Page 67 of The Falconer

It nearly drowned me. I remember struggling to breathe, coughing, gasping for air as I tried to free myself from the adhesive hair on its back. I must have gone unconscious, because the next thing I knew, Kiaran was holding me as I coughed up water. When I realised what he was, I tried to sink my knife into his shoulder. My blade shattered.

That day, Kiaran made me a vow. So long as I trained with him, he would never prevent me from seeking vengeance. He told me that some of what I would have to do on my path for retribution wouldn’t be honourable, but it would be necessary.Necessity before honour. Always.

‘Aye, I remember,’ I whisper.

He slides a finger along my spine, over the upraised scar from that night. My first badge. My first test. The one that bound us together.

‘You asked me what manner of man I am.’ I close my eyes, wishing he hadn’t noticed I’d called him that. Kiaran is so close now, pressed against me, his breath soft against my neck. ‘I’m someone who has slayed for you, who pulled you from that river, saved your life and taught you all the ways to kill me and mine. But never make the mistake of thinking I’m a man. I aid you because I’ve deemed it necessary to do so. But I don’t value honour.’

I swallow. ‘Then whatdoyou value?’ I ask him. ‘Isn’t there anything you’re willing to die for?’

Kiaran doesn’t answer. His arm reaches around me. ‘Look at this.’

Nestled between his thumb and forefinger is a tiny black barb, dripping with my blood. ‘What is it?’

‘Acù sìth’s claws are covered in these. It sends a paralysing poison into its victims, so they can’t run.’

‘You never told me that.’

‘I must have forgotten.’ Kiaran doesn’t sound at all apologetic. He turns me to face him and touches my forehead. Instinctively I recoil, but he keeps his hand there. His fingers caress my hairline, feather-light. ‘You’re only immune enough to prevent it from paralysing you,’ he says. ‘It’s still making you sick. Killing you.’ He removes his hand. ‘I’ll have to take out the rest of the barbs.’

‘Right now?’Do his eyes have to be so intense?

‘I need to gather a few items first,’ he says. ‘I’ll return tonight.’ Before I can protest, he adds, ‘No one will see me come inside.’

I realise how close our faces are, a whisper away. I hold my breath, uncertain if I should pull back, or if he has noticed it, too.

‘Aren’t you frightened?’ I ask. ‘Of thedaoine sìthescaping the mounds? Of dying?’

I don’t know why I ask him. It’s foolish, and yet I have to know if he fears what will happen as much as I do.

He frowns. ‘No.’

‘Isn’t there anything you fear?’

I want to understand him, to prolong this. He’s always dauntless and inscrutable, yet his rare flashes of emotion betray something deeper, a part of him as yet untouched by apathy.

‘Aye,’ he says. The back of his hand slides across my cheek, cooling the skin there. I move closer.Tell me. Tell me. Tell—

Before he can say what he means, a sharp voice cuts through the silence. ‘Get the hell away from my fiancée, you bastard.’

Chapter 23

Gavin stands in the doorway, blue eyes blazing. Until he looks at Kiaran – really looks – and all the blood drains from his face. A very bad word slips softly from his lips.

Dash it all. It’s one thing to catch me carrying a pixie around, but quite another to find me in a rather compromising position with adaoine sìth. I shift my body to make sure Gavin can’t see that my dress is open at the back. That would make this situation a great deal worse.

‘Fiancée?’ Kiaran repeats with a raised eyebrow.

‘Oh, hell.’ Gavin breathes the words and I only just hear them.

I glance from Gavin to Kiaran. My face burns. ‘Well,’ I say. ‘Well. This is awkward.’

Kiaran’s lips curve into a smile. Not the genuine almost-smile I’ve come to recognise, but one that scares the daylights out of me. Gone is the impassiveness of mere moments ago. ‘And he’s aSeer.’ His statement holds a hint of a threat, spoken in that melodic tone I’ve come to dread. He laughs, and all the fine hairs on my arms rise. ‘Such a rare creature to find these days.’

Gavin takes a single step back, face pale and awash with sheer panic. For a moment, I think he’ll run, until he looks over at me. His body goes still. And I know then that he won’t leave me alone here, even if I wished it. Damn him for trying to protect me again.

He meets Kiaran’s dark gaze. ‘Don’t get any ideas, faery,’ he says. ‘I would be of no use to you.’

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