“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 New 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.”
I blinked, staring at Kenzie and her dad, suddenly understanding a lot more. Kenzie’s eyes glimmered, and she stood with her back straight, daring her father to say something. Mr. St. James did nothing. He stood there, blank and unresponsive, his face giving nothing away.
Say something, I wanted to shout at him. Tell her she’s wrong. He didn’t, though there was something in his dark eyes that might’ve been a flicker of regret. But I might have imagined it; his poker face was flawless. If he felt anything, Kenzie would never guess. No wonder she thought he didn’t care.
“Kenzie, Ethan.” Keirran’s soft, desperate voice drifted up from behind us, though we couldn’t look at him. “We’re running out of time. Please, hurry.”
Kenzie sniffled and drew in a quiet breath. “Ethan and I...are going home, now,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “We have a friend who needs us, and I can’t stay here any longer. You guys stay, finish your trip. This was never a vacation for me.”
“Kenzie, no.” It was her stepmom who spoke this time. The blonde woman came around the bed to stand beside her father. “You’re not running off with that boy alone. Michael, tell her she can’t go.”
“You can’t stop me.” Kenzie took a step back, brushing my arm. “Why should you even care what I do? But our friend is in trouble, and we’re just going home. I’ll see you guys when you get back.”
Her dad shook his head, as if coming out of a trance. “Mackenzie, if you walk out of this room, I’ll have that boy arrested.” She spun on him furiously, and my heart stalled. “I’m still your father,” Mr. St. James continued in a stony voice. “I don’t care what you think of me, what stories you’ve told yourself to make this all right. But I am not letting you go anywhere with him. You will stay here, with your family, and he will walk away before security drags him out.”
“You can’t do that!”
“You are sixteen!” Kenzie’s father exploded, making us both jump. “You are sixteen, you are sick, and I am not going to lose you like I did Emily. You are not going anywhere!”
“Enough!”
Keirran’s voice rang out behind us, and the sudden icy desperation in it caused a chill to run up my spine. Kenzie and I spun to see the Iron Prince staring past us, one arm still around Annwyl, his face hard and determined. Eyes narrowed, he raised a hand toward Kenzie’s father, and the room filled with glamour.
I couldn’t see it, and it wasn’t the cold, lethal glamour released in Mr. Dust’s back room. But I could still feel the air turn heavy, dense, like stepping into a sauna without the heat. My eyelids drooped, and I struggled to stay on my feet, leaning against the wall to hold myself up. Kenzie swayed, and I pulled her to me before she could collapse.
Keirran’s clear, quiet voice seemed to echo all around me, coming from everywhere, slipping into my head. “Mackenzie St. James is fine,” it promised, like a lullaby soothing me to sleep. “You sent her away to live with a relative, and she won’t be back for a long while. She is perfectly safe, happy and content, so you don’t need to worry about her anymore.”
No, I thought, though I didn’t know exactly why. I struggled to think, to break free of the fog clouding my brain. This...isn’t right.
The sluggishness faded. I shook myself and looked down at Kenzie, leaning against my chest, blinking in confusion. I looked to her parents. Her dad still stood where he was, but his face was slack, his eyes blank and unseeing. Her stepmom had sunk onto the bed with the same glazed expression, and in the chair, Alex had fallen asleep.
“Come on,” I heard a voice say, Keirran’s I think, sounding flat and tired. “Let’s go, before they wake up.”
