Page 36 of The Falconer

He smiles wryly.

I scan his undeniably expensive outfit. I know quality fabrics when I see them. ‘Where did you even find those?’

‘The shopkeeper gave them to me,’ he says.

‘Under the influence of faery powers, I presume?’

‘Sìthichean.’

‘Faeries.’

Kiaran smirks. ‘I wanted the clothes. He had them. I asked for them – nicely – and he tailored them for me. Now they are well fitted. Must we discuss the morality of it?’

Morality. In all my worry over him finding me this way, I had completely forgotten the real reason he needed to speak to me, and I go cold again. Our genial moment has passed.

‘Aye, MacKay,’ I drawl. ‘Let’s discuss morality. Like the morality of failing to tell me about a seal that, once broken, will unleash faeries that could slaughter thousands of humans?’

Kiaran at least has the decency to look a bit uncomfortable, though his only tell is a slight shift of his gaze. ‘Someday, I’ll cut out that pixie’s tongue,’ he mutters.

‘At least he was honest with me.’

I look around. There is no one else in sight, just Kiaran and me standing in the middle of a circle of trees. Good. I release his hand and put my glove back on.

‘The seal breaking is an inevitability,’ Kiaran says, stuffing his hands into his pockets. ‘It’ll happen when the lunar eclipse occurs on midwinter. In six days.’

‘Six days,’ I whisper, almost unable to say the words.

I go cold and it’s hard to breathe. That’s too soon. If the fae manage to escape, how will it be possible to save the city? An entire human army couldn’t defeat the fae. Even a few more escaped redcaps could wreak untold havoc. I can’t stand against them if that happens, not on my own. I can’t save everyone.

‘We have to find the seal before that happens,’ I tell him. ‘Reactivate it somehow.’

He shakes his head. ‘The seal can only be reactivated during the eclipse. All thesìthicheanwill have slipped through by then.’

‘Surely there must be something we can do,’ I say.

‘We have one chance.’ He is so quiet I can only just hear him over the breeze. Around us, the trees rattle and dead leaves tumble through the grass. ‘You have to be there to reactivate it,’ he says. ‘You’re the only one who can.’

Chapter 13

Surely I must have heard him wrong. ‘I beg your pardon?’ Kiaran shifts closer, removing his hands from his pockets to brush his fingers against mine. His power tingles through my glove, warm and soft. It would be a reassuring gesture if it hadn’t come from him. Kiaran doesn’t comfort. He never has. ‘Last night you asked me a question. Do you remember?’

‘What is a Falconer?’ I whisper.

Maybe I shouldn’t see where this path leads. Perhaps it is best to keep it simply a word and not learn the truth behind it. Let myself pretend that a Falconer is precisely what Derrick said it was, that he didn’t half-lie.

No, I can’t do that. Father may think that I play with my inventions and neglect my responsibilities, but he’s wrong.Thisis my responsibility, my burden. I won’t run away from it. Iwon’t.

Kiaran lifts my chin. ‘Kam.Youare a Falconer,’ he says.

‘But what does it mean?’

He shakes his head. ‘Tell me what you feel and I’ll tell you what it means.’

Kiaran’s palm presses against mine, warm enough to be felt through my glove. The backs of his fingers stroke my cheek and traces of his power glide along my skin and roll off like drops of warm water. The taste is exquisite, like silk flower petals that brush up and down my tongue. My breath hitches and I lean into the warmth of his touch.

‘Tell me.’

‘I-I don’t—’

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