The Iron Traitor (The Iron Fey) (2 page)

Morose, I headed back to class, still scanning the hall for any glimpse of blue-streaked black hair, irrationally hoping to run into Kenzie on her way to the principal’s office. I didn’t see her, of course, but I did pass a group of girls in the hall, talking and laughing beneath the bathroom sign. They fell silent as I passed, staring at me with wide eyes, and I heard the murmurs erupt as soon as my back was turned.

“Oh, my God, that’s him.”

“Did you hear he forced Kenzie to run away with him last week? They were on the other side of the country before the police finally caught them.”

“So that’s why the cops are here. Why isn’t he in jail?”

I clenched my jaw and kept walking. Gossip rarely bothered me—I was so used to it by now. And most of the more colorful rumors were so far off it was laughable. But I hated the thought that, just by being around me, Kenzie would be the target of speculation. It was already starting.

She wasn’t in any of the classes we shared, which made it difficult to concentrate on anything happening around me. Even so, I caught suspicious glances thrown my way, whispers whenever I slid into my desk, the hard stares of some of the popular kids. Kenzie’s friends. I kept my head down and my usual “leave me the hell alone” posture going, until the bell rang for lunch.

Kenzie still hadn’t made an appearance. I almost went down to the cafeteria, just to see if she was there, before catching myself with a grimace.
Geez, what are you doing, Ethan? You’ve gone completely stupid for this girl. She’s not here today. Just accept that already.

As I hesitated in the corridor, trying to decide which direction to go, my nerves prickled and the hair on the back of my neck stood up, a sure warning that I was being watched—or stalked. Wary, I casually scanned the surging throng of teenagers for anything that might belong to the Invisible World, the world only I could see. The source of my unease wasn’t a faery, however. It was worse.

Football star Brian Kingston and three of his friends were pushing their way through the corridor, broad shoulders and thick arms parting the crowd with ease. By their faces and the way they were scanning the halls, it was obvious they were on the warpath. Or at least the quarterback was, with his ruddy face and thick jaw set for a fight. I could just guess who was the target of his wrath.

Great.

I turned and melted into the throng, heading in the opposite direction, hoping to disappear and find someplace I could be alone. Where vengeful football jocks and their cronies couldn’t smash my face into lockers, where I didn’t have to hear whispers of how I’d kidnapped Kenzie and forced her to go to New York with me.

Once more, maybe by fate, I found myself back in the library, the quiet murmurs and rustle of paper bringing with it a storm of memories. I’d come here during the first week of school, too, in an attempt to avoid Kingston. It was also here that I’d promised to meet Kenzie for one of her infamous interviews. And it was here that I’d held my last lucid conversation with Todd, right before he vanished.

Hiding my lunch under my jacket, I ignored the no-food-or-drink sign on the front desk and sauntered into the back aisles. I earned a suspicious glare from the librarian, who watched me over her glasses, but at least Kingston and his thugs wouldn’t follow me here.

I found a quiet corner and sank down against the wall, engulfed in déjà vu. Dammit, I just wanted to be left alone. Was that too much to ask? I wanted to get through a school day without getting beat up, threatened with expulsion or arrested. And I wanted, for once, to just have a day where I could take my girlfriend out to the movies or to dinner without some faery messing everything up. Something like normal. Was that ever going to happen?

* * *

When the last bell rang, I grabbed my books and hurried to the parking lot, hoping to make it out before Kingston or any of Kenzie’s friends. No one stopped or followed me in the halls, but when I started toward my beat-up truck, parked at the far end of the lot, my nerves went rigid.

Brian Kingston was sitting on the hood, legs swinging off the edge, smirking at me. Two of his football buddies leaned against the side, blocking the door.

“Where do you think you’re going, freak?” Kingston asked, sliding to the ground. His cronies pressed behind him, and I took a deep breath to calm down. At least they hadn’t damaged my truck in any obvious way...yet. The tires didn’t look slashed, and I didn’t see any key marks in the paint, so that was something. “Been wanting to talk to you all afternoon.”

I shifted my weight onto the balls of my feet. He didn’t want to talk. Everything about him said he was itching for a fight. “Do we really have to do this now?” I asked, keeping a wary eye on all three of them. Dammit, I did
not
need this, but if the choices were “fight” or “get my ass kicked,” I wasn’t going to get stomped on. I supposed I could have run away like a coward, but the fallout of that might be even worse. These three didn’t scare me; I’d faced down goblins, redcaps, a lindwurm and a whole legion of murderous, ghostly fey who sucked the glamour out of their normal kin. I’d fought things that were trying their best to kill me, and I was still here. A trio of unarmed humans, thick-necked and muscle-headed as they were, didn’t register very high on my threat meter, but I’d rather not get expelled on my first day back if I could help it.

