back, and Kenzie stepped around me to smile at them.
“Hey, guys.” If she felt the obvious tension between me and the other two girls, she didn’t comment on it. “I need to talk to Ethan for a second. Wait for me?”
The girls nodded and backed off, giving me dark, unfriendly looks, before hurrying around a corner. I swallowed and turned to face Kenzie, who was watching me with amused exasperation.
“Are you terrorizing my friends, tough guy?”
“They were stalking me,” I answered, gesturing in the direction the girls had gone. “What do you want me to do?”
My girlfriend shook her head. “You could try being nice,” she suggested. “I know it’s in there somewhere. I’ve seen it, at least twice.”
I lowered my voice, stepping close to her so that the passing crowd couldn’t eavesdrop. “You know that’s not an option for me. I have to be this way.”
“No, you don’t.” Kenzie’s voice was equally low; she reached out and took my hand, squeezing gently. “You can’t push the whole world away because of Them, Ethan. That’s...that’s kind of like letting Them win, you know?” I started to protest, but she overrode me. “They’re out there, and They hurt people—I understand that. But are you really going to close your eyes and hope They don’t see you? Or are you going to fight back? Let them know that They can’t screw around with you or your friends and get away with it.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“No?” Kenzie cocked her head, her brown eyes staring into mine. “It sounds pretty simple to me. They can control your life—what you do, how you act—or you can.”
I blinked. I’d never thought of it that way. I thought I was protecting people; if no one got close to me, the fey would leave them alone. But...I guess They were controlling my life in a way. I was so concerned about what They would do to others, I’d let myself become someone I hated. Someone I really didn’t want to be.
“Fine.” I put my head back in defeat before looking down at Kenzie again. “I’ll try to be nicer to your friends. No promises, though. Especially if Kingston decides to put my head through my locker. Then all bets are off.”
She grinned as the first bell rang. “You’re such a charmer, tough guy. Wanna walk me to my class?”
“Sure.”
“Without snarling at Zoe and Chelsea?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll try not to snarl.”
Her friends gaped at us when we found them around the corner, still waiting for Kenzie and probably hoping for gossip. They continued to glance at me as we walked down the hall, and even more so when Kenzie casually laced our fingers together, squeezing my hand while still chatting to all of us. I didn’t say much, though I did make an effort not to be gruff when one of the girls asked me a question about New York. It was a weird sensation; it had been years since I’d been in any kind of group, a long while since I’d spoken to a classmate without intending to drive them away. I ignored the stares we were getting from everyone and concentrated on getting Kenzie to class. This whole normal boyfriend thing was going to take some getting used to.
When we got to her classroom, Kenzie turned to me, waving the others through. Stepping close, she murmured, “Meet me in the library at lunch. I want to talk to you about something.”
I grinned at her, feeling suddenly evil. Everyone in school knew about me and Kenzie, it seemed. No use fighting it now. “Talk?” I leaned in. “Or talk? As in, the very back corner aisle?”
“Behave, you.” She wrinkled her nose at me. “Let’s not try to start more gossip. See you at lunch.”
I let her go and sneaked a glance at the wall clock before continuing to my class. Four hours till lunch suddenly seemed like a lifetime.
* * *
Wonder of wonders, Kingston actually left me alone, though he continued to shoot me Death Glares all through class and in the halls, hinting at future confrontations. I didn’t care, really. Kenzie wasn’t bothered by what others thought of her dating me, so I wasn’t going to dwell on it, either.
Besides, I had plenty of other problems to dwell on. How to find Keirran. How to keep Annwyl from Fading. How to keep Mackenzie safe, again, while venturing into a goblin market full of taboo items and shady faeries.
And maybe the most pressing, how to convince my parents to let me go tromping off to New Orleans this weekend. I refused to just vanish on them again; not only would Mom have a nervous breakdown, I shuddered to think of the trouble I would be in when I came back. Not only with my parents this time, but with Kenzie’s.
And that was yet another problem. I hoped Kenzie had a good story to feed her dad; from our short meeting at the hospital, he didn’t seem like he was going to just “forget about her” again.
All that flew out of my head, though, when I walked into the library and found Kenzie alone in one of the aisles. Her head was bent, an open book in her hands, and I was reminded of our very first meeting, where a certain stubborn journalist had refused to leave me alone despite my attempts to drive her away.
Sliding up behind her, I put my hands on her waist and whispered “Whatcha reading?” in her ear. She jumped.
“Ethan! Geez, stop doing that!” She glared back at me. “I swear, I’m gonna tie a bell around your neck.” I chuckled, resting my chin on her shoulder, and wrapped my arms around her as she held up the book. Guide to New Orleans, the title read. I raised an eyebrow.
“You seem awfully confident that we’re going,” I said, resisting the urge to kiss her neck as her fingers slipped into my hair. “I haven’t even talked to my parents yet.”
“I have. My dad, anyway. That’s...what I wanted to talk to you about.”
She sounded hesitant, and her body tensed against mine. My nerves prickled, but I kept my voice calm. “What did he say? Did he forbid you to go?”
“Worse.” She lowered her arm and slid gently from my grasp, turning to face me in the narrow aisle. Her face crinkled with disgust as she said, “He’s coming with me.”
“You’re kidding.”
The disgusted look stayed firmly in place as she continued, “I told him I wanted to visit several places before I graduate,” she said. “That New York was just the first, and I had a long bucket list of cities and places I wanted to see before I...well, you know.”
A lump of ice settled in my stomach, and I nodded. “Go on,” I rasped.
She sighed. “I thought that he would do what he always does—warn me not to get arrested and to call if there’s an emergency. Surprise, surprise.” She threw up her hands in annoyance. “He was completely into it and thought that it would be a great idea to see New Orleans together, as a family. A ‘fun weekend trip.’ So now my stepmom and Alex are coming, too.”
“Your whole family?” I repeated in disbelief. Kenzie winced.
“Obnoxiously, yes. My disappearing act must’ve really shocked them. And now Dad won’t leave
