by Julie Kagawa
Kingston stared at me over her head, his lips curled in a sneer. “So, you gonna hide behind the girl from now on, freak? Let her fight your battles for you?”
I pushed myself off the hood, making the quarterback stiffen. Anger made my lungs burn, and I breathed slowly to cool off. Kingston stood tall, chest puffed out, daring me to step forward. Knocking his ass to the ground wasn’t enough, it seemed. He wanted a real fight, with fists and blows and broken jaws, and I was about ready to oblige him. Let him know that this dangerous reputation of mine wasn’t just lip service. I’d taken kali for years. I’d fought things a thousand times nastier than him and his thugs.
I’d killed before. Taken my sword and driven it through a faery’s chest, watched it writhe away into nothingness. Not the same as killing a human, but I had taken another creature’s life, and that sort of thing changes you forever.
It would be so easy; we weren’t at school this time, the parking lot was dark and mostly deserted. No one would stop me if I shoved Brian Kingston’s face into the pavement and stomped on it. Maybe then he’d finally leave me alone.
But that would just be another black mark on my record. If I put Kingston in the hospital, I could be expelled. My parents would be unhappy, my kali instructor would be unhappy...and Kenzie would be unhappy. And at this moment, her opinion meant more to me than showing some jock the business end of my fists.
“Let’s get out of here,” I told her instead.
She glared at Brian a moment longer, then nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed, backing away. “It’s gotten a little stupid here for my taste.”
He gave her a wounded look as she walked toward the passenger side of my truck. “Mac, come on. I’m just looking out for you. You can’t be serious about this loser.”
She slammed the door and rolled down the window as I slid into the driver’s seat. “It’s none of your business, Brian,” she said as I turned the key and the truck growled to life.
“He’s just using you, Mac! You know that, right?”
She glared fiercely as we cruised past. The girls still stared at us wide-eyed, but the quarterback followed the truck for a few steps, and Kenzie poked her head out the window. “Yeah, well, at least he doesn’t call me Mac when I ask him not to!” she snapped in return and rolled up the window, ignoring his protests. I stomped on the pedal and squealed out of the parking lot, leaving him standing in a cloud of black smoke and exhaust.
My hands were shaking. I gripped the steering wheel and glared at the road, trying to calm down. I was aware of Kenzie watching me, and humiliation flared up to join the anger. I should’ve said something, anything. I should’ve stood up for myself, or at least for my girlfriend. Instead, I’d let the football jock talk to Kenzie like he had and walked away like a wimp.
“You did good, tough guy,” Kenzie said softly, surprising me. I glanced at her, and she offered a wry grin. “Don’t worry, I know that you’re a badass. You don’t have to prove anything to me. I do realize you could’ve punched the teeth out of Brian’s stupid head if you wanted to. If he saw even half the things we have, he would pee his pants.”
The knot of fury loosened a bit, and I gave her a half smile. “You know they’re going to talk about us,” I said as her warm hand came to rest on my knee. “This will be all over school tomorrow.”
“Let them talk.” Kenzie shrugged. “It’s not like my life isn’t under constant scrutiny as it is.” She snorted and gazed out the window, her face darkening. “Everyone thinks they know what’s best for me,” she muttered. “I wish they’d just let me live my life.”
A lump settled in my stomach. I swallowed the last of my anger and checked my watch. “It’s still fairly early,” I said, determined to salvage the rest of the evening. “Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“Um, actually...” Kenzie gave me a sideways look, suddenly shy. “I was wondering if we could go to your place for a while.”
“My place?” My stomach twisted at the thought of her in my room, but I tried to sound casual. “I guess. It’s nothing special, and my mom will be home.”
“That’s fine.” Her fingers drummed my knee. “I just don’t want to go home yet, and I’d like to see where you live, if that’s okay.”
