Page 33 of The Fallen Kingdom

“You don’t need to convince her. Chain her up. Drag her along.” Aithinne shrugs. “If she starts getting irritating, punch her in the face. When the time comes, use your power to send word to me and I’ll help you with her. I’m quite anxious to smash my fist into her nose.”

“You and me both,” I mutter.

Sorcha and Lonnrach have both destroyed me in different ways. Sorcha murdered my mother and, eventually, murdered me. I used to have nightmares about her. I used to track her kills. She was the reason I gave up everything to become what I am.

But Lonnrach...he almost did what she couldn’t: He tried to break my very soul—and he nearly succeeded. The marks of his teeth might no longer be on my skin, but their effects haven’t waned.

I only spent two months imprisoned by him in the fae realm, the equivalent of three years in the human world. But each day had stretched so vast that I had no concept of time. He broke into my mind for information to use against me, an extraction that required my blood. He’d pierce my skin with his teeth, day after day, over and over again. His bites left hundreds of scars down my arms and across my throat. Indentations that contained precious memories.

Over time, those memories faded in my mind, like old etchings that had been sanded away. To bring them up again, I had to scrape my fingernails over the scars, digging them in just to bring up the memories of who I was. They were all I had left.

I shut my eyes briefly. I have to do this for Kiaran and Aithinne. For Catherine and Gavin and those people in Aithinne’s cottage who didn’t choose their fate. I have to do whatever it takes to find the Book and give them their lives back. I won’t fail them again.

“I hate this,” I mutter.

“Really? I’m having a grand time,” Aithinne says brightly.

“That’s because you’re barmy.”

“I believe you just mispronouncedmagnificent.”

She leads me back to the edge of the cliff. This time when I peer down at Kiaran’s castle, the soldiers are still in formation. As if they’re waiting for instruction. We have to act now.

“You don’t intend to open the portal halfway down, do you?”

Aithinne looks like she’s considering it. At my outraged expression, she winks. “I’ll do it here.” She gestures to the soldiers. “Be ready. As soon as they sense power, they’re going to attack. Make sure you don’t lose control and almost murder my brother like you nearly did me.” She smiles. “Easy.”

Right. Just battle four dozen soldiers to get the attention of my lover, who may or may not be evil depending on what mood he’s in.

“You know,” I say lightly, “I think we need to rethink your use ofeasy. Just a suggestion.”

“I have taken your suggestion under consideration and decided to ignore it.” She steps back with a smile. “Ready?”

I recall another portal Aithinne opened for me to cross between islands. “You’re not going to have me nearly crushed by tree branches again, are you?”

“No, no. Crushed by water.”

With that, she lifts a hand as if she’s beckoning something. Water rises from the sea, up and up toward the sky, until it’s flowing with the force of a waterfall. The stream wraps around me, the water rushing past like a river suspended in air. It encloses me, mist spraying my clothes, my skin.

Just before it closes entirely, Aithinne says, “Good luck. I’ll await your word.”

Then I’m surrounded by water. The current is so deafening that any sound beyond it is muffled. I grip my sword tightly, ready to engage. My body is in fighting stance.

Then, suddenly, the water clears. Aithinne has dropped me right in the middle of the soldiers, no doubt on purpose. A hush goes through them. They all tense.

My power gives a mocking tap on their shoulders.Right here.

They attack as one.God, they’re fast. Faster than the fae in the forest. These must be Kiaran’s better soldiers, because they move like I do. Like they’ve been trained for this—trained forme.

The Cailleach’s powers urge me to use them. All I have to do is let go and I could destroy these soldiers in a minute—a few seconds, if I wanted to show off. It would be so easy. All I’d have to do is—

Use your powers sparingly.

Aithinne’s no-nonsense instruction brings me back from the brink.

Stay focused, Aileana. Don’t give in. Don’t die yet.

I might be slower without it, but I’ve never needed the powers of the Cailleach to win my battles in the past. I have to relearn how to use my body with its human limitations.

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