Prophecy? I felt cold. Suddenly, Meghans warnings, Keirrans own words that everyone knew something he didnt, made a lot more sense. What prophecy? I rasped, and the Thin Man looked at me in surprise.
You dont know? Surely the Iron Queen would have told you. He paused then, as if just figuring something out. Ahhhh, he breathed, nodding. No, she would not. Of course she would not, not something like this.
What? I snapped. What isnt she telling me? What is she keeping from both of us?
The faery steepled long fingers together. I will tell you, Ethan Chase. I can tell you the prophecy, and your part in it, for a price.
Dammit. Shouldve seen this coming. My knee-jerk instinct was to refuse. That was my number one rule: never make a bargain with the fey, under any circumstance.
But this prophecy sounded bad. And a lot bigger than I had imagined. What price? I asked warily. The Thin Man smiled.
A small thing. Simply remove the wards you have put up and allow me to collect what Ive come for. I will be on my way after that.
Remove the wards. Let the faery into the house. Why would he want...
Wait. He was talking about Keirran. The catalyst, the power that could change everything, was Keirran. And Keirrans reason to fight was... Annwyl, I guessed, anger and horror spreading through me. Youre here for Annwyl.
The Summer girl is already Fading, the Thin Man said patiently. Her end has begun. You cannot stop it. He cannot stop it. This mad quest, his determination to halt the Fade, for exiles and Forgotten, must cease. You cannot fight inevitability. Once she is gone, the Iron Princes spark will die, and he will forget why he wanted to save the exiles in the first place.
Or youll piss him off so badly hell do something really stupid.
That is a chance I am willing to take.
Well, Im not. I stepped back, putting a hand on the doorknob. And Im sure as hell not turning Annwyl over to you. So go away. Youre not getting into my house, and youre not getting anywhere near Annwyl or my family.
The Thin Man gave a heavy sigh. Foolish boy. Very well. Delay the inevitable awhile longer, if you wish. But the girl will Fade, and until that time, I will make sure she never sees the Iron Prince again.
With that, he turned to face me head-on...and disappeared.
Making a mental note to strengthen the hell out of the wards later, I hurried back to my room.
Annwyl? I called again, pushing open the door. Are you here?
She looked up from the bed, moss-green eyes wide and frightened. Relieved, I shut the door, locking it behind me just in case. He was here, wasnt he? she whispered. The Thin Man. I could feel him, like an emptiness, sucking away at me.
Where were you? I asked. Didnt you hear me looking for you earlier?
The faery blinked at me, confused. I...I never left the room, she said. I was here all day. Or I was, until...
She glanced at the book, dropped and lying forgotten on the pillow, and her face paled. I wasnt here, she whispered, horror creeping over her. I...Faded out for a few minutes.
She mightve been fey, and she mightve been Keirrans sort-of girlfriend, but at that moment she looked more like a frightened girl than an ancient Summer sidhe. Look, well figure this out, I promised. One way or another. Once we find Keirran, well try to find a cure for this.
She gave me a shaky smile. No, she whispered, shaking her head. Im grateful, Ethan Chase. But there is no cure. No hope. Im only fighting the inevitable.
Her words had an eerily familiar ring to them, much like the conversation Id just had with the Thin Man. You cant just give up, I told her. Keirran is out there fighting for you. He wouldnt want you to roll over and let it win.
Keirran... Annwyl closed her eyes. This is wrong, she murmured. He shouldnt be trying to save me. Not after...
She paused, biting her lip, and I frowned. Not after what?
Not after hes already done so much, she finished, and I knew she was lying. Well, not lying, since technically the fey couldnt tell an outright lie. But there were a thousand ways to bend and dance around the truth, and they were experts in all of them. It was one of the key things that made them so dangerous.
Why is he doing this? Annwyl continued. He knows theres no way to halt the Fade.
He loves you, I said, shrugging. Love can make us do stupid things sometimes.
My existence is nearly done. Annwyl picked up the book and held it in her lap, staring down at the cover. Theres nothing I can do to stop it. But I want to see Keirran before Im gone. Before I Fade completely, I want to make sure Keirran is safe, that he wont get himself bound to a contract hell regret forever.
Well find him, I told her. Tomorrow. Well head up to New Orleans, find out where the goblin market is being held and look for him there. And if hes not there, well just keep asking around until we find out where hes hiding. Someone had to know something about the whereabouts of the Iron Prince, even if the price for such information would probably be very high.
She gave a faint smile. Its...easier with you around, Ethan Chase, she murmured, making me frown in confusion. Your belief in us is very strong. Your emotions are very powerful. I think I can hold out against the Fade, at least until I see Keirran again, if you are with me.
And then what? I wondered. What are we supposed to do after thatwatch you cease to exist? You think youll be able to convince Keirran to just let you go?
