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TL;DR Synopsis
Aileana Kameron is the last Falconer after her mother was murdered by the faery Sorcha. The fae are after Aileana, including the more powerful faeries who are beginning to escape from their underground prison. The escaping fae attack her and Gavin. The two kill a bunch of faeries and escape. People see them alone together so Gavin agrees to marry Aileana to save her honor. Kiaran takes Aileana to the faery realm where she tries to kill Sorcha, her mother's murdered. Kiaran stops her and later explains that if Sorcha dies, he will die as well. Aileana and Kiaran go to activate the seal and fight faeries. Aileana figures out how to activate the seal but doesn't finish in time. The faeries are free.
Full Synopsis
Aileana Kameron is attending a ball with her best and only friend, Catherine Steward, when she smells a faery nearby. She leaves the ballroom to hunt it down and kill it. After returning home, she finds out from Derrick, the faery that lives in Aileana's wardrobe mending her clothes, that the new maid, Dona, can sense fae.
Aileana heads to New Town to train with her faery mentor, Kiaran. They run into three redcaps and Aileana tests out her new explosive device on them. It's much more powerful than expected and destroys a bridge along with the fae. Kiaran questions her on the new weapon and she admits that she's been fighting faeries on her own, which Kiaran had forbidden. He explains that he had been pretending her kills were his own, but now that she's revealed herself as a Falconer by killing faeries herself, she'll be hunted down. Redcaps are supposed to be locked away with the other powerful faeries under Edinburgh and yet Aileana just fought three. The seal holding them in must be weakening; soon they will all escape.
Aileana attends another ball and dances with Catherine's brother, Gavin, who has been at Oxford for the past two years. Gavin confides in her that he can see fae and has visions predicting faerie attacks. A faery attacks them and Aileana manages to kill it, but loses her
seilgflùr in the process. Derrick warns here that two dozen fae are on their way there. Aileana heads out to fight them, but without her
seilgflùr she won't be able to see them. Gavin goes with her to be her eyes.
They fight the fae and eventually make it to their ornithopter. They escape but are pursued by
slaughs, flying fae, which they kill as well. To kill the last one, Aileana parachutes out of the ornithopter, shoots it in the air, and lands in the ocean. Gavin lands the ornithopter nearby and walks her home. Someone sees them walking home together, at night, with her dress torn. Rumors start and Gavin agrees to marry Aileana to save her honor. Neither of them are happy with this arrangement.
Kiaran shows up at Aileana's house to see if she's still alive. He realizes that one of the fae poisoned her in the attack. Gavin catches them in what looks like, and maybe is, an intimate moment, with him removing a poisoned barb from her back. Kiaran steals the visions from Gavin's head but won't tell Aileana what they are. Later that night, Kiaran returns and finishes healing her. In her feverish state, she lets on that she has feelings for Kiaran. He admits that he used to kill humans until he took an oath. He doesn't go into details but a human woman he once loved is involved.
Kiaran takes Aileana to the faery realm. Her mother's murderer, Sorcha, finds them and Aileana attacks her. Kiaran compels her to stop the attack, despite having promised Aileana that he wouldn't stand in the way of her vengeance. Later that night he explains that his and Sorcha's lives are intertwined: if she dies then he dies as well.
Kiaran and Aileana find the seal that's about to break but she's not sure how to activate it when the time comes. Kiaran gives her a set of battle armor and weapons that let her use his faery powers. Gavin finds them as they head to the battle. She sends Gavin and Derrick off with the ornithopter to evacuate the town if the battle goes poorly. Kiaran finally kisses her before the battle. The seal breaks and Kiaran and Aileana fight. Aileana fights her way to the seal and this time figures out how to activate it. The key is the constellations that her mother taught her.
As she's activating the seal Sorcha shows up and taunts her, trying to convince her to abandon the seal and get revenge for her mother's death. Aileana gives up her revenge to save the city and continues working on the seal. Lonnrach throws Kiaran through the protective shield the seal gives up, and he stops breathing. Aileana forgets about the seal, yelling at Kiaran to wake up. With the shield now broken, Lonnrach puts a blade to her throat. She is captured and the seal isn't activated. They faeries are free.
