Chapter 16
Scott hadn’t known what to expect upon meeting the Reaper. Balladyn was as imposing and forbidding as Scott had expected. But what Scott hadn’t counted on was the protectiveness the Reaper had for Skye and its Druids.
Rhona had been just as impressive. Her green eyes flashed with intelligence and strength. She was in no way leaning on Balladyn—or the Reaper, her. They were, in fact, a team. The rumors he’d heard were obviously true. That could be something great for the Druids.
Or it could spell doom for everything that Scott and Filip were fighting for.
“Why did you stop me?” Elodie asked once Rhona and Balladyn had departed.
Scott met her light blue gaze. “You know why.”
Thankfully, Elodie didn’t say more. Scott could feel Filip’s gaze. He half expected Filip to ask what was going on, but he didn’t.
“No one will be able to harm you in the cottage now,” Filip said. “Two of the most powerful beings on Skye have warded it. I’m no’ too ashamed to admit that watching them was amazing.”
Scott grinned. “Aye, it was.” When he looked at Elodie, he saw she wasn’t paying attention to them. Instead, she had gone to look out the kitchen window. He followed her. “What is it?”
“The rain is letting up.”
“I’ll be damned,” Filip said as he listened. “She’s right. Looks like Rhona and Balladyn took care of things.”
Scott counted the seconds between the flash of lightning and the thunder. “It does sound as if the storm is moving off. Who can control weather?”
“No one that I know of,” Filip said.
Elodie shrugged. “I didn’t think any Druids could, but I’ve not been around in some time. A lot has changed on Skye.”
Scott struggled with what to do. The one person George had said could help them didn’t have magic.
How was Elodie supposed to do anything without her power?
Scott wouldn’t give up so easily, though.
If Elodie hadn’t tried to do magic since returning, then he would nudge her in that direction.
It couldn’t hurt to try. It was his only option.
Well, that and telling George they needed to find someone else to help them. He wasn’t ready to do that just yet, though.
Within fifteen minutes, the storm was all but gone. It took another five before the electricity returned. There was no reason for him and Filip to remain. A fact that soon became apparent to everyone.
“Thank you both for everything,” Elodie said.
Scott wasn’t done. He still had things he needed to talk to her about. He glanced at Filip, but his friend was gathering his clothes to change, leaving Scott standing alone with Elodie. She searched his gaze, and he saw a hint of fear in her eyes. But he knew what she dreaded the most.
“I willna repeat your secret,” he whispered.
Elodie’s gaze slid away for a heartbeat. “It’s going to come out eventually. I know you think my magic will return. That’s why you didn’t want me to tell Rhona.”
“You’ve no’ tried to do any magic while on Skye yet.”
“Why do you care so much?”
Because you’re the answer we’ve been searching for. Because Druids everywhere are counting on you. He didn’t say either. It wasn’t the time. “I just do. Is there something wrong with that?”
“I suppose not.”
He smiled, giving her his sexiest grin and hating himself for using it on her. “I hope us staying and helping gives us a leg up on the competition to repair the cottage.”
She laughed. It made him feel as if the sun’s warm rays were shining on him. He only cared about getting her magic back so she could help them. That’s all that mattered. Not her suffering. He didn’t want to worry about her. To care.
But damn if he didn’t.
“I’m going to talk to Edie about all of it tonight. I think it’s safe to say that you do get lots of points for staying with me,” she said, breaking into his thoughts.
“I doona want to think about what might’ve happened had you been alone.
” Scott hadn’t meant to put a somber note on the conversation, but if she couldn’t do magic, she never would’ve known the limb was spelled.
It could’ve killed her because Elodie likely would’ve attempted to move it by hand.
The magic would’ve sunk into her instantly.
Scott didn’t know if it had been meant to kill or harm, but it didn’t matter. She had been targeted.
Her gaze was sincere as she said, “I’m glad I wasn’t alone.”
There was no longer a reason for Scott to dawdle. He gathered his now-dry clothes and changed. When he came out of the room, Filip and Elodie were reminiscing. As soon as they noticed him, Filip indicated the door.
“We’re going to outstay our welcome,” Filip said.
Elodie smiled at them. “I cannot thank either of you enough.”
Filip waved and made his way to the door.
Scott hesitated beside her. “Stay safe.”
“I will,” she promised. “You, too.”
He had the sudden urge to reach for her hand, to see if something passed between them again. Instead, he forced his feet to move forward and headed out of the house. He winced when she shut the door behind him, the bolt sliding into place.
“What the hell is going on?” Filip asked when Scott was inside the SUV.
Scott stared at the cottage. “What do you mean?”
