The Iron Warrior
Page 18
“Kenzie, stay back,” I said, stepping to the edge of the circle. She made an angry, impatient sound, but at least she didn’t protest. “Guro,” I went on without turning around, “I’m sorry for the trouble this has brought you. You don’t have to do anything. They’re here for me.” Though I doubted my master would stay back and let me face the Forgotten alone.
As expected, Guro silently moved beside me, raising his swords, and it might’ve been my imagination, but the crowd of Forgotten seemed to flinch as he came close.
“Wait!” And Kenzie lunged beside us, glaring fiercely as the Forgotten pressed close. She raised both hands, the large, now open canister of salt between them, and flung the contents in a wide arc before us.
The Forgotten screamed as the salt hit them, flinching back and covering their eyes and faces. They staggered away, tendrils of black curling from their bodies like smoke, and a hole opened up through the mob.
“Go!” Kenzie cried, and darted forward, slinging more salt and forcing the faeries back. Jolted into action, I raced after her, Guro right behind me. We hit the steps without being clawed to pieces, bounded up the stairwell into the kitchen, and slammed the door behind us.
Heart racing, I whirled, ready for the dark flood that would come from below, but Kenzie was already pouring the last grains of the salt over the threshold. As she did, a long black arm slid beneath the crack in the door, slashing at her and making my stomach lodge in my throat. Kenzie flinched back but finished dumping the last of the salt across the door frame, and the arm dissolved into black mist and writhed away into nothingness.
“There.” Shaking, Kenzie rose and quickly stepped back, while Razor buzzed and hissed from her shoulder, shaking a tiny fist at the door. “That should buy us some time, at least. Everyone okay?”
“Yeah,” I gasped, looking at Guro. “We should go,” I told him, backing toward the door. I wished I could’ve stayed, talked to him a little more. I still had so many questions and so many things I wanted to explain. Who knew if I’d get another chance? But as usual, when involved with Faery madness, the best thing I could do for anyone was to stay far, far away. “Thank you again, Guro. For everything.”
“Wait,” Guro ordered, and stalked to the kitchen table, grabbing a pair of keys and a cell phone off the surface. “I’ll drive you somewhere safe,” he said, turning back to us. “Do you have somewhere you can go, somewhere these creatures won’t follow?”
“Guro.” I hesitated, grateful but reluctant to drag him in even further. “What about your family?”
He held up the phone. “I’ll call Maria, tell her and Sadie not to come home tonight. They can stay with her grandparents until it is safe to return. They will be fine. But you two need to put some distance between yourself and those hunting for you.”
“But...”
A blow rattled the door to the basement, making me jump, and Guro’s eyes narrowed. “We can talk about it in the car, Ethan,” he said briskly, striding across the room. “Let us go now.”
With no choice, I followed Guro out the door and into the driveway, sliding into the backseat of his car with Kenzie and Razor on the other side.
A yellow-eyed silhouette appeared in the window of the house, and Razor hissed, his glowing blue teeth throwing flickering lights over the cab, giving me a slight headache. But Guro didn’t seem to notice the gremlin or the shadow as he backed onto the road, put the car in Drive and sped off into the coming dusk.
CHAPTER EIGHT
CALLING ON FAERY
“They’re not following us,” Kenzie murmured, peering out the back window. “At least, I don’t see them.”
I relaxed, finally loosening my death grip on my swords, and leaned them upright against the seat in front of me. Kenzie turned from the window, sliding close, and Razor crawled into her lap and curled up like a naked mutant Chihuahua.
Guro watched us from the rearview mirror, dark eyes appraising. “Where will you go now?” he asked.
“Um.” I raked my hair back, trying to think. “Back to the Nevernever, I guess,” I said, knowing full well that Guro couldn’t take us there in his car. The impossibility of what we had to do descended on me again: get the amulet, find Keirran and convince the Iron Prince to destroy it himself. The Iron Prince who had just tried to kill me using his horde of Forgotten minions. It seemed pretty hopeless, but one step at a time. “We’ll need to get that amulet first,” I mused, planning the next course of action, “so that means we have to find Annwyl. Any idea where she is?”
“Leanansidhe,” Kenzie said, making Razor hiss and flatten his ears to his skull. “Last time we saw her, she had gone back to Leanansidhe’s. We have to find a trod to the Between.”
