The Vanishing Throne (33 page)

I can't help my instinctive response; I unsheath my sword and grip it by my side. “
Don't
,” Derrick whispers. “Remember what Gavin said.”

Damn
. I shut my eyes briefly but I don't put the sword away. I might need the threat of a weapon to keep the fae at bay.

“Two lost humans,” one of the shadow creatures says. A
brollachan
, from the looks of it. It's a creature without form, a shapeless thing.

I watch it slither over to Gavin. He tenses, his fingers curling into fists. “I like
him
,” it whispers. It crawls up Gavin's leg. “Come with me. I can take you.”

Another faery appears and smiles at me with sharp teeth. Water spills from her hair and clothes as her pitch-dark eyes take me in.

Suddenly, she leans forward, her tongue darting out to leave a wet trail across my cheek. I flinch and she grasps my wrist in a hard grip before I can move away. “This one smells sweet,” she whispers in a voice that makes me shiver.

Derrick bursts up from my shoulder and snarls. “Back off, you muddy hag.”

The hag in question hisses back. “Traitor pixie.” The other faeries snarl at the name. They all know who he is. “I could take your human,” she whispers. “I'd eat her and leave you her bones.”

I gasp when nails slash through the leg of my trousers, my skin. A faery looks up at me with eyes deep as emeralds and wings like black, curling branches. I don't remember this one from my lessons with Kiaran.

It licks the blood from my leg. “
Falconer
,” it hisses.

The fae bare fangs, flashing teeth as they close in. With a quick swing of my sword, I press the blade to the neck of the
faery who cut me. “Do that again, and I'll slice open your throat.”

Gavin tenses beside me. He doesn't realize it's a threat I don't intend to carry out, but the faery doesn't know that either. “Damnation, Aileana,” Gavin mutters.

“Kill the Falconer,” one of the fae from the crowd hisses.

“Drain her blood,” whispers another. “Eat them both.”

“Aileana . . .” Derrick says uncertainly.

I back away from the crowd, as much as I'm able, but they're inching closer. They're ready to strike.

“Take Gavin and find Aithinne,” I tell Derrick. “The others will follow me. I'll run and get the
brìgh
.”

A few are starting to circle Gavin, as if sensing he's easier to take down. I need to distract them. His body wouldn't be able to handle their bites if they got to him, and he can't run as fast as I can.

“The river is just beyond the buildings,” Derrick says in a low voice. “The flower is blue and has a bit of a glow to it. You can't miss it. Good luck.” He flies to Gavin's shoulder and whispers in his ear.

Ready
.

I address the crowd. “You want my blood?” I raise the sword, slice open my palm, and hold my bloodied, dripping hand aloft. The creatures hiss and their eyes flash in the darkness. “Try and take it.”

They dive for me in a swarm of teeth and claws. I dodge out of the way, rolling across the slick marble. Then I'm on my feet and running. I bound down a dark close between the buildings, the hoots and hollers of fae loud behind me.

I make the mistake of looking up. The fae are crawling along the buildings on either side of me, claws slicing into metal. A
cat sìth
—a massive faery feline—leaps for me, claws out, and slices through my new coat, just barely missing skin.

Derrick is going to
kill
me for ruining his new work.

I hit the ground, spinning into a crouch. My sword is in my hand as I lunge forward. Just when I would have sliced into the creature to kill it, I remember:
If you kill one of them, you'll void the treaty
.

Damnation. I slam the hilt of my sword hard into the cat's temple and kick its ribs with the edge of my boot. It hisses and howls at the impact.

I look up to see the other fae coming at me and I squeeze my bloody fist so it drips onto the ground. Two of them stop for it, licking the ground desperately. The others howl, running faster in pursuit.

I round another building and spot a line of dark, twisting trees up ahead.
The river
. I break for it, leaping across the grass. I shove through the branches of the trees; twigs snap with the impact. Water surges over the rocks at the banks of the river, the current strong.

