Читать книгу The Iron Traitor - Julie Kagawa - Страница 13

CHAPTER FIVE

THE VANISHED PRINCE

At the mention of Keirran’s name, Annwyl shivered. I breathed deeply and tried not to let my prejudice of all things fey cloud my reasoning. Annwyl didn’t deserve that. Still, sitting in my room, on my bed in the mortal world, the Summer girl was even more obviously fey. Her dress, made of leaves, petals and wispy cloth, left her shoulders and arms bare, and her skin gave off a faint glow as if sunlit, even though it was the middle of the night. Light and warmth seemed to pulse around her, and my room smelled of cut grass and leaves. I also noticed that vines were crawling up my bedposts from the carpet, coiling around the frame like it was a tree. A huge orange moth fluttered by my head, alighting at the top of the post, and I waved a hand to shoo it away.

“Annwyl,” Kenzie said, stepping around me. “What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

“No,” Annwyl replied, looking up at us. “I’m...well, I’m not fine, but this isn’t about me.” She brushed back her hair and sighed. “I apologize, Ethan, Kenzie. I know this is unexpected, and I didn’t mean to barge in. But I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. It’s...about Keirran.”

A chill ran through me. “What’s happened to Keirran?”

“I don’t know,” the Summer girl whispered. She looked tired, worried and frightened. “I haven’t seen him. Not since...that night.”

“How did you even get in here?” I asked, frowning. “The whole house is warded, not to mention all the deterrents outside. Not that I was trying to keep you out, but I make pretty sure no fey can get in unless I want them to.”

Annwyl fidgeted, nervously brushing back her hair. “The protective charms and wards around your house are quite good, but they are also very old. I’ve seen them before, back when my sisters and I still accompanied the Summer Queen to the mortal realm. Lady Titania was very good at finding loopholes in the protective wards. I learned from her.”

Well, damn. I was going to have to find some new anti-fey charms. Something that would deter even the sidhe of the Summer and Winter courts. Less plants and more iron, maybe. It made me think, though. Should I be concerned about Annwyl? She was so unassuming and quiet, easy to overlook. But she was an ageless Summer sidhe, just like Titania and the most infamous faery of the Seelie Court, Robin Goodfellow. I knew that if Puck wanted to get into a house, no anti-faery charm in the world would stop him short of building the whole place out of iron. And even then, he’d probably find a way. Annwyl might not be on that same level, but the fact that she’d gotten around my wards and into my room was proof that she was more than she appeared.

“I am sorry, Ethan Chase,” Annwyl went on, perhaps sensing my unease. “I did not mean to alarm you. I would have waited for you outside, but—” she shivered “—the Thin Man was coming, and I had to get somewhere safe.”

I jerked up. Annwyl saw my reaction and wrapped her arms around herself, looking frightened. “I don’t know what he wants, or even what he is,” she said. “I think he might be a Forgotten, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen him. He was waiting for me at the trod to Leanansidhe’s when I went to find you. I would have come sooner, but when I left the Between, the Thin Man came after me, so I ran back to Leanansidhe’s mansion and used another trod to the mortal realm. Perhaps he is also looking for Keirran and hoped I would lead him to the Iron Prince.” She frowned and lowered her arms, her voice taking on a faint edge. “He would be disappointed.”

Everyone was looking for Keirran, it seemed. And now I had another faery nuisance hanging around my home, waiting for Annwyl. Great. “So, you don’t know where he is, either,” I said. She shook her head.

“No. But he sent me this.” She held out a roll of paper, tied with a blue ribbon. Her hand trembled as I took it and unrolled the note, which was handwritten in neat, simple black lines.

Annwyl,

Forgive me for not giving this news to you in person. But my parents know about us now, and Leanansidhe’s mansion would be the first place they would look. If the rulers of Mag Tuiredh come to you asking about me, it’s better that you don’t know where I am. That would be best for everyone.

I don’t care what the courts say; I cannot stand by and watch you Fade from existence, knowing what I do now. One way or another, I will stop this. If I have to search the world over, I won’t stop until I find something to keep you here. The price doesn’t matter; I’ll do whatever it takes. I think you know by now that I love you, and even if we can’t be together, I will accept that, if I know you’re alive and well. It will kill me, but I can let you go if I know that you’re out there somewhere, living, dancing, smiling your beautiful smile.

