The Iron Princemy nephewbetrayed us all.
He killed me.
Then, I woke up.
Waking after a month on the brink of death, Ethan Chase is stunned to learn that the Veil that conceals the fey from human sight was temporarily torn away. Although humankinds glimpse of the world of Faery lasted just a brief moment, the human world was cast into chaos, and the emotion and glamour produced by fear and wonder has renewed the tremendous power of the Forgotten Queen. Now she is at the forefront of an uprising against the courts of Faerya reckoning that will have cataclysmic effects on the Nevernever.
Leading the Ladys Forgotten Army is Keirran himself: Ethans nephew, and the traitor son of the Iron Queen, Meghan Chase.To stop Keirran, Ethan must disobey his sister once again as he and his girlfriend, Kenzie, search for answers long forgotten. In the face of unprecedented evil and unfathomable power, Ethans enemies must become his allies, and the fey and human worlds will be changed forevermore.
Praise for internationally bestselling author
Julie Kagawa
Katniss Everdeen better watch out.
Huffington Post on The Immortal Rules
Julie Kagawa is one killer storyteller
MTV
A book that will keep its readers glued to the pages until the very end.
New York Journal of Books
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
Kagawa has done the seemingly impossible and written a vampire book that feels fresh in an otherwise crowded genre.
Kirkus Reviews on The Immortal Rules
An intense and thought-provoking series.
School Library Journal on The Eternity Cure
Surpasses the greater majority of dark fantasies
teenreads.com
JULIE KAGAWA is the internationally bestselling author of the Iron Fey, Blood of Eden and The Talon Saga series. Born in Sacramento, she has been a bookseller and an animal trainer and enjoys reading, painting, playing in her garden and training in martial arts. She lives near Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and a plethora of pets. Visit her at www.juliekagawa.com.
Julie Kagawa
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Praise
About the Author
Title Page
PART I
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
PART II
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PART III
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
EPILOGUE
ACNOWLEDGMENTS
Extract
Copyright
CHAPTER ONE
FLOATING
My name is Ethan Chase.
And I cant be certain, but I think I might have died.
CHAPTER TWO
WAKING UP
The dream always ends the same.
The dream always ends the same.
Im in my room again. Or, maybe its my sisters room or a strangers. I cant tell. There are photos on the wall I dont recognize, pictures of a family that isnt mine. But the desk is mine, I think. The bed and the chair and the computer are mine. Theres a figure sleeping on the bed, long chestnut hair spilling over the pillow. Im trying to move about silently, so that I dont wake her, though I cant remember why shes here, in my room. If this is my room.
Whoevers room this is, its dark. I can hear rain pattering on the tin roof overhead, and the distant squeals of the pigs in the shed outside. Dad wanted me to feed them today; its going to suck tromping out there in the rain and mud. I told him I would feed them when the rain lets up. Truthfully, I dont want to go outside in the dark. I know it is out there, lurking in the shadows, waiting for me. Ive seen it in the mirror, reflected in the glass: a tall, thin silhouette at my bedroom window, peering in. Sometimes, from the corner of my eye, I think I see long black fingers reaching out from under the bed. But when I turn and look, theres nothing there.
My phone buzzes on the desk. I let it ring, feeling my stomach knot and twist as the phone vibrates on the surface.
Why dont you answer? the brown-haired girl asks, now sitting up on my bed. Her green eyes seem to glow in the darkness.
Because shell be angry with me, I reply. I left her. I promised to come back, but I left her alone. She wont let me get away with that.
The phone falls silent. Voices echo from downstairsmy parents, telling me its time for dinner. I look at the chestnut-haired girl again, only its not her any longer, but Meghan, sitting on her bed, her long hair pale and silvery in the shadows of the room. Shes smiling down at me, and Im four years old, hugging my stuffed rabbit to my chest.
Go get dinner, squirt, Meghan says gently. Shes still smiling, though I can see the tears on her face, creeping down her cheeks. Tell Mom and Luke I dont feel well right now. But come back when youre done, and Ill read to you, okay?
Kay, I answer, and pad to the door while clutching Floppy tightly in one arm. I wonder why shes crying, and if theres anything I can do to make her happy again; I hate it when my sister is sad.
Shes lost someone, Floppy whispers to me, as he does sometimes when were alone. Someone has gone away, thats why shes sad.