“This is stupid, Kingston,” I snapped, backing away as his cronies tried to flank me. If they lunged, I’d need to get out of the way fast. “What the hell do you want? What do you think I’ve done now?”

“Like you don’t know.” Kingston sneered. “Don’t play stupid, freak. I told you to stay away from Mackenzie, didn’t I? I warned you what would happen, and you didn’t listen. Everyone knows you dragged her off to New York last week. I don’t know why the cops didn’t toss your ass in jail for kidnapping.”

“She
asked
me to take her,” I argued. “I didn’t drag her anywhere. She wanted to see New York, and her dad wouldn’t let her go, so she asked me.” Lies to cover up more lies. I wondered if there would ever come a point where I didn’t have to lie to everyone.

“Yeah, and now look where she is,” Kingston shot back. “I don’t know what you did to her while you were gone, but you’re gonna wish you never came here.”

“Wait. What?” I frowned, still trying to keep the jocks in my sights. “What do you mean? Where is Kenzie now?”

Kingston shook his head. “You didn’t hear, freak? God, you are a bastard.” He stepped forward, eyes narrowing in pure contempt. “Kenzie is in the hospital.”

CHAPTER TWO

MACKENZIE’S FATHER

My stomach dropped.

“She’s in the hospital?” I repeated as fear and horror spread through my insides. I remembered something Kenzie had told me about herself while we were in Faery, something big and dark and terrifying. “Why?”

“You tell me.” Kingston clenched his fists. “You put her there.”

Pain exploded through my side; one of the other jocks had lunged in with a punch to my ribs while I was distracted, knocking me to the side. I gasped and staggered away, ducking beneath the other’s left hook and raising my fists in a boxing stance as all three came at me.

Kingston swung viciously at my face; I jerked my head back, letting the knuckles graze me, before lunging forward with a body shot that bent him forward with a grunt. At the same time, one of his friends hammered a fist into my unprotected back. I winced, absorbing the blow, then spun around Kingston to use him as a shield. He snarled and threw an elbow back, trying to bash me in the face. I caught his arm, pivoted him around in a circle and threw him into his friend.

As they both toppled and rolled to the concrete, the last jock slammed into me from behind, wrapping me in a bear hug, pinning my arms. I jerked my head back, cracking my skull into his nose, and the jock shrieked a curse. Slipping from his grasp, I whirled behind him, drove my foot into the back of his knee and yanked down on his shoulders. He hit the pavement with a gusty
whoof,
expelling all the air from his lungs, and lay there dazed.

But the other two were climbing to their feet, looking homicidal, and I didn’t want to stay any longer. Breaking from the fight, I leaped into my truck and slammed the door. Kingston stepped up and smashed a fist into the window as I pulled out, glaring at me with murder in his eyes. A hairline crack appeared where his ringed knuckle struck the glass, but thankfully nothing more, as I maneuvered the vehicle around the jocks out for my blood and fled the parking lot.

* * *

It took a few minutes on my phone to find the hospital closest to Kenzie’s house, and I drove there immediately. I was supposed to go straight home from school, and probably should have—my parents still weren’t recovered from my trip into the Nevernever—but all I could think about was Mackenzie. And how
I
was the reason she was hospitalized. Maybe not directly, but it was still certainly my fault.

Kenzie had leukemia, an aggressive type of cancer that affected the blood cells. She’d told me as much when we were stuck in the Nevernever, and the prognosis wasn’t very hopeful. That was the main reason she’d wanted the Sight, why she wanted to stay in Faery. She didn’t know how long she had, and she wanted to see everything she could. Her illness also made her relatively fearless and a lot more daring than she should have been. Even when offered the chance to go back home, she’d refused to abandon me, sticking it out through sword fights, kidnappings and near-death experiences, tromping from one end of the Nevernever to the other while dodging faeries, Forgotten and other things that wanted to eat us.

And now she was in the hospital. It had been too much. Everything had finally caught up with her, and it was all on me. If I’d never brought her into Faery, she would be fine.

I pulled into the crowded parking lot and sat there, gazing at the big square building in the distance. A part of me, the part that had withdrawn from the whole world, the part that kept other people at arm’s length to keep them safe from the fey, told me not to go in there. That I had already screwed up Mackenzie’s life by dragging her into the hidden world, and the best and safest thing for her would be to stay far, far away from me.

But I couldn’t. I’d already promised her I wouldn’t disappear, and honestly, I didn’t want to. Kenzie had the Sight now, same as me, which meant the fey would be drawn to her. And there was no way I was going to let her face them alone. Besides, she would never let me get away with that.

