. “It’s not for you to ask questions, just to do as you’re told. This is the job you were assigned to, if you’d like the reward promised, you will listen and then accomplish the task.” She took a breath and seemed to calm down a little. “He’s a wanted criminal. Considered very dangerous. Several guards were severely injured during his escape.”

  “What was he in for?” So curiosity killed the cat. I’d just heal. Plus I was making Wade mad. Bonus.

  “I was never told.” Her face got that grumpy look again, and I wasn’t sure if it was directed at me or the Council. She continued talking, but I just cocked my head and stared harder at the picture. What was his story? The fae were mostly a no rules society; except when it came down to revealing themselves to the humans. And listening to the Council if they told you to do something. Sure, if you broke one of the rules, you were pretty much dead, but there weren’t a lot of them. What had he done to get himself locked up?

  Everyone had a reason for the things they did, especially the major things like crossing between worlds when the stakes were so high. Maybe that was it. Maybe he thought on Earth he would have an advantage over humans, if he was as dangerous as Starren said he was. And she must believe it or she wouldn’t be able to say it.

  “You can act like a human, so you will be used to draw him away from any other humans. While capturing Jaden is high priority, nothing is ever more important than keeping the fae a secret. Then, after you have drawn him somewhere we will have access, you will keep his attention as Wade moves in.”

  Obviously the conversation had continued on without me. This slightly troubling bit drew me back in. “You’re going to use me as bait?”

  “What job did you expect? You can regenerate, you’re the perfect candidate.”

  Was this how I came across to everyone? All snarky like this Starren? Maybe I needed to drop a little of the attitude after all.

  “Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want to get messed up in the first place. It still hurts. Don’t you have someone that regenerates and is trained to do this stuff?

  A look passed between Starren and Wade. “Regenerating is a rare gift.” That was it? That non-answer was all Starren was going to give me? “And the high fae prefer Faerie to Earth. We don’t have anyone that could pass as a human. Looks, yes, mannerisms and speech, no. The few that we are available, he already knows. You he won’t even notice, he has no way of knowing you’re fae.”

  I looked back at the pictures. He didn’t look dangerous. But I’d thought that about Wade too. “What are his powers?”

  Starren just looked at me.

  I looked at her and then to Wade, then back. “All fae have some type of power, right? What is his?”

  “Not all of us have powers, Trish,” Wade answered. Ugh, did he have to call me Trish? He didn’t have that right anymore.

  “Don’t you know anything about Faerie?” Starren asked. She didn’t seem upset, just resigned.

  But I did know quite a bit about Faerie. My mom had told me stories of the place like they were bedtime stories; only these weren’t the happily ever after kind. Faerie was a rough place, where pretty much everyone cared only for themselves. The Council had final authority over everything, but pretty much left everyone to figure things out on their own. Survival of the fittest and all that. No, it was definitely not somewhere I wanted to go. Ever.

  “Powers aren’t supposed to manifest until eighteen. We have two weeks to catch him before we need to worry about that. We assume your records are wrong,” Wade said, like he was reading my mind. “Do you know when you’re real birthday is?”

  I had been healing since I was eight. Ten years early. What did that mean?

  I ignored Wade’s question. If he thought we were going to be friends now, he was dead wrong. Not only had he tried t
o kill me, he had also only wanted to date me because of his job. He was toast where I was concerned. I was still bumping him off and sending him to Faerie if the chance came up.

  “So he has no powers, but he’s dangerous and was able to injure guards in Faerie and escape. Nice. What happens to him if we do catch him?” That was the part I wasn’t sure about. Doubt wiggled through the pit of my stomach. Did I really want to be a bounty hunter? The actual job sounded kind of crazy, but nothing I needed to worry about physically. It was the whole getting involved with the fae thing that was giving me pause. What had the guy really done? It didn’t matter in the end. If it was him or me, I was definitely picking me.

  “He will be returned to the facility where he was being held in Faerie, where he can be contained until the Council decides what to do with him. Are you ready to leave for California? His last known address is there. His home is being watched, but so far nothing. We will be searching any areas where our tracker can feel unregistered fae activity until we find the right one.”

  California? As in, on the other side of the country, California? “How am I supposed to miss school without my teachers noticing? What about Dan and Nina?”

  “What about them?” Starren asked. “They are your foster parents, correct?”

  Wade nodded at her and I glared his way for answering a question aimed at me.

  “Yes. They wouldn’t take kindly to me disappearing again.” And I would worry them to death. But I didn’t need to say that part out loud.

  “Who said anything about disappearing? You will ask for a new foster home and one will be provided. One that is more, shall we say, open to the job description.”

  Nina’s sad face filled my head and my stomach clenched. It would be so easy to get a new home after Lester’s visit this morning, but as much as I complained to myself about them both, they had been nothing but kind. No, when it came down to it, they were the closest thing I had to family since Mom had left me. But I wasn’t going to let these fae know that. Somehow I got the feeling they’d use that knowledge against me if they thought they needed leverage. I wanted badly to dislike my fosters, for their own safety, but they made that pretty difficult.