The Iron Traitor (The Iron Fey) (19 page)

Keirran drew Annwyl close, stroking her hair. “Be safe,” he whispered. “We’ll get to Arcadia and speak to the queen as soon as we can. When you see me again, hopefully it will be in the Summer Court.”

Annwyl smiled up at him sadly. “I love you, Keirran,” she murmured, making his breath catch. “If this is the last time we can see each other without fear and laws and threats of punishment, I want you to know. From the day you pulled yourself out of that frozen river, I have been completely yours. Even if I return to Summer, and the courts dictate that we never meet again, know that I will always love you, and you will always be in my thoughts.”

He kissed her. Fiercely, passionately, as if this might truly be their last time. Maybe it was. Faery law was rigid and uncompromising, unchanged for centuries. Meghan had struggled with it, as had Ash, before they finally found the one loophole that allowed them to be together. If anyone else could get around those laws, find the loophole that allowed him to be with the one he loved, I was pretty sure it would be Keirran. Like father, like son.

The only question was, at what cost? How far would he really go?

Annwyl drew away, her eyes glassy. Breaking from Keirran’s embrace, she backed to the old slide, pausing in the space between the steps and the frame, her gaze only on the prince.

“Goodbye, Prince Keirran,” the Summer faery said as Razor buzzed and waved frantically from the monkey bars. Keirran remained where he was, watching her sadly as her gaze shifted to me. “Ethan, Kenzie, I am forever grateful for your help. Please, watch out for each other in the Nevernever. I truly hope we will meet again someday.”

“Noooo,” Razor buzzed, bouncing on the monkey bars, huge ears flapping. “No leave, pretty elf girl. No leave!”

She smiled at him. “Razor, I hope to see you again, too. Take care of Keirran, all right?”

“Annwyl,” Keirran called as she turned away. “Promise me you’ll wait,” he said softly as she looked back. “No matter what happens, no matter what that amulet is telling you, promise you’ll wait until I return. I swear, as long as I have the breath to keep going, I’m going to find a way for you to live. So, please,” he finished, locking eyes with her. “Will you wait for me?”

Annwyl bowed her head. “Always,” she whispered and disappeared, slipping through the trod that would take her back to the Exile Queen.

Keirran sighed, gazing at the spot where the Summer faery had disappeared. Then, abruptly, he drew his sword. Marching over to the slide, he brought his weapon down in a vicious arc, smashing it into the top and tearing sideways. The blade sheared through poles, steps and slide with a deafening screech, making my teeth hurt and causing sparks to fly everywhere. The slide shuddered, then collapsed into a pile of twisted pipes and aluminum, and Razor howled with glee atop the monkey bars.

Kenzie and I gaped at the prince. “What the hell was that about?” I demanded as Keirran sheathed his weapon, looking grim.

“I destroyed the trod to Leanansidhe’s,” he said, as if that was obvious. “Now nothing can follow her back from here. Just in case our thin friend is lurking around.”

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” I asked, looking down at the mangled pile of metal that was once a slide. “You couldn’t have asked Annwyl to tell Leanansidhe to close the trod on her end?”

“Maybe.” Keirran shrugged, sounding unrepentant. “But I’m not taking any chances. Let’s go.”

“Where are we going now?” I asked, following him out of the park and down the familiar streets of my own neighborhood, keeping a wary eye out for an old blue Dodge Ram, my dad’s truck. If one happened to come cruising toward us down the road, that was my cue to jump into the bushes or behind a tree. Keirran didn’t look back.

“To the Summer Court,” he answered, as Razor swatted at a bug that zipped over his head. “That was the plan, right? We’re going to see Titania.”

“Yeah, but first we’ll need a trod to the Nevernever,” I replied. “I assume you just happen to know of one close by?”

“Actually—” Keirran grinned, looking back at us “—I do.”

“Close by” was a relative statement, and it was several streets and neighborhoods later when Keirran stopped us at an old, grass-strewn lot, a chain-link fence around the perimeter and a no-trespassing sign at the gate.

