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“Annwyl, wait,” he said, and she turned back. “Maybe you should stay here,” he suggested, looking down at her hand. “We can find the ring on our own. ”
“Keirran…”
“If those things are anywhere nearby—”
“I’m sure you’ll protect me. And I’m not entirely defenseless, either. ”
“But—”
“Keirran. ” Stepping close, Annwyl, placed a palm on his cheek. “I can’t hide out at Leanansidhe’s forever. ”
He sighed, covering the hand with his own. “I know. I just…worry. ” Releasing her, he gestured to the arch. “All right then, after you. ”
Annwyl ducked through the arch, disappearing into the black, Keirran close behind her. I looked at Kenzie, and she smiled back.
“Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?”
She nodded. “I’m sure. ”
“You know I’m probably going to hover around you for the rest of your life, now. I’ll be that creepy stalker guy, always watching you through the fence or following you down the hallway, making sure you’re all right. ”
“Oh?” She laughed. “Is that all it takes to get you to stick around? I should’ve done the whole bargain-your-life-away-to-the-faeries thing sooner. ”
I didn’t see how she could joke about it, but I half smiled. “I’ll be sure to wear a hockey mask, then. So you know it’s me. ”
We went through the arch.
And emerged between two giant, rectangular-shaped rocks standing in the middle of an open field. As Annwyl had warned, the air on this side of the trod was icy. It swept across the rolling moors and sliced through my T-shirt, making my skin prickle. Above us, the sky was crystal clear, with a huge white moon blazing down directly overhead, turning everything black and silver. From where we stood, atop a small rise that sloped gently away into the moors, you could see for miles.
“Wow. ” Kenzie sighed. “Now I really, really wish I had my camera. ”
Annwyl pointed a graceful finger down the slope to a cluster of trees at the foot of a rocky hill. “The ring is there,” she said quietly with a brief glance toward the sky. “And the moon is nearly right overhead. We must hurry. But remember,” she warned, “when the full moon shines down on a faery ring, the fey will appear to dance. We will not be alone. ”
We started down the slope, picking our way over rocks and bramble, as the wind moaned softly around us and made me shiver with more than the cold. As we drew closer to the trees, I could hear faint strands of music on the wind, the whispers of many voices rising in song. My heart pounded, and I clenched my fists, ignoring the voices and the sudden urge to follow them, the pull that drew me steadily toward the dark clump of trees.
Movement flashed between the trunks, and the whispered song grew clearer, more insistent. I noticed Kenzie, tilting her head with a puzzled expression, as if she could just barely hear something on the wind.
Afraid that she might slip off without me, lured away by the intoxicating faery music, I reached for her hand, trapping it in mine. She blinked at me, startled, before giving me a smile and squeezing my palm. I kept a tight hold of her as we slipped through the forest, walking toward the music and lights, until the trees opened up and we stood at the edge of a clearing full of fey.
Music swirled around the clearing, dark and haunting and compelling. It took all my willpower not to walk toward the circle of unearthly dancers in the center of the glade. Summer sidhe, tall, gorgeous and elegant, swayed and danced in the moonlight, their movements hypnotic and graceful. Piskies and faery lights bobbed in the air, winking in and out like enormous fireflies.
“Ethan,” Kenzie whispered, staring at the clearing. Her voice sounded dazed. “There is something here, right? I keep thinking I hear music, and…” Her fingers tightened around mine. “I really want to go stand in that ring over there. ”
I followed her gaze. Surrounding the dancers, seeming to glow in the darkness, a ring of enormous white toadstools stood in a perfect circle in the center of the glade. The ring was huge, nearly thirty feet across, the mushrooms forming a complete, unbroken circle. Strands of moonlight slanted in through the branches overhead, dappling the ground inside the circle, and even I could feel that this was a place of old, powerful magic.
“It’s calling me,” Kenzie whispered, as the circle of dancing fey suddenly stopped, their inhuman eyes trained on us. Smiling, they held out their hands, and the urge to join them returned, powerful and compelling. I clamped down on my will to stay where I was and squeezed Kenzie’s hand in a death grip.
Keirran lifted his arm to let Razor scurry to an overhead branch. “I hope they don’t mind us interrupting their dancing,” he murmured. “Wait here. I’ll explain what’s going on. ”
I watched him walk confidently up to the observing sidhe, who waited for him with varying degrees of curiosity and alarm. They knew who he was, I realized. The son of the Iron Queen, the prince of the Iron Court, was probably someone you would remember, especially if his glamour was essentially fatal to you.
Keirran spoke quietly to the circle of dancers, who glanced up at us, smiled knowingly, and bowed.
