I snorted as Kenzie joined us, Razor buzzing worriedly from her shoulder. “Wow, is that how I sounded all this time?” I asked the girl, who nodded fervently. “Why didn’t you smack me earlier? Keirran, we’re not leaving. Annwyl is our friend, too, but more important—”
“—we’re not letting you do this alone,” Kenzie finished, giving the prince a fierce look. Maybe it was my imagination, but she sounded rather breathless, as if the walk had taken a lot out of her. Though she continued without hesitation. “And if I have to tell you this as much as I told Ethan, I will. We’re not leaving until this is done, one way or another.”
“Kenzie.” Keirran bowed his head. “I’m sorry for what I did to your family,” he said in a low voice. “Please forgive me. I don’t deserve your friendship, but I’m glad you’re here.” He flicked a glance at me. “Both of you. And I swear, I’ll make everything right when this is all over.”
Kenzie gave him a small smile and started to reply, but suddenly winced and fell, her legs giving out beneath her. Alarmed, I started forward as Keirran caught the girl, steadying her as she sagged against him. Razor buzzed and leaped to the prince’s back, peering down anxiously as I crowded in.
“Kenzie!”
“I’m okay” was the gasping reply. But she didn’t look okay, clinging to the prince, barely able to stand. Keirran gently drew her upright, then stepped back to let me take over. I looped her arm around my neck and lifted her off her feet, ignoring her protests.
Carrying her over to the far wall, I gently sat her down and knelt beside her, watching her face. She was pale, breathing hard, and dark circles crouched under her eyes, making my heart twist. Keirran hovered nearby, his expression concerned, Razor whimpering from his shoulder.
“Kenzie? What happened?”
“It’s all right, Ethan,” she murmured, sounding extremely tired. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I guess I’m not fully recovered from the hospital.”
“I’ll go find some food,” Keirran announced, stepping back. “We haven’t eaten all day, and she’ll need to keep up her strength. I’ll be all right,” he added as I looked up at him sharply. “I’ve hunted the wyldwood countless times. I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”
I didn’t like us splitting up, but Keirran was probably right. The wyldwood was practically his backyard. “Be careful,” I warned, and the prince nodded once, turned and slipped out of the cave with Razor. His bright form glimmered briefly through the curtain of water, the gremlin’s eyes flashing as he looked back, and they were gone.
Kenzie shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as if she was cold. I sat beside her and pulled her into my lap, tucking her close to my body. She sniffed and curled into me, and I held her tight. “Déjà vu, huh?” she whispered, reminding me of another cave with a sandy floor, and Kenzie in my lap, pressed close for comfort. Our first kiss... “Sorry,” she went on, dropping her head. “I didn’t want you worrying about me when we got here.”
I sighed. “Kenzie, I’ll always worry about you whenever we go into the Nevernever,” I told her, running a hand down her hair. “Or when you follow me into a goblin market. Or when you make a bargain with a faery. I’m always going to worry, and I’m always going to try to protect you. It’s just something you’ll have to accept about me.
“But,” I continued, “when I said I wouldn’t try to stop you anymore, I meant it. I’ll still be insanely overprotective, and you’ll probably want to punch me sometimes, but...I want you here, with me. However long we have—” I slipped my fingers under her chin and gently turned her face to mine “—I want to spend it with you.”
Her eyes prickled as I kissed her. Softly at first, wanting to be gentle. But Kenzie responded with shocking urgency. Her hands fisted in my hair, and her tongue pressed against my lips, demanding entry. And then I stopped being aware of anything but her lips, her scent, her hands on my chest, slipping under my shirt. I groaned against her mouth as soft fingers traced my stomach, making my skin dance and my blood sizzle. My face dropped to her neck, trailing kisses down her shoulder, and she gasped and arched her head back, whispering my name.
Hooking her fingers behind my neck, she leaned back, easing us both to the sandy floor. I shifted so I wasn’t crushing her, gazing down at the girl beneath me, my elbows straddling her head. She was beautiful, an angel who had reached down and yanked me out of my miserable, lonely existence, and dammit if that wasn’t the sappiest thing I’d ever thought but it was completely true. Kenzie smiled up at me, sad and tender and a little scared, and my heart began pounding in my chest.
“Ethan?” She chewed her lip in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness. “Do you want to know the secret I told the bird faery at the goblin market?”
I looked at her, puzzled. Strange that she’d bring that up now. “I guess so,” I said, shrugging. “But only if you want to tell me.”
“I do,” Kenzie said quickly and looked away. “Well, not really, but...um...it’s...it’s something you should know, I think. I mean...” She winced. “Crap.”
Normally, I would’ve found the idea of Mackenzie stuttering cute, as infrequent as it was, and would’ve called her on it. But right now, the last thing I wanted to do was tease and lose whatever was happening between us, whatever this was. I brushed my thumb across her cheek, making her close her eyes, and murmured, “You can tell me.”
“It was that, well...I just...” She sighed and continued in a whisper, “I’ve never...been with anyone before. You know, really been with anyone. And I was afraid I would die before I ever found someone to...you know.” She bit her lip again, brow furrowing. “That’s the secret I traded away. The secret the bird faery knows about me.”
