Page 48 of The Fallen Kingdom

She knows how few options we have. And she’s mocking us for it.

When Kiaran looks at me, I see he’s actually considering this. And the thought of what he’d endure during an eternity by her side makes me ill. I’m so close to letting my powers take over, close to hurting her,killingher—

“Kam.” Kiaran’s voice, cutting through the darkness.

My name. Just my name. Like he’s asking me to understand that he’s willing to give up himself—no, his soul—to Sorcha in order to save me.

That’s all it takes to regain my focus. I can’t let him do this.No. Kiaran isn’t some bloody piece of property. You don’t make someone love you by owning their soul.

And Sorcha is doing this because she knows he owns all the bits and pieces of my heart.

She’s doing this because she loves him just as much as she hates me.

“Aye, how about it,Kam?” My fingernails bite into my palm when Sorcha says my name. “Do we have a deal?”

“No,” I say through gritted teeth. “No, we don’t have afuckingdeal.”

But when Kiaran’s eyes meet mine, I can see he’s already made his decision. He’s weighed the options, and our alternatives.

And he’s decided we really are that desperate.

When he speaks, it’s in a low voice that kills something inside me. “If I do this, you’ll agree to my terms. No circumvention. You’ll make a promise not to harm Kam.”

“The same goes for you. If she tries to use the Book to break the vow, you die. If she tries to put another mark over it, you die. If she ever sees you after we find it, consider the part of my vow not to hurt her null and void. You know me, Kadamach. I learned my lesson about the language of vows.”

I look at her sharply.What doesthatmean?

Kiaran nods once. “The Book is Kam’s. And don’t even think about getting around killing her by putting her in a state of permanent sleep. No games. No twisting terms.” He studies her with a harsh gaze. “I learned my lesson about the language of vows, too. From you.”

Her laugh is another sword to my chest. “Believe me, I want her to live out a very,verylong life. Fully conscious and aware she’ll never see you again.”

That does it. I grasp Kiaran’s shirt to pull him away from Sorcha before something in me snaps. “I need to speak with you. Now.”

Kiaran lets me lead him far enough from Sorcha that I know her enhanced fae hearing can’t pick up our words. The only sound between us is the breeze rustling through the trees that line the road, the distant garble of a nearby creek.

Kiaran doesn’t say anything when we stop; he just looks at me with that silent, stoic expression.

Hiding his feelings. Hiding everything.

Once, that was the only way he looked at me. When we hunted together, when I lived half my life in secret. Back then I assumed all the fae were emotionless, that they weren’t capable of feelings. After he and Aithinne saved me from Lonnrach’s prison, Kiaran was different. He wasn’t reserved anymore. His longing mirrored my own.

But now Kiaran hides his emotions from me when he feels the most. When he doesn’t want me to see how much he hurts.

Stop trying to protect me, MacKay.

“What are you doing?” I hiss.

His expression doesn’t change and that makes me angrier. I want to see emotions from him. Longing, regret, grief, guilt—something.

“What are my alternatives, Kam?” he asks. “Aithinne’s death?Yourdeath? Sorcha has the advantage and she knows it.”

“Then we’ll hunt down Lonnrach.”

Kiaran’s eyes meet mine. “How long do we have before you die?”

I almost stagger at the question. “Don’t make this about—”

“Don’t ask me to overlook it,” he snaps. “We don’t have time to find Lonnrach, do we?”

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