Page 79 of The Fallen Kingdom

“I almost had your lover murder you in my cave.”

“But you didn’t. In the end you couldn’t.”

Now she smiles. It’s like the edge of a razor. “What a clever little girl you are. I can see why my sister passed her powers to you and not to one of her useless children. Pity about your human body.”

“Why ask me to find the Book?” I say, ignoring her jab at my mortality. “Because I have the Cailleach’s powers? Just because she hid it from you doesn’t mean I know where it is.”

A flash of irritation crosses her features. “My sister?Please. She could never have got away with this on her own without me detecting it.” Her voice is sharp. “It wasthat girl—my consort. I always knew she was too soft. She stole the Book, took it to my sister and they hid it here together. When I followed them, the Cailleach killed my body and trapped me.” Her lip curls in disgust. “I hope my curse made her suffer.”

Aithinne was right not to trust the stories she’d heard. Even the older fae she spoke with must not have been alive when the original Cailleach betrayed the Morrigan. A thought occurs to me: Perhaps Sorcha erased her own memory toprotectit.

To make sure the Morrigan couldn’t read her mind to find it.

I keep my expression even. “You didn’t answer my question. Why me?”

Her fingers lift my chin and I meet her eyes. Their bright blue color doesn’t make them any less deep, as deep as an abyss. There’s something vengeful in that gaze, something that has been angry and building for centuries upon centuries. “My little bird was like you once. Stubborn, headstrong. She sauntered in with her garish wings and her wild song and I thought to myself: Those wings would look better painted the crimson of blood, and her voice would sound more beautiful from a cage of my design.”

Sorcha. She’s talking about Sorcha.Little bird.

Broken limbs like mutilated wings. A haunting voice like a caged lullaby. A broken shell of a girl.

“She was such a beautiful thing. I would have been happy to have her chirping by my side, under my rule. But she couldn’t use my Book and that made her useless.”

Couldn’t use my Book. Her words roll around in my mind. Sorcha couldn’t use the Book anyway. No wonder she vowed to give it to me—as if it were a concession, an exchange.Kiaran for the Book. She gave it to me so easily, and I never—for a moment—stopped to think why.

Because I’m a fool. An easily manipulated fool who had everything to lose. And when you have everything to lose, all someone has to do is choose which weapon to use against you.

I try not to let anything show in my face, but I must have failed. The Morrigan’s lips twitch. “She didn’t tell you.” She throws back her head and laughs. “Oh, my clever little bird. Always so secretive.”

I look away. “Just tell me why you’re asking me.”

“Of course.” Her smile disappears as quick as the strike of a blade. “It was my sister’s precaution: Only those in my consort’s bloodline can open the Book, but they can’t use it themselves. She never did trust anyone. Not something I knew until I read my little bird’s memories.”

“Sorcha told me they were erased,” I say without thinking.Don’t concede information easily. Let her tell you everything.

The Morrigan’s eyes burn bright with anger. “Yes, that fool girl erased what she could. All I had left were fragments. Just her thoughts. Enough to discern that she tried to use my Book, failed, and then lost it. I punished her at first, but in the end, I was forced to let her fly away. I never got over losing my little bird. She was my favorite.”

Little bird. Mutilated wings. Haunting song. Broken girl.

Stop it. Focus. My mind is a cacophony of questions, but I can only ask one. “Why not find the Book yourself and use it?”

“Even if I found it, I don’t have a body,” she says shortly. “And possessing someone else’s doesn’t work. Another precaution to stop me using it.” Her expression turns bitter. “I still need the blood of my little bird’s lineage to open the Book, and I still need someone who can actually use it.You.”

“You could have asked Kiaran and Aithinne.” When her gaze narrows, I understand why. “Ah, I see. You’re afraid if one of them gets their hands on it, they’ll become more powerful than you.”

“You’re human.” The Morrigan sounds impatient. “You have my sister’s power, and you’re dying. You’re the obvious choice.”

“So I’m the person who has the most reason to help you.” She doesn’t answer that; she doesn’t need to. “What are you offering me in exchange?” I ask, thinking of Lonnrach’s deal.

The Morrigan smiles. “My, my. You’ve learned quite a lot from my kind, haven’t you? Very well. What would you like?”

Something inside me feels raw, like I’m coming apart at the edges.What do I want? Kiaran.

Don’t tell her that. “My world,” I blurt, grasping on to the first fleeting thought in my mind. “Intact.”

The Morrigan stares at me, as if amused. “The human heart isn’t big enough to fit the space of the whole world. Whatever means the most to you is something small. Something worth dying for.”

I set my jaw. “How do you know that?”

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