Page 64 of The Falconer

‘Ah?’ I snap. ‘I nearly die and that’s how you respond?Ah?’

Kiaran shows no response to my outburst. He regards me calmly, detached as always. ‘I told you to keep the pixie with you,’ he points out, sitting on the settee across from me. ‘You look terrible.’

‘We don’t all possess indestructible fae skin,’ I say.

I almost expect him to smile. He taught me to wear my cuts and bruises with pride, was the first one to call them my badges of honour. Instead, I see the briefest flash of . . .somethingin his eyes. Guilt? It’s gone before I can truly tell.

It’s odd and uncomfortable when Kiaran displays any kind of emotion. I’ve become used to him as cold, impassive. But every so often he expresses something deeper and I wonder if his emotions are really that fleeting, or if he just wants to deceive me into believing they are.

No, I can’t think about that. There I go, treating him as if he experiences emotions the same way humans do. ‘Why are youreallyhere?’ I ask bluntly, despite how impolite it is. ‘It isn’t just to visit.’

‘If you must know, I came to make sure you weren’t dead.’

I almost cough up my tea in shock. ‘My goodness, MacKay. Were you worried about me?’Please say no like you always do, so I won’t make the mistake of humanising you again.

Kiaran’s expression betrays nothing. ‘Do you pine for my concern?’

‘Certainly not.’

He looks amused. ‘No? Then whatdoyou long for?’

Vengeance is what I desire most, the only thing I’ve craved strongly enough to kill for. After all, it’s the oldest motivation in the entire world. People might think it’s love, or greed, or wealth, but vengeance gives you life. It strengthens you. It makes you burn.

I don’t answer him. Instead I ask, ‘What aboutyou?’

Kiaran smiles. This time I can’t tell if it’s genuine. ‘Looking for something redeemable in me, Kam?’

‘Looking for the reason you hunt.’What stirs those fleeting emotions that I so rarely catch?

‘Shouldn’t my enjoyment of it be reason enough?’

Except that’s not it at all. I’ve watched Kiaran kill. This is as personal for him as it is for me. But if he doesn’t want to tell me why, we have far more pressing matters to attend to than our own vendettas.

I reach for the tea and sip to soothe my aching throat. ‘We need to find the seal before Tuesday, MacKay.’

Kiaran moves to sit next to me, alarmingly close. Though I know he doesn’t care at all for the rules of society – indeed, he doesn’t even appear to be aware of them – I can’t help but be a wee bit startled when he acts with such familiarity. Old habits die hard and all that.

‘We’ll find it,’ he says. ‘But make no mistake, we’ll have to fight to close the seal again. We’ll have to prepare for war.’

I almost stop breathing. To thedaoine sìth, conquest is never their only goal. Kiaran told me that they were known for slaughtering the strongest of their enemies, keeping the rest alive to feed on. They call it the Wild Hunt, and it almost drove humans to extinction thousands of years ago. If thedaoine sìthare released, the fae have the power to decimate us all until only ashes and ruin and the weakest humans remain. I don’t imagine it was easy to trap them in the first place.

I can’t focus on finding the faery that killed my mother now, especially not after last night. The number of fae in the city will only grow.

‘War,’ I whisper. ‘How many will leave the mounds during the eclipse?’

‘There were thousands fighting in the battle before the Falconers activated the seal to trap them.’

It sounds as if—‘You were there,’ I say, suddenly realising. ‘Weren’t you?’

If I hadn’t been watching him so carefully, I might have missed the emotion that flickers in his gaze, something almost sorrowful. ‘I was there,’ he says, very deliberately. ‘For most of it.’ And just like that, he relaxes, as if he’s realised exactly how much he’s given away. ‘The Falconers killed many, but I expect hundreds will escape from the mounds on Tuesday. Maybe more.’

Kiaran’s voice is as calm and dispassionate as ever. I almost ask about that battle two thousand years ago, how he escaped the same fate as the rest of the fae who fought. But he’s back to being closed off, and I’m certain he won’t tell me.

‘You’re just being pessimistic with that figure, aye?’ I ask.

Kiaran blinks. ‘No.’

I plunk my teacup on the table and almost spill its contents. ‘Isn’t that going to make this a rather one-sided fight? Two against hundreds? Good heavens, I’d think with the amount of power you all possess, faeries might observe some of the niceties of battle.’ I wave a hand. ‘Fight fairly and all that?’

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