I crossed the parking lot and entered the hospital, finding a waiting room full of bored, solemn and worried-looking people. Ignoring them, I approached the reception desk, where a frizzy-haired nurse was sitting behind the counter, talking to a policeman.

My heart jumped a little, and I backed up, watching the officer from an inconspicuous corner. There was no need to be twitchy, I told myself as the nurse laughed at something the cop said. I wasn’t in trouble. I’d done nothing wrong. But I’d also had my fill of talking to cops for the day, and I wasn’t winning any Upright Citizen awards with my appearance. If the officer thought I looked suspicious, all he’d have to do was pull up my file to see a list of crimes staring back at him. It wasn’t worth the risk or the hassle.

I hung back in the corner until the policeman finally left, then approached the desk.

“Excuse me,” I said as the receptionist lifted her gaze and raked me up and down from behind her glasses. “I’m here to see a friend of mine. Can you tell me which room Kenzie St. James is in?”

The nurse gave me a doubtful look. I could see her stamping the
hooligan
label on my forehead even before she informed me, in a voice of strained politeness, “Visiting hours are almost over. Are you a friend of the family, young man?”

“No,” I replied. “Kenzie is a classmate of mine. We go to the same school.”

“Mmm-hmm.” She gave me another skeptical look, as if questioning that I even went to school, and I bristled.

“Look, I just want to see her for a few minutes. I won’t stay long. I just want to make sure she’s okay.” The nurse wavered, and I forced out a near-desperate “Please.”

She pursed her lips. For a second, I thought she would refuse, tell me to get out before she called the policeman back. But then she gave a short nod toward the hall. “Very well. Ms. St. James is in room 301, on your left. Just keep it short.”

Relieved, I thanked her and hurried down the hall, checking the number beside each door frame, passing identical rooms full of beds and sick people. As I wove around a janitor’s cart, a woman and a young girl, maybe around nine or ten, came out of one of the rooms ahead of me. I stepped aside to let them pass, feeling a jolt of recognition as they walked by without glancing at me. I didn’t know the tall blonde woman, but the little girl I’d seen before. She had been in a key-chain photograph with Kenzie, both of them smiling at the camera.

Mackenzie’s stepsister. Alec or Alex or something like that. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she wore a blue-and-white school uniform as she trailed beside her mom, heading back toward the waiting room. I watched until they turned a corner and disappeared, wondering if Kenzie’s sister really knew what was happening to her stepsibling. When I was her age, I didn’t understand why I never saw my older sister; I only knew she wasn’t home, wasn’t part of the family, and I missed her. I hoped Kenzie’s sibling never had to go through that—the pain of knowing you
had
a sister, and then you suddenly didn’t anymore.

The doorway they’d exited shone with a faint blueish glow. Peeking into room 301, I swallowed hard. Against the far wall, Kenzie lay in a white hospital bed surrounded by softly beeping machines. Her black hair was spread across her pillow, and her eyes were closed. A round table overflowing with flowers and get-well-soon balloons hovered next to her.

Guilt stabbed at me, raw and painful, but it was nearly smothered by the worried ache that spread through my chest when I saw her. The Kenzie I knew was never still—she was always bouncing from place to place, smiling and cheerful. To see her like this, pale, fragile and motionless, filled me with dread. Ducking into the room, I crossed the floor to her bedside, gripping the rails to stop myself from touching her. If she was asleep, I didn’t want to wake her, but as I approached the bed, she stirred. Dark brown eyes cracked open blearily, confused as they focused on my face.

“Ethan?”

I forced a smile, even as I cringed at the sound of her voice, so faint and breathy. “Hey, you,” I said, sounding a little faint myself. “Sorry I couldn’t be here sooner. I didn’t know you were in the hospital.”

Her pale brow furrowed. “Oh, crap. M’fault. Phone was dead when I got back.” Her words slurred together, either from exhaustion or whatever drugs they were giving her. “Was gonna call you when it charged, but I got sick.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I dragged a chair from the corner and sat down next to her, reaching through the railing to take her hand. “Are you okay? Is it...?”

I trailed off, but Kenzie shook her head. “This is nothing. I just picked up some nasty virus or something while tromping around ‘New York.’ My immune system isn’t that great, so...” She shrugged, but that didn’t stop the guilt that continued to gnaw at me. Kenzie smiled weakly. “I should be out of here in a day or two, at least that’s what the doctors say.”

Relief swept through me. She would be all right. Kenzie would be home soon, and then we could get back to “normal,” or whatever passed for it with me. I wanted to try for normal, give it my best shot at least, and I wanted to do it with her.

