by Julie Kagawa
That wasn’t the whole truth, of course. I left out the part where, when the four heavily armored knights had attacked, I’d yelled at Keirran to help me out, and...he hadn’t. He’d just stood there beside the Forgotten Queen, watching me get my ass kicked. Watching as they almost killed me. I remembered the look on his face as I’d fought for my life—cold, blank, impassive—and it made me very nervous. I’d seen that same look tonight, in Mr. Dust’s back room. That dark, icy stranger hadn’t gone away; he was still here.
I didn’t know why I was defending him now.
But the look Keirran gave me was neither cold nor impassive; it was just relieved. Suddenly, he paused, gazing thoughtfully at a portion of mist that looked identical to everything else in this place. “The Veil is thin here,” he announced, running a hand through the air, like he could push it aside. “And I don’t sense my father anymore. I think we’re safe.”
He lifted a curtain of mist away, and I could abruptly see the real world through the gash: a New Orleans street and a familiar building on the corner, orange lamplight flickering beside the doorway. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop.
The sidewalk was deserted as we stepped out of the Between into the real world again, the streets empty and still. I checked my watch, frozen at 12:12 a.m., waiting as the numbers flickered and reappeared as 3:48 a.m. Better than I could’ve hoped. With the screwy time differences between Faery and the real world, we were lucky this whole crazy adventure happened in the same night.
“Where to now?” Keirran asked, looking at me. I rubbed tired eyes and tried to get my brain to function.
“Home,” I said. “Back to my town. Guro is the one who can help us.”
“The human we met before,” Keirran said. “Your master. Are you certain he can help?”
“He said he’d be willing to try. And he’s the only one I can think of.”
The Iron Prince nodded, looking weary. “I’ll try anything. I hope you know what you’re doing, Ethan. All right...” He glanced at the spot where we’d walked out of thin air, then raised a hand again. “Let’s go.”
I blinked. “Through the Between?”
“Of course.” Keirran looked back, confused. “How did you think we would get there?”
“Uh, with my truck?”
“It’s much faster to go through the Between,” Keirran explained. “Just like Faery and the trods, it doesn’t conform to normal space. You can walk from one end of the country to the other in a few minutes, if you know where you’re going and if you can find a place where the Veil is almost transparent.” A faintly horrified look crossed his face then. “You didn’t...drive Annwyl up, did you? In a car?”
“How did you expect us to get here?”
Keirran shuddered, then slipped his hand into the air again and parted reality like a pair of drapes. I shivered, too. Call it what you wanted, that was just creepy. “Fine,” I muttered, bracing myself for more shadowy Between and coiling nothingness. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Wait,” Kenzie said.
We all turned to her. “Before we go anywhere,” she began, gazing especially at me and Keirran, “I have to go back to my dad. I want to tell him where I’ll be this time—not that he cares, but I don’t want to worry Alex or my stepmom.” She gestured to the buildings around us. “I can’t just vanish in a strange city, with them having no idea where I am. Even Dad will freak out.” She pushed back her hair, suddenly nervous. “So, can we make one quick stop at my hotel before we head out? It won’t take long, I promise.”
I held my tongue. I knew, by the stiff set of Kenzie’s shoulders, the tension lining her jaw, that she was waiting for me to protest, to tell her to stay behind. She was gearing up for a fight, and I...had no desire to argue with her anymore. I still wanted to keep her safe, but her last accusation had shaken me up pretty bad. Kenzie had gotten the Sight knowing exactly what it meant. She wasn’t afraid, though she knew the dangers just as well as I did. And I had shut her out, trying to keep her safe. As if I hadn’t heard everything she’d told me about wanting to live, and people treating her differently, and not having time to be safe. She’d told me all that before; I just hadn’t listened.
God, I was a jackass.
I looked at Keirran, nodded, and he sighed. “All right,” he agreed, and Kenzie relaxed. “One more stop, but then we really should go. Ethan, what about your family? Do you need to tell them what’s going on?”
