Page 32 of The Fallen Kingdom

“Aithinne.”Breathe, girl. Just breathe. “How long?”

She looks away. “A few days.”

A few days. And then I’m dead all over again.

I had laughed in the Cailleach’s face when she told me her powers would eventually kill me. Of course there was a price to being brought back. There’s always a price. I didn’t consider that this time around, the repercussions for not finding the Book wouldn’t just be my death: It would be everyone I love having to grieve me once more.

Maybe that’syourcurse, Aileana Kameron. Anyone who loves you is doomed to watch you die over and over again.

CHAPTER 15

FOCUS ONsomething else. Something in your control. I look at the fae Aithinne and I just slaughtered. “Did you mean what you said before? That Kiaran created them just to be killed here?”

“Did you think that just because he took the titleKingthat it would undo two thousand years of him hunting his own kind?” At my frown, Aithinne’s expression hardens. “He hates them.”

I made you the same as me. Kiaran said that to me once, and now I wonder if he was wrong. Maybe he didn’t make me the same. Maybe I made him hate the fae more.

“He doesn’t have to be King,” I say. I hate how childish that sounds. How dangerously naïve. I know better than anyone what it’s like to be forced into a role I never wanted. He didn’t choose to be King. I didn’t choose to be a Falconer. It was nothing more than an accident of birth.

From Aithinne’s pointed expression, I’d wager she believes me naïve, too. “When Sorcha restored his powers, she stole his choice. He and I can’t ignore it any more than we can ignore the fact that one of us has to die.” She pushes to her feet and offers me her hand. “And now I need you to delay our war.”

I take her hand and follow her into the woods. Though Aithinne’s pace is fast and determined, her small frown betrays her concern. I almost tell her that I’m sorry. If I had my memory when the Cailleach brought me back, I would never have killed those other fae. Now I’ve forced Aithinne to go to war with Kiaran.

She is the girl whose gift is chaos. Wherever she goes, death follows.

I suppose I can’t help it, can I? I broke the world, and now I’ve started the war. It’s mygift. My purpose. It’s what I was made for.

“Tell me what I need to do,” I say. I ignore the trembling weakness in my body and push through the pain.

“You’ll have to get Kadamach’s attention. He ought to be in something of a listening mood.” She pauses, considering. “I think.”

“Youthink?”

Aithinne sighs and looks away. “He left another human for me this morning. So he’s recently fed.” Her voice is low, thick. “He’ll be more...in control.”

Another human added to the cottage. Another life gone. “For how long?”

“He might hold on longer because he loves you, or not at all because you’re human. I’m not certain.” Aithinne’s gaze catches mine. “No matter how normal he might appear at first, his hunger will always win out. Always. Remember that.”

I ignore the tremor of fear her words bring. I have to focus on the task at hand. “How do I get his attention?”

Aithinne’s smile is slow, brilliant; she’s clearly relieved to be back to a more comfortable topic. “Well, if you want my advice, slaughter his soldiers. He’s bound to notice when they’re all dead outside his gates. He’ll probably watch and fall in love with you all over again.”

“Bloody hell, I’m never asking you for advice on romance in the future. ‘Just kill all the soldiers, Aileana,’” I mock in falsetto, rolling my eyes. “Tell me about finding the Book.”

She looks amused. “The good news is, the way to the Book is through the palace. You can use the power of the crystal to open the doorway.”

“And the bad?”I’m not going to like this.

Aithinne forges ahead. “You’ll have to find some way to abduct Sorcha. Only her lineage can find the portal that leads to the Book.”

“Aithinne.” I say her name very, very carefully. “You’re saying I’m supposed to enlist—against her will—the faery who killed me to help me find this Book?”

“Well, yes. The Morrigan’s consort was a relation of Sorcha and Lonnrach’s. The wisp was very clear that her blood was the key to the prison. You’ll need her—alive, regrettably.”

I curse. Loudly. Of course it would be their relative. Of course.Terrible things. Always. Happen. To me.

“Even if Kiaran agrees to this plan, I’ll never convince Sorcha to help.”

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