I cast a furtive glance around the room for other fey, well, for one faery in particular. For a long black coat and a glowing blue sword, silver eyes appraising and wary. Was he in my house, lurking in some dark corner? He’d never come inside before....
“He’s not here,” Meghan said quietly. Embarrassed, I flicked my attention back to her, finding her solemn blue eyes on me. She looked...tired. Worried. “I need to talk to you, Ethan,” she said. “In private, if we could. I don’t want Mom or Luke overhearing us, and there are some things that need...explaining.”
“Yeah. There are.”
I motioned her down the hall to my room, following her through the frame and closing the door behind us. Meghan perched on my bed while I dropped into my computer chair, facing her.
So many questions. So many secrets she had kept from me, from Mom, from everyone. Where should I even begin? I opted for the largest one.
“Keirran,” I said, and she closed her eyes. “When were you going to tell us? Or were you hoping to keep him from us forever?” When she didn’t answer right away, I nodded slowly, even though she couldn’t see. “That’s why you stopped coming around, isn’t it?” I muttered. “You never wanted us to meet. You didn’t want Keirran to know about his human family.” My chest squeezed tight as I thought of all those years, waiting for my sister to come back, just to visit, and she never had. “Are you ashamed of us?”
“Ethan.” She sighed, and the pain in her voice made me wish I had never opened my mouth. When she opened her eyes, I caught the sparkle of tears on her lashes and felt like a complete ass. “I’m sorry,” Meghan whispered and took a deep breath, composing herself. “I’m sorry,” she said again in a stronger voice. “No, I’m not ashamed of you, Ethan. I love you, and Mom, and Luke, more than anything. You’ll always be my family, even if I can’t be here.”
“Then...why the big secret?” I had to swallow the lump in my throat to continue. I remembered, suddenly, Puck’s look of concern when he’d seen Keirran and me together; Keirran’s own words about secrets being kept from him by everyone. “It’s not just you,” I said, watching her reaction carefully. “There’s something about Keirran that has everyone nervous. What’s going on?”
“I...can’t tell you.”
Stung, I stared at her. Meghan paused, seeming to gather her thoughts, her face suddenly pinched and agonized. “I know I’ve failed you, Ethan,” she said in a shaky voice. “I wanted to protect you from Faery, from everything. I wanted...” She swallowed hard, and her eyes glimmered. “I wanted you to know Keirran. I wanted Mom to meet her grandson, and it killed me that she might never know him.”
Meghan sniffed, then composed herself once more. “You don’t understand now,” she said, “but there are reasons why I chose what I did, why I decided it was best that you and Keirran stay away from each other.” She sighed again, but her voice was steady when she continued, “I am sorry, Ethan. I know how hard it’s been. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you and Mom, but I thought this was the best choice.”
I wanted to be angry with her. For years I had blamed her for abandoning us, for putting her life as a fey queen before her own family. But...maybe she couldn’t come back. Maybe it was just as hard for her to stay away. I didn’t understand why she was still keeping me in the dark about Keirran, but there was something else going on here.
“Well, I guess Keirran and I sort of screwed that plan up, didn’t we?” I said, wanting to ease some of the tension in the room. My attempt at a joke did not have the effect I wanted.
Meghan’s brow furrowed. “From the moment you walked into the palace, I knew what was going to happen,” she murmured, almost to herself. “I even sent someone to track Keirran down once you arrived, but he pulled one of his vanishing acts before we could find him. Then when I heard he’d helped you and Kenzie sneak out of the palace...” She shook her head. “He has no idea what this means, what it has started. Neither of you realize what could happen now. Ethan...” Her blue eyes met mine, angry and pleading all at once. “Where is he?” she asked. “Please, if you know where he is, tell him to come home.”
I gave a start. “Who? Keirran? Why would I know where...” I stopped as the very obvious answer hit me in the face. “He’s gone, isn’t he?” I guessed. “That’s why you’re here. Keirran’s run off again.”
“He disappeared not long after you went home,” Meghan replied, her face lined with worry. “No one has seen any sign of him since.” She looked around the room, as if hoping to catch him hiding in the closet or something. “I was hoping...he might’ve come here.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t seen him.” She stared at me, suspicious, and I raised my hands. “I swear, Meghan. I haven’t seen him, or Annwyl, or anyone since New York. If Keirran is gone, he hasn’t come to me.”
In that instant, I wondered if I did know exactly where Keirran was and if I should voice that concern to Meghan. The Iron Prince, as he was called, was in love with a faery of the Summer Court, a love that was forbidden according to ancient faery law. Annwyl was a banished Summer fey who lived with the self-proclaimed Exile Queen, Leanansidhe, in the Between, the Veil between Faery and the real world.