I eyed her warily. We’d pretty much avoided talking about the un-normal parts of my life until now, but Kenzie and I were far from normal, and bringing her into my home would only prove it. “You might see a few of Them hanging around the yard,” I warned her, not liking the way her eyes lit up. “There are a couple piskies who come by every so often, and a brownie shows up occasionally, hoping I’ll let him into the house. They’re not dangerous, but it’s better if you don’t acknowledge them. Don’t give them any attention, or they’ll just keep pestering you for more.” I paused, running through the list of wards in and around my property, wondering if this was a good idea after all. “Also, if you see something weird, like a bunch of plants tied together in the tree or a line of salt across the windows, don’t touch it. They’re protective charms to keep out unwanted guests. And don’t say anything about Them to my mom. She knows about the fey, but she can’t see them like me.” I exhaled, gazing out the windshield. “And really, she’d rather pretend they don’t exist.”
Kenzie nodded, looking sympathetic. “I won’t say anything,” she promised. “And I won’t move any of your anti-faery charms around unless you tell me to. Anything else?”
“One more thing,” I said, thinking that I’d probably put the news off long enough. I really didn’t want to bring it up, but Keirran was her friend, too, and she deserved to know what had happened to him. “It’s about Keirran.”
“Keirran?” Her eyes went wide. “Is he all right?”
“Far as I know. But he’s missing. Meghan came by last night and said he went AWOL not long after we went home. No one knows where he is.”
Kenzie looked grave. “Do you think he’s with...her?”
The Forgotten Queen. I shrugged. “I hope not.”
She was quiet until we reached the familiar streets of my neighborhood. There were no faeries on the sidewalk in front of my house or hanging in the trees next door. I saw Kenzie looking for them, scanning the trees and branches and the dark shadows of the yard for invisible fey, but she was disappointed. I was relieved. I remembered the fey I’d seen earlier, that brief glimpse of something tall and thin lurking around the yard. Call me paranoid, but that was no harmless piskie. Whatever it was, I did not want to run into it again.
Mom was on the couch watching television when we came in, probably waiting up for me, and seemed completely charmed when I introduced her to Kenzie. Of course, I couldn’t imagine any parent not liking Kenzie; she was cute, perky, intelligent and knew how to handle herself around adults. I was the one they’d worry about: the brooding thug, the dangerous hooligan. All I needed was a motorcycle and a cigarette hanging from my mouth to be the Every Parent’s Worst Nightmare poster child.
I finally managed to get Kenzie away from Mom’s relentless questions, blaming Kenzie’s nonexistent curfew, and steered her out of the kitchen and down the hall to my room. “Sorry about that,” I muttered once we were in the clear. “This is the first time I’ve brought someone home. I think Mom was testing to see if you were, in fact, a real person.”
“It’s okay.” Kenzie smiled. “At least your parents actually take an interest in what you do. And your mom seems nice.” She stopped at the end of the hall, in front of a plain white door with a nail poking out near the top. “So...this is your room?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah,” I muttered, because everything was not how I’d left it. There was supposed to be a twist of Saint-John’s-wort hanging on the nail, a final deterrent for faeries wanting into my room. The nail was empty, and both my parents knew better than to take it down. Something else had removed it.
I took Kenzie’s wrist, gently pulling her behind me. “Stay back,” I warned. “Something’s tampered with my door, and it might be in there righ
t now.” I wished I had the swords my kali master had given me, the twin short blades I’d used in my last battle with the Forgotten, the ones crafted especially for my hands. But they were stowed away in their case under my bed. Even my wooden practice sticks were on the other side of the door. I’d have to go in weaponless, unless I wanted to grab a knife from the kitchen, which I did not want to do with Mom still out there. Fortunately, I could handle myself pretty well empty-handed, too.
Keeping myself between Kenzie and the entrance, I slowly turned the knob until it clicked, then flung the door back.
There was a girl sitting on my bed. A lithe, beautiful girl in a green-and-white dress, long chestnut hair tumbling down her back. The tips of her slender, pointed ears peeked up through the shining waves, and her large moss-green eyes regarded me solemnly.
“Annwyl,” I breathed as Kenzie quickly stepped through the door and closed it behind us. Seeing the Summer faery caused a flood of apprehension to surge up with a vengeance. There was only one reason she could be here, one reason she would come. “What are you doing here? What’s happened to Keirran?”
