“Where did you meet her?” Mom asked excitedly, and I stifled a groan. “At your new school? Do you have classes together? What’s her name?”
“Mom, I’m going to be late,” I said, backing away. “I’m picking her up now. Back before eleven.”
“Ethan.”
Impatient, I turned in the door frame. Now what?
Mom still wore that faint, relieved smile. “Midnight,” she said, shocking me. “Curfew is at midnight.”
I blinked, astonished, but I wasn’t going to question it. With a quick smile, I nodded and let the screen slam shut behind me.
Tonight was going to be normal, I told myself as I hopped into my truck. A normal evening with my girlfriend, no weirdness or craziness allowed. However, as I was pulling out of the driveway, I caught a hint of movement in my side-view mirror, a shadow moving through the trees behind my house. The silhouette of a tall, impossibly thin man paused in the space between trunks, glowing eyes fastened on me.
I stopped the truck, turning back to look, but there was nothing there anymore.
I muttered a curse. This was nothing new. I’d been seeing things move my whole life: silhouettes in the trees, shadows from the corners of my eyes, brief glimpses of things in mirrors, doorways and reflections. That was the world of the fey, and you either got used to it or you became a neurotic freak. I just wished they’d stop hanging around my house despite all the anti-fey charms I’d placed inside and around the property. And I really wished they would quit popping up at the worst possible times.
Whatever. I wasn’t going to worry about the fey tonight. They couldn’t get into the house, Mom wasn’t going anywhere, and Dad wouldn’t be home from work until early morning. Tonight, I had a date with Mackenzie St. James, and I wasn’t going to miss it. The damned fey could just go bother someone else for once.
Putting my truck into Drive, I shoved all thoughts of invisible pests from my mind and roared off down the street.
* * *
I cruised through an older, well-kept neighborhood, massive trees towering over either side of the road, until I found the right address.
“Are you kidding me?” I stared up the circular driveway, past the glowing fountain shooting plumes of water into the air, to the huge mansion at the top of the steps. I didn’t know much about houses, but this thing looked like a Victorian-era castle, with stone columns and a round turret soaring above a perfectly landscaped yard. “Yeah, that’s not intimidating at all.”
I felt weird parking my old truck behind the silver Audi in the driveway, and even more uncomfortable walking up the lighted path to the double doors looming at the top of the steps. This place probably had a ton of security and cameras, all fixed on me right now. I wondered if a security guard would automatically call the cops if he saw me edging up the walk, a lurking shadow definitely out of place.
The huge doors had a brass lion-head knocker and a doorbell, but I chose to just rap on the polished wood. A great, booming bark echoed from inside, making me wince. I suddenly had a vision of myself tearing across the lawn, two snarling Rottweilers on my heels.
Without so much as a squeak, one of the doors swung open. And there was Kenzie, grinning up at me. She wore tight black jeans, a green sweater, and the neon blue streaks in her hair had returned, brighter than before. She was beautiful, smiling and not lying in a stark hospital bed, pale and fragile. My stomach untwisted, muscles relaxing, as suddenly everything was fine.
Then a massive shaggy head pushed its way past her leg and lunged at me, and I leaped back with a yelp.
“Oh, Tiny. No.” Kenzie grabbed the thing’s collar, dragging it back inside. “Bad dog. Sit! Stay.”
The huge black animal panted and plopped into a sit. Kenzie turned back with a sheepish grin, raking bangs from her eyes. “Sorry ’bout that,” she said, maneuvering around the dog to pull the door shut. “He doesn’t bite. He’s just overfriendly. Most he’ll do is slobber on your pants. Newfies are good at that.”
“Yeah?” Seeing her like this, bright and bouncy and back to normal, awakened something inside me. This was the Kenzie I knew, the girl who had gone into the Nevernever with me, who’d seen my screwed-up world for what it really was and hadn’t left. I had the impulse to pull her into my arms and kiss her until we were both breathless, but I didn’t want to do that here, on her doorstep, while any number of cameras could be pointed at us. I wondered if her dad would make good on his threats if he saw me later on the security footage.
“Ready to go?” I asked instead, and she nodded vigorously.
“God, yes. Get me out of here. Between my stepmom’s hovering and Alex being extra clingy, I need the air.”
We hurried down the driveway. I kept a close eye on the gate, half expecting Kenzie’s father to pull in at any moment. For once, luck was on my side and the drive remained empty, though I still wanted to leave as fast as we could.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I asked as I slid into the driver’s seat. “Not that I’m going to stop seeing you, but I’d really like to avoid going to jail if I can help it. And I don’t want you to get into trouble with your dad, either.”
“He won’t do anything.” Kenzie slammed the door with a little more force than was necessary, I thought. “Don’t let his ‘you must not see that hooligan’ act fool you. It’ll blow over soon. Really, he’s just embarrassed that his faultless eldest daughter ran away. Now the image of our ‘perfect family’ is tarnished, and he’s trying to save face with all that posturing. Trust me.” She shook her head, looking out the side window. “He doesn’t care what I do. Hasn’t for a long time now.”
