Page 24 of The Falconer

‘It doesn’t matter,’ he says, his jaw set. ‘When we hunted together, I could disguise our kills as mine. Now you’ve hunted alone and she knows there’s a Falconer in Edinburgh.’

Falconer. That word again. I remember the revenant’s gaping smile as it ripped the energy out of me.Falconer.

‘What does that mean?’ I say.

Before he can answer, I hear voices behind us. Kiaran looks past me and I turn. People are hurrying towards Waterloo Place, chattering, calling back and forth. They’re off to find the source of the explosion, I realise. It made a great deal of noise.

Dash it all. I’ll have to take a long detour on the way back to Charlotte Square if I don’t want to be seen.

‘Just go home, Kam,’ Kiaran says.

‘But—’

‘I’ll tell you the rest tomorrow.’ He pivots on his heel and walks down the road.

An hour later, I re-enter my bedroom through the hidden door. Derrick flies out of the dressing room. His wings are fluttering so fast they blur.

At the sight of me, he halts and lets out a whistle. ‘I feel I must inform you: you look like hell.’

I shove the lever that brings up the door, then slam my palm against the wooden wall panel. ‘Thank you,’ I say drily. ‘How very kind of you.’

Then I look in the mirror. My hair is in complete disarray, copper curls springing every which way. Blood peppers my face and clothes. My neck is bruised; tomorrow it will be deep purple. Derrick is right. I am an absolute mess.

‘I finished the gown,’ Derrick says. ‘Payment, please.’

‘Close your eyes.’

Dutifully, Derrick places his hands over his face and I open the cabinet where I hide the honey. A small panel slides aside to reveal a compartment containing a jar. I pour some of the contents into a wooden bicker and hide the honey again.

I set the bowl on the table. ‘No dribbling, please.’

With a squeal of glee, Derrick zooms over to the table. His light shines golden as he perches on the edge of the bowl. He dips his fingers into the honey and – without any shame – proceeds to place his entire hand in his mouth.

I cringe and step inside the dressing room. After I remove my soiled clothes and slip on my nightdress, I study my hands. My knuckles are torn, swollen and already bruised from hitting Kiaran. I kneel next to the washbasin Derrick has left out and slip my hands inside, hissing in pain.

I should never have let Kiaran see me that way. I need to keep better control over my rage. He’ll see it as a vulnerability far worse than my physical limitations. A weakness. It’s one thing to tell myself this. It’s quite another to act accordingly in front of him.

‘Damnation,’ I whisper to myself as I dry my hands. I don’t know what I’ll do when I see him tomorrow.

By the time I return, Derrick is already half-finished with the honey. He flashes me a wobbly smile. ‘How are you this fine –’ he hiccups ‘– evening, you lovely human?’

‘I thought you said I look awful.’

‘Like hell,’ he clarifies. ‘Like splendid, magnificent, beautiful hell.’

I drop my clothes into the washbasin to clean them. The water turns dark with blood and dirt. ‘Now you’re just being silly.’

‘Diel-ma-care.’ He waves a dismissive hand.

I stare at myself in the mirror again. I wonder how my power would taste if I were a faery. Ash and sandalwood, I decide. Things that burn. Maybe a hint of iron, from all the faeries I’ve killed for my mother.

Using a cloth, I begin scrubbing at the blood still splattered dark across my cheeks amid the vast number of light freckles. I look like a murderess, like death personified.

Crimson suits you best.

With a growl, I scrub hard enough that my flesh reddens and aches. No more memories. No more. The one Kiaran triggered earlier was enough.

I force my thoughts to the redcaps. I have to find out where they came from, and how they slipped out of their prison before it happens again. There’s no possible way I could manage to fight three in one night again. I already struggle with the solitary faeries I fight, and they weren’t trapped underground for more than two thousand years. The fae that were must be angry, and very, very hungry.

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