Read The Iron Traitor (The Iron Fey) for Free Online Page B

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