“What did you want Elodie to keep from Rhona?”
Scott turned his head to Filip and lied. “A secret she’s carrying. One that doesna matter to anyone but herself.”
“And Elodie told you?” Filip asked in surprise.
Scott had already thought about how he would answer these questions. “The limb doused with drough magic frightened her. She knew she was disliked, but she wasn’t prepared for any of this.”
“Who would be?” Filip’s lips twisted as he started the engine. “Whoever did that needs to be tracked down and punished.”
“I’ve no doubt Balladyn and Rhona are doing just that.”
“Like you, I doona think it’s someone from Skye. That means an outsider came here. Do you think they followed us?”
Scott shrugged as Filip pulled out onto the road. “It’s possible. We should check in with George and see how things are there.”
“If the murderers came after us, then we need to prepare.”
“We will.”
“Nay. I mean, we need to get Elodie and return to Edinburgh immediately.”
Scott agreed. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen. “Elodie needs time.”
“Then we explain why she doesna have it. She’s reasonable. She’ll listen and understand.”
He looked at Filip, who had his gaze locked on the wet road now littered with debris from the storm. “She’s no’ the same girl you knew. Life has changed her.”
“No’ that much.”
“Are you the same as you were fifteen years ago?”
Filip made a sound in the back of his throat and threw Scott a wry look. “Nay.”
“Then doona assume she is.”
“We have to tell her. Everything. If we hadna been there, that limb…”
Scott nodded, turning his attention to the road. “I know. But we can no’ be with her around the clock.”
“She doesna need that. She’s smart, and she was wicked quick with her magic. I’m sure she’s only gotten better over time.”
Scott needed to change the subject. “We might have shared a wee bit too much with Rhona and Balladyn.”
“Fuck me,” Filip said with a humorless laugh. “Balladyn’s eyes seemed to see right through me. I swear, I was beginning to think he could read my mind.”
“They need to know that Druids are in danger. But that’s all we can share with them.”
Filip shrugged as he turned the wheel to follow the road. “I doona know. They might join us.”
“It would be great to have the Skye Druids join us, but I doubt that’ll happen. Rhona has made her position on a Druid Others group perfectly clear. She has no reason to trust us. Balladyn less so. And there isna time to convince either of them.”
“We may need them eventually.”
Scott couldn’t argue that point. “If it comes to that, we willna need to persuade them of anything. They’ll have seen it with their own eyes. George has seen a way for things to end. And that means Elodie.”
“Look, I know you and my brother were close friends—”
“The closest,” Scott interjected. “He was like a brother to me.”
Filip glanced at him. “He was my brother. That’s why I’m going to tell you that I doona want you using Elodie. She’s a survivor, but that doesna mean she’s no’ vulnerable. I know you have a way with people—especially women. She deserves more than lies and half-truths to earn her trust.”
Scott should have been offended by Filip’s words, but he wasn’t.
They were the truth. Lies came as easily to him as breathing.
He didn’t know why he had such a gift of charm, but he had used it to its full potential.
He wasn’t exactly proud of those skills, but they came in handy in difficult times.
Sadly, he had often used them just because he wanted to.
That had stopped when he met George, and he and Kevin had become friends. Scott had learned to use his talents for other means, ones that could benefit their organization and the Druids who needed it the most.
“You doona have to seduce her to get her to join us,” Filip added.
Scott looked at Filip’s profile, seeing the muscle jump in Filip’s jaw. “I wouldna do such a thing.”
“I’ve seen you do it.”
“I willna with her. I give my word. You’re right. She deserves better.”
Filip visibly relaxed. “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry you felt like you had to say that.”
“It’s just that I saw how you two were together. The protector act is working on her.”
“It isna an act.” The instant the words left his mouth, Scott wished he would’ve kept that to himself.
Filip looked his way again, holding his gaze a beat longer than last time. “She’s no’ in a good place.”
“None of us is. The past has a hold of her, and we’re fueled by revenge.”
“Aye,” Filip said softly.
Scott shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the grief that began to rise.
After they found Kevin, he had given himself only a few days to grieve his best friend.
Once George had given Scott his mission, he had turned all his focus onto that.
When he returned with Elodie, then he could return to his grief. There was no place for it here.
His mind immediately filled with thoughts of Elodie. While he had been with her, he hadn’t thought of Kevin or the other murdered Druids. His thoughts had been consumed by her.
“We can do this,” Filip said into the silence of the vehicle. “We have to do this.”
Scott nodded and forced his lips into a smile. “Doona worry. We will succeed. I can assure you of that.”
“I know. Kevin always said that you were the most trustworthy man he knew.”
Scott’s throat clogged with emotion.