The Iron Warrior

The real world. Home.

I turned to help Kenzie through the hole, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up beside me. Razor immediately leaped to her shoulder, as I gazed around to get our bearings.

“Where are we?” Kenzie asked, dusting off her hands. I blinked, shaking my head in amazement.

“I don’t believe it,” I muttered, staring around at the overgrown lot. “We are literally three blocks from my house. When Ash had said it was close, he wasn’t kidding.”

“Really?”

I nodded and gazed through the trees, spotting the road a few yards away. An old gray truck rumbled past, tossing branches, and a knot formed in my stomach. So close. My parents, Mom especially, were probably frantic to see me.

And...I couldn’t go home yet. Three short blocks from my house...and I couldn’t see them. Because they wouldn’t let me go back, and Meghan still needed my help. I couldn’t abandon one half of my family for the other.

Kenzie’s eyes were sympathetic as she put a hand on my arm. “Missing home?”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.” I turned and forced a smile. “Come on. Guro’s house is clear across town. We’re going to have to call a taxi.”

* * *

Thankfully, Kenzie had enough cash for the taxi ride, and the cab eventually dropped us off at a curb in a small suburban neighborhood. Across the street, Guro Javier’s simple brick house waited at the end of the sidewalk, though the driveway was empty. After piling out of the cab, I looked at Kenzie.

“What day is it?”

“Um.” Kenzie pulled out her phone and frowned at the screen. “Ugh, the battery is already almost dead. Stupid faery time differences. It’s Thursday, according to this.”

Thursday. Kali class was on Thursday evenings. “He’ll be at the dojo tonight, teaching,” I told Kenzie, peering over her shoulder at the phone. “We probably have an hour until he gets back.”

She nodded, and we sat together on a ledge to wait. Cars trundled by, and a couple of joggers passed us without pausing, not seeing the gremlin hissing at them from Kenzie’s shoulder. I hid my swords behind the ledge, just in case someone saw a pair of strange teenagers loitering around the neighborhood and noticed that one of them was armed.

Finally, a single white car pulled into the driveway and shuddered to a halt. The driver’s side door opened, and Guro stepped out, carrying his gear bag over his shoulder. Slowly, I stood up, wondering if I should walk forward, suddenly uncertain as to what my mentor thought of me now. I’d been gone for months. The last time he’d seen me, I’d brought a pair of fey into his home, performed a dark ritual and vanished into the Nevernever. That was a lot of weird crap for anyone to handle.

Guro froze when he saw me hovering at the edge of the sidewalk. I swallowed and stayed where I was, waiting. If Guro didn’t want to see me again, if he turned, walked away without looking back and slammed the door behind him, I wouldn’t blame him.

“Are you just going to stand there, Ethan, or are you going to come inside?”

My legs nearly gave out with relief. Numb, I followed Guro up the driveway to the front door of his house, where a series of wild barks could be heard beyond the door. Razor hissed and hid in Kenzie’s hair, and she grimaced.

“I’ll wait outside, if you need me to,” she offered.

But Guro shook his head. “One moment,” he said, unlocking the door and pushing it open a crack. “I will return shortly.”

He slid through the opening, and I heard him calling to the dogs, leading them away from the door. Kenzie and I stood on the step and waited, the gremlin muttering nonsense beneath her hair. A few minutes later, Guro appeared in the doorway again, motioning us inside.

We followed him into the same living room where, not so very long ago, it seemed, Keirran, Kenzie and I had gathered with a dying Annwyl, and Keirran had begged Guro to save her. Even if it meant turning to the dark arts. And Guro had agreed. And Keirran had lost his soul.

Dammit, why did we ever come here in the first place? Why did I agree to let Keirran do it?

Guro sat down in the armchair and faced us, his dark eyes unreadable. My heart was pounding again. I breathed deep to calm it down, not knowing why I was suddenly afraid. This was Guro, who believed in the unseen, who had always helped us before.

