Page 193 of A Thief Among Fae

But I realize, dread dropping into my stomach, that I don’t have a bow.

My Gift is more than a third hand. My power is anything I want it to be. Desmond always believed that I’d realize it for myself.

I pull Olin’s arrow out and pinch it between my fingers. My waning Gift caresses it, feeling its weight, the slant of its fletching. One shot. That’s all I have.

Orla’s rageful, glowing eyes notice it, sensing its power. She shrieks and strengthens her siphoning pull. My eyelids droop, too heavy as my energy drains. The arrow trembles in my weakening hand, and my body sags against the floor. I’m no longer sure if I have enough magic to ensure it hits.

One shot. One chance.

I can do this. I have to do this.

I raise the arrow before me at eye level, calculating the angle and distance all in the span of one breath. Pretend it’s a dart. It’s just like throwing a dart.

I push my mind beyond its limit, my skin heating to a scalding burn as my magic thrums along the arrow’s shaft.

And I let it soar.

Orla bellows in rage. She blasts the arrow off its path with a surge of released magic, but I correct it, like a bird fighting the wind. The fletching flutters as magic batters it, but I thrust it again.

My pulse drums in my ears. Each blink is longer, darkness singeing the edges of my vision even when my eyes are open. I lose sight of the arrow as the darkness overwhelms me.

Evie’s bell-like, joyous laugh echoes within me. Then I hear Desmond’s, soft and low. They smile, and a warm, bright light glows behind them, casting their features in shadow. The light beckons. It calls my name, and somewhere beyond it, Osian’s crow caws.

Death has come for me.

The vision snaps as if someone’s cut a tether. I gasp, air flooding my body as I shakily push myself up.

Queen Orla staggers, the glow in her eyes dimming. She gurgles, her ringed fingers clutching the arrow that protrudes from her throat.

When she falls, tears sting my eyes in relief.

It’s done.

Orla is dead once again.

Chapter 57

Iblink, dazed as Maeve pulls me to my feet. Her chest heaves, and her skin has an unhealthy pallor. “Are you alright?” she croaks. She looks like she’s aged a decade and moves like it too.

My hands are wrinkled, but the tips of my fingers start to flush peach. Elowyn, please let that mean the siphoning is reversing. There isn’t time to dwell on it now. “I’m fine.” I run toward the thrones, ignoring how every step makes me wheeze with fatigue.

Desmond stirs. My tense shoulders drop in relief. I kneel beside him and cradle his head. Warm blood coats my fingers from a cut along his scalp, but it’s shallow, only a surface wound.

“Cynthia?” He’s as worn and wrinkled as Maeve and I, but even now, the desiccation slowly reverses. He tries to stand, but his knees buckle. I loop my arm underneath his, even though I won’t be much help when I’m just as weak. “I need to stop Orla,” he gasps out, already trying to pull away from me.

I hold on to him. “She’s dead. Hopefully for good.”

Desmond sees the arrow protruding from Orla’s body. A relieved smile cracks his dry lips as he gazes at me. “Looks like you beat me to it. If we burn her body, no necromancer could reawaken her.”

Then he lunges for his sword and pushes me behind him.

Across the balcony, Maeve helps her grandmother to her feet.

Desmond hefts his sword, the metallic skull pommel glinting in the light.

“No!” Maeve screams, stepping in front of Neiro. “You can’t. The fomorians will kill my mother’s family if Neiro doesn’t return alive. Please, Desmond.” She holds out her palms as she sinks to her knees, bowing her head. “We’ll go straight to the Underearth. One of the fomorians is a hopper. No one else has to die.”

Desmond stops in front of Maeve. He glares down at her with barely restrained fury. “That shouldn’t be so easy for you to say. Nikolai is dead. Finnian lost his hand. He, Auri, and I would have been executed without trial. Avedor has announced that the treaty with my kingdom is broken. How many people have suffered because of you, Maeve? Maybe you should start keeping count.”