The Iron Prince by Julie Kagawa

Author:Julie Kagawa [Kagawa, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Published: 2022-04-06T15:23:01+00:00

15

GHOSTS OF THE FAIRGROUND

I emerged, squinting in the darkness, trying to see where I was. For a second, it didn’t seem as if we’d left the Nevernever at all. Trees surrounded us, hissing in the wind, but I looked closer and saw they were regular, normal trees. A few yards away, three strands of barbed wire glinted in the moonlight, and beyond the wires, a scattering of fluffy white creatures peered at us curiously.

“Are those sheep?” Kenzie asked, sounding weary but delighted. Razor gave an excited buzz from Keirran’s shoulder, leaped to the top of the first wire, and darted into the pasture. Sheep baaed in terror and fled, looking like clouds blowing across the field, and Keirran sighed.

“I keep telling him not to do that. They lose enough to the goblins as is.”

“Where are we?” I asked, relieved to be back in the real world again, but not liking that I didn’t know where we were. The wind here was cool, and the wooded hills beyond the pasture seemed to go on forever. Keirran watched Razor, buzzing happily from the back of a terrified sheep, and shook his head.

“Somewhere in rural Maryland.”

“Maryland,” I echoed in disbelief.

He grinned. “What, you think all trods lead to Louisiana?”

I took a breath to answer, but paused. Wait. How does he know where I live?

“Where to now?” Kenzie asked, grimacing as she leaned against a fencepost. “I don’t think I’ll be able to walk very fast with this knee. Someone might need to give me a piggyback ride later on.”

“Don’t worry.” Keirran gestured over the rolling hills. “There’s an abandoned fairground a couple miles from here. It’s a hangout for the local fey, most of them exiled. The trod there will take us to where we need to go.”

“And where is that?” I asked, but Keirran had moved up to the fence, peering over the wire at Razor, still tormenting the flock of sheep. “Razor!” he called over the bleating animals. “Come on, stop scaring the poor things. You’re going to give them a heart attack.”

The gremlin ignored him. I could just barely see him in the darkness, his electric-green eyes and glowing smile bouncing among the flock. I was about to suggest we just leave and let him catch up, when Kenzie stepped up to the fence, her expression puzzled.

“Where is he?” she asked, staring out over the field. “The sheep are going nuts, but I don’t see Razor at all.”

Oh, yeah. We were back in the real world now. Which meant Kenzie couldn’t see the fey; they were invisible to humans unless they made a conscious effort to un-glamour themselves. I told her as much.

“Huh,” she said in a neutral voice, then looked out over the pasture again, at the sheep racing through the grass like frantic clouds. A defiant expression crossed her face, and she took a breath.

“Razor!” she barked, making Keirran jump. “No! Bad gremlin! You stop that, right now!”

The gremlin, shockingly, looked up from where he was bouncing on a rock, sheep scattering around him.

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