Chapter 26
Oddly, Scott didn’t mind the manual work. The tasks weren’t exactly easy, but they allowed his mind to sort through things. He was worried about Elodie, but when she returned from her sister’s, she looked better than she had at the beach.
He needed to report to George and tell her that Elodie didn’t have her magic.
That she might never have her magic. But Scott held off because he didn’t want George to tell him to come home.
Elodie was still in danger. And…well, he wanted to spend more time with her.
It was wrong. Scott knew it, but there was no getting around his feelings.
Though he wasn’t sure exactly what those feelings were.
They were there, and that was enough for him to make his decision.
He straightened as he watched Elodie hand Filip a check. Filip then waved and jogged to his SUV before driving off. Scott pulled his beanie over his ears as Elodie walked to him.
“He’s going to cash the check and get supplies,” Elodie told him.
Scott nodded. “All right.”
“Also, you don’t need to worry about the other thing. The, um, spell. Turns out Edie knew another one to check to see if I had gotten pregnant.”
The disappointment that filled him shocked him to his core. He didn’t want kids now. Did he? Though he had envisioned what Elodie might look like with her belly swollen with their child. “That’s good.”
“Yes.” She looked away and shifted on her feet.
“What’s wrong?”
Elodie shook her head and took a step to walk away, then hesitated. “Edie knew I didn’t have magic.”
“Maybe you told her and forgot.”
Elodie gave him a flat look. “That isn’t something you forget.”
“Point taken. Did you ask her how she knew?”
“She said I was on Skye when it happened. That we were together.”
Scott let her words sink in. “And?”
“And what? That isn’t what occurred. I wasn’t here. I left before my magic deserted me. The thing is, she seemed so sure.”
“Sometimes, the past gets jumbled in our heads, mixing what happened and what we wish had happened.”
Elodie drew herself up. “I know what happened. I’ve lived with it.”
“I believe you.”
“Do you? Because Edie didn’t.”
Elodie walked into the house. Scott followed her, pulling off his gloves and beanie to stuff them into his coat’s pockets.
“One of us is lying. And it isn’t me,” Elodie continued.
Scott found her in the kitchen. She stood at the sink, staring out the window at the water beyond. “Why would she lie?”
“That’s what I’ve been asking myself, but I can’t come up with anything.”
He hesitated, wondering if he should ask the next question. In the end, someone had to. “Do you think someone could have messed with your memories?”
“No.”
Short and to the point. But Scott noticed Elodie’s fingers gripping the sink tightly. He walked closer. “Rhona stopped by shortly after you left. She wants us to drop by her place.”
“More questions,” Elodie said with a sigh.
Scott hadn’t been keen on going, but now he thought that it might be exactly what Elodie needed. “It’s probably better if we get it over with now.”
“Sure. It’s not like I have anything else to do.”
He sent a text to Filip. Elodie handed her keys to him. He didn’t ask questions as they got into her car. Scott followed the instructions to Rhona’s house, which was on the other side of the island. They hadn’t even exited the car before Rhona and Balladyn stood on the porch to greet them.
“Thanks for coming,” Rhona said with a smile.
Scott returned the expression and nodded at Balladyn, who simply scrutinized him. There was no doubt the Reaper didn’t trust him. And with good reason. Scott wished he could tell them the truth, but that wouldn’t help anyone.
Rhona’s cottage was smaller than Elodie’s, and the Druid leader had put her stamp on every room. The house was welcoming and charming—nothing at all like the Reaper who had yet to take his eyes off Scott.
Scott had run into his share of enemies, but none like Balladyn. Even if he weren’t a Reaper, Balladyn would’ve been imposing. A lot of rumors circulated in Skye about the Warden, and Scott suspected that they were all true. Balladyn wasn’t a Reaper who stood aside for anyone or anything.
Rhona led them into the living area. Both Scott and Elodie declined refreshments.
He stayed close to Elodie, choosing to sit beside her on the couch.
Elodie had been different ever since the beach.
Though he wasn’t sure his hesitation in performing the spell that morning had done him any favors.
That was something to think about later.
Right now, he needed to focus. No doubt Balladyn would endeavor to trip him up.
Scott wasn’t just protecting himself now.
He had the others in the organization to think about.
“I tried it this morning,” Elodie said from beside him.
Scott blinked, shocked and angered that he’d been so deep in thought that he’d missed Rhona beginning the conversation. It didn’t take him long to figure out what it was about, however.
“And?” Rhona pressed. She sat in a well-used chair with a table beside her. A book rested on the surface, a pair of reading glasses atop it.
Elodie shrugged and tried to look indifferent, but Scott saw the hurt she couldn’t hide quickly enough. “Nothing,” she replied.
Balladyn stood near Rhona. “When did you say your magic left?”
“After I left Skye.” Elodie’s lips pinched.
Scott knew that she was thinking about what Edie had said. He wondered if Elodie would tell Rhona and Balladyn about that. When she didn’t, Scott decided it wasn’t his place to say anything.
“I’ve been doing some investigating,” Rhona said.
“There have been instances where a Druid’s magic disappeared.
One in particular involved…well, the specifics don’t matter.
Suffice it to say that she was duped and used her magic for nefarious purposes.
The Ancients took her magic as a repercussion.
Although I’ve also recently learned that her magic began to return when the person who tricked her rejoined his, um, family. ”
That was interesting. Scott was curious to know who she was talking about, but he assumed that Rhona had left out the names for a reason. “Any other ways?”