You’re always in my thoughts, Annwyl. Please try to endure until I return.

Your prince,

—Keirran

I lowered the note, handing it to Kenzie, and looked at Annwyl in alarm. “What’s Keirran up to?” I asked, studying the faery on my bed. She looked down as tiny yellow flowers began unfurling from the vines coiled around my bedposts. “What’s going on, Annwyl?”

“I didn’t want him to go,” Annwyl said, closing her eyes. “I don’t want him making deals, putting himself in danger, for me. It’s too late. There’s nothing he can do, now that it’s started.”

“What has started?”

Annwyl took a deep breath and opened her eyes to look at me. “I’m Fading, Ethan Chase,” she said. “Whatever the Forgotten did to me when I was with them, I think it accelerated the process. I can’t remember...a lot of things now.” She gestured to the vines on my bed, startling the moth into taking flight. “I can’t control this anymore. I’m honestly not trying to turn your room into a forest.” Shivering, she closed her eyes. “But worst of all, sometimes I’ll blank out, and when I come to, hours will have passed and I can’t remember anything. Like I’m not there anymore.”

Kenzie looked horrified. “You’re dying?” she whispered, but Annwyl shook her head.

“Faeries don’t really die,” she answered. “We can be killed, but our ‘death’ is more of a vanishing from existence. Nothing is left behind. For exiles cut off from the Nevernever, we just...fade away.”

“And there’s nothing you can do?” Kenzie asked.

Annwyl shook her head. “The Between normally slows the process a great deal, that’s why it’s a haven for exiles, but it’s not working for me anymore. Once the Fade starts, nothing can stop it, except returning to the Nevernever. And that’s not an option. Titania herself would have to lift my banishment, and we all know how likely that is.”

“So Keirran is trying to find a way to stop it,” I mused, and Annwyl nodded. Well, at least we knew what he was doing, even if we didn’t know where he was. “But why come here?” I asked. “What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know.” The Summer faery covered her face; she seemed on the verge of tears. “I’ve just...I’ve tried everything else. Everyone else. I even tried to contact Grimalkin, but he’s vanished, too. Or he’s not answering me.”

“What about Leanansidhe? She has a whole network of minions. If anyone could find him, she could.”

“She’s been trying. After a visit from the Prince Consort of Mag Tuiredh, she’s had her people out looking for him, too, but no one can track him down.”

The Prince Consort of Mag Tuiredh meant Ash. Both Ash and Meghan were out looking for Keirran, and they probably had others scouring the Nevernever for him, too. After I told Meghan about Keirran’s promise to the Forgotten Queen, it wasn’t surprising.

Annwyl swallowed, giving me a pleading look. “Please, Ethan Chase. I’m desperate. You’re his friend—I thought you could help. Or at least have an idea of where to find him.”

I raked a hand through my hair. “I haven’t seen him,” I told her. “Meghan showed up last night with the same question, but he hasn’t come to me. I have no idea where Keirran could have gotten to or who he’s hanging out with.” A thought crept into my head, turning my insides cold. “Annwyl, has Leanansidhe lost any more exiles? Has she been keeping track of what the Forgotten are doing?”

“She has.” The faery’s eyes glittered. “There haven’t been any more disappearances, at least not on that scale. The Forgotten are lying low, it seems. And as far as we can tell, Keirran isn’t with them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” The Summer faery gave a firm nod. “Leanansidhe is keeping a close eye out. There have been glimpses of the Forgotten from time to time, but Keirran is never with them.” Annwyl hesitated, picking at my bedspread. “Apparently, Keirran is on the move and never in the same spot for any length of time. There have been rumors of where he’s been, but by the time anyone gets there, he’s long gone.”

I relaxed. So, at least he hadn’t gone back to the Forgotten Queen just yet. But if that wasn’t the case, where the hell was he? What was he doing?

Kenzie hopped onto my bed, sitting beside the Summer faery like that was a perfectly normal thing to do. “Is there anything you know of that can stop this?” she asked gently. “What Keirran might be looking for?”

