Page 30 of The Fallen Kingdom

I roll my eyes. “Trust you to flirt with me right before a battle. What happened to Brooding Gavin?”

“Brooding Gavin had a city to protect,” he says. “All I have now is my own arse. Oh, and this whisky.” He pulls open his coat and the bottle is right there in the inside pocket. He’s actually determined to save that shite single malt.

“You’re ridiculous,” I tell him.

Aithinne, however, brightens when she sees it. “Thank god,” she says. “Save a dram for me. I always like a spot of whisky after I murder things.”

God help me. Or kill me now. Just put me out of my misery.

I hear the quick clamor of hooves behind me. It’s Catherine and Daniel, hurrying out of the trees with three fae horses saddled and ready to go. “Stick by me,” Daniel says to Gavin. “Don’t do anything bloody stupid, all right? Not like last time.”

“You know me, old chap,” Gavin says, swinging up onto his horse. Derrick settles on his shoulder with his wings tucked in. “Bloody stupid is only my Plan B.”

Daniel looks over at me, his one eye assessing. “Good to have you back,” is all he says. Then he mounts his horse and Catherine does the same. We all say our goodbyes before the fae horses take off, so fast they blur. I don’t even hear them as they disappear into the dark woods.

Aithinne and I wait and listen.

In the span of minutes, I feel the soldiers moving through the forest. I send out a tentative, searching stroke of power. A few soldiers take off in the direction the humans and Derrick went, but Kiaran isn’t with them.Thank god.

The soldiers must sense me, though, because their power pushes against mine, a warning:We’re coming for you.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Aithinne’s grim smile in response.We’re ready.

CHAPTER 14

AS THEsoldiers draw closer, their power is hot against my skin, a combined energy that makes the air torrid, heavy.

Unlike the fae I encountered in the woods, they aren’t trying to hide their presence. They’re announcing it with every step. They’re screaming it. It’s the cocky entrance of fae who have no idea what they’re up against. They don’t understand that they’re about to be the first casualties of war. They’re about to be the declaration.

My power unfurls, a darkness at the back of my mind just waiting to be unleashed. Waiting to kill.

Come closer.

When the fae reach the outskirts of the camp, my power roars. It demands. It paces inside its too-small bone cage. When they finally step through the trees, I can barely hold it back.

Wait...wait...

Aithinne puts a hand on my arm as if she senses my struggle. Her power wraps around mine to hold it in place. There’s a steadiness to her gaze, a patience I hadn’t expected before a battle.Hold.

The fae in the forest surround us, their eyes glowing like beacons in the darkness. My power senses twenty heartbeats. Twenty inhales and exhales, breathing as one.

Twenty stupid, suicidal faeries who won’t live to see the morning.

I step forward, but Aithinne’s grip tightens. “Wait,” she says to me in a low voice. Then louder, so the others can hear: “You’re trespassing in my territory.”

An Unseelie at the front laughs. It’s a low, rough scrape at the back of his throat. “We know.”

“I see.” Aithinne sounds calm. So calm. Almost like she feels sorry for them. “Then you must be aware that Kadamach intends for you to be killed.”

They remain unmoving, impassive. Maybe they haven’t learned how to feel yet. Maybe Kiaran taught them what he learned in the Unseelie Court himself: that emotions are a weakness.

“You’re young,” she says dismissively. “Just made.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” one of them asks.

Aithinne shrugs. “It’s not your fault he sent you to your deaths. He can just make more soldiers. You’re expendable.”

I look sharply at Aithinne.What are you doing?

---