“Oh, sure,” I said from the edge of the lot, gazing over the weeds. “A condemned, abandoned house. That’s the first place I would look for a trod to Faeryland.”

Keirran sighed. “I would take you through the trod in the occult shop,” he said. “But it’s too far away and the hag that owns it doesn’t like gremlins.” Razor hissed, almost sounding offended. “This one will get us into the Nevernever just as easily. The house is rumored to be haunted, though, so be careful.”

“Why?” Kenzie asked as we slipped through the gap in the fence, squeezing under the rusty chains wrapped around the gate. “Don’t tell me it really is haunted.” Her tone was excited as she followed us up the walk. “Are there real ghosts inside?”

“No,” Keirran said, looking back with a smile. “But there are a couple bogeys living here, and they make certain that all the neighborhood kids know the house is haunted. All that glamour, all that fear and suspicion, is what keeps the trod alive. So, if you see a spoon or a flowerpot or anything floating around, don’t panic. They’ve gotten really good at playing poltergeist.”

“Great,” I muttered, easing up the steps. Yellow tape had been stretched across the entrance, and the front windows were broken and jagged. I nudged the door with one of my blades; it creaked and swung open with an appropriate, hair-raising groan, and the room beyond was dark, musty and full of shadows. “I swear,” I muttered, hoping the resident “ghosts” were listening, “if anything jumps out and grabs me, it’s going to be stab first, ask questions later.”

Kenzie giggled. “I bet you’re fun at Halloween parties,” she mused as Keirran ducked beneath the yellow tape and stepped into the house. Giving her a dark look, I raised my swords and followed.

Inside, the rooms smelled of dust, mold and ancient plaster, and the floorboards groaned ominously beneath my shoes. Keirran moved across the dilapidated entryway as lightly as a cat, then beckoned us toward a big wooden staircase at the back of the room. The steps, ascending into the darkness, were old and rotten and didn’t look very stable.

“The trod to the Nevernever is upstairs,” he murmured, his voice unnaturally loud in the gloom. On his shoulder, Razor’s huge green eyes and neon blue teeth cast eerie shadows on the walls as the gremlin growled and buzzed warily, looking around. “Be careful, though. The bogeys don’t really like people venturing upstairs. Not many get this far.”

“Kenzie,” I called, holding a hand to her, “you go after Keirran. I’ll be right behind you.” That way, if something nasty waited for us up top, Keirran would deal with it, and I’d take care of anything wanting to jump us from behind.

Carefully, we started up the stairs, which groaned and creaked under my weight and felt rotten as hell under my feet. I kept my steps as light as I could and hoped the whole thing wouldn’t collapse beneath us.

In the center of the staircase, however, Keirran stopped. Kenzie pulled up behind him, and I nearly walked into her, catching myself on the railing. “Hey!” I whispered, peering up at the head of our little train. “Keirran, what are you... Oh.”

Something crouched at the top of the steps, nearly invisible in the darkness. Something wispy and black, as dark as the shadows themselves. But its huge yellow eyes peered down at us, easily visible in the gloom.

I looked behind me and saw three more of the creatures crowding the foot of the stairs, gazing up at us. Forgotten, inky and black, melting into the shadows and gloom surrounding us. They didn’t press forward, though. Just watched silently from the bottom of the steps, like the time in Mr. Dust’s office. Waiting.

“What do you want?” Keirran asked, his voice stony but calm, facing the single Forgotten at the top of the stairs. “What did you do to the fey who lived here? By order of your Lady, you aren’t supposed to harm any more exiles.”

“We have not,” whispered the thing crouched before the prince. I couldn’t even see a mouth on it, just flat, empty darkness and shadow. “The bogeys fled at the sight of us. They are no longer here. We did not drain their glamour. We have not killed a single exile or half-breed since the time you left the Lady’s presence.”

“Good,” Keirran replied in that same flat, cold voice. “But what do you want with us?”