I reached out with my other hand and stroked her cheek, feeling her soft skin under my fingers. She closed her eyes, and I asked, “What did your dad say when you came back?”

Her brow furrowed, and she opened her eyes again. “He actually had the gall to be upset that I didn’t call him. He said he had the police looking for me for days, and was angry that I never told him where I was. He never took an interest in my life before. Why bother now?”

“Maybe he was worried about you,” I offered. “Maybe he realized he made a mistake.”

She sniffed, unappeased. “I vanish for a few days and
now
he’s interested in being a dad? After ignoring me for years and not caring about anything I did?” She wrinkled her nose, bitterness coloring her voice. “Too little too late, I’m afraid. I don’t need him looking out for me.”

I didn’t answer. It would take a lot of talking, tears and forgiveness for Kenzie and her dad to settle their differences and start to heal old wounds, and I didn’t want to be that mediator. Not with my own screwed-up family. As if reading my mind, Kenzie asked, “What did your parents say when you got back? Were they very mad?”

“No.” I shrugged. “They...sort of had a visit from the Iron Queen before I got home. She talked to them, told them where I had been, that it wasn’t my fault I disappeared.”

“Have you talked to Keirran since New York? Or your sister?”

I shook my head, my mood darkening at the thought of Keirran and Meghan. “No. I don’t think I’ll see either of them for a while.”

“I’m worried about him,” Kenzie muttered, sounding as if she was fighting sleep. “Him and Annwyl both. Hope they’re all right.”

A nurse peeked into the room, saw me and frowned, tapping her wrist. I nodded, and she ducked out.

I stood, wishing I didn’t have to leave so soon. “I have to go,” I told her as she blinked sleepily up at me. Reaching down, I gently brushed the hair from her face. “I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?”

Her eyes closed once more and didn’t open this time. “Ethan?”

“Yeah?”

“Bring chocolate? The food here sucks.”

I laughed quietly, bent down and kissed her. Just a brief, light touch of her lips to mine, and she sank back into the pillows. Already asleep. I watched her for another heartbeat, then turned and left the room, vowing to come back as soon as I could.

As I stepped into the hall, a shadow pushed itself off the wall and moved toward me, blocking my path. I blinked and stumbled to a halt as a tall, dark-haired man loomed over me, cold black eyes regarding me with suspicion. He wore a business suit that probably cost more than my truck, a large Rolex on one wrist and an air of aggressive superiority. He didn’t look distraught. In this corridor of rumpled, haggard-looking people, he was tall and clean shaven with not a hair out of place or a wrinkle in his clothes.

We stared at each other, and I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t like the way this guy was looking at me, like I was a stray dog wandering around and he wasn’t sure if he should call animal control. I was about to shove past him when his lips twitched into a cold, unamused smile, and he shook his head.

“So.” The man’s voice wasn’t loud or even hostile. It was cool and pragmatic. “You’re him, aren’t you? The boy that took my very sick daughter away from her family, and her medicine, and her doctors, to go gallivanting up to New York for the week.”

Oh, crap. You had to be kidding me. This was Kenzie’s father. Kenzie’s very rich, very powerful lawyer father. The father who, by Kenzie’s own admission, had had the entire police force searching for his missing daughter all week.

I was in trouble.

I didn’t answer, and Kenzie’s dad continued to regard me without expression. His voice didn’t change; it was still perfectly reasonable, though his eyes turned steely as he said, “Explain yourself, please. Tell me why I shouldn’t press charges against you for kidnapping.”

I swallowed the challenge on the tip of my tongue. The unfairness of it all burned my throat. He wasn’t making idle threats. I’d dealt with my share of lawyers, though they were all public defenders, not the same caliber as Kenzie’s dad. If he decided to press charges against me, there was little I could do. My word held no weight; if the cops did get involved, who would they believe—the rich lawyer or the teenage thug?

I took a deep breath to cool my anger so when I spoke I wouldn’t sound like the delinquent brute he thought I was. “Kenzie wanted to see New York,” I began in the most reasonable voice I could manage. “She asked me to take her. It was a split-second decision and probably not the smartest thing we could have done, but...” I shrugged helplessly. “We should have talked to you about it first, and I’m sorry for that. But it’s done now. And you can try to keep me away, have me arrested, whatever. But I’m not abandoning Kenzie.”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow, and I wanted to kick myself.
Nice, Ethan. Keep antagonizing Mr. Big Shot lawyer; that’s a great way to stay out of jail.
But he was still waiting calmly for me to go on, and the next words out of my mouth were the absolute truth. “I swear, I would never do anything to hurt her. I wouldn’t have taken her anywhere if I’d known she’d end up here.”