The flower is blue and has a bit of a glow to it. You can't miss it
.

The fae are close. I can hear the stomp of their collective feet, the vibration through the soil.
Where is it, where is it?

I scan the banks and spot patches of delicate, shining flowers just where the water touches. I vault over one of the large river rocks and grasp the plants without stopping. They come out of the ground easily, roots still attached, and I shove them in my coat pocket.

Time to get the hell out of here
.

I sprint back in the direction of the door and take off down an empty side street, my boots pounding against the marble sidewalk. I dodge through the twisting trees in a center square, through a garden of sharp brambles and thorny roses. My clothes and coat catch and I pull and tug myself through. The towers of the city around me seem never ending, with nowhere to hide.

Just when I think a close is tight and dark enough to conceal me, the flaming lights follow me in at the command of the fae. My blood drips behind me as I run. The fae stop to lick it and fight each other for a taste before they bound after me again.

As I'm rounding a corner, Derrick zips down from the buildings above. “This way,” he tells me, breathing hard. His wings hum as he flies in front of me. “Back to the door.”

I'm panting, my legs are burning as I sprint beneath a glass archway of one of the buildings. “Where are Aithinne and Gavin?”

“Just up ahead.”

Derrick leads me down another street. My muscles strain to keep up with his speed as he dashes across a square I haven't passed through yet. I bloody well hope he knows where he's going.

A growl behind me draws my attention. I dart a glance over my shoulder to see the fae are close, so close they're practically nipping at my heels. I pump my arms, trying to gain speed as I recognize the close that leads to the door. Just
up ahead, almost there. I run faster, my chest aching from breathing so hard.

Just before I reach the door, I see Aithinne and Gavin. Aithinne grabs my shoulders so I don't careen into her. Sighing at me in a chastising way, she pushes me gently toward Gavin and steps between us and the oncoming horde.

Her eyes are glowing, turning molten silver as they do when she uses her powers. Before I can speak, she reaches her hand out to the fae, palm up. The burst of power that comes from her is strong, coating my tongue and my throat.

A ripple moves through the crowd, freezing all of the fae in place. Just as Sorcha did during the battle. Not one of them moves.

“You all look ridiculous,” Aithinne says with disgust. “Fighting over humans like animals. It's no wonder they hate us.” She curls her raised hand into a fist and they all gasp as if being choked. Her power makes my stomach clench. “Maybe I should do them the favor.”

“Aithinne,” Gavin says sharply. “Don't.”

“We came into their territory,” I say. No matter how vicious the fae are, Catherine warned me to stay away. “Let them go.”

I may hate the treaty and the fact that the fae can claim any human who wanders into their territory, but this is the world I left behind. This is how Catherine and Gavin and their city survive. I've already done enough damage to their tenuous truce just by coming here and threatening them with a blade.

Aithinne keeps a tight hold on all of them for a moment longer. “Go back inside,” she tells the fae. “All of you. The humans are leaving with me.” She releases them and ignores their low growls of protest as she walks us all to the door.

“Bad idea,” Aithinne says, shaking her head as she ushers us out. “That was such a bad idea. If Derrick hadn't come for me, one of those
sìthichean
probably would have brought me your intestines to wear as a necklace. And I don't even like jewelry.”

“But we found you,” Derrick says brightly. “So, you see, mission accomplished!”

“A bit of a ludicrous accomplishment, but at least you're not dead,” she says. “Now what was so important?”

I tell Aithinne everything I told Derrick, but I don't say what I'm really thinking. I don't tell her that I want to do this because if I could fight Lonnrach, it would be worth it. I don't tell her that what Lonnrach did to me made me wish so often for death that it doesn't scare me anymore.

I don't tell her, because she already understands. I can see it in the way she looks at me. She knows. She
knows
precisely why.

We'll make him pay. I'm going to help you
.

As if hearing my thoughts, she nods but still seems hesitant. Her gaze narrows in suspicion at Gavin. “Wait. Is this
your
idea?”