“The Lady wishes to see you, Iron Prince. Now.”

“Now is not a good time.”

The Forgotten made a hissing noise. “You swore, Iron Prince,” it reminded him. “You swore to return to her if she called for you. That was the bargain for the exiles’ lives. We have upheld our end of the deal, at great cost. You must honor your word and return to the Lady.”

“I will,” Keirran replied. “But I also said I would return to her of my own free will. As a guest, not as a prisoner. If you’re here to drag me back, I’m afraid I cannot go with you.” His voice remained polite, but the air around him chilled and frost crept over the railing, making the Forgotten draw back. “I have something important to take care of first,” Keirran went on. “Tell the Lady that when it’s done, I’ll come to her. Not before.”

The Forgotten wasn’t pleased, but after a moment, it bowed its shadowy head. “As you wish, Prince Keirran,” it rasped, and the Forgotten below us slipped away into the darkness. “We will inform the Lady, but do not keep her waiting long. We will be waiting for you.”

It backed away, then glided along the wall and became one with the shadows before it disappeared.

“You’re not really thinking of going to see the Forgotten Queen, are you?” I asked as we continued up the steps. Keirran didn’t answer, and I scowled. “Hey, I know you can hear me, Prince.”

“I have to” was his quiet reply as we eased into a bedroom. An old bed stood in the corner next to a dresser, both rotting to pieces under a film of dust. Once-colorful wallpaper lined the room, moldy and peeling away. “I gave my word,” Keirran went on, picking his way over the floor and the broken remains of toys and picture books scattered around us. “I may be part human, but I don’t break my promises. If she wants to speak with me, I’ll listen. I didn’t promise anything more than that.” He stopped at the closet, putting his hand on the tarnished handle. “But it’s the least I can do. Especially since it’s our fault the Forgotten are here.”

“Wait,” Kenzie said before he could open the door. “I’m curious about that. The Thin Man said something to that effect, too. What did the Lady tell you? How is your family connected to all of this?”

Keirran’s gaze darkened. “That’s a long story,” he said softly. “And we don’t have time to discuss it now. When Annwyl is safe, I’ll tell you the whole thing, I promise.”

He opened the door and stepped through without looking back.

I took Kenzie’s hand. “Back into the Nevernever,” I groaned, and she squeezed my fingers in sympathy. “Are you ready for this?”

“Don’t worry about me, tough guy.” Kenzie grinned, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve been waiting for this ever since we got back. Oh, and if you see a dragon, be sure to point it out so I can go poke it with a stick.”

“You know, that would be funny if I wasn’t terrified you’d actually do it.”

She rolled her eyes, pulling me forward. “Come on, Ethan. We’ve already fought some of the nastiest things Faery has to offer. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Never say things like that,
I thought as we crossed the threshold and slipped into the closet. The darkness surrounding us cleared, and we stumbled between a pair of gnarled trunks, into the familiar twilight of Faery.

Part III

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BENEATH THE WATERFALL

We followed Keirran through the wyldwood for several hours, walking beneath huge dark trees that shut out the light, passing shocking flashes of color in an otherwise gray world. The Nevernever was just as strange, murky and dangerous as I remembered from my last trip. Which was only last week, I reminded myself. I wondered what my parents were doing, if I had really crossed the line with this last stunt. I was going to have to talk to them—again—when I got home. I couldn’t rely on Meghan to show up and give me a free pass whenever I went off into Faery. And by the looks of things, that was bound to happen more and more now. My days of hiding from the fey, of hoping they wouldn’t notice me, were over.

Strangely, that didn’t bother me as much as it should have.

I kept my swords out, scanning the trees constantly, ready to act against any nasty fey that tried to ambush us. Amazingly, our hike through the wyldwood was uneventful; except for a will-o’-the-wisp and a curious wood sprite that kept appearing in the branches overhead, I didn’t see any fey.

