The intensity in her eyes was palpable. ”Don’t you dare presume to know how I’ve lived my life,” she said to the pile of literature in front of her.

”Oh for god’s sake, Lauren,” Evony groaned. ”You’re more emo than a garage band. You’re a fugitive in the human world and now a fugitive in the Fae world. Where are you going to run to this time?”

”I’m not running anywhere,” Lauren said softly, but not without confidence.

Evony smirked. Lauren was a formidable opponent in bed and in conversation and the Morrigan suddenly regretted not claiming her when she asked. ”What happened to your brother?”

Lauren flinched when her cell phone started ringing right after the words left the Morrigan’s mouth. She glanced at her phone’s screen and looked at Evony. ”None of your business,” she said, and then: ”Dyson… what’s wrong?”

The conversation was among the shortest she’d been privy to, but not without the heaviest of emotion. She watched Lauren tense and heard the crack in her voice when she reacted to the news on the other end of the line. She collected her things quietly after she’d promised to be there right away and disconnected the call, amassing two bags, a cell phone and a set of keys.

”Where are you going?” Evony asked, suddenly invested in the cause, but more disappointed that her entertainment was walking out the door.

”Kenzi…” Lauren started, but choked on her words. Her way of masking emotions was like watching a shifter change, it was fascinating.

”That thief finally get herself into more trouble than the family can handle?” The Morrigan crossed her arms. ”I always thought she’d be weakest link.”

Lauren looked back at Evony, her eyes spilling the tears she tried so desperately to hold in. ”She’s dead, Evony.”

The Morrigan was floored. ”Oh.”

There was a heavy sigh that escaped Lauren’s chest and an uneasy breath that followed. ”Bo needs me, I have to go.”

Evony watched the doctor disappear out the door, leaving her in deafening silence. There was that tightness in her chest again and her heart beat rapidly, making her wonder if she had finally reached the point in Lauren’s experiment that would lead to death. Evony walked carefully back to the couch, feeling the pressure build. The physical reaction humans have to emotional events was something the Morrigan was having a lot of trouble getting used to and at the news of Kenzi’s death, she felt a distinct emptiness inside her, similar to her reaction to Massimo’s. She sat down gingerly on the couch, the weight suddenly crushing her.

In the darkness of the archives, the emotion from Lauren still permeating the air, Evony lay back down again, covering herself with the blanket. She couldn’t really bring herself to move, wondering what impact this would have on that Fae foster family she loathed so much. Kenzi was a human that acted like a Fae: fierce and unapologetic, but compassionate and loyal. They had lost their heart.

And Evony? Had she discovered hers? She would go back home soon. Once she could bring herself to take the long walk to the phone and call for a car. Until then, she would close her eyes and hope these feelings would leave her alone some time soon. Maybe if she slept, she would magically awake in her own bed. Maybe she’d forget this suffocating sensation that could only be loss. There was no mistaking it this time. She felt it for Massimo, her son, who tried so hard his entire life to please her, however pathetic the attempts may be and with complete disregard to her efforts to push him away. She felt it for Kenzi, who had finally found comfort in the Fae world and became so important to its survival in the wake of closing the Hel gate.

Maybe this was empathy she was feeling? Compassion? Love?

Evony made a noise at her own thoughts that echoed off the walls in the archives. ”Ugh. I’m going to grow old and die,” she said to the ceiling.

Who knew being human was so hard?

END

April 14, 2014