The Iron Traitor (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten 2)

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 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.”