Page 18 of The Fallen Kingdom

Save them from an unchangeable fate: two monarchs born to power—one to rule the Seelie, the other to rule the Unseelie. The most powerful of the two would trigger a war, kill the other, and take the place of the last Cailleach...and so it had always been, until Aithinne and Kiaran refused to fight, and created the ripple effect that’s fracturing both fae and human realms. A destruction that will stop only when one of them becomes the new Cailleach.

Unless I find that blasted book.

Aithinne’s body tenses. “I don’t know if Kadamach can be saved.” My throat tightens when I see the message in her face, as clearly as if she had spoken it aloud.I don’t know if you can be saved, either.

CHAPTER 8

MY MEMORIEScome with the kind of ache that feels as if my head is being taken apart and stitched back together again.

Catherine went off with the man in the eye-patch—her husband, Daniel—to find herbs to help with the pain. Aithinne hurried to check the boundary for any signs of other fae after Derrick told her about my kills back in the forest. She left so damn fast that I didn’t have time to ask her about Kiaran.

And me...I scrubbed away the worst of the grime and changed into the trousers, thin shirt, and boots Derrick scrounged up for me on such short notice. Now I’m sitting by the fire, trying not to vomit from the nausea.

I pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders and flinch as another group of images bursts through my mind—this time from further back in my childhood: me and my mother; our inventions; the way she sang during Sunday services. Little things that remind me that I’ve lost her.

Think of something else. Something that’ll hurt less.

My mind doesn’t obey. This time, my thoughts are filled with Kiaran. Me, kissing him like I couldn’t get enough. Tracing my fingertips across the swirled marks on his body, physical remnants of the fae vows he made. The largest one was a penance he bears for all the deaths he’s caused.

The way he looked at me when he said,Aoram dhuit. I will worship thee.

Each repetition hurts more than the last. Aithinne thinks I lost my memories because my body was destroyed. That when the Cailleach’s magic brought me back, my mind took longer to piece together. When Aithinne’s power connected with mine, she opened the floodgates.

Catherine’s brother Gavin settles on the log beside me. “You look miserable.”

His blond hair is longer now, almost touching the base of his neck. Stubble has grown along his jaw, obscuring part of the scar that begins just below his eye.

How different he is from the boy I knew growing up. Gavin went from the perfect, titled gentleman to this—one of the few humans left alive, thanks in no small part to his gift of the Sight, the natural ability to see the fae. We earned our abilities the same way: by dying and coming back.

All things considered, Gavin is taking my miraculous return rather well. When he saw me, all he did was smile and say, “You really intend on stretching the definition ofdeaduntil it loses all meaning, don’t you?”

What would he say if I tell him my borrowed magic is all that’s keeping me alive? That none of us will survive if I don’t find the Book of Remembrance?

His response would probably be like Derrick’s.You’re like a cat: You’ll just gain another life.

I sigh. “My head is splitting. I may vomit.”

“Ah. Well, then this will either help or make it infinitely worse.” Gavin presents a bottle of whisky. “You look like you could use a dram. Just don’t throw up on my shoes.”

“Good god, Galloway,” I say with a laugh. “Only you would manage to have whisky on hand after everything’s been destroyed. What’s the occasion?”

Gavin shrugs. “You’re alive. What you see here is probably the last bottle in existence, and I want you to enjoy it with me before the world ends.”

I make a face. “Morbid.”

“Appropriate.”

A voice rings out from behind us. “There had better be some for me.” Derrick flies over from one of the cottages and settles on my shoulder. “I’m out of honey,” he grumbles, wings flicking my hair. “That foul-smelling peated shite is all that’s left to help me achieve my goal of complete oblivion.”

My body relaxes with Derrick there. Now that my memories are intact, I feel more in control. You don’t realize how important even the smallest interactions are until your mind has been emptied of them all. It was as if I had never lived.

Gavin looks at the pixie and raises his eyebrow. “If you want me to share, don’t insult my drink.”

“Shiiiite,” Derrick sings. “Go on, then. Give us a toast.”

Gavin uncorks the bottle and raises it in a salute. “To Aileana’s return, just in time for the inevitable war and our probable demise. But until then,slàinte.” He takes a long swig. I can tell by his face that it burns. “Fair warning,” he says hoarsely, passing me the bottle, “this is not going to go down smoothly.”

I take the bottle from him, but I don’t drink. “Probable demise? I don’t suppose you or Daniel have had a vision that gives us some hope of winning?” My smile is forced. “If not, I’m hoping for a relatively painless death this time.”

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