“No.” Annwyl shook her head. “There’s nothing. Glamour slows it down. Iron and technology speed it up. That’s how it’s always been. We’ve tried to find a way to cure it—exiles and banished fey have struggled against the Fade for centuries. But the only way to stop it completely is to return to the Nevernever.”

I took the note from where Kenzie had put it on my desk, scanning it again, searching for any hint of where my hardheaded nephew could be. “The letter says something about ‘price,’” I muttered. “That probably means he’s looking to either buy something or make some kind of deal.” Never a good idea in Faery.

I crossed to my desk and sank down into the chair, thinking. “All right,” I muttered, leaning back, “where is he going? What is he looking for?” I glanced at Annwyl again. “You said he’s been seen before he disappears. Where?”

“All over the place,” Annwyl replied. “Cairo, New York, the goblin market in Dublin—”

I sat up straighter in the chair. The girls blinked at me as I reached into my desk drawer and pulled out a leather journal, faded and worn with use.

“What is that?” Kenzie wanted to know.

“Research,” I muttered, flipping to a certain page with the words Known market locations scrawled across the top. Several places had been jotted down in messy rows, rumors and locations I’d picked up over the years. I’d written them down for the sole purpose of knowing when and how to avoid them. “Everything I’ve learned or have discovered about the fey. Including goblin markets.”

“What’s a goblin market?” Kenzie asked.

“A place where the fey come together to deal, sell and make bargains,” Annwyl replied. “You can find almost anything there, if you know where to look.”

“So, a faery black market.”

“Pretty much,” I said. “They’re all over the place, and they sell almost anything for the right price. If I were trying to find something without being asked too many questions, that’s where I would go.”

“So, we need to find a goblin market?”

“It’s not that easy,” I told her, still scanning the list. “You can’t just walk into one. Most goblin markets move around or are only in a particular spot at a particular time. Even if Keirran is hitting the goblin markets, I don’t know where to find...” I trailed off as my gaze rested on one of the market locations. Dammit. Of course this would happen now, just when my life was starting to be normal.

Kenzie frowned. “What is it?”

I sat back in the chair. “New Orleans,” I muttered, glaring at the journal, as if it was the cause of my headaches. “One of the biggest goblin markets in the country comes to New Orleans every month, on the night of the full moon.”

I felt Annwyl’s gaze on me. “Do you think he’ll be there?”

“I don’t know, Annwyl.” I rubbed at my eyes, frustrated. “We could be grasping at straws. All I know is, if Keirran wants to find something expressly forbidden or dangerous, the goblin markets are as good a place as any. No one asks questions, and no one cares who you are.”

“The first full moon,” Kenzie mused, then jerked upright on the bed. “That’s this weekend! That means we only have three days to figure out how we’re getting up there without our parents blowing a gasket.”

“Whoa, wait a second.” I stood quickly, holding up my hands. “Who said we’re going anywhere?”

“Ethan.” She gave me an exasperated look. “Keirran is my friend and your sister’s son. Annwyl came to us for help. Are you really going to stand there and tell me you’re not going to do anything?”

“Kenzie...” I paused. If I agreed to this, I would be plunging right back into that world I hated. Chasing down my half-fey nephew, searching for him at a goblin market, lying to my parents again; I didn’t want more faery drama. And I didn’t want to drag Kenzie into more dangerous situations, not with everything she’d already been through. And not when I was on such thin ice with her father.

But she was right. Keirran was out there. And even though he was part fey, stubborn, infuriating and probably going to get me in a lot of trouble, he was family. More than family, more than my nephew and Meghan’s son; he was a friend.

And Annwyl was in danger now, too. The Summer girl might’ve been part of the Seelie Court, but I didn’t want to see her Fade away to nothing. She’d risked a lot by coming here and obviously cared for the Iron Prince as much as he did her. If she disappeared, I didn’t know what Keirran would do, but it would probably be fairly drastic.

Her green eyes watched me now, beseeching, and I raked both hands through my hair. “I’ll think of something,” I told them both, seeing Kenzie smile at me and Annwyl sag with relief. “Right now, though, I need to take Kenzie home. Annwyl, you’re welcome to stay here if you like. I can get the sleeping bag down if you need a place to sleep.” Though I’d never thought I’d offer to let a faery stay in my room. Again. The last time it’d happened, Todd, the half phouka, and his piskie friend had spent the night, and I hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep.

