Free The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

I’d be asking for your help…you can’t get mad at me, okay?”
    I waited, letting the silence stretch. Todd grimaced.
    “Okay, so I…uh… might’ve asked Thistle to pay him back for what he did, but to make sure he didn’t connect it to me. She put something in his shorts that…er…made him swell up and itch like crazy. That’s why he wasn’t here yesterday. But, the catch is, he knows someone did it to him.”
    “And he thinks it was me.” Groaning, I leaned my head back and thumped it against the wall. So that’s why the quarterback was on the warpath. I raised my head and glared at him. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kick your ass right now.”
    “Dude,Theyare here! ” Todd leaned forward again, apparently too panicked to take my threat seriously. “I’ve seen them, peering in through the windows, staring right at me! I can’t go home while they’re out there! They’re just waiting for me to step outside.”
    “What do you want me to do about it?” I asked.
    “Make them go away! Tell them to leave me alone.” He grabbed my sleeve. “You’re the brother of the Iron Queen! You have to do something. ”
    “No, I don’t. And keep your voice down!” I stood and glared down at them both. “This is your mess. I told you before, I want nothing to do with Them, and your friends have caused me nothing but trouble since the day I got here. I stepped in front of Kingston for you, I let a piskie and a half-phouka into my room last night, and look where it got me. That’s what I get for sticking my neck out.”
    Todd wilted, looking stunned and betrayed, but I was too angry to care. “I told you before,” I growled, backing out of the aisle, “we’re done. Stay away from me, you hear? I don’t want you or your friends around me, my house, my family, my car, anything. I’ve helped you as much as I can. Now leave. Me. Alone .”
    Without waiting for an answer, I whirled and stalked away, scanning the room for invisible things that might be lurking in the corners, ready to pounce. If the fey were hanging around the school like Todd said, I would have to up the ante on some of my protection wards, both for my truck and my person. Also, if Kingston was ready to put my head through a bathroom stall, I should probably head back to class and lay low until he and the gorilla squad cooled off a bit.
    As I neared the librarian’s desk, however, a faint, muffled sob came from one of the aisles behind me, and I stopped.
    Dammit. Closing my eyes, I hesitated, torn between anger and guilt. I knew what it was like, being hunted by the fey. I knew the fear, the desperation, when dealing with the Fair Folk who meant you harm. When you realized that it was just you against Them and no one could help you. When you realized They knew it, too.
    Spinning on a heel, I walked back to the far aisle, cursing myself for getting involved one more time. I found Todd sitting where I had left him, huddled in the aisle looking miserable, the piskie crouched on his shoulder. They both glanced up when I approached, and Todd blinked, furry ears pricking hopefully.
    “I’ll drive you home,” I said, watching his face light up with relief. “Last favor, all right? You have what you need to keep Them away from you—just follow the instructions I gave you and you’ll be fine. Don’t thank me,” I said as he opened his mouth. “Just meet me here after class. I have this interview with the school reporter I have to do first, but it shouldn’t take long. We’ll leave when I’m done.”
    “School reporter?” Todd’s smile shifted to an obnoxious leer in the space of a blink. “You mean St. James. So, she’s got you wrapped around her little finger, too, huh? That didn’t take long.”
    “You wanna walk home?”
    “Sorry.” The smirk vanished as quickly as it had come. “I’ll be here. In fact, I think Violet and I are just going to stay right here until classes are over. You go do your interview thing.