Page 62 of The Vanishing Throne

Gavin finally clears his throat to fill the awkward silence. ‘Tavish, Lorne. Will you permit me to introduce—’

The large man – Lorne – laughs and it’s a deep rumble in his chest. ‘Permit me. Well, la-di-da, Lord I-Have-an-Earldom.’

‘Don’t be an arsehole, Lorne,’ Tavish says. ‘There’s a lady present, for god’s sake, man.’ Then he looks at me. ‘I’m Tavish – uh, Mr. Gray.’ He smacks his companion in the stomach, who lets out a heartyoof. ‘And this impolite son of a bitch is Mr. Candish.’

‘If you call me Mr. Candish,’ Lorne says, ‘I won’t bother responding.’

‘Well,’ Gavin says, ‘after that unseemly introduction …’ He gestures to me. ‘This is Lady Aileana Kameron.’ He turns to Kiaran, rather reluctantly. ‘And you’ve already seen Kiaran, who is—’

‘Leaving,’ Kiaran interrupts briskly. ‘My threshold for human tolerance is now exceeded. Send the pixie for me in the event I get to stab something.’

With that, Kiaran turns on his heel and strides out of the room.Damn him.

‘The fae are a crabbit lot, aren’t they?’ Lorne says thoughtfully. Then he glances at Derrick. ‘No offense.’

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Derrick smile sweetly. ‘At least we’re not oafish simpletons.No offense.’

‘Gentlemen. ’ Catherine’s voice cuts across the room. Daniel comes in behind her looking rather … well, rather like a man who just received a verbal lashing. ‘As much as I adore listening to you all squabble like children, we’ve a situation to address.’ She nods to Tavish. ‘Are you ready?’

Tavish sits in his chair. He moves his head from side to side and wiggles his fingers as if to relax. With one long, drawn-in breath, he settles into his seat.

I glance at my shoulder to see Derrick staring at Tavish intently. ‘What’s he doing?’ I whisper.

Derrick’s wings brush my ear as he leans in closer. ‘Seers have different abilities,’he says in a low voice. ‘Many, like Gavin, can see into the future. Tavish can project himself outside of his own body to view things at a distance.’

I watch Tavish with renewed interest. His entire body goes still, fingers clenching and unclenching on the armrests. His breathing is even deeper, deeper still, until his chest expands far outward with every breath. ‘Almost there,’ he breathes, ‘almost there.’

The entire room is silent; no one speaks or movesI watch as Tavish’s breathing quickens, faster and faster as if he’s running.

Suddenly, his eyes open wide. They are stark white, smooth like marble. He exhales slow, and then it’s as if he isn’t breathing at all. ‘They’re at the west boundary,’ he says. His voice is calm, mechanical, barely human. ‘Fifty, at least. Spreading out through the trees.’

‘Should we get ready to fight them?’ I can’t help but ask, dreading the answer.

Lonnrach might be out there looking for me, and I’m not ready to battle him yet. I need more time.

Daniel raises an eyebrow. ‘We?’

Gavin moves to stand right beside me. He leans in, so the others can’t hear. ‘Don’t even think about it,’ he says. ‘We wait until there’s an immediate threat before we draw attention to ourselves and risk more lives.’

Before I can respond, he addresses Tavish. ‘Are they just passing through?’ He says it lightly, but there’s an edge to his voice. I wonder if they’ve lost people before when the faejust passed through.

‘It seems so,’ Tavish says. The tension leaves his body. ‘Looks like a normal sweep. They should be out of the territory in a few minutes.’

A sudden movement from Derrick draws my attention. He appears to be in deep concentration, wings fluttering as fast as a dragonfly’s. His fingers press a little too hard into my skin and his halo grows brighter, the taste of his powers increasing on my tongue.

‘And the wards are still up,’ he says. ‘Good, now I can get back to—’

‘Christ,’ Tavish breathes, spine going rigid as he sits upright. ‘They’re starting to dig.’

Daniel shrewdly assesses me. I know what he’s thinking: They’re looking for me.Lonnrachis looking for me.

All I care about is finding the object hidden in your realm. And you’re going to help me with it, willingly or no.

I swallow back thecurse that almost escapes my lips, my body tensing.

‘Is their location above any tunnels to the city?’ Daniel asks.

‘Aye. They’re just above the long passage to the centre of the island. If they keep digging, they’ll find it.’

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