Night was beginning to fall, the eternal twilight of the wyldwood shifting into darkness, when Keirran led us down a twisty narrow path, beneath a silvery waterfall and into a small cave. The floor was covered in pale sand, and the ceiling glittered with millions of tiny lights, resembling the night sky.

“We’ll stop here for the night,” Keirran said as Razor hopped from his shoulder to roll about in the sand, buzzing. “I’d continue on, but pressing through the wyldwood in the dark is asking for trouble.”

“How far to the Summer Court?” I asked, finally sheathing my weapons. The cave was small and appeared uninhabited, no bones or blood spatters on the wall, at least. I guessed that was as safe as you could get in the Nevernever.

“Not far,” Keirran said. “We should reach it tomorrow. Provided we don’t run into any unforeseen problems.”

Unforeseen problems.
Yeah, that still wasn’t likely. I was amazed we’d gotten this far without trouble. And when we did reach the Seelie Court, we would have to deal with our biggest challenge yet: convincing the infamously fickle Queen of the Summer Court to lift Annwyl’s exile and let her come home. I didn’t know how we were going to manage that. Frankly, Titania scared me. I knew the stories. I knew that one wrong word or action could get you turned into a rabbit, or a rosebush, or trapped in the Summer Court forever, dancing for the queen’s amusement. You did not screw around with the queens of Faery. In fact, the only other person I was less enthused about meeting in the entire Nevernever was Mab, the ruler of Winter. I only hoped Keirran had a convincing plan in mind.

Speaking of Keirran, he hadn’t said much through the entire hike. I knew he was concerned about Annwyl, and the amulet sucking away at his glamour was probably on his mind, too, but the flat, blank look in his eyes worried me. He stood at the entrance of the cave now, his back to us, gazing through the falling water.

“Hey,” I said, walking up to him. He turned, looking very tired, and I tapped his shoulder in encouragement. “She’ll be fine,” I said. “We’re almost to the Seelie Court. You’ll just have to convince Titania that it’s in her best interests to raise Annwyl’s exile. I’m sure you can agree on something, right?”

Keirran gave a faint smile. “Titania...doesn’t like me very much,” he admitted. “Well, at all, really. She’s always hated Mom and barely tolerates me when I visit Arcadia. I’m sure the queen will be ecstatic when I come begging her for a favor. She’ll finally have me right where she wants—not even Oberon will be able to help.” He winced, then gave me a grave look. “Ethan, the price Titania will demand of me is going to be very high. You don’t have to come. I don’t want to drag you and Kenzie into this. You can go home if you want.... I won’t hold it against you.”

I snorted as Kenzie joined us, Razor buzzing worriedly from her shoulder. “Wow, is that how I sounded all this time?” I asked the girl, who nodded fervently. “Why didn’t you smack me earlier? Keirran, we’re not leaving. Annwyl is our friend, too, but more important—”

“—we’re not letting you do this alone,” Kenzie finished, giving the prince a fierce look. Maybe it was my imagination, but she sounded rather breathless, as if the walk had taken a lot out of her. Though she continued without hesitation. “And if I have to tell you this as much as I told Ethan, I will. We’re not leaving until this is done, one way or another.”

“Kenzie.” Keirran bowed his head. “I’m sorry for what I did to your family,” he said in a low voice. “Please forgive me. I don’t deserve your friendship, but I’m glad you’re here.” He flicked a glance at me. “Both of you. And I swear, I’ll make everything right when this is all over.”

Kenzie gave him a small smile and started to reply, but suddenly winced and fell, her legs giving out beneath her. Alarmed, I started forward as Keirran caught the girl, steadying her as she sagged against him. Razor buzzed and leaped to the prince’s back, peering down anxiously as I crowded in.

“Kenzie!”

“I’m okay” was the gasping reply. But she didn’t look okay, clinging to the prince, barely able to stand. Keirran gently drew her upright, then stepped back to let me take over. I looped her arm around my neck and lifted her off her feet, ignoring her protests.

