The Vanishing Throne Read Online Free PDF

again. I don’t mention how he extracts the inconsequential memories of my life before I saw my first faery, ones that serve no purpose at all. “Why do you hate Kiaran?”
    Lonnrach’s hand curls into a fist. I persist, possibly against my best judgment. “You told me I would regret not killing him. I want to know why.”
    Lonnrach slowly turns around. His eyes are sharp and slate gray; his gaze falls upon the teeth marks he left on my wrist. I immediately pull my knees into my chest like a shield.
    Just when I think he might do something to make me regret my words, he finally speaks. “Your Kiaran is the worst sort of traitor, and his sister is no different. Now it’s up to me to fix their mistakes.” The way he regards me, his message is clear: Which includes you .
    Me. He considers me a mistake. Because Kiaran made me the same as him.
    â€œAnd save your realm?” I try to say it lightly, but I can’t stop the bitterness that tinges my words. You sacrificed my realm to save yours . “Is your monarch dead?”
    Lonnrach seems to go still, as if startled by my question. “Perhaps.” He considers his words carefully. “No one has seen the Cailleach for thousands of years. The heirs she left behind to rule were . . . unworthy. Without a monarch, the Sìth-bhrùth will wither. Someone must take her place.”
    â€œAnd you think you’re worthy.” It sounds like an accusation, but I’m trying to understand why he has spent so much time painstakingly exploring my memories.
    He casts me a meaningful glance, as if he can read my thoughts. “No. But I will be.”
    I call his name when he turns to leave. I see the tightness in his shoulders, as if he dreads my next query. “What was it like when you were trapped below the city?”
    Was it like in here? Did you stop fighting, too?
    Lonnrach speaks deliberately, devoid of emotion. “The first hundred years we spent trying to escape until our nails wore grooves into the underground rock. Energy we stole from the occasional humans we managed to compel through the prison’s shield was barely enough to keep us all sated. That place became like a tomb.”
    In his profile, I notice how tight his jaw is, as if he’s controlling his anger. “I won’t ever forget that it was your kin who put us there. That your precious Kiaran and his sister helped.” He looks over at my mirrors, to my hundreds of different reflections. My cage. “Now you know precisely how it feels to be that helpless.”

CHAPTER 4
    I ’M BEGINNING to forget my life more easily now. It’s been daysweeksmonthsyears —I don’t know precisely—since I’ve seen anyone but Lonnrach. I can’t recall the things he’s stolen on my own anymore.
    To remember, I have to press my fingers a little harder into his teeth marks each time, until I leave half-moon marks of my own over the scars of his bites on my skin. I have to shut my eyes so hard that I see stars beneath my lids.
    It’s a rush of relief each time I manage to relive precious moments with all the people I care about. I can’t help how often Kiaran lingers in my thoughts, even though the sting of Lonnrach’s words is still there. It hasn’t even faded.
    He let you think he cared about you. You’re not the first human pet he’s discarded .
    I flinch and try to redirect my focus away from Kiaran. I need to forget about him. He left me behind. I’ve been in the Sìth-bhrùth through dozens of Lonnrach’s little sessions.Through hours and days or maybe weeks spent alone with my reflections. Through counting mirrors and leaves of ivy. I’m discarded. I’m—
    â€œKam.” Kiaran’s whisper of my nickname invades my thoughts. I almost shiver at how he says it. Like he loves the sound of it. Like it’s an intimate word, a promise.
    I try again. Desperately,