“A Druid powerful enough to bind someone else’s magic,” Balladyn replied.
Rhona swallowed loudly. “There was also the case of a Druid who had her magic syphoned by her mother and sister.”
Elodie snorted. “In other words, either the Ancients did this to me, or I pissed off a Druid.”
“Something like that,” Rhona replied.
Elodie shook her head. “I don’t buy any of that. My magic waned gradually. I suspect if the Ancients did it, it would have disappeared immediately. Same with a spell.”
“Not necessarily.” Rhona’s lips flattened as she glanced at Balladyn. “What I keep coming up against is the old adage we were always told about not using our magic for trivial things.”
“Which I did,” Elodie interjected.
Rhona shrugged. “You wouldn’t be the only Druid to do that. Why would it only affect you?”
“I wish I knew. I got my hopes up that being back on Skye would return it, but…” Elodie blinked rapidly as she shook her head. “It hasn’t come back. I can’t try again.”
Rhona scooted to the edge of the chair. “I understand. Maybe you wouldn’t have to.”
Scott perked up at that. He looked from Rhona to Elodie and back again, anxiously awaiting the Druid leader’s next words.
“What do you mean?” Elodie asked in a small voice.
Rhona hesitated. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I’d like to try something.”
Elodie’s pale blue gaze swung to him. Scott saw the question there. He nodded and smiled in encouragement.
“What can it hurt?” Elodie murmured to no one in particular.
Scott’s heart thudded against his chest. Elodie was the answer.
George wasn’t infallible, but she wouldn’t have sent him to Skye on a wild goose chase.
That meant that Elodie had to have magic.
Some angry wife from fifteen years earlier had probably cursed her or something.
Rhona would discover it and right the wrong.
Then, Scott could tell Elodie about the organization.
He and Filip would convince her to return with them, and Druids would stop being murdered.
Rhona turned her green gaze on Scott. “If you wouldn’t mind. I’d like to do this with just Elodie.”
Damn. “Of course.” Scott reached over and squeezed Elodie’s hand before getting to his feet.
“We can wait out here,” Balladyn told him.
Alone with a Fae—and not just any Fae, a Reaper. The Warden of Skye. Scott knew this had been set up intentionally. He steeled himself as he followed Balladyn outside to the back deck. The view of the rolling hills and the distant mountains was beautiful, but Scott preferred the cove.
“You care about her.”
Scott wasn’t surprised that Balladyn went right to the heart of the matter. “Elodie has been dealt a terrible hand. She’s a survivor. She’s strong, but everyone could use someone to lean on.”
“And you want that someone to be you?”
Scott faced the Reaper and shrugged. “I didna intend for it to happen, but aye. She’s a beautiful woman.”
“You say you’ve never been to Skye.”
“That’s right. This is my first time.”
Balladyn nodded slowly. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s amazing. I admit, I regret waiting so long to come.”
“Why did you?”
Scott inwardly smiled at the question. “I told you. I’m here with Filip.”
“Because Kevin was your friend.”
“He was more than my friend. He was like a brother. His death…” Scott had to pause as the image of Kevin’s dead body flashed in his mind.
Scott swallowed and shook his head to dislodge the memory and the grip of grief that seized him.
“His death hit all of us hard. Kevin was a good man, a good Druid.”
“And you want revenge.”
“I suspect you would, too, in my place.”
Balladyn crossed his arms over his chest, seeming unaffected by the cold temperatures. “I suspect I would.”
“You are no’ a Druid, but I’m sure you know that our numbers have declined rapidly over the last decade.”
“I’m aware.”
Scott looked at the sheep on a hillside. “Combine that with the knowledge that someone is actively seeking out Druids to murder them, and it sets everyone on edge.”
“Enough that you came to Skye for aid.”
Scott swung his head back to Balladyn. “Are you asking if I’m here to ask the Skye Druids for help?”
“You know that’s exactly what I meant.”
“That wasna my intent, nay. But if it happened? I doona think George would be upset by the prospect.”
Balladyn’s icy, red-ringed gaze was relentless. “I think you’re here for something else.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know yet. But I will figure it out soon enough.”
Scott bristled at the Reaper’s tone. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s a fact. But if a threat is what you need to hear, then consider it one.”
A blast of frigid air rushed past Scott, but he ignored it. “I’m here because Rhona asked it. And I’m here for Elodie.”
“While you just happen to be with Elodie each time she’s in trouble…”
“I’m thankful for that. Otherwise, she would be dead.”
Balladyn’s gaze narrowed. “Whatever it is you’re hiding, tell me now.”
“I’m no’ hiding anything.”
“I have no patience for liars.”
Scott lifted his chin.
Balladyn’s stare was unflinching. “I think you’re the one we’re after.”
“You have a murderer loose on the island. One who has already killed two Druids and came after Elodie twice. If I were the killer, I’ve had plenty of time to finish Elodie and leave.”
“I know.”
Fury boiled within Scott. “Then why say it’s me?”
“To gauge your reaction.” Balladyn dropped his hands. “The only reason I’ve not personally escorted you back to Edinburgh is because we don’t think you or Filip are responsible for the deaths. But you are hiding something.”
Scott didn’t back down from the Reaper. “Let me know when you figure it out.”
“You can be sure I will.”