CHAPTER FIVE
THE VANISHED PRINCE
At the mention of Keirran’s name, Annwyl shivered. I breathed deeply and tried not to let my prejudice of all things fey cloud my reasoning. Annwyl didn’t deserve that. Still, sitting in my room, on my bed in the mortal world, the Summer girl was even more obviously fey. Her dress, made of leaves, petals and wispy cloth, left her shoulders and arms bare, and her skin gave off a faint glow as if sunlit, even though it was the middle of the night. Light and warmth seemed to pulse around her, and my room smelled of cut grass and leaves. I also noticed that vines were crawling up my bedposts from the carpet, coiling around the frame like it was a tree. A huge orange moth fluttered by my head, alighting at the top of the post, and I waved a hand to shoo it away.
“Annwyl,” Kenzie said, stepping around me. “What’s going on? Are you hurt?”
“No,” Annwyl replied, looking up at us. “I’m...well, I’m not fine, but this isn’t about me.” She brushed back her hair and sighed. “I apologize, Ethan, Kenzie. I know this is unexpected, and I didn’t mean to barge in. But I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. It’s...about Keirran.”
A chill ran through me. “What’s happened to Keirran?”
“I don’t know,” the Summer girl whispered. She looked tired, worried and frightened. “I haven’t seen him. Not since...that night.”
“How did you even get in here?” I asked, frowning. “The whole house is warded, not to mention all the deterrents outside. Not that I was trying to keep you out, but I make pretty sure no fey can get in unless I want them to.”
Annwyl fidgeted, nervously brushing back her hair. “The protective charms and wards around your house are quite good, but they are also very old. I’ve seen them before, back when my sisters and I still accompanied the Summer Queen to the mortal realm. Lady Titania was very good at finding loopholes in the protective wards. I learned from her.”
Well, damn. I was going to have to find some new anti-fey charms. Something that would deter even the sidhe of the Summer and Winter courts. Less plants and more iron, maybe. It made me think, though. Should I be concerned about Annwyl? She was so unassuming and quiet, easy to overlook. But she was an ageless Summer sidhe, just like Titania and the most infamous faery of the Seelie Court, Robin Goodfellow. I knew that if Puck wanted to get into a house, no anti-faery charm in the world would stop him short of building the whole place out of iron. And even then, he’d probably find a way. Annwyl might not be on that same level, but the fact that she’d gotten around my wards and into my room was proof that she was more than she appeared.
“I am sorry, Ethan Chase,” Annwyl went on, perhaps sensing my unease. “I did not mean to alarm you. I would have waited for you outside, but—” she shivered “—the Thin Man was coming, and I had to get somewhere safe.”
I jerked up. Annwyl saw my reaction and wrapped her arms around herself, looking frightened. “I don’t know what he wants, or even what he is,” she said. “I think he might be a Forgotten, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen him. He was waiting for me at the trod to Leanansidhe’s when I went to find you. I would have come sooner, but when I left the Between, the Thin Man came after me, so I ran back to Leanansidhe’s mansion and used another trod to the mortal realm. Perhaps he is also looking for Keirran and hoped I would lead him to the Iron Prince.” She frowned and lowered her arms, her voice taking on a faint edge. “He would be disappointed.”
Everyone was looking for Keirran, it seemed. And now I had another faery nuisance hanging around my home, waiting for Annwyl. Great. “So, you don’t know where he is, either,” I said. She shook her head.
“No. But he sent me this.” She held out a roll of paper, tied with a blue ribbon. Her hand trembled as I took it and unrolled the note, which was handwritten in neat, simple black lines.
Annwyl,
Forgive me for not giving this news to you in person. But my parents know about us now, and Leanansidhe’s mansion would be the first place they would look. If the rulers of Mag Tuiredh come to you asking about me, it’s better that you don’t know where I am. That would be best for everyone.
