Julie Kagawa - The Iron Warrior

I swallowed hard. Abruptly, Kenzie shivered and ran her hands down my chest, making my stomach knot. “You’re here,” she whispered, her voice catching a little. “You’re really okay. I wasn’t sure if... I thought—”

She shuddered, and my heart gave a violent lurch as the girl leaned forward, pressing her face to my shirt, and began to shake with sobs. Not knowing what to say, I wrapped my arms around her, while Razor flattened his ears and glared at me from the dresser.

“I thought you were dead,” Kenzie whispered. “I waited for you in the hospital, and when you didn’t come back, I was afraid something awful had happened. I tried to convince myself that it was nothing, but I knew deep down that something had gone really wrong. So I sent Razor to find you. When he came back...” She shivered again. “He told me you were dead. That you had been killed in Ireland.”

“I’m okay,” I told her, because that was all I could think to say. “I’m fine, Kenzie. I’m not going anywhere.”

She sniffed and took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. “What... happened in Ireland, Ethan?” she asked, gazing up at me with tear-glazed eyes. “I tried to get the whole story out of Razor, but he kept saying that Keirran stabbed you.” She blinked, looking grief stricken, incredulous and furious all at once. “Keirran was the one? Is that true?”

I hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Yeah,” I muttered. “Yeah, he did.”

“Why?”

“Because I was a sacrifice,” I went on. “The Lady told him as much. My blood was supposed to tear away the Veil, so that the human world could see the fey, and all the Forgotten and exiles would be saved. That’s what Keirran wanted, more than anything else, I guess.” My eyes narrowed. “So he stabbed me and left me there to die.”

Kenzie’s face went white. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “That’s where it started. Why everything went crazy that night.”

My blood chilled. “What happened?”

She licked her lips. “I knew something was up when the nurse came in and started screaming at Razor like she could really see him. So I turned on the news, and there were all these live reports about weird creatures and crazy circumstances. People were talking about ghosts, vampires, aliens, you name it. That’s when I knew something big had happened in Faery.” Her brow furrowed, and she wiped her eyes. “It was weird, though. Maybe ten, fifteen minutes after it started, it just...stopped. I couldn’t find any more information, the news reports stopped talking about it, and it was never mentioned again. Everyone just forgot about it.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “When the Veil re-formed, the fey became invisible again, so people forgot they ever saw them.”

“Re-formed?”

“When I...um...revived, it came back.” At her incredulous look, I shrugged. “I wasn’t quite as dead as Keirran thought.”

Kenzie blinked rapidly, laying her head on my chest again. “I thought I lost you,” she whispered. “When Razor said you had died, the only thing I could think was...that I had killed you. I told you to go with Keirran. I insisted, and the next thing I knew, you were dead.”

I pressed my forehead to hers. “I’m so sorry.”

She choked a tiny laugh through the tears. “Don’t...apologize for dying, tough guy,” she whispered. “I’m sure you didn’t plan it that way.” She took a ragged breath, ducking her head. “If anything, you should be angry with me. I was the one who sent you to the Lady. If you hadn’t left with Keirran—”

“Kenzie.” I put a hand on her cheek. She blinked and peered up at me, and I shook my head. “You couldn’t have known what would happen,” I told her softly. “None of us could. Maybe if we’d known about the prophecy or what was really going on—but no one was telling us anything.” I raised one shoulder helplessly. “This whole thing with Keirran just...spiraled out of control, and we got caught in the middle. I don’t blame you for what he did.” I ran my fingers through her now shorter hair. “In fact, you probably saved my life.” She blinked, frowning in confusion, and I smiled. “The amulet you gave me right before Keirran and I went to see the Lady—I think it protected me one last time.”

“Guro’s amulet?”

I nodded. “Sadly, I won’t be able to return it like I said I would. When Keirran stabbed me, it broke. Snapped right in two. I think it’s safe to say the magic is completely gone now.”

She gave a soft chuckle and pressed closer. “I’d rather have you than a magic necklace any day of the week,” she murmured, winding her arms around my waist. Holding her tight, I closed my eyes, just feeling her heartbeat against mine, and Kenzie sighed, relaxing into me. “I missed you, tough guy,” she whispered. “It’s been a pretty sucky four months.”

Four months. Had I really been gone that long? And what had Kenzie been going through in that time? “Are you all right?” I asked, gazing down in concern. The last time I’d seen my girlfriend, she had been in the hospital. “You know I don’t want to bring it up, but...what about your illness? Have you recovered? Is it okay for you to be here now?”

She smirked. “No, Ethan, I’m on Death’s doorstep as we speak, having gone through Faeryland on a wish and a prayer.” Her grin was wicked, but a flicker of something dark went through her eyes, though it was gone in the next heartbeat. “I just trekked across the wyldwood and Mag Tuiredh to find you, tough guy. Do I look like I’m gonna keel over?”

“Okay, okay.” I held up my hands. “Point taken. I was going to say that I can’t believe you traveled all the way to Mag Tuiredh by yourself, but...it’s you, after all.” She gazed up at me warily, and I smiled. “I’m glad you came, Kenzie,” I told her, lowering my head. “I missed you, too.”

Our lips met, and I let my eyes slide shut. Razor buzzed something from the dresser, probably mocking us, but I didn’t care. All I could think about was Kenzie, that she was all right, that she had found a way to Mag Tuiredh, and that suddenly, I wasn’t so alone anymore.

A sharp rap on the door made us pause. Irritated, I waited a few heartbeats, and when nothing happened, leaned forward to kiss Kenzie again. The knocking resumed immediately, accompanied by a squeaky “Prince Ethan? Are you awake, sire?”

Sighing, Kenzie drew back and gave the door a half annoyed, half resigned look. “Guess you’d better see who that is,” she said, smiling ruefully as she wiped her eyes. “If I remember anything about the Nevernever, it’s that the fey don’t understand the concept of privacy. And they have the worst timing possible.”

Yes, they do. Stalking to the door, I yanked it open and glowered at the wire nymph on the other side. “What?”

The small faery cringed. “Forgive me, Prince Ethan,” it squeaked, looking so cowed I felt guilty for snarling at it, “but I was instructed to give this to you posthaste.”

It held up a note between long, glimmering fingers. I took it, and the nymph instantly scampered off before I could say anything else, skittering around a corner and vanishing in a flash of wire and steel. Vowing to be a little nicer to Meghan’s subjects in the future, I closed the door and turned around, meeting Kenzie’s curious gaze.

“Who is that from?”

“I don’t know.” I looked down at the note and flipped it open. The handwriting was simple and elegant, but I didn’t know if it was Meghan’s. The message was also short, direct and to the point.

Come to the library , it read. That was it.

“That’s weird,” I muttered and handed the paper to Kenzie. She skimmed the note with a frown, then looked back at me.