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I cruised through an older, well-kept neighborhood, massive trees towering over either side of the road, until I found the right address.
“Are you kidding me?” I stared up the circular driveway, past the glowing fountain shooting plumes of water into the air, to the huge mansion at the top of the steps. I didn’t know much about houses, but this thing looked like a Victorian-era castle, with stone columns and a round turret soaring above a perfectly landscaped yard. “Yeah, that’s not intimidating at all.”
I felt weird parking my old truck behind the silver Audi in the driveway, and even more uncomfortable walking up the lighted path to the double doors looming at the top of the steps. This place probably had a ton of security and cameras, all fixed on me right now. I wondered if a security guard would automatically call the cops if he saw me edging up the walk, a lurking shadow definitely out of place.
The huge doors had a brass lion-head knocker and a doorbell, but I chose to just rap on the polished wood. A great, booming bark echoed from inside, making me wince. I suddenly had a vision of myself tearing across the lawn, two snarling Rottweilers on my heels.
Without so much as a squeak, one of the doors swung open. And there was Kenzie, grinning up at me. She wore tight black jeans, a green sweater, and the neon blue streaks in her hair had returned, brighter than before. She was beautiful, smiling and not lying in a stark hospital bed, pale and fragile. My stomach untwisted, muscles relaxing, as suddenly everything was fine.
Then a massive shaggy head pushed its way past her leg and lunged at me, and I leaped back with a yelp.
“Oh, Tiny. No.” Kenzie grabbed the thing’s collar, dragging it back inside. “Bad dog. Sit! Stay.”
The huge black animal panted and plopped into a sit. Kenzie turned back with a sheepish grin, raking bangs from her eyes. “Sorry ’bout that,” she said, maneuvering around the dog to pull the door shut. “He doesn’t bite. He’s just overfriendly. Most he’ll do is slobber on your pants. Newfies are good at that.”
“Yeah?” Seeing her like this, bright and bouncy and back to normal, awakened something inside me. This was the Kenzie I knew, the girl who had gone into the Nevernever with me, who’d seen my screwed-up world for what it really was and hadn’t left. I had the impulse to pull her into my arms and kiss her until we were both breathless, but I didn’t want to do that here, on her doorstep, while any number of cameras could be pointed at us. I wondered if her dad would make good on his threats if he saw me later on the security footage.
“Ready to go?” I asked instead, and she nodded vigorously.
“God, yes. Get me out of here. Between my stepmom’s hovering and Alex being extra clingy, I need the air.”
We hurried down the driveway. I kept a close eye on the gate, half expecting Kenzie’s father to pull in at any moment. For once, luck was on my side and the drive remained empty, though I still wanted to leave as fast as we could.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I asked as I slid into the driver’s seat. “Not that I’m going to stop seeing you, but I’d really like to avoid going to jail if I can help it. And I don’t want you to get into trouble with your dad, either.”
“He won’t do anything.” Kenzie slammed the door with a little more force than was necessary, I thought. “Don’t let his ‘you must not see that hooligan’ act fool you. It’ll blow over soon. Really, he’s just embarrassed that his faultless eldest daughter ran away. Now the image of our ‘perfect family’ is tarnished, and he’s trying to save face with all that posturing. Trust me.” She shook her head, looking out the side window. “He doesn’t care what I do. Hasn’t for a long time now.”
I turned the key and didn’t say anything. I recognized that anger, the veiled hurt in Kenzie’s voice. Thinking that someone you loved had abandoned you, that they didn’t care anymore... I knew that feeling all too well.
I took her to a nice restaurant, nothing fancy but not fast food, either, and we sat in a booth and ate and talked about normal, real-world things: school and teachers and classmates, deliberately keeping words like faeries and the Nevernever out of the conversation. I learned that there was a rumor about me circulating the school, that I had met Brian Kingston in the parking lot and kicked the ever-loving crap out of him. Great. That was going to do wonders for my record, not to mention my reputation. And knowing Kingston, he would take the rumor very personally and be looking to even the score. At least Kenzie seemed amused by it, stating that some of the girls now viewed me as the dangerous bad boy to tame. In fact, Chelsea had called her house earlier that day to ask if she would bring me to a party that weekend.
“So I ‘beat up’ the quarterback, and now people want to go out with me?” I asked in disbelief, watching Kenzie finish the last of the chocolate brownie we’d split for dessert. “What is wrong with girls? Tame me? Like I’m some kind of wild horse?”
Kenzie giggled. “Must be that bad-boy allure,” she said, putting down her spoon. “You know, they see you as a dangerous, broken mystery man. They want to be the one to fix you.”
“Yeah, well. My problems are too big for anyone to ‘fix.’” I handed the waitress a couple twenties when she dropped off the check. “And any one of those girls would run away screaming if they saw what I have to live with every day.”