Carrying her over to the far wall, I gently sat her down and knelt beside her, watching her face. She was pale, breathing hard, and dark circles crouched under her eyes, making my heart twist. Keirran hovered nearby, his expression concerned, Razor whimpering from his shoulder.

“Kenzie? What happened?”

“It’s all right, Ethan,” she murmured, sounding extremely tired. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I guess I’m not fully recovered from the hospital.”

“I’ll go find some food,” Keirran announced, stepping back. “We haven’t eaten all day, and she’ll need to keep up her strength. I’ll be all right,” he added as I looked up at him sharply. “I’ve hunted the wyldwood countless times. I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”

I didn’t like us splitting up, but Keirran was probably right. The wyldwood was practically his backyard. “Be careful,” I warned, and the prince nodded once, turned and slipped out of the cave with Razor. His bright form glimmered briefly through the curtain of water, the gremlin’s eyes flashing as he looked back, and they were gone.

Kenzie shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as if she was cold. I sat beside her and pulled her into my lap, tucking her close to my body. She sniffed and curled into me, and I held her tight. “Déjà vu, huh?” she whispered, reminding me of another cave with a sandy floor, and Kenzie in my lap, pressed close for comfort. Our first kiss... “Sorry,” she went on, dropping her head. “I didn’t want you worrying about me when we got here.”

I sighed. “Kenzie, I’ll always worry about you whenever we go into the Nevernever,” I told her, running a hand down her hair. “Or when you follow me into a goblin market. Or when you make a bargain with a faery. I’m always going to worry, and I’m always going to try to protect you. It’s just something you’ll have to accept about me.

“But,” I continued, “when I said I wouldn’t try to stop you anymore, I meant it. I’ll still be insanely overprotective, and you’ll probably want to punch me sometimes, but...I want you here, with me. However long we have—” I slipped my fingers under her chin and gently turned her face to mine “—I want to spend it with you.”

Her eyes prickled as I kissed her. Softly at first, wanting to be gentle. But Kenzie responded with shocking urgency. Her hands fisted in my hair, and her tongue pressed against my lips, demanding entry. And then I stopped being aware of anything but her lips, her scent, her hands on my chest, slipping under my shirt. I groaned against her mouth as soft fingers traced my stomach, making my skin dance and my blood sizzle. My face dropped to her neck, trailing kisses down her shoulder, and she gasped and arched her head back, whispering my name.

Hooking her fingers behind my neck, she leaned back, easing us both to the sandy floor. I shifted so I wasn’t crushing her, gazing down at the girl beneath me, my elbows straddling her head. She was beautiful, an angel who had reached down and yanked me out of my miserable, lonely existence, and dammit if that wasn’t the sappiest thing I’d ever thought but it was completely true. Kenzie smiled up at me, sad and tender and a little scared, and my heart began pounding in my chest.

“Ethan?” She chewed her lip in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness. “Do you want to know the secret I told the bird faery at the goblin market?”

I looked at her, puzzled. Strange that she’d bring that up now. “I guess so,” I said, shrugging. “But only if you want to tell me.”

“I do,” Kenzie said quickly and looked away. “Well, not really, but...um...it’s...it’s something you should know, I think. I mean...” She winced. “Crap.”

Normally, I would’ve found the idea of Mackenzie stuttering cute, as infrequent as it was, and would’ve called her on it. But right now, the last thing I wanted to do was tease and lose whatever was happening between us, whatever this was. I brushed my thumb across her cheek, making her close her eyes, and murmured, “You can tell me.”

“It was that, well...I just...” She sighed and continued in a whisper, “I’ve never...been with anyone before. You know, really
been
with anyone. And I was afraid I would die before I ever found someone to...you know.” She bit her lip again, brow furrowing. “That’s the secret I traded away. The secret the bird faery knows about me.”

She colored fiercely and averted her gaze. I was having trouble breathing. “I don’t know why I wanted to tell you now,” she went on softly, still not looking at me. “I certainly don’t expect to rectify that
here,
but...I guess I wanted you to know. In case...” She trailed off again, but I knew what she meant. Everything was borrowed time with Kenzie. Being afraid she would never get the chance to do everything she wanted.

