The Iron Traitor
Page 15

She nodded.
“You’re certain you can make the drive up to New Orleans?” I gave the faery a serious look. “It’s not going to be very pleasant, Annwyl. We’ll be in my truck the whole way, nearly two hours.”
“I know.” Annwyl looked like someone getting ready to march out to the gallows. “But we have to do this. I don’t know of any local trods to New Orleans, and I don’t dare go back to Leanansidhe’s. I can endure two hours of iron sickness if it gets us closer to Keirran.”
The desperate hope in her voice made my stomach tighten. Turning away, I opened the bedroom door a crack and peered into the hallway. The rest of the house was dark; both parents were still sleeping. Guilt and fear raised goose bumps on my skin; I didn’t want to do this, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I couldn’t let Dad drive me to New Orleans. He didn’t understand the fey, and I refused to drag my family into the hidden world. This was something I had to do myself.
I glanced over my shoulder at Annwyl. “Stay close,” I warned in a whisper. “It’ll be most dangerous when we go outside. Creepy Thin Man shouldn’t be able to get past the wards, and once we’re in the truck, we should be safe. Still, let’s do this quickly and quietly.”
“I’m ready,” Annwyl whispered, and we stepped into the hall.
Tiptoeing through the silent house, I paused in the kitchen just long enough to grab a soda and leave a quick note on the counter.
Mom, Dad, I’ve gone ahead to New Orleans. I’m sorry, but I have to do this alone. Will call you this afternoon from the hotel. Please don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Back in a couple days.
—Ethan
They would be pissed at me for certain, and I’d probably get an angry phone call from Mom as soon as she found the note, but I couldn’t wait. Annwyl needed help, and I didn’t trust Creepy Thin Man to stay on the other side of the wards. Even if he did, I certainly didn’t want him hanging around my house, watching us, waiting for someone to step outside.
Outside.
The front door creaked softly as I eased it open, peering around the front lawn and my old truck parked in the driveway. Annwyl pressed close behind me, her warmth and the smell of new leaves at my back.
“I don’t see him,” she whispered.
I didn’t, either, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t watching us. “Hurry,” I growled and slipped onto the steps, jogging lightly down the walk toward the driveway. Annwyl followed, making absolutely no sound, as graceful as a deer bounding through the trees.
And then he was there at the end of the driveway, turning suddenly into existence, pale eye gleaming with wicked intent. Annwyl gasped, and I snarled a curse, drawing my sword in one smooth motion. He didn’t step forward, couldn’t cross the driveway, but his mouth opened impossibly wide, like a snake unhinging its jaws, revealing a gaping black hole within. I felt a faint pull in the air, a cold, sluggish feeling in my limbs, and my heart shrank with fear. Not for me; I’d felt this before and knew it couldn’t hurt mortals. But Annwyl stumbled like she was fighting a sudden typhoon, falling to her knees on the pavement. She flickered, nearly blinking out of existence, as the thin Forgotten sucked away her glamour, magic and everything she was.
Snarling, I leaped across the driveway and slashed at the Thin Man, stabbing my blade toward his wizened chest. He darted backward shockingly fast and turned again, vanishing from sight.
Panting, I raised my sword and glanced around. I’d always been able to see the fey; that this sneaky bastard could get around my Sight made me nervous and a little angry.
“Ethan!” cried Annwyl somewhere behind me, “to your left!”
I spun, lashing out with my blade, just as a long arm appeared out of nothing, reaching for me. I felt fingers catch my duffel bag with a tearing sound and slashed the empty air beneath the arm, feeling the very tip of my blade strike something solid. A pale ribbon of blood coiled through the air like mist, followed by a thin wail.
I ran back to Annwyl, pulling her upright as a light came on in my parent’s bedroom. Biting down curses, I half carried the Summer faery over to my truck, wrenched the door open and pushed her into the cab. Slamming the door, I turned to see the Thin Man in the center of the road, silvery blood writhing into the air from a gash in his side. He was no longer smiling.
“You cannot hide from me, Ethan Chase,” he called as I hurried to the driver’s side of the truck. “No matter where you take the Summer girl, no matter how far you run, I will find you both.”
