Free The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa Page A

We’ll be close, probably hiding under a table or something.”
    I made a mental note to check under the table before I did any interviews that afternoon, and left without another word. This time I did not look back.
    Damn the fey. Why couldn’t they leave me alone? Or Todd, for that matter? Why did they make life miserable for anyone caught up in their twisted sights? Human, half-breed, young, old, it didn’t matter. I was no safer today than I had been thirteen years ago, just more paranoid and hostile. Was it always going to be like this, constantly looking over my shoulder, being alone so no one else got hurt? Was I ever going to be free of Them?
    As I stepped through the library doors, my thoughts still on the conversation with the half-breed, something grabbed my shoulder and slammed me into the wall. My head struck the cement with a painful crack, expelling the air from my lungs. Stars danced across my vision for a second, and I blinked them away.
    Kingston glared down at me, one fist in the collar of my shirt, pinning me to the wall. Two of his goons stood at his shoulders, flanking him like growling attack dogs.
    “Hey there, asshole,” Kingston’s hot breath whipped at my face as he leaned close, reeking of smoke and spearmint. “I think we need to have a little talk.”
    The demonstration, Ethan. Keep it together. “What do you want?” I snarled, forcing myself not to move, not to shoot my arm up his neck, wrench his head down and drive my knee into his ugly mouth. Or grab the hand on my collar, spin around, and slam his thick face into the wall. So many options, but I kept myself still, not meeting his eyes. “I haven’t done anything to you.”
    “Shut up!” His grip tightened, pressing me harder against the cement. “I know it was you. Don’t ask me how, but I know. But we’ll get to that in a minute.” He brought his face close to mine, lips curling into a grim smile. “I hear you’ve been talking to Mackenzie.”
    You’ve got to be kidding me. All this time I’ve been saying “go away,” and this still happens? “So what?” I challenged stupidly, making Kingston narrow his eyes. “What are you going to do, pee on her locker to let everyone know she’s off-limits?”
    Kingston didn’t smile. His free fist clenched, and I kept a close eye on it in case it came streaking at my face. “She’s off-limits to you, ” he said, dead serious now. “And unless you want me to make it so that all your food comes through a straw, you’ll remember that. You don’t talk to her, you don’t hang around her, you don’t even look at her. Just forget you ever heard her name, you got that?”
    I would love to, I thought sourly. If the girl would leave me alone. But at the same time, something in me bristled at the thought of never talking to Kenzie again. Maybe I didn’t respond well to threats, maybe Todd’s unknown faeries had me itching for a fight, but I straightened, looked Brian Kingston right in the eye and said, “Piss. Off.”
    He tensed, and his two friends swelled up behind him like angry bulls. “Okay, freak,” Kingston said, and that evil smirk came creeping back. “If that’s how you want it. Fine. I still owe you for making me miss practice yesterday. And now, I’m gonna make you beg.” The pressure on my shoulder tightened, pushing me toward the floor. “On your knees, freak. That’s how you like it, right?”
    “Hey!”
    A clear, high voice rang through the hall, a second before I would’ve exploded, demonstration or no. Mackenzie St. James came stalking toward us, a stack of books under one arm, her small form tight with fury.
    “Let him go, Brian,” she demanded, marching up to the startled quarterback, a bristling kitten facing down a Rottweiler. “What the hell is your problem? Leave him alone!”
    “Oh, hey, Mackenzie.” Brian grinned at her, looking almost sheepish. Taking your eyes off your opponent, I thought. Stupid move. “What a coincidence. We were