Who could perform black, bloody magic and create an amulet that sucked out your best friend’s soul.

“Much has happened since I saw you last,” Guro said, his dark gaze solely on me. “Ethan, before you say anything else, answer me this—where have you been for the past four months?”

My stomach dropped. “I...uh...I’ve been in the Nevernever, Guro,” I said, knowing I couldn’t deny it, not with him. “I couldn’t really come back.”

“And your parents?”

“They knew where I was. I told them...before I left.”

“Do they know you are here now?”

“No, Guro.” My voice came out a little choked, and I willed my gut to stop turning. “I’m not...quite finished, with what I have to do.” He continued to watch me, and I stared at my hands. “I...made a mistake a while ago, and a lot of people were hurt. I’m trying to fix it.”

“I see.” Guro laced his fingers under his chin, his expression grave. “Does it have anything to do with what happened four months ago, the night the Hidden World became visible?”

Kenzie and I both jerked. “You know?” Kenzie gasped. “You remember! Can you...” She glanced at Razor, buzzing on her shoulder. “Can you see Them now?”

“No,” Guro said calmly. “When the spirits faded from sight once more, I lost the ability to see Them. But I do remember what happened that night, though everyone else seems to have forgotten.”

“What happened?” I asked. He frowned.

“Chaos,” he said, and his tone sent shivers up my back. “I was teaching class that night,” Guro went on, “when suddenly we heard screaming in the parking lot. When we went to see what was going on, there was a body lying in the road with a strange creature perched atop it.”

“What kind of creature?” I asked, feeling sick. “What did it look like?”

“It was very small, with sharp teeth and pointed ears. It carried a dagger in one claw, and its skin was green.”

“A goblin,” Kenzie muttered, as I felt a stab of dread for where this story was going. Kenzie’s eyes widened, too. “Oh, no,” she said, also guessing this wasn’t going to end well. “What happened to the students? Did they try to catch it?”

“I warned them to leave it alone,” Guro said, “but by the time I reached them, it was too late. The creature became angry, and several more of its kind appeared, right before they attacked. Most of the students escaped with minor cuts to their legs, but...” His eyes darkened. “One boy tripped trying to run, and they swarmed him before I could get there. He was taken to the hospital with multiple stab wounds, but thankfully, they were able to save his life.”

“Oh, God,” I said, and ran both hands through my hair, sick and furious all at once. Was this what you wanted, Keirran? Is this what your perfect faery world looks like? How many more had been hurt? How many had died when the Veil went down? And it was partially my fault. Because I’d been stupid enough to trust Keirran, to believe that he wouldn’t stab me in the back.

Guro’s voice was low with regret as he continued. “By the time the police arrived,” he went on, “the students had already forgotten what they had seen. They could not tell the officers what had attacked them. I knew the truth, but what could I say? They would not believe me. So I told them there were several attackers, that they were small, and they were carrying knives. No one could explain the events of that night or even remember what had happened, but it haunts me every day. I will never forget that boy’s screams as those creatures brought him down.”

“Dammit,” I muttered, and covered my eyes with one hand. “I’m sorry, Guro. I caused this. This is my fault—”

“No,” Guro interrupted. “It is mine. Black magic always leaves its mark. This is the price I must pay for using it.”

I blinked in surprise. For a moment, Guro was silent, brooding as he stared past us with troubled eyes. Finally, he said, in a sorrowful voice, “Your other friend is not here. I assume...you have come to know about the anting-anting?”

I could only nod, though Guro still wasn’t looking at me. He stared at the floor over his folded hands. “Did it kill him?” he asked softly.

“No,” I answered. “It...took his soul.”

Guro sighed, his expression tightening, but he didn’t seem at all surprised. I watched him, my teacher, my mentor, the only other human who truly knew what was going on with my life. I’d thought I knew Guro Javier. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Did you know?” I asked, my voice rough. “When you created that thing. Did you know what the amulet would do?”