I ignored him as I tossed my bag onto the floor and leaped behind the wheel, slamming the door behind me. Annwyl was hunched on the seat with her eyes closed, leaning away from the door, but I couldn’t worry about her now. Jamming the key into the ignition, I cranked the truck to life as another light gleamed in the windows of my house—the kitchen this time. Throwing the truck into Reverse, I backed out of the driveway, hoping to hit Creepy Thin Man with a few tons of iron and steel as I did. Sadly, that didn’t happen, but nothing attacked us as I yanked the shaft into Drive, hit the gas pedal and sped off down the street.
* * *
“Well,” Annwyl said after a moment of letting our heartbeats return to normal, “that was...exciting.”
I glanced at her. She sat as far as she could get from the door of the cab, arms around her stomach, leaning forward. Her jaw was set, her moss-green eyes slightly glazed. She looked like she was experiencing the world’s worst hangover and was about to hurl all over the floor of my truck.
“Annwyl,” I said urgently. “Can you do this? Will you be all right?”
The Summer faery gave a tight, painful nod. “It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced the iron sickness,” she murmured, not looking up. “I’d forgotten...how unpleasant it is.” She sat up carefully, as if checking to see whether she was all there. “I’m all right,” she breathed, as though trying to convince herself. “I’m not gone yet.”
Two minutes later, my phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket, checking the number, and my stomach dropped.
“You’re in big trouble, young man” was Dad’s greeting when I answered. I winced.
“Yeah, I figured.”
“Care to tell me what was so important that you had to lie to me last night?”
I sneaked another glance at Annwyl. She gazed back apologetically, as if she knew who was on the line and what we were talking about. I thought of the Thin Man, skulking around the yard, and how Mom would react if I told her what had happened. “No,” I said, feeling Dad’s disapproval all the way from the house. “But I’ll explain everything when I get home.”
“Ethan!” Mom’s voice crackled in my ear; it sounded like she had been crying. “Come home, do you hear me? Come back right now.”
A lump caught in my throat. “I can’t,” I whispered. “I’m sorry. I’ll be back in a couple days, I promise.”
No answer, just a muffled sob, and then Dad took over again. “Call us as soon as you get to New Orleans,” he ordered, his voice stern and controlled, trying to mask his anger. “And every few hours after that, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You be careful out there, Ethan.” Almost a warning. I swallowed hard.
“I will.”
I pressed End Call and lowered the phone, wishing it didn’t have to be this way. I almost regretted telling them the truth, but no, it was better that they finally realize what I had to deal with. At least this way they would know what had happened to me...if I never came home.
The drive to New Orleans was mostly silent. Annwyl huddled in the passenger seat and gazed out the side window, her eyes glassy with discomfort and pain. I flipped on the radio and searched until I found a classical music station, trying to make the ride more bearable for her. Every so often, she would flicker and blur from the corner of my eye, making my skin crawl and my head snap over to make sure she was still there.
We took a break at a rest stop, and I followed her to a stand of trees, watching in concern as she pressed her forehead to the trunk, breathing hard.
“You gonna be okay?” I asked again, just to get her talking, to hear her voice. The farther we went, the more it felt like I was sitting next to a ghost, slowing dissolving in the sunlight.
Annwyl nodded. “Yes,” she whispered, looking back with a brave smile. “I can make it. I’ll be all right. How far is it to...to...” Her forehead creased. “Where are we going again?”
I ignored the stab of fear. “New Orleans,” I replied. “The goblin market.”
“That’s right.” Annwyl leaned a shoulder against the tree, where strands of bright green ivy were slowly creeping up toward the branches, rustling softly as they coiled around the trunk. I swallowed and hoped no one would look this way. “Keirran,” Annwyl mused, her quiet voice colored with longing. “Will he be there?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I hope so. We’re really just grasping at straws, and I still have to find where this month’s goblin market is being held.” Luckily, I had a pretty good idea of who to ask for that information. The local dryads of City Park were rumored to be some of the oldest faeries in New Orleans and knew almost all there was to know about the city’s secret life. I just hoped the price for that information wasn’t too high.
“The full moon is tonight,” I went on as Annwyl absently brushed a dead branch. It came to life again beneath her fingers. “Once we find out where the market is, we’ll head over and have a look around. Even if Keirran doesn’t show up, there has to be someone there who might know where he is and where he’ll be.”
Annwyl nodded again. “I hope so,” she whispered. “I don’t know how long I have left.”
The sense of foreboding grew. “Come on,” I said, starting back toward my truck. “I’ll tell you the whole story on the road. But we should get going.” And let’s hope that when we find Keirran, Annwyl will still know who he is and why she wants to see him.