Keirran stepped into the circle, turned and held out his hand. “All right, Kenzie,” he called. “It’s almost time. Are you ready?”
She gave me a brave smile, released my hand, and stepped forward. Crossing the line of mushrooms, not seeing the dancers that parted for her, she walked steadily toward Keirran, waiting in the center.
I started to follow, but Annwyl stopped me at the edge, putting out her arm.
“You cannot be there with her. ”
“The hell I can’t,” I shot back. “I’m not leaving her alone with them. ”
“Only the mortal who wishes the Sight is allowed in the ring,” Annwyl continued calmly. “Otherwise the ritual will fail. Your girl must do this by herself. ” She smiled, giving me a soothing look. “She will be fine. As long as Keirran is there, nothing will harm her. ”
Worried, hating the barrier separating us now, I stood at the edge of the toadstools and watched Kenzie walk up to the figure waiting in the center of the ring. It might’ve been the moonlight, the strangeness of the surroundings, or the unearthly dancers, but Keirran didn’t look remotely human anymore. He looked like a bright, glowing faery, his silver hair reflecting the pale light streaming around him, his ice-blue eyes shining in the darkness. I clenched my fist around my rattan as Kenzie approached him, looking small and very mortal in comparison.
The faery prince smiled at her and suddenly drew a dagger, the deadly blade flashing in the shadows like a fang. I tensed, but he held it between them, point up, though the deadly cutting edge was still turned toward the girl.
“Blood must be spilled for the recipient to gain the Sight,” Annwyl murmured as Keirran’s lips moved, probably reciting the same thing to Kenzie. “For something to be given, something must be taken. A few drops are all that is needed. ”
Kenzie paused just a moment, then reached a hand out to the blade. Keirran kept the weapon perfectly still. I saw her brace herself, then quickly run her thumb along the sharp edge, wincing. Drops of blood fell from the blade and her hand, sparkling as they caught the light. A collective sigh went through the circle of fey around them as the crimson drops hit the earth, and I shivered.
“Now only one thing remains,” Annwyl whispered, and there was a glint of amber as Kenzie pulled out the vial. “But be warned,” she continued, speaking almost to herself, though I had the suspicion she was doing this for my benefit, letting me hear what was going on. “The Sight goes both ways. Not only will you be aware of the fey, they will be aware of you, as well. The Hidden Ones always know whose gazes can pierce the mist and the glamour, who can see through the Veil into the heart of Faery. ” Keirran stepped back a pace, raising his hand, as if calling her forward. “If you are prepared to embrace this world, to stand between them
and be a part of neither, then complete your final task, and join us. ”
Kenzie looked back at me, blood slowly dripping from her cut fingers to spatter in the grass. I don’t know if she expected me to leap in and try to stop her, or if she was just checking to see my reaction. Maybe she was asking, hoping, for my consent, my approval. I couldn’t give her that; I’d be lying if I said I could, but I wasn’t going to stop her. She had made up her mind for reasons of her own; all I could do now was watch over and try to keep her safe.
I managed a tiny nod, and that was all she needed. Tipping her head back, she put the vial to her lips, and the contents were gone in a heartbeat.
A breeze hissed through the clearing, rattling the branches and making the grass sway. I thought I heard tiny, whispering voices on the wind, a tangle of words spoken too fast to understand, but they were gone before I had the chance to listen. In the center of the ring, Kenzie stumbled, as if she was being battered by gale force winds, and fell to her knees.
I leaped across the toadstools, through the watching fey, who paid me no attention, and dropped beside her as she knelt in the grass. One hand clutched her heart, gasping. Her face was very pale, and I thought she was going to faint.
“Kenzie!” I caught her as she doubled over, gasping soundlessly. “Are you all right? What’s happening?” I glared at Keirran, who hadn’t moved from where he stood, and gestured sharply. “Keirran, what’s going on? Get over here and help!”
“It’s all right,” Kenzie said, gripping my arm and slowly sitting up. She took a deep breath, and color returned to her cheeks and lips, easing my panic. “It’s fine, Ethan. I’m fine. I just…couldn’t catch my breath for a second. What happened?”
“Leanansidhe,” Annwyl said, joining Keirran a few feet away. Their gazes were solemn as they watched us, beautiful and inhuman under the moon. “The Dark Muse has taken her price. ”
Dread gripped my stomach with a cold hand. But Kenzie wasn’t looking at me, or any of us, anymore. Her mouth was open in a small O, as she slowly stood up, staring at the ring of fey surrounding us. “Have…have they been here the whole time?” she whispered.