She colored fiercely and averted her gaze. I was having trouble breathing. “I don’t know why I wanted to tell you now,” she went on softly, still not looking at me. “I certainly don’t expect to rectify that here, but...I guess I wanted you to know. In case...” She trailed off again, but I knew what she meant. Everything was borrowed time with Kenzie. Being afraid she would never get the chance to do everything she wanted.
Very gently, I kissed her, just the slightest touch of her lips to mine. “I’ll wait,” I told her softly. “You don’t have to worry about that. Not with me.” A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, and I caught it before it hit the sand. “Whenever you’re ready, just let me know. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
* * *
When Keirran returned, Kenzie was nearly asleep, drifting off against my chest. She woke up long enough to eat a couple wild pears Keirran had found—after he swore to me about a dozen times they were safe—before curling into me again. I held her quietly, watching as Keirran started a fire, piling wood into a sandy pit before holding his palm over the kindling. Glamour shimmered, and a small flame sprang up to consume the wood, throwing back the shadows. The Iron Prince sat down in front of the fire, drawing a knee to his chest, and brooded into the flames.
Kenzie shifted in my arms, murmuring something about “Alex” in her sleep. I wondered what her family was doing now, what my family was doing now.
By the fire, Keirran’s gaze was dark. Was he thinking of Meghan or Ash? Did he miss his family, or were all his thoughts on Annwyl and the thing connecting them both? The amulet that was slowly killing him.
“You can go to sleep if you want,” he announced without looking up. “I’ll take first watch.”
I smirked and shook my head, speaking quietly so as not to wake Kenzie. “I couldn’t if I wanted to. My irrational paranoia of goblins eating my face while I sleep sort of makes that impossible.”
“That’s probably wise.” Keirran rested his chin on his knee. Razor hopped off his shoulder to poke a twig at the fire. “I didn’t realize Kenzie was so ill,” Keirran said after a moment. “She mentioned being sick, but I just didn’t put it together. I swear, Ethan, I wouldn’t have asked her to come if I knew.”
I snorted. “You wouldn’t have been able to stop her. Trust me, I made that mistake once. It doesn’t work.” I looked down at the sleeping girl in my arms, holding her tighter. “She made her choice,” I said softly. “All I can do now is protect her.”
“Do you ever...?” Keirran paused as if worried he might offend me, then continued. “Do you ever think that there’s something you can do, a deal or bargain you can make, to help her get better? I mean, magic exists everywhere in the Nevernever. If you just accepted the cost—”
“No.” My voice came out slightly choked. “No faery magic, no bargains, no deals. I refuse to gamble for Kenzie’s health. Some prices are too high.”
“Even if it meant saving her life?” Keirran glanced at me, the flames casting weird, flickering shadows over his hunched form.
“Leave it alone, Keirran.”
“I don’t like it, either, but...aren’t some prices worth paying for the one you love?”
“I said leave it alone,” I snapped, and Kenzie stirred against me. Wincing, I adjusted my arms around her and buried my face in her hair. I wish I could, I thought, closing my eyes. I wish there was some way, some bargain or deal or contract, to make you well again, but I know the rules. Nothing is free. Magic and power always come with a price. And maybe that’s selfish and paranoid, but I’m not willing to pay that price, or have you pay that price. Not yet. Not when there’s still a chance you could be okay without it.
Keirran fell silent, and when I looked up again, he had gone back to staring into the fire. Razor was curled up in the sand by the pit, buzzing and twitching in his dreams.
“I envy you sometimes, you know,” Keirran said quietly after a moment. He glanced my way, a faint, bitter smile crossing his face. “Sometimes I wonder what it’s like, being completely human. Not having to deal with the courts and the crazy politics that come with them. Not having to give up the one you love because the ancient law says you can’t be together.” He hunched forward again, staring into the flames. “I know I can’t have her,” he said, his face pinched and tight. “I know when she goes back to Arcadia, we’ll be forced apart. Even if I’m willing to face exile, I can’t do that to her.” He blew out a breath, raking both hands through his silver hair. “I just...I wish there was something, some way to get around this stupid law. My parents did it. Dad went all the way to the End of the World to be with Mom. He even woke up an ancient queen in the process, but they still found a way.”
“So, Ash did wake up the Lady, just like the Thin Man said.”
“Yes,” Keirran sighed, hanging his head. “At least, that’s what she told me. She had been sleeping for centuries, forgotten by everyone in Faery and the mortal world. And then, one day, there was a change in the air. Something broke through her slumber, a glamour so powerful it woke her up and brought her back from the edge of oblivion. When she finally grew strong enough to emerge from the darkness, Faery as she knew it had changed, and there were many others like her, confused and forgotten. But they were no longer content to sit back and wait for the Fade to take them—they wanted to live. So, she gathered like-minded Forgotten to her side, and eventually they made their way to the mortal world. The ironic part is, she wouldn’t have awoken if my father hadn’t gone on that quest to be with Mom. So you see,” he finished, tossing a stick into the fire, “it’s sort of our fault the Forgotten are here.”