Page 118 of The Vanishing Throne

‘Then I realised howIcould use you. The Cailleach ceased to matter.’ She flashes her teeth in a frightening smile. ‘As for Lonnrach, all I had to do was assure him I’d captureyouwhile he focused on finding exactly what I needed. My brother is so oblivious. He’d would make a terrible monarch.’

Her voice isn’t as affecting as the last time I saw her, not as beautiful or lulling. My awakened powers must give me the ability to hear beyond the influence of her voice. I feel her in my mind, as if she’s seeking to test that. Small, probing tendrils of her power snake across my consciousness.

Sorcha pushes against my mind and I push back. She looks like she loves that.

I grit my teeth against the sudden pain of her fingernail digging into my neck, drawing blood. ‘And how do you intend to use me?’

‘Sorcha wants your powers for herself.’ I turn to see Kiaran in the trees, blood splattered across the front of his shirt, blade dripping. He’s breathing hard, as if he just slaughtered a small army. ‘Don’t you? Your brother was looking for theneimheadto generate enough energy for a power transference, and you’ve been waiting for him to find it.’ He grips his sword hard. ‘Neither of you will take the Cailleach’s place. I’ll kill you first, even if it means I’ll die with you.’

Sorcha smiles. ‘Such a low opinion you have of me, Kadamach. When this is over, you’ll thank me.’

‘Let Kam go, Sorcha,’ Kiaran says in a tone he gets before he stabs things. He might stab Sorcha, even if he can’t kill her.

‘Kam.’ Sorcha spits the word out as if it’s foul. ‘Is that what you call her?’ Her nails dig deeper into the tender skin at my neck and I bite my tongue to keep from crying out. Blood blossoms in my mouth and I taste its tang. ‘Your latest little Falconer pet. It seems this is a lesson I must teach you twice, Kadamach.’

Sorcha pulls me in a rough embrace, and before I can blink, she whisks me away with the speed of a storm.

We are over the cliffs by the sea, so close to where the city once was. Sorcha’s arms are tight around me and then we’re falling, falling, falling.

She lands us on one of the sea cliffs in the snow, where the waves slam the rocks and spray water into my face. There are fae here,cù sìthand redcaps and smallermortair, mechanical creatures with wings and sharp beaks that peck at the ground.

They are digging in the deep ravine that was once a part of the city, the redcaps smashing rocks with their hammers and leaving it to the hounds and metal creatures to dig the rest of the way.

A massive wall of seawater is suspended to one side of them, hovering in the air as if it could fall at any moment. The fae must have cleared away all the buildings in the city – or perhaps most of it was destroyed when the underwater caves were breached. Now they’re using their powers to keep the sea at bay as they search for the crystal.

I remember Tavish watching them when they breached the perimeter shortly after my arrival.They’re digging.I thought –we all thought – they were searching for me. But this is what Lonnrach was after; he wanted theneimhead. And I helped lead him right to it.

Lonnrach oversees the digging with a satisfied smile. His salt-white hair blows in the breeze as the sun sets behind him. He looks beautiful, every inch the Seelie faery he once was.

Then it comes, a flash of memory, before I can even think to stop it. Lonnrach’s second and third rows of razor-sharp teeth descending.

I freeze.No. No no no.I won’t go back to this. I won’t be his prisoner again. I won’t let him take little pieces of me again. I won’t let him take the fight out of me.

Sorcha tries to drag me away from the cliffs and I buck hard against her. She briefly loses her grip and I slam the heel of my hand into her face.

‘You disgusting little—’

I wrap my fingers around her wrist.Melt.I breathe out my power just like I was taught. I command it. I feel it roar in response.Melt.I want her to die like themortair. I want to see her disintegrate to ash. I want—

Sorcha’s fingernails suddenly dig into my hair. She pulls me up against her. Her nose is bleeding, stark against her pale skin.

Her lips curve into a smile. ‘That tickled.’ She pulls me closer. ‘As long as I’m bonded to Kadamach, you can’t kill me with your powers. You don’t have the strength.’

She drags me by my hair across the grass. I try to fight her again – I kick and slam a fist into her gut, but she tightens her hold around my neck, fingernails digging in, drawing blood. She shoves her power into me, and the pain is so acute that I cry out.

Lonnrach turns at my scream. ‘My lost prisoner.’ He glances at his sister. ‘Took you long enough.’

I hate his voice. I hate the way it makes me feel like I’m right back in the mirrored room at his mercy. I’m on my knees again, unable to fight back. Already I’m starting to tremble, just as I always did whenever he drew near.

‘I had three humans, two former monarchs, and an exceedingly angry pixie to deal with.’ Sorcha ticks off her fingers. ‘Could you do better?’

Lonnrach’s gaze flickers to the hold Sorcha has on my hair. ‘I never had to drag her anywhere.’ He flashes his teeth at me then, as if to say,Remember these? ‘Everyone has a breaking point, even Falconers.’

‘You must not have broken her completely,’ Sorcha says, ‘since she escaped.’

Lonnrach narrows his eyes, then continues to watch the fae dig with the sort of concentration and impatience I wouldn’t expect from an immortal – but he’sbeen waiting for this moment.

Sorcha’s lips curve into a smile as she leans down, and I catch a glimpse of her smooth fangs. ‘Watch, Falconer.’

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