I shook my head. “They already know. Well, they know I’m here and that I won’t be back for a couple days.” I just hoped we could figure this thing out quickly, that Guro would be able to help and that we could avoid crossing the Veil into Faery. I couldn’t keep this part of my life from my parents anymore. And if I had to vanish into the Nevernever again, I was not looking forward to that conversation.
Not surprisingly, Kenzie had been staying at one of the nicer hotels close to Bourbon Street, a luxurious old building so far out of my price range, I felt scruffy just walking through the front doors. The receptionist behind the desk eyed me suspiciously as I followed Kenzie into the lobby, not seeing the two fey at our back. Keirran had glamoured himself invisible, and Annwyl seemed more spirit than flesh now, so no one even looked at them. Or Razor, jabbering nervously from Keirran’s shoulder, his teeth flashing blue-white in the dimly lit room. Me, however—a teenage thug stalking into a nice hotel in the dead of night—they definitely noticed. Kenzie gave the receptionist a bright smile and received a nod in return, but I continued to get the evil eye all the way down the hall.
At the elevators, I sneaked a glance at Kenzie, knowing that if I had to do this—explain to her father what was going on—I would be far less calm. “Do you want us to wait here?” I asked, making her frown. I continued quickly, wanting her to understand I wasn’t abandoning her this time. “It might not be a great idea if you show up at four in morning with...me, and have to explain that I’m driving you home.” I was going to say your boyfriend, but I wasn’t certain where I stood with her now. “We could wait outside, if you need to talk to them alone.”
“No,” Kenzie said quietly, facing the elevator doors. “I want you there. Dad needs to understand why I’m doing this, even if I can’t tell him the whole truth.” She flicked a glance at me, and maybe she caught the apprehension on my face, because she added, “But you don’t have to come, Ethan. I understand if you want to stay here. It’s not a big deal. I can talk to him by myself.”
Right then, I would’ve liked nothing more than to wait in the lobby. I could just see Kenzie’s father glaring at me as his daughter told him she was taking off with the guy who’d just recently dragged her off to New York for a week. If he didn’t ground Kenzie for life, he would definitely blame me, maybe have me arrested and thrown in juvie for real this time. Even if that didn’t happen, I couldn’t imagine he’d be very fond of me after this, and Kenzie’s father was someone I really didn’t want to piss off.
But I caught the underlying fear in Kenzie’s voice and realized she was just as nervous, though she would never show it. And now that she was here, I wasn’t going to let her do anything alone. Even if it meant facing her dad, I would suck it up and share the responsibility. It was my fault she had come, after all.
“No, I’m coming with you,” I told her softly. “But you know your dad is going to hate me after this, right?”
“He’ll get over it,” Kenzie said, though her voice had gone soft and bitter, and she stared at the elevator doors as if she could will them open. “Don’t worry. If he’s going to find fault with anyone, it’ll be me. He’s blamed me for everything else. Why would this be any different?”
I wondered what she meant by that, but a second later, the elevator doors dinged open, and Kenzie stepped into the box. I followed, glancing back at the two fey. Annwyl watched me, looking a little dazed, as if she didn’t quite know where she was. I was about to say something, but she blinked and glided over the threshold, standing in the very center of the box with
her arms around herself, as if trying to keep from falling apart. Keirran eased behind her, looking worried, but didn’t say anything.
Kenzie pressed a button, the doors shut, and the elevator began to move. Toward Kenzie’s room, and her dad.
It occurred to me then, in a strange, surreal moment, that I was pissing everyone’s parents off these days. Not only Kenzie’s rich lawyer father, but Keirran’s extremely powerful, immortal faery dad was after us, too. I shivered. If Ash knew Keirran and I were together, he’d probably go straight to my house, or he’d send someone there to wait for us. That meant I couldn’t go home now, not until this thing with Annwyl was finished. Keirran wouldn’t give up until she was safe.
Speaking of Keirran and Annwyl...
The Summer faery had been standing in the very center of the box, her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes closed. She looked pretty miserable, and just as I was about to ask if she was all right, she flickered, making alarm shoot through me.