Gavin straightens, his expression shuttering. I've never seen him so guarded before. “Aye.”

Before I blink, she's so close to Gavin their bodies are practically touching. “After what you did to Aileana, why should I trust anything you come up with?”

Gavin drops his gaze but says nothing. He doesn't have to. The sudden brush of flower petals on my tongue indicates that Aithinne is using her powers to get inside Gavin's mind. She's reading him with that alien fae expression. His jaw tightens in response.

“You still fear death,” she tells him. “Your experience through the veil is not one you'd like to repeat, and yet you'd send the Falconer there. This is how you would atone for what you did?” Her mouth twists. “You demand a high price for your friendship.”

Gavin raises his chin. “If I could go for her, I would. If I could make it so she would never hurt again, I would.”

“I don't believe you.”

“You're already in my mind,” Gavin says, and I don't miss the anger there. “See for yourself.”

Aithinne studies him, as if he both interests and disgusts her. The taste of her power thickens in the air, only for a moment. Then she pulls back and scowls at him. “Ugh! I only wanted the answer. I didn't need to see the rest,” she says. “You have a foul mind, Seer.”

Gavin smirks. “I take it you didn't like what you found in there.”

Her expression hardens and she shifts her attention to me, ignoring his question. “It's difficult to bring back the dead, you realize.”

I reach into my coat pocket and hold up the
brìgh
. “I took this while we were inside. Derrick says it might help.”

Now that we're on the other side of the door, I can examine the plant properly. It's delicate, with a thin, vinelike stem with sparse petals. The flower on the top is shaped rather like a lilac, only with more pointed petals. In the center is a small bulb that emits a beautiful blue shine.

Aithinne glances at it. “Some of your energy in that will help, but it's the price I'm speaking of.”

“Then I'll pay it,” I say quickly.

Derrick pinches me and hisses. “What the hell is wrong with you? You don't say that without hearing the terms. Haven't I taught you anything?”

“It isn't for her to pay, pixie. It's for me.” Aithinne looks at me then. “But if you want this, I'll do it.”

“Then you'll need me,” another voice says. I turn to see Kiaran heading down the path between the fields of
seilgflùr
.

He looks hesitant, like he regrets what he's about to say. I realize he heard everything. “Blood for blood, Aithinne,” he tells his sister. “If you're willing to do your part, I'll do mine.”

Aithinne's face softens in a way I've never seen before. She seems so young compared to him. “I never thought I'd hear you offer that again.”

T
HE FOLLOWING
morning, after I change and clean myself up, Kiaran guides us out of the city and through the long tunnel out to the sea. The beach is just below the tall, jagged cliff side. The water laps against the pebbles there in a calm, soothing rhythm.

Though it's only early afternoon, the winter light has already dimmed to near-twilight, casting the sky in hues of light and dark blue. The color reflects onto the ocean, turning it the startling, vivid color of sapphires.

As the tide comes in, the rocks grind against each other, as if the sea is groaning with age. Wind bites my cheeks and sprays sand and salt on my lips.

I wear a pale shift that Derrick has made for me; soft and light and warm. Aithinne wove the
brìgh
in my hair, the glowing blue flowers forming a crown around my head. When I die, some of my energy will be absorbed into the buds, a small piece of my life force left behind.

Kiaran leads me across the beach, leaving Derrick, Aithinne, and Gavin at the cave entrance. As soon as the tide hits my bare feet, I gasp at the cold. We walk into the water slowly. Kiaran grasps my hand and I feel his power, warming and soothing.

I offer him a grateful smile. He doesn't smile back.

Wading into the water wearing the shift and the crown of flowers makes me feel like a sacrifice. I catch the way Kiaran gazes at me—as if he's thinking the same. As if he's about to lose me.

But I have no choice.

Kiaran looks away. Despite his power, the seawater is freezing the farther in I go, so cold that my lungs constrict. I'm growing numb with each step. Snow falls heavily around us as the waves lap around my waist.