Page 114 of The Vanishing Throne

‘Just hold back the sea and as many fae as you can. Aithinne and I will do the rest.’

He gives me a look. ‘Just hold back the sea, she says.’ With a shake of his head, he takes his position again, deep in concentration.

I rejoin Aithinne in fighting themortair. She and I go after them, one by one, in explosions that rain dirt and rock all around us.

Kiaran uses his powers to protect us – but themortairkeep coming. There are at least a dozen, towering over the city’s tenements. Their large bodies take up so much space inside the central part of the cavern that I can barely see the buildings around us.

My sight is filled with metal limbs and whirring gears. It’s suffocating. Between the water and themortair, the space becomes so confined – the scent of burning metal so overwhelming – that I can barely stand it.

My power unfurls inside me, strong and hot through my veins. It makes me move faster. It keeps me focused. My body is a weapon, graceful and smooth. I whirl in the water like a dancer, like a faery, cutting and slicing just as fast as Aithinne. Together we take them all down.

Then I look up and see one of themortairheading straight for Kiaran and I don’t even think. I leap in front of him, a sudden memory of the Cailleach’s voice flashing through my mind:You have my daughter’s blood in you, her powers. My blood.

Time to test my powers further.

I watch the cat-likemortaircome at me, its razor-sharp metal teeth bared and its claws. I put my hands out and my power stretches inside of me.Stop. That’s all I think.Stop. And I am awash with the burning sensation of fire through my veins.

When I open my eyes, I am surrounded by light. It’s golden and so luminous that it scorches my eyes. It’s so different from when I shared Kiaran’s powers. It’s not a force outside of me, not something that feels out of my control or like it doesn’t belong.

This is me; this is what I’m meant for. It is power in my veins and light in my blood and the beautiful sensation of freeing it. It’smine.

I stop thecreature in its tracks. The burning tang of metal singes my nostrils as I breathe deep, remembering Derrick’s words.You just breathe it out like air.

My gaze meets the creature’s, and I see a hint of a sentient being there, the pain I’m causing it, and I don’t care. I push more of that light. It pours out of me, pulsating, strengthening, and I give it only one command:burn.

The air between us heats, it magnifies and glimmers like a mirage. The creature glows red and melts like metal thrown into a fire. Just as I did with the metal flower I created with the clock, I warp its limbs. I force them to twist around each other.

I make the water rise, tugging at the droplets with my mind until themortairis covered in water to cool the hot metal. I release a burst, a single pulse from that place deep in my blood, a push of power that shatters the metal like glass.

The creature collapses into the still water like ash. Nothing is left but a single claw the size of my palm. It floats toward me and I grasp it in my fist. A memento. A treasure. A sign of victory.

Then, all at once, all that power snaps back inside me. I have a painful sense of being filled, of stuffing all that light into my veins again,until I’m dizzy and my vision blurs. When it fades, I sway on my feet.

Someone catches me around the waist with a whoop.Aithinne. ‘You did it!’ She looks proud, so proud of me. ‘You were magnificent.’

I melted themortair, using my powers just like a fae. Not a human.

Human enough, the Cailleach’s voice whispers in my mind as I open my fist and stare at the single metal claw.It has punctured my palm and drawn blood.Human enough.

Kiaran shouts my name and I look up just as moremortairleap through the top of the structure and land on the other side of the square. And not justmortair, but other fae, too. Redcaps andcù sìthanddaoine sìth, all pushing against Kiaran’s power. Oh god, I can’t fight that many.

‘Time to run,’ I tell Aithinne. And I’m on my feet, splashing through the water. ‘Kiaran, let go!’

A wall of water comes crashing down. We all run, the massive wave pouring through the city at immense speed behind us. Aithinne leads the way through the streets as we try to stay ahead of the current.

Water rushes around our legs, slowing our movements, but we keep going, keep running. I hear the clicking and pounding of mechanical limbs behind me and know the creatures are after us, pursuing through the water.

My clothes stick to my skin, limiting my movements and making running harder. My body is freezing, my limbs cold and tired, but sheer will keeps me going.

Aithinne leads us through a tunnel, down another narrow passage with light at the end. In a single burst of power, she collapses the portion of the cave behind us. The current of water stalls, but it’s leaking through the rock; soon it will give way.

Keep running,I think.Keep going.

That’s when I see Daniel, Catherine, and Gavin still in the tunnel, Derrick buzzing frantically around them. ‘They’re hurt,’ Derrick says, reaching me. ‘The water came in through theother exit.’ I barely have time to take in the gash on Catherine’s forehead, the way Gavin’s leg is bleeding.

Catherine flounders and Kiaran snatches her up in his arms.

‘Through the other passageway!’ Daniel shouts.

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