Collapsing into my computer chair, I jiggled my computer to life and stared blankly at the screen, my mind in several places at once. I tried to focus. Find Keirran. That was the first issue. All the other stuff wed worry about later. We would figure out this thing with Annwyl, Meghan and the Thin Man after we tracked down the Prince of the Iron Realm. And I smacked him on the back of the head for all the trouble he put me through.
The prophecy cannot come to pass without him, the Thin Man had said, causing a chill to crawl up my spine. Great, one more thing to drive me crazy. What kind of prophecy? Did it involve me? Annwyl? Kenzie? Was Keirran meant to do something, or were certain events destined to unfold around him? I suddenly felt like Glinda the Good; is it a good prophecy, or a bad prophecy? Could it be avoided if I stayed away from him, or would that just make certain it came to pass? Whatever it was.
In the real world, when you vanish into thin air for a week, people tend to notice.
After his unexpected journey into the lands of the fey, Ethan Chase just wants to get back to normal. Well, as normal as you can be when you see faeries every day of your life. Suddenly the former loner with the bad reputation has someone to try forhis girlfriend, Kenzie. Never mind that hes forbidden to see her again.
But when your name is Ethan Chase and your sister is one of the most powerful faeries in the Nevernever, normal simply isnt to be. For Ethans nephew, Keirran, is missing, and may be on the verge of doing something unthinkable in the name of saving his own love. Something that will fracture the human and faery worlds forever, and give rise to the dangerous fey known as the Forgotten. As Ethans and Keirrans fates entwine and Keirran slips further into darkness, Ethans next choice may decide the fate of them all.
Praise for internationally bestselling author
and THE IRON FEY SERIES
ONE KILLER STORYTELLER MTV
Fans will feel right at home, and new readers will have no trouble finding their way.
Publishers Weekly on The Lost Prince
Kagawa's fans will enjoy this expansion of her world.
Kirkus Reviews on The Lost Prince
This is a true quest story one that anyone looking for great action and inventive worldbuilding should be sure to check out.
RT Book Reviews on The Iron Knight
Kagawa pulls her readers into a unique world of make-believe with her fantastic storytelling, and ultimately leaves them wanting more by the end of each book.
Times Record News on The Iron Knight
The Iron King surpasses the greater majority of dark fantasies, leaving a lot for readers to look forward to The romance is well done and adds to the mood of fantasy. teenreads.com
Also byJulie Kagawafrom
The Iron Fey series (in reading order)
THE IRON KING
THE IRON DAUGHTER
THE IRON QUEEN
THE IRON KNIGHT
THE LOST PRINCE
THE IRON TRAITOR
Blood of Eden series (in reading order)
THE IMMORTAL RULES
THE ETERNITY CURE
The Iron Traitor
Julie Kagawa
To Guro Ron, for letting me pick his brain.
And to Nick, for letting me hit him with sticks.
Contents
Part I
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Part II
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Part III
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Forever Song Excerpt
The Lost Prince Excerpt
Part I
CHAPTER ONE
BACK TO NORMAL
My name is Ethan Chase.
Just shy of a week ago, I was dragged into Faeryland.
Again.
The first time it happened, I was four. Yeah, four years old, kidnapped by faeries and taken into the Nevernever, home of the fey. Long story short, my older sister rescued me and brought me home, but became a faery queen herself and now rules a part of the Nevernever called the Iron Realm.
Thirteen years later, despite all the precautions I took against the Fair Folk, it happened again. I found myself smack-dab in the middle of the Nevernever, and this time, I wasnt alone. A classmate of mine, a girl named Mackenzie St. James, managed to get pulled in, as well. A lot of weird, screwed-up stuff happened in the next few days, like following a talking cat through the Nevernever, meeting my sister in the Iron Realm, sneaking out of the Iron Realm to meet up with the Queen of the Exiles and, oh yeah, discovering that my sister has a son. Thats right, I have a nephew. A nephew who is part fey, completely unknown to my parents, and who, by way of screwy faery time, is the same age as me.
There is one other important thing we discoveredthe emergence of a new, deadly species of fey called the Forgotten, faeries that almost dont exist anymore because theyve been unremembered for so long. Faeries that have to steal the glamour from regular fey to survive, killing them in the process. But for me, the nephew thing sort of stands out. If I thought my family was weird before, its not even a blip on the weirdness scale now. I thought Id seen it all. But when I got pulled into the Nevernever, the thing I never saw coming was Keirran.
When Keirran went back into the Nevernever, I knew I hadnt seen the last of him. Still, I had no idea how entangled my life would soon become with his, and how he would be the catalyst...for the end of everything.
* * *
Sometimes I wished everyone paid less attention to me. Sometimes I even wished I had faery blood, so that when the really weird things started happening around me, people would forget theyd seen it as soon as I left. That worked for Robin Goodfellow, the most infamous faery in existence. And to a lesser extent, it even worked for my sister. But in the real world, if youre fully human and you vanish into thin air for nearly a week, people tend to notice. If you vanish at the same time as a very rich, popular classmate, they notice even more.