“Easier said than done,” I muttered, trying to remember the few instances we’d gone to Leanansidhe’s. Keirran had taken us there both times, and of course that wasn’t an option now. “We have to find a trod to Leanansidhe’s first. There was one just a few blocks from my house,” I said, scowling as I remembered, “but then Keirran went and destroyed it from this side, so that’s out. Dammit, where’s Grimalkin when you need him?”
Huh, never thought I’d ever say that.
There was a buzz from Kenzie’s lap, and Razor suddenly poked his head up, blinking at us with huge green eyes. “Razor knows,” he said, glancing up at Kenzie. “Don’t need bad evil kitty. Razor knows trod to Scary Lady’s house.”
“What?” Kenzie looked down, and the gremlin watched her like an adoring dog. “Razor, you know how to get to Leanansidhe’s from here?”
The gremlin shook his head, ears flapping. “Not here,” he said. “Not from human world. Go to wyldwood, find trod to Scary Lady. But Razor knows. Razor show pretty girl and funny boy the way.”
“So, just to be certain,” I said, attempting to follow the gremlin’s strange way of speaking, “you’re saying, if we go back to the Nevernever, you can get us to Leanansidhe’s, right?”
The gremlin blinked at me, as if I was the thick one, and nodded.
“Okay.” I sighed, leaning back in the seat. “That sounds just about right. So now all we need is a trod back to the Nevernever.”
“What about the one at the abandoned house?” Kenzie mused. “That one should work if Razor is with us. And the local bogeys don’t chase us away.”
I nodded wearily. “That’s our best option, I guess. Do you remember how to get there?”
“I think so.”
Throughout this whole conversation, Guro hadn’t said a word, though I could still feel him watching us from the mirror. If he thought we were both out of our minds, having a conversation about faeries with something he could neither see nor hear, he didn’t say anything. “Where do you need to go?” he asked, and Kenzie scooted forward to give him directions.
A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of a familiar abandoned house surrounded by chain link and rotting in the middle of an overgrown lot. I swallowed hard, remembering. The last time we’d come here had been with Keirran.
Guro rolled down the window as we piled out, his dark gaze fixing on me. I hesitated, knowing how suspicious this would look to anyone else, two kids walking toward an abandoned house, one of them wearing a pair of swords at his waist. “Guro,” I began, not really knowing what to say. “I...”
As expected, Guro silently moved beside me, raising his swords, and it might’ve been my imagination, but the crowd of Forgotten seemed to flinch as he came close.
“Wait!” And Kenzie lunged beside us, glaring fiercely as the Forgotten pressed close. She raised both hands, the large, now open canister of salt between them, and flung the contents in a wide arc before us.
The Forgotten screamed as the salt hit them, flinching back and covering their eyes and faces. They staggered away, tendrils of black curling from their bodies like smoke, and a hole opened up through the mob.
“Go!” Kenzie cried, and darted forward, slinging more salt and forcing the faeries back. Jolted into action, I raced after her, Guro right behind me. We hit the steps without being clawed to pieces, bounded up the stairwell into the kitchen, and slammed the door behind us.
Heart racing, I whirled, ready for the dark flood that would come from below, but Kenzie was already pouring the last grains of the salt over the threshold. As she did, a long black arm slid beneath the crack in the door, slashing at her and making my stomach lodge in my throat. Kenzie flinched back but finished dumping the last of the salt across the door frame, and the arm dissolved into black mist and writhed away into nothingness.
“There.” Shaking, Kenzie rose and quickly stepped back, while Razor buzzed and hissed from her shoulder, shaking a tiny fist at the door. “That should buy us some time, at least. Everyone okay?”
“Yeah,” I gasped, looking at Guro. “We should go,” I told him, backing toward the door. I wished I could’ve stayed, talked to him a little more. I still had so many questions and so many things I wanted to explain. Who knew if I’d get another chance? But as usual, when involved with Faery madness, the best thing I could do for anyone was to stay far, far away. “Thank you again, Guro. For everything.”
“Wait,” Guro ordered, and stalked to the kitchen table, grabbing a pair of keys and a cell phone off the surface. “I’ll drive you somewhere safe,” he said, turning back to us. “Do you have somewhere you can go, somewhere these creatures won’t follow?”
“Guro.” I hesitated, grateful but reluctant to drag him in even further. “What about your family?”
