Keirran’s gaze darkened. “That’s a long story,” he said softly. “And we don’t have time to discuss it now. When Annwyl is safe, I’ll tell you the whole thing, I promise.”

He opened the door and stepped through without looking back.

I took Kenzie’s hand. “Back into the Nevernever,” I groaned, and she squeezed my fingers in sympathy. “Are you ready for this?”

“Don’t worry about me, tough guy.” Kenzie grinned, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve been waiting for this ever since we got back. Oh, and if you see a dragon, be sure to point it out so I can go poke it with a stick.”

“You know, that would be funny if I wasn’t terrified you’d actually do it.”

She rolled her eyes, pulling me forward. “Come on, Ethan. We’ve already fought some of the nastiest things Faery has to offer. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Never say things like that, I thought as we crossed the threshold and slipped into the closet. The darkness surrounding us cleared, and we stumbled between a pair of gnarled trunks, into the familiar twilight of Faery.

Part III

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BENEATH THE WATERFALL

We followed Keirran through the wyldwood for several hours, walking beneath huge dark trees that shut out the light, passing shocking flashes of color in an otherwise gray world. The Nevernever was just as strange, murky and dangerous as I remembered from my last trip. Which was only last week, I reminded myself. I wondered what my parents were doing, if I had really crossed the line with this last stunt. I was going to have to talk to them—again—when I got home. I couldn’t rely on Meghan to show up and give me a free pass whenever I went off into Faery. And by the looks of things, that was bound to happen more and more now. My days of hiding from the fey, of hoping they wouldn’t notice me, were over.

Strangely, that didn’t bother me as much as it should have.

I kept my swords out, scanning the trees constantly, ready to act against any nasty fey that tried to ambush us. Amazingly, our hike through the wyldwood was uneventful; except for a will-o’-the-wisp and a curious wood sprite that kept appearing in the branches overhead, I didn’t see any fey.

Night was beginning to fall, the eternal twilight of the wyldwood shifting into darkness, when Keirran led us down a twisty narrow path, beneath a silvery waterfall and into a small cave. The floor was covered in pale sand, and the ceiling glittered with millions of tiny lights, resembling the night sky.

“We’ll stop here for the night,” Keirran said as Razor hopped from his shoulder to roll about in the sand, buzzing. “I’d continue on, but pressing through the wyldwood in the dark is asking for trouble.”

“How far to the Summer Court?” I asked, finally sheathing my weapons. The cave was small and appeared uninhabited, no bones or blood spatters on the wall, at least. I guessed that was as safe as you could get in the Nevernever.

“Not far,” Keirran said. “We should reach it tomorrow. Provided we don’t run into any unforeseen problems.”

Unforeseen problems. Yeah, that still wasn’t likely. I was amazed we’d gotten this far without trouble. And when we did reach the Seelie Court, we would have to deal with our biggest challenge yet: convincing the infamously fickle Queen of the Summer Court to lift Annwyl’s exile and let her come home. I didn’t know how we were going to manage that. Frankly, Titania scared me. I knew the stories. I knew that one wrong word or action could get you turned into a rabbit, or a rosebush, or trapped in the Summer Court forever, dancing for the queen’s amusement. You did not screw around with the queens of Faery. In fact, the only other person I was less enthused about meeting in the entire Nevernever was Mab, the ruler of Winter. I only hoped Keirran had a convincing plan in mind.

Speaking of Keirran, he hadn’t said much through the entire hike. I knew he was concerned about Annwyl, and the amulet sucking away at his glamour was probably on his mind, too, but the flat, blank look in his eyes worried me. He stood at the entrance of the cave now, his back to us, gazing through the falling water.

“Hey,” I said, walking up to him. He turned, looking very tired, and I tapped his shoulder in encouragement. “She’ll be fine,” I said. “We’re almost to the Seelie Court. You’ll just have to convince Titania that it’s in her best interests to raise Annwyl’s exile. I’m sure you can agree on something, right?”

Keirran gave a faint smile. “Titania...doesn’t like me very much,” he admitted. “Well, at all, really. She’s always hated Mom and barely tolerates me when I visit Arcadia. I’m sure the queen will be ecstatic when I come begging her for a favor. She’ll finally have me right where she wants—not even Oberon will be able to help.” He winced, then gave me a grave look. “Ethan, the price Titania will demand of me is going to be very high. You don’t have to come. I don’t want to drag you and Kenzie into this. You can go home if you want.... I won’t hold it against you.”

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?”