Page 103 of The Falconer

‘Those symbols mean it’s charged with my power,’ Kiaran says. ‘As long as I’m alive, you’ll have my abilities at your disposal.’

I look up at him, surprised. He’s giving me his power? ‘Won’t that weaken you? Why would you do this?’

‘If circumstances had been different, you would have been properly trained to use your own innate abilities,’ he says. ‘As it is, we’ve run out of time. Don’t worry about me.’

Kiaran holds out a hand and the disc rises from my palm and floats to him. With a wave of his fingers, power flares and the star transforms into two matching weapons, knives with long, narrow blades that look a lot like the ones Kiaran carries on our hunts.

I grip the knives, testing their weight and finding them surprisingly light. The blades are silver, thin and slightly transparent. The gold hilts are decorated with symbols that wrap around them in a vine-like pattern. I run my thumb carefully along a blade. Perfectly honed. They are the most exquisite weapons I’ve ever held.

He takes one from me and tosses it high into the air before catching it by the hilt. ‘See how easily it can be thrown? It also blockssìthicheanpower.’ He throws it again, only this time it hovers in the air above his hand and compresses itself back into a star-shaped disc, identical to the original, but smaller. He passes it to me. ‘Here – touch the other blade to it.’

I connect the star and the remaining knife. Power flows from the objects as they melt together to form the larger star. The metal is smooth in my palm again.

It’s so astonishing that I almost forget myself for a moment. ‘Thank yo—’

‘Don’t say it!’ he tells me.

I let out a frustrated breath. ‘I’ll never understand why none of you likes to be thanked.’

Kiaran gestures to the star-shaped disc. ‘That fits into your next gift.’

He opens the trunk and lifts out a cloth-wrapped bundle. Carefully, he peels the white fabric away to reveal magnificent gold-plated armour. There is a breastplate, a backplate, and two metallic vambraces decorated with what look like shining silver veins.

On the breastplate, over the spot which will protect my heart, is a star-shaped outline. Kiaran takes the disc from me and presses it into place. It clicks softly as it settles there.

The breastplate gleams in the firelight, and those silver veins shimmer. And humming through them, especially when I reach down to trace my fingers over the symbols on the star, is the unmistakable sensation of Kiaran’s power. It tastes of the same sweetness and natural things and every element combined. Pure, beautiful wildness. And it’s mine. Kiaran has given this to me.

‘This won’t protect your mind fromsìthicheaninfluence, so Sorcha can still use your memories against you. But the armour will amplify the connection to my power – you’ll be as strong as me.’

‘MacKay,’ I say softly. But I can’t continue. I’m so overwhelmed, I don’t know what to say.

His eyes meet mine. ‘Shall we practise using them?’

I nod. I know this will be his last lesson.

Chapter 35

The following afternoon, I stand in front of the oval mirror in my bedchamber and try to focus on donning my armour. My hands shake when I reach into the trunk.

I position the gold plates against my arm and buckle the leather straps underneath that run from my wrist up to my shoulder. The fae metal is warm through my long sleeves and so light and flexible that it’s hardly noticeable when I move. When I strap on the other vambrace, Kiaran’s power rushes under my skin, a gentle current at first, soon pulsing and strengthening inside me.

The breastplate fits smoothly over my chest, small enough to fit my shape. I slide leather straps through buckles at my sides – connecting the breastplate to the backplate – and the power intensifies again. My senses become so acute that I am aware of every muscle, vein, organ and bone – every part of me and all my new abilities. This is what it must be like to be fae – to have so much power at my disposal that a single flick of my wrist can cause a storm.

But I’m not one of them. I bend to retrieve my lightning pistol, snug in its leather holster, which I secure around my hips. The miniature explosives are next. Each little timepiece is fastened to a strap that runs across my breastplate. I grab my crossbow and sling the band across my shoulder.

A whistle comes from behind me. I turn to see Derrick hovering in the dressing room doorway, wings fanning softly. ‘You look . . .’

‘Ridiculous?’ I guess.

‘No.’ He sighs. ‘I had myself a wee lady of my own once, with armour like that. She was exquisite.’

‘What happened to her?’

Derrick shifts uncomfortably. ‘She left for Cornwall. With the other pixies.’ He flutters upwards. ‘Yoursìthicheis waiting outside. Got all grumbly and told me not to go back out without you.’

I start for the door. As I pass the dressing room, a flash of colour makes me pause. ‘Tell Kiaran I’ll only be a moment.’

Derrick grins. ‘I hope he’s annoyed. I love it when he gets annoyed. But don’t be long – the moon is getting redder.’ He leaves in a flutter of wings and light.

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