He held up the phone. “I’ll call Maria, tell her and Sadie not to come home tonight. They can stay with her grandparents until it is safe to return. They will be fine. But you two need to put some distance between yourself and those hunting for you.”
“But...”
A blow rattled the door to the basement, making me jump, and Guro’s eyes narrowed. “We can talk about it in the car, Ethan,” he said briskly, striding across the room. “Let us go now.”
With no choice, I followed Guro out the door and into the driveway, sliding into the backseat of his car with Kenzie and Razor on the other side.
A yellow-eyed silhouette appeared in the window of the house, and Razor hissed, his glowing blue teeth throwing flickering lights over the cab, giving me a slight headache. But Guro didn’t seem to notice the gremlin or the shadow as he backed onto the road, put the car in Drive and sped off into the coming dusk.
CHAPTER EIGHT
CALLING ON FAERY
“They’re not following us,” Kenzie murmured, peering out the back window. “At least, I don’t see them.”
I relaxed, finally loosening my death grip on my swords, and leaned them upright against the seat in front of me. Kenzie turned from the window, sliding close, and Razor crawled into her lap and curled up like a naked mutant Chihuahua.
Guro watched us from the rearview mirror, dark eyes appraising. “Where will you go now?” he asked.
“Um.” I raked my hair back, trying to think. “Back to the Nevernever, I guess,” I said, knowing full well that Guro couldn’t take us there in his car. The impossibility of what we had to do descended on me again: get the amulet, find Keirran and convince the Iron Prince to destroy it himself. The Iron Prince who had just tried to kill me using his horde of Forgotten minions. It seemed pretty hopeless, but one step at a time. “We’ll need to get that amulet first,” I mused, planning the next course of action, “so that means we have to find Annwyl. Any idea where she is?”
“Leanansidhe,” Kenzie said, making Razor hiss and flatten his ears to his skull. “Last time we saw her, she had gone back to Leanansidhe’s. We have to find a trod to the Between.”
“Easier said than done,” I muttered, trying to remember the few instances we’d gone to Leanansidhe’s. Keirran had taken us there both times, and of course that wasn’t an option now. “We have to find a trod to Leanansidhe’s first. There was one just a few blocks from my house,” I said, scowling as I remembered, “but then Keirran went and destroyed it from this side, so that’s out. Dammit, where’s Grimalkin when you need him?”
Huh, never thought I’d ever say that.
There was a buzz from Kenzie’s lap, and Razor suddenly poked his head up, blinking at us with huge green eyes. “Razor knows,” he said, glancing up at Kenzie. “Don’t need bad evil kitty. Razor knows trod to Scary Lady’s house.”
“What?” Kenzie looked down, and the gremlin watched her like an adoring dog. “Razor, you know how to get to Leanansidhe’s from here?”
The gremlin shook his head, ears flapping. “Not here,” he said. “Not from human world. Go to wyldwood, find trod to Scary Lady. But Razor knows. Razor show pretty girl and funny boy the way.”
“So, just to be certain,” I said, attempting to follow the gremlin’s strange way of speaking, “you’re saying, if we go back to the Nevernever, you can get us to Leanansidhe’s, right?”
The gremlin blinked at me, as if I was the thick one, and nodded.
“Okay.” I sighed, leaning back in the seat. “That sounds just about right. So now all we need is a trod back to the Nevernever.”
“What about the one at the abandoned house?” Kenzie mused. “That one should work if Razor is with us. And the local bogeys don’t chase us away.”
I nodded wearily. “That’s our best option, I guess. Do you remember how to get there?”
“I think so.”
Throughout this whole conversation, Guro hadn’t said a word, though I could still feel him watching us from the mirror. If he thought we were both out of our minds, having a conversation about faeries with something he could neither see nor hear, he didn’t say anything. “Where do you need to go?” he asked, and Kenzie scooted forward to give him directions.
A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of a familiar abandoned house surrounded by chain link and rotting in the middle of an overgrown lot. I swallowed hard, remembering. The last time we’d come here had been with Keirran.
Guro rolled down the window as we piled out, his dark gaze fixing on me. I hesitated, knowing how suspicious this would look to anyone else, two kids walking toward an abandoned house, one of them wearing a pair of swords at his waist. “Guro,” I began, not really knowing what to say. “I...”