I turned the key and didn’t say anything. I recognized that anger, the veiled hurt in Kenzie’s voice. Thinking that someone you loved had abandoned you, that they didn’t care anymore... I knew that feeling all too well.
I took her to a nice restaurant, nothing fancy but not fast food, either, and we sat in a booth and ate and talked about normal, real-world things: school and teachers and classmates, deliberately keeping words like faeries and the Nevernever out of the conversation. I learned that there was a rumor about me circulating the school, that I had met Brian Kingston in the parking lot and kicked the ever-loving crap out of him. Great. That was going to do wonders for my record, not to mention my reputation. And knowing Kingston, he would take the rumor very personally and be looking to even the score. At least Kenzie seemed amused by it, stating that some of the girls now viewed me as the dangerous bad boy to tame. In fact, Chelsea had called her house earlier that day to ask if she would bring me to a party that weekend.
“So I ‘beat up’ the quarterback, and now people want to go out with me?” I asked in disbelief, watching Kenzie finish the last of the chocolate brownie we’d split for dessert. “What is wrong with girls? Tame me? Like I’m some kind of wild horse?”
Kenzie giggled. “Must be that bad-boy allure,” she said, putting down her spoon. “You know, they see you as a dangerous, broken mystery man. They want to be the one to fix you.”
“Yeah, well. My problems are too big for anyone to ‘fix.’” I handed the waitress a couple twenties when she dropped off the check. “And any one of those girls would run away screaming if they saw what I have to live with every day.”
Kenzie nodded sympathetically, and I realized I’d strayed back into “un-normal” territory. Reaching across the table, I took her hands. “Besides, they’ll be wasting their time,” I said, running my thumb across her fingers. “I’m taken.”
And apparently turning into a big sap. But I didn’t care. Kenzie’s brilliant smile made it all worth it.
* * *
We went to the movies, and I sat with Kenzie in the back row, feeling her head on my shoulder and trying desperately to behave myself. I wasn’t a prude; I knew what the back-row theater seats were for, but this was also our very first date. Not only that, this was my very first date with someone I actually wanted to be with; I did not want to push too far and screw everything up.
So I forced myself to be content with my arm around her shoulders and her slender hand on my knee, even though it was driving me crazy. When the credits rolled, it was all I could do to stand up and follow the rest of the crowd out of the theater.
In the parking lot, I couldn’t take it anymore. When Kenzie walked to her side of the truck, I snagged her around the waist, pulling her against me. She didn’t resist, allowing herself to be drawn close, pressing her body to mine. Leaning against the hood, I tangled my fingers in her silky hair, and her arms looped around my neck as she gazed up at me. My heart pounded. I was still finding it hard to believe that this beautiful girl was mine. What could I offer her, really? Tonight was the most normal evening I’d had in a long time, but it couldn’t last forever. Sooner or later, They would find me again.
“You look worried, tough guy.” Her fingertips brushed the nape of my neck, making me shiver. “You’ve gone all frowny and serious. What’s up? Are you regretting this already?”
I blinked and unfurrowed my brow, gazing down at her. “No,” I said, easing the concern in her eyes. “Honestly, if anyone should regret this, it’s you.” She tilted her head in confusion, and I sighed. “You know that normal isn’t...normal for me, right?”
Kenzie grinned. “I’m counting on it.”
“Mackenzie, I’m serious.”
“I know.”
“This isn’t a game. As long as you hang around me, your life is going to be really screwed up.”
Her cool fingers touched my lips, silencing me. “Do you trust me, Ethan?”
More than anyone. “Yes.”
“Then believe that I want to be here, with you. Not because of Them, not because I have the Sight or because I’m sick or anything like that. I’m here because...” She faltered, and I held my breath. “Because you make me feel like nothing in my life is wrong. Because you treat me like a real person, and I need that right now.”
I swallowed. “Is that the only reason?”
She colored slightly, but her lips quirked up. “Oh, fine. And because you’re pretty cute, too.”
Well, what had I been expecting? This was still really new, for both of us. “Cute?” I narrowed my eyes. “Kittens are cute. Baby goats are cute. I’m the dangerous wild beast that needs to be tamed, remember?”
“Good thing I’m up to the challenge, then.” Kenzie didn’t miss a beat. “I knew those dog-training classes would come in handy for something.”
I chuckled, shaking my head in defeat, and pulled her closer. “Kiss me,” I told her. And she did, raising herself up on tiptoe to brush her lips to mine. I closed my eyes, forgetting the fey, the Sight, the Nevernever, everything about Them for the moment, and lost myself in her.
“Oh, my God!”
Kenzie pulled back, and we both turned our heads toward the shrill, shocked voice. A group of teenagers stood a few yards away, gaping at us over the pavement. I recognized Kenzie’s blonde friend, Regan, another cheerleader whose name escaped me and the Football Gorilla King himself, Brian Kingston. Who looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. If he’d hated me before, he was homicidal now. Our little scuffle in the parking lot hadn’t cooled him off any; he was ready for round two. Another broad-shouldered jock type stood in the crowd behind him, but I’d never seen him before. Still, if Kingston decided to take me out here and now, he would gladly join in.