Kenzie nodded sympathetically, and I realized I’d strayed back into “un-normal” territory. Reaching across the table, I took her hands. “Besides, they’ll be wasting their time,” I said, running my thumb across her fingers. “I’m taken.”
And apparently turning into a big sap. But I didn’t care. Kenzie’s brilliant smile made it all worth it.
* * *
We went to the movies, and I sat with Kenzie in the back row, feeling her head on my shoulder and trying desperately to behave myself. I wasn’t a prude; I knew what the back-row theater seats were for, but this was also our very first date. Not only that, this was my very first date with someone I actually wanted to be with; I did not want to push too far and screw everything up.
So I forced myself to be content with my arm around her shoulders and her slender hand on my knee, even though it was driving me crazy. When the credits rolled, it was all I could do to stand up and follow the rest of the crowd out of the theater.
In the parking lot, I couldn’t take it anymore. When Kenzie walked to her side of the truck, I snagged her around the waist, pulling her against me. She didn’t resist, allowing herself to be drawn close, pressing her body to mine. Leaning against the hood, I tangled my fingers in her silky hair, and her arms looped around my neck as she gazed up at me. My heart pounded. I was still finding it hard to believe that this beautiful girl was mine. What could I offer her, really? Tonight was the most normal evening I’d had in a long time, but it couldn’t last forever. Sooner or later, They would find me again.
“You look worried, tough guy.” Her fingertips brushed the nape of my neck, making me shiver. “You’ve gone all frowny and serious. What’s up? Are you regretting this already?”
I blinked and unfurrowed my brow, gazing down at her. “No,” I said, easing the concern in her eyes. “Honestly, if anyone should regret this, it’s you.” She tilted her head in confusion, and I sighed. “You know that normal isn’t...normal for me, right?”
Kenzie grinned. “I’m counting on it.”
“Mackenzie, I’m serious.”
“I know.”
“This isn’t a game. As long as you hang around me, your life is going to be really screwed up.”
Her cool fingers touched my lips, silencing me. “Do you trust me, Ethan?”
More than anyone. “Yes.”
“Then believe that I want to be here, with you. Not because of Them, not because I have the Sight or because I’m sick or anything like that. I’m here because...” She faltered, and I held my breath. “Because you make me feel like nothing in my life is wrong. Because you treat me like a real person, and I need that right now.”
I swallowed. “Is that the only reason?”
She colored slightly, but her lips quirked up. “Oh, fine. And because you’re pretty cute, too.”
Well, what had I been expecting? This was still really new, for both of us. “Cute?” I narrowed my eyes. “Kittens are cute. Baby goats are cute. I’m the dangerous wild beast that needs to be tamed, remember?”
“Good thing I’m up to the challenge, then.” Kenzie didn’t miss a beat. “I knew those dog-training classes would come in handy for something.”
I chuckled, shaking my head in defeat, and pulled her closer. “Kiss me,” I told her. And she did, raising herself up on tiptoe to brush her lips to mine. I closed my eyes, forgetting the fey, the Sight, the Nevernever, everything about Them for the moment, and lost myself in her.
“Oh, my God!”
Kenzie pulled back, and we both turned our heads toward the shrill, shocked voice. A group of teenagers stood a few yards away, gaping at us over the pavement. I recognized Kenzie’s blonde friend, Regan, another cheerleader whose name escaped me and the Football Gorilla King himself, Brian Kingston. Who looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. If he’d hated me before, he was homicidal now. Our little scuffle in the parking lot hadn’t cooled him off any; he was ready for round two. Another broad-shouldered jock type stood in the crowd behind him, but I’d never seen him before. Still, if Kingston decided to take me out here and now, he would gladly join in.
Hell with it.
I smirked and kept my arms firmly around Kenzie’s waist. Kenzie, it seemed, didn’t have any intention of moving, either. “Hey,” she said, smiling at the group of stunned teens, her arm draped casually around my neck. “What are you guys up to?”
“Kenzie,” the other cheerleader stammered, her eyes wide and blinking. “I heard you were out of the hospital, but...” Her gaze flicked to me and away again just as fast, like she was afraid of letting it linger. “You’re...with him now?”
Kenzie shrugged. “Looks that way.”
“The dick that dragged you up to New York without telling anyone about it?” Kingston added, taking a threatening step forward. I tensed as he moved closer, bolstered by his friend and the wide-eyed cheerleader audience. “The piece of shit that put you in the hospital?”
“Hey!” Kenzie turned and stepped out of my arms to face the quarterback, blocking his path to me. He blinked and stumbled to a halt as she glared up at him. “Back off, Brian. This is my decision. And you’d better not give him a hard time at school, or I’m going to be very pissed at you.”
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 right 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.