Annwyl nodded solemnly. “I am...grateful, Ethan Chase,” Annwyl said. “I would not have come if I did not think you could help.”

I nodded, knowing that was the closest the fey got to saying thank-you, as they never spoke the actual words. Leaving the house, I told Mom I was taking Kenzie home, and we walked down the driveway in silence, me scanning the bushes and shadows for this mysterious Thin Man. If he was anywhere nearby, I didn’t see him.

I unlocked and opened the truck door for Kenzie, but instead of climbing in, she stepped close and put her arms around me. “Well,” she said as mine slipped around her waist, “here we go again.”

I sighed, knowing it was useless to argue or try to convince her not to go. Tonight, anyway. “You are way too eager for this,” I told her, and she grinned cheekily. “It would be so much easier if you were one of those girls who ran away screaming.”

She laughed. “Sorry, tough guy. Looks like you got the abnormal girlfriend who talks to little green men and sees invisible things.” Her cool fingers slipped into my hair, and my stomach knotted. “But you know you can vent to me about any of this, right? You don’t have to face them all by yourself anymore.”

My voice came out kind of husky. “I know. I just... I want you to be safe.”

Her smile turned bittersweet. “I don’t have that kind of time.”

The porch light winked on, Mom’s way of letting me know she was still up, and I winced. “Come on,” I said, reluctantly drawing back. “I’ll take you home.”

After dropping Kenzie off at her house—and the stomach-curling good-night kiss in the driveway—I returned home to find Annwyl in the living room, hovering over my mom’s potted plants. The wilted houseplants looked better than they ever had under Mom’s not-so-green thumb, but having a faery wandering around my home made me nervous, even if it was Annwyl, and I steered her back into my room.

“Where would you like me to sleep?” she asked as I closed the door. Mom had finally gone to bed, but Dad might be home any minute and didn’t need to hear me talking to myself in the wee hours of the morning. Annwyl regarded me solemnly. “If you have charms placed around your house, I could go outside. I don’t think the Thin Man will come through the wards.”

But she sounded frightened, and I shook my head. “No, Annwyl, I’m not going to make you sleep outside, especially if something is after you.” I scrubbed a hand through my hair, not liking the other alternative but seeing no other choice. “You can stay here. Take the bed, in fact—I have a sleeping bag in the closet.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh no, that would be improper,” she protested, looking stunned. “Especially since I owe you so much. You are the Iron Queen’s brother. I cannot presume to sleep in the prince’s bed.”

“Annwyl, you’re not a servant anymore.” I opened the closet and hauled the sleeping bag and pillow from the top shelf. “That changed the second Titania banished you from the Nevernever. And I’m definitely not a prince.” I turned, tossing the sleeping bag on the floor, unrolling it with my foot. “You’re not with Titania or Leanansidhe now. You’re a guest here, and you don’t owe me anything.”

She gazed at me, still unsure, and my heartbeat picked up. I won’t lie; Annwyl was beautiful. Big green eyes, shining brown hair, her body soft and graceful beneath her dress. I was a guy, after all, and I wasn’t blind. But seeing her didn’t make my stomach twist with nerves or the corners of my mouth want to turn up in a smile like they did with Kenzie. Besides, Annwyl was someone else’s, someone whose insane protective streak ran even deeper than mine, and she was a faery on top of that. So that pretty much killed any tempting thoughts about having a beautiful girl spend the night in my room.

“Take the bed,” I told her again, pointing to the mattress. “I know this is a little awkward, but we’ll have to get through it until we can find Keirran. Hopefully it won’t be too long.”

After the Summer faery finally fell asleep on my mattress, I lay awake on the floor, thinking. About Keirran and his whereabouts, what he thought he was doing: hiding from everyone, dragging me into his problems. About Annwyl. She was Fading, dying, really, and the Iron Prince had to be frantic to save her, if there was a way at all. How the hell I would convince my parents that I needed to disappear again.

But mostly, I thought about Mackenzie and how I was going to protect her from the world she insisted on being a part of.