“Keirran,” Annwyl whispered in a strange, strangled voice and collapsed into his arms. My insides shivered as I saw Keirran’s arm through the faery’s transparent body, as the prince knelt with Annwyl in his lap, her hair spilling over the metal floor. Razor buzzed in distress, his voice echoing shrilly inside the box.
“Annwyl!” Keirran grabbed her hand. The Summer faery gazed up at him, her expression resigned but calm.
“It’s happening,” she whispered as Keirran looked stricken. “The Fade is taking me. I’m sorry, Keirran. I don’t think I can stop it this time.”
“No.” Keirran’s voice was choked. He clutched her to him, his gaze bright and intense. One hand pressed to her cheek. “Annwyl, stay with me,” he whispered desperately. “Fight it.” She closed her eyes, and Keirran gave a quiet sob, pulling her close. “Please.”
Kenzie suddenly slammed her thumb into the elevator panel, and the box lurched to a halt. The doors opened, and Kenzie spun on the prince. “Keirran, go! Get her out of here now!”
The prince didn’t hesitate. Scooping up the vanishing faery, he lunged out of the elevator, dropping to his knees several yards away in the hall. I sprinted up behind him, gazing over his shoulder at the dying faery. Annwyl was almost completely transparent now, a Fading shadow, though she was still hanging on, her eyes squeezed shut.
“Nooo!” Razor cried, bouncing frantically on Keirran’s shoulder. “No leave, pretty elf girl! Stay, stay!”
“Keirran,” I said urgently, dropping beside them both. “Keep her talking. Make her remember something, anything.”
He swallowed and looked down at the Summer faery, gently cupping her cheek and turning her face to his. “Annwyl,” he murmured, his voice suddenly calm, “listen to me. Do you remember the first night you agreed to meet with me outside the court?” Her eyes opened—colorless and blank—and shifted to him, and he forced a smile. “It was high summer, and I had to sneak out of Mag Tuiredh by train because Glitch was using all the gliders to practice aerial maneuvers. But we agreed to meet in the wyldwood, beside that waterfall. Do you remember?”
I think I caught a tiny nod from Annwyl, and heard Kenzie’s footsteps just before she knelt down opposite me, her expression grim and horrified. I met her gaze, wishing there was something I could do, something more than watch Annwyl Fade to nothing in Keirran’s arms.
“You were beautiful that day,” Keirran went on, his eyes never leaving the Summer faery. “You were standing in that meadow with the flowers in full bloom, surrounded by deer, and I remember thinking you were the most captivating sight in the entire Nevernever. If Glitch had caught me right then, I wouldn’t have cared, because I had already seen you.”
Listening to Keirran’s soft voice, I noticed with relief that Annwyl had stopped Fading and that color was beginning to creep back into her. If Keirran saw, he didn’t give any indication and continued speaking in that same quiet tone.
“You were so nervous that night,” he went on, smoothing a strand of hair from her eyes, which were slowly turning green again. “Worried that someone would catch us, that we would be exiled for meeting in secret. Do you remember what I told you? What I promised?”
Annwyl blinked, and a shiver went through her. “That you...would wait,” she whispered in a shaky voice, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. “For as long...as it took. You would wait.”
This time, Keirran’s smile was real as Annwyl finally came into focus, becoming solid once more. “That hasn’t changed,” he told her softly. “And I’m not giving up. We’ll find a way to stop this, Annwyl, I swear it. So you can’t Fade away on us.” He closed his eyes, resting his forehead to hers. “I love you too much to let you go.”
I saw the glimmer in Kenzie’s eyes before she put a hand on Keirran’s shoulder and rose, looking down the hall. I knelt there a moment longer, making sure the danger was truly past, then stood as well, intending to give them a little space.
“Ethan.” Keirran’s voice stopped me. I looked back down to find the Iron Prince watching me, still holding Annwyl close. “Thank you.”
I blinked, surprised at both the words, which never came out of a normal faery’s mouth, and the genuine gratitude on his face. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You did,” Keirran insisted. “Just by being here. Your Sight, your belief, was strong enough to keep her from Fading completely. Yours and Kenzie’s both.” He rose, carrying Annwyl easily, her head resting on his chest. “I won’t forget it.”