I don’t care what the courts say; I cannot stand by and watch you Fade from existence, knowing what I do now. One way or another, I will stop this. If I have to search the world over, I won’t stop until I find something to keep you here. The price doesn’t matter; I’ll do whatever it takes. I think you know by now that I love you, and even if we can’t be together, I will accept that, if I know you’re alive and well. It will kill me, but I can let you go if I know that you’re out there somewhere, living, dancing, smiling your beautiful smile.
You’re always in my thoughts, Annwyl. Please try to endure until I return.
Your prince,
—Keirran
I lowered the note, handing it to Kenzie, and looked at Annwyl in alarm. “What’s Keirran up to?” I asked, studying the faery on my bed. She looked down as tiny yellow flowers began unfurling from the vines coiled around my bedposts. “What’s going on, Annwyl?”
“I didn’t want him to go,” Annwyl said, closing her eyes. “I don’t want him making deals, putting himself in danger, for me. It’s too late. There’s nothing he can do, now that it’s started.”
“What has started?”
Annwyl took a deep breath and opened her eyes to look at me. “I’m Fading, Ethan Chase,” she said. “Whatever the Forgotten did to me when I was with them, I think it accelerated the process. I can’t remember...a lot of things now.” She gestured to the vines on my bed, startling the moth into taking flight. “I can’t control this anymore. I’m honestly not trying to turn your room into a forest.” Shivering, she closed her eyes. “But worst of all, sometimes I’ll blank out, and when I come to, hours will have passed and I can’t remember anything. Like I’m not there anymore.”
Kenzie looked horrified. “You’re dying?” she whispered, but Annwyl shook her head.
“Faeries don’t really die,” she answered. “We can be killed, but our ‘death’ is more of a vanishing from existence. Nothing is left behind. For exiles cut off from the Nevernever, we just...fade away.”
“And there’s nothing you can do?” Kenzie asked.
Annwyl shook her head. “The Between normally slows the process a great deal, that’s why it’s a haven for exiles, but it’s not working for me anymore. Once the Fade starts, nothing can stop it, except returning to the Nevernever. And that’s not an option. Titania herself would have to lift my banishment, and we all know how likely that is.”
“So Keirran is trying to find a way to stop it,” I mused, and Annwyl nodded. Well, at least we knew what he was doing, even if we didn’t know where he was. “But why come here?” I asked. “What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know.” The Summer faery covered her face; she seemed on the verge of tears. “I’ve just...I’ve tr
ied everything else. Everyone else. I even tried to contact Grimalkin, but he’s vanished, too. Or he’s not answering me.”
“What about Leanansidhe? She has a whole network of minions. If anyone could find him, she could.”
“She’s been trying. After a visit from the Prince Consort of Mag Tuiredh, she’s had her people out looking for him, too, but no one can track him down.”
The Prince Consort of Mag Tuiredh meant Ash. Both Ash and Meghan were out looking for Keirran, and they probably had others scouring the Nevernever for him, too. After I told Meghan about Keirran’s promise to the Forgotten Queen, it wasn’t surprising.
Annwyl swallowed, giving me a pleading look. “Please, Ethan Chase. I’m desperate. You’re his friend—I thought you could help. Or at least have an idea of where to find him.”
I raked a hand through my hair. “I haven’t seen him,” I told her. “Meghan showed up last night with the same question, but he hasn’t come to me. I have no idea where Keirran could have gotten to or who he’s hanging out with.” A thought crept into my head, turning my insides cold. “Annwyl, has Leanansidhe lost any more exiles? Has she been keeping track of what the Forgotten are doing?”
“She has.” The faery’s eyes glittered. “There haven’t been any more disappearances, at least not on that scale. The Forgotten are lying low, it seems. And as far as we can tell, Keirran isn’t with them.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” The Summer faery gave a firm nod. “Leanansidhe is keeping a close eye out. There have been glimpses of the Forgotten from time to time, but Keirran is never with them.” Annwyl hesitated, picking at my bedspread. “Apparently, Keirran is on the move and never in the same spot for any length of time. There have been rumors of where he’s been, but by the time anyone gets there, he’s long gone.”