Very gently, I kissed her, just the slightest touch of her lips to mine. “I’ll wait,” I told her softly. “You don’t have to worry about that. Not with me.” A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, and I caught it before it hit the sand. “Whenever you’re ready, just let me know. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

* * *

When Keirran returned, Kenzie was nearly asleep, drifting off against my chest. She woke up long enough to eat a couple wild pears Keirran had found—after he swore to me about a dozen times they were safe—before curling into me again. I held her quietly, watching as Keirran started a fire, piling wood into a sandy pit before holding his palm over the kindling. Glamour shimmered, and a small flame sprang up to consume the wood, throwing back the shadows. The Iron Prince sat down in front of the fire, drawing a knee to his chest, and brooded into the flames.

Kenzie shifted in my arms, murmuring something about “Alex” in her sleep. I wondered what her family was doing now, what
my
family was doing now.

By the fire, Keirran’s gaze was dark. Was he thinking of Meghan or Ash? Did he miss his family, or were all his thoughts on Annwyl and the thing connecting them both? The amulet that was slowly killing him.

“You can go to sleep if you want,” he announced without looking up. “I’ll take first watch.”

I smirked and shook my head, speaking quietly so as not to wake Kenzie. “I couldn’t if I wanted to. My irrational paranoia of goblins eating my face while I sleep sort of makes that impossible.”

“That’s probably wise.” Keirran rested his chin on his knee. Razor hopped off his shoulder to poke a twig at the fire. “I didn’t realize Kenzie was so ill,” Keirran said after a moment. “She mentioned being sick, but I just didn’t put it together. I swear, Ethan, I wouldn’t have asked her to come if I knew.”

I snorted. “You wouldn’t have been able to stop her. Trust me, I made that mistake once. It doesn’t work.” I looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms, holding her tighter. “She made her choice,” I said softly. “All I can do now is protect her.”

“Do you ever...?” Keirran paused as if worried he might offend me, then continued. “Do you ever think that there’s something you can do, a deal or bargain you can make, to help her get better? I mean, magic exists everywhere in the Nevernever. If you just accepted the cost—”

“No.” My voice came out slightly choked. “No faery magic, no bargains, no deals. I refuse to gamble for Kenzie’s health. Some prices are too high.”

“Even if it meant saving her life?” Keirran glanced at me, the flames casting weird, flickering shadows over his hunched form.

“Leave it alone, Keirran.”

“I don’t like it, either, but...aren’t some prices worth paying for the one you love?”

“I said leave it alone,” I snapped, and Kenzie stirred against me. Wincing, I adjusted my arms around her and buried my face in her hair.
I wish I could,
I thought, closing my eyes.
I wish there was some way, some bargain or deal or contract, to make you well again, but I know the rules. Nothing is free. Magic and power always come with a price. And maybe that’s selfish and paranoid, but I’m not willing to pay that price, or have
you
pay that price. Not yet. Not when there’s still a chance you could be okay without it.

Keirran fell silent, and when I looked up again, he had gone back to staring into the fire. Razor was curled up in the sand by the pit, buzzing and twitching in his dreams.

“I envy you sometimes, you know,” Keirran said quietly after a moment. He glanced my way, a faint, bitter smile crossing his face. “Sometimes I wonder what it’s like, being completely human. Not having to deal with the courts and the crazy politics that come with them. Not having to give up the one you love because the ancient law says you can’t be together.” He hunched forward again, staring into the flames. “I know I can’t have her,” he said, his face pinched and tight. “I know when she goes back to Arcadia, we’ll be forced apart. Even if I’m willing to face exile, I can’t do that to her.” He blew out a breath, raking both hands through his silver hair. “I just...I wish there was something, some way to get around this stupid law. My parents did it. Dad went all the way to the End of the World to be with Mom. He even woke up an ancient queen in the process, but they still found a way.”