I shrugged, but Kenzie walked to the end of the hall and shoved open the fire door, peering up the stairwell. “Come on,” she told us. “We can take the stairs the rest of the way.”
We walked up two more flights, Keirran trailing behind us, still carrying Annwyl. The Summer faery appeared solid enough, but still slumped weakly in Keirran’s arms, her eyes half-closed. I could hear Keirran murmuring to her as we climbed the steps, keeping her talking, and knew with a cold certainty that Annwyl didn’t have much time left. That the next time she started to Fade out, she wasn’t coming back.
Walking down the red-carpeted hallway lined with doors, I began to hear voices. Angry, frantic, desperate voices. As we neared the door to her hotel room, those voices grew louder, and my heart sank. Kenzie looked pale, hesitating at the door, where a man’s furious voice could be heard beyond the wood. I reached out and touched her arm, leaning close.
“I’m right here,” I whispered, and she looked at me gratefully. “I’ll be right beside you.”
Taking a deep breath, Kenzie slid her key card through the slot and pushed the door open.
The voices ceased instantly. Through the frame, I saw a large hotel room with a single king-size bed and glass doors that led onto a balcony. Three people stood in that room: Kenzie’s father, looking a bit more rumpled and unshaven than he had at that first meeting, wrapped in a bathrobe at four in the morning; her stepmother, who was standing at the end table, phone in hand; and a small girl of about ten, clutching her knees as she stared at her parents from the corner chair.
“Kenzie!” Her stepmom dropped the phone and rushed forward, but Kenzie’s father held up a hand, holding her back. Kenzie eased into the room and I followed, seeing her dad’s eyes harden as they fixed on me. From the corner of my gaze, I saw Keirran slip through the door before it shut, setting Annwyl on her feet as he came through. The faery still leaned against him weakly, though, and he kept his arms around her waist.
Then Kenzie’s dad came around the bed, standing before us, and all my attention shifted to him.
“Mackenzie.” Though obviously furious, Mr. St. James’s voice was calm, probably the “lawyer voice” he used in the courtroom. “I would ask you to explain yourself. But it appears the explanation is clear.” His cold black eyes shifted to me and hardened. “So is this why you wanted to see New Orleans.”
“Dad,” Kenzie began, “it isn’t what you think.”
“No?” Her father’s expression didn’t change. “So, you didn’t want to go to N
ew Orleans solely to meet up with this boy, I didn’t ruin your plans by insisting the whole family come as well, and you didn’t sneak out last night to go running around New Orleans doing God knows what.” Kenzie swallowed, and her dad’s gaze narrowed, cutting into me. “I think it’s best you go, Mr. Chase,” he said in a tone that left no room for argument. “This is the second time you have dragged my daughter away from her family, and it will be the last. You will leave, and you will not see my daughter again after today, do you understand?”
I ignored my churning stomach and said very carefully, “I’m sorry, sir. But I’m not going anywhere.”
“Very well.” Her father didn’t even blink in surprise. “Christine, call the front desk. Tell them to send security up to room 623.”
“Don’t!” Kenzie took a step forward, eyes flashing. “Dad, this was my idea. I told Ethan to meet me here. He hasn’t done anything wrong!”
“Mackenzie—”
“No, you’re going to listen to me for once!” Kenzie clenched her fists and stared her father down. “One time, that’s all I’m asking. You’ve always pushed me aside when I wanted anything before this, then I go up to New York with Ethan and suddenly you want to be Dad again? It doesn’t work that way!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, young lady.” Mr. St. James turned on his daughter, jaw tightening. “Who set up those appointments? Who drove you all over creation looking for second opinions? I got you the best doctors in the country, and you endanger all that to go running off with this...boy, and land yourself in the hospital.”
“Yeah, and you were never there with me!” Kenzie shot back. “You never visited...you never came into my room. You sent Christine and Alex to check on me but you never showed up yourself.” Kenzie blinked rapidly and swiped at her eyes. “You couldn’t stand to look at me, even then. Because after all this time, you still blame me for Mom’s death.”