Outside my room, the hallway is dark, and the rest of the house is cloaked in shadow. A single light flickers from our tiny kitchen, and I make my way down the stairs toward it, trying to ignore the dark things that move and writhe around me, just out of sight. A boy, shaggy-haired and ragged, waits for me at the foot of the stairs. Can you help me? Todd Wyndham asks, eyes pleading. The shadows curl around him, clinging to his thin frame, drawing him back into the darkness. I shiver and hurry past, squeezing Floppy to my face, trying not to see. Ethan, wait, Todd whispers as the shadows suck him in. Dont go. Please, come back. I think Ive lost something.
Darkness swallows him, and hes vanished from sight.
There you are, Mom announces when I finally step into the kitchen. Wheres your sister? Dinner is ready. Isnt she coming down?
I blink, no longer four years old, and bitterness settles on me like a second skin. She doesnt live here anymore, Mom, I say, sullen and angry. Not for a long time, remember?
Oh, thats right. Mom takes a stack of plates from the cupboard and hands it to me. Well, if you do see her again, will you tell her Im keeping a plate warm for her?
Theres a knock on the front door before I can reply. It echoes through the house, a hollow thud that makes the shadows writhing at the edge of the light draw back in terror.
Oh, good. Right on time. Mom opens the oven door and pulls out a pie, steaming and oozing red. Ethan, would you get that, please? Dont leave your guest standing out in the rain.
I set the plates on the table, walk through the living room and open the front door.
Keirran stares at me over the threshold.
Hes dripping wet, his silver hair plastered to his neck and forehead, his clothes also drenched from the rain. Water puddles at his feet, only the puddle is much too dark to be water.
Below his shirt, something pulses, dark and menacing, like a twisted heartbeat. I can feel it, suddenly, right under his sternum, a twin to the weight around my own neck, the cold circle of steel hanging from a chain.
The storm rages behind him; lightning streaks across the sky, illuminating the red streaks on his face, the icy gleam of his eyes. For a split second, gazing over his shoulder, I see someone else out there in the darkness. Tall and pale, with hair like writhing mist. But the light quickly fades, and the figure is gone.
I look back at Keirran, a chill creeping through me as I see his hands. Theyre soaked in blood, wet and gleaming, all the way past his elbow. One hand holds a curved blade, glimmering between us.
I meet those icy blue eyes. He smiles sadly.
Im sorry, Ethan, he whispers, always the same.
And rams that blade through my stomach.
* * *
I gave a soundless gasp and opened my eyes.
Darkness surrounded me. I lay perfectly still, gazing up at what appeared to be a normal ceiling, wondering where I was. There were cracks running through the plaster, forming odd shapes and faces, but they didnt swirl together and laugh at me as they had several times in the past. In fact, this was the first time...in I didnt know how long...that my mind was clear. Before, I would tear myself out of one dark, surreal dreamscape, only to fall right into another, where everything was twisted and frightening and screwed up, but you didnt know it because you were in a dream. There were a few lucid moments where, if I thought hard enough, I recalled faces hovering over me, eyes bright with worry. One face in particular showed up in my dreams a lot, her cheeks wet with tears. She spoke to me sometimes, telling me to hold on, whispering how sorry she was. I desperately wanted to talk to her, to let her know I was all right. But I could never hold on to reality for very long, and quickly slipped back into the twisted nightmares of my mind.
I couldnt remember how Id gotten here, but I finally had a conscious hold on my brain. I was awake, and alert, and determined to stay that way this time.
Cautiously, I probed my shaky thoughts, gathering fractured shards of memory as I tried to piece together what had happened. First things, first.
Where am I?
Slowly, I turned my head, scanning my surroundings. I lay in a large bed, the covers pulled up to my chest and my arms at my side. The room looked like a normal bedroom, or maybe an office, though I didnt recognize it and had never been here before. A desk sat in one corner, computer screen glowing blue, and a dresser stood beside it. To my right, a partially open window let in the cool night air, and silvery light cast a hazy glow through the room. A full moon shone through the glass, huge and round and closer than Id ever seen before.
Blinking, I turned my head toward the other wall, and my breath caught in my throat.
A chair sat in the corner closest to my bed. Slumped in that chair, with her arms crossed and her head resting against the back, was a girl with pale hair and slender pointed ears.