Page 15 of The Vanishing Throne

I glance up at the last vestiges of the stars. If I don’t release her themarawill attack us, and I’m still weakened from Lonnrach’s imprisonment. I swear in frustration and release her.

Aithinne swiftly creates another light and tosses it. The shadows around us disperse again, their agonized wails filling the silence. Themarareturn to watching from the darkness, their growls impatient, resentful.

Aithinne holds out her arm, blood welling from the cuts my fingernails left.

I stare at it.We’re the same, you and I.Lonnrach’s words echo through my mind, a cruel taunt. I step back and press my palm to my neck, to the last marks that bound he and I together. Still bleeding. Still sore.We’re the same.

I marked Aithinne, too. Even as I watch her wound heal over into smooth, unblemished skin, I still would have done it. I wonder if when Lonnrach took out pieces of me, he filled up the hollow inside with fragments of himself.

‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper. I can’t tear my eyes away. ‘I’m so sorry.’

Aithinne watches me carefully for the longest time, understanding in her features. This time, she tries her words more deliberately. ‘If what I say gets back to Lonnrach, he’ll hunt them down. He has spies everywhere. Kadamach won’t let me share anything to protect—’

Her voice suddenly chokes, a horrifying sound, as if she almost let something slip. She doubles over, face contorting in pain. ‘My vow,’ she manages to gasp. ‘Written on my tongue.’

If what I say gets back to Lonnrach, he’ll hunt them down. He has spies everywhere.Kiaran is practical, occasionally to a fault. He knew I’d demand answers that might potentially put people in danger – especially if they’re hiding from the fae army.

‘He made you vow not to tell me?’

She nods. ‘It was too broad. I can’t reveal most things about the outside, or even speak around it—’

‘I know,’ I say as my initial anger calms. ‘I’m aware of how faery vows work.’

No wonder she almost choked on her words. A fae vow is something never to be taken lightly, or uttered on a whim. Kiaran oncemade a vow never to kill humans. If he ever breaks it, he’ll die slowly, painfully. For Kiaran to make Aithinne say one … the situation in the human realm must be dire.

My memory of ruined Edinburgh flashes. I can practically smell the falling ash before I shove it to the recesses of my mind and shut the door.Don’t think about it. Escape from Lonnrach first.

I force myself to speak. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Chapter 7

Aithinne and I keep a steady, brisk pace through the trees for the longest time– like hours, it seems.

I imitate the movement of her body to avoid the shadowed metal limbs of the trees, the razor-sharp branches. They tug the bottom of my shift, ripping the material.

I take another step and flinch as a branch slices through my leg in a long, thin cut, superficial but damned painful. Blood wells around the wound and drips down to my feet in a stream.Damnation.

The high wails of countlessmarasuddenly echo through the forest.

‘Wait,’ Aithinne says sharply. ‘Don’t move. Themarahavesensitive noses. If enough of them smell your blood, they might risk getting burned by the light.’

Themarastalk through the shadows, between the creaking branches. I start when something moves out of the corner of my eye.Hell. Oh hell.They’re getting closer. Even with the light above us, they’re moving into the shadows between stars, edging nearer. Waiting, waiting.

Something nips near my feet with hot breath and I grasp the hilt of my sword. A growl comes from my left, and I have the blade out without thinking. My muscles tremble in response, but I ignore it. ‘Run or fight?’

Aithinne’s smile is a fierce thing, wild. ‘Both.’ She has her blade in her hand before I can blink. ‘Definitely both.’

I pause. ‘I’ll be damned. You really are Kiaran’s sister.’

A single breath later, she leads the way and we both take off running. Like before, I mimic the movements of her body to avoid the sharp branches. I’m not graceful. My limbs are clumsier from lack of use, but I urge myself through.Keep going. You can do this. Keep going.

The last lights over the trees are beginning to fade; one by one they burn out like candles being snuffed. The rustling in the trees grows louder, more urgent. A howl resonates from somewhere to my left. Themaraare running with us, waiting for their chance.

Aithinne stops just at the edge of our remaining circle of light. She grasps my hand and deliberately turns me so she can press her back to mine. ‘Fight as many as you can,’ she says in a low voice. ‘Then you run, and let me distract the rest.’

I nod once, wiping the sweat from my brow. My breathing is uneven, weak. I’m trembling, queasy from our run. I’m too close to escaping to care.

Then the last stars finally fade, and we are pitched into darkness.

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