Chapter 29
Scott glanced at Elodie, who stared out the passenger window as he drove them back to her cottage. He had gone over his conversation with Balladyn in his head, which meant he hadn’t realized that she also seemed lost in thought.
Suddenly, Elodie said, “I’m trying to think of a reason I would be scared of Rhona.”
“Maybe because she’s in a position of power?” he offered.
Her shoulders moved as she took a breath. Elodie’s head swung to him. “It was more than that. I was in flight mode. Everything told me to get as far from her as I could.”
“Did she hurt you?” The idea that Balladyn had separated them so Rhona could do something to Elodie made Scott see red.
“Quite the opposite.” Elodie sighed. “It doesn’t make sense. None of it. I trained with Rhona. She’s never done anything to me or anyone else.”
“That you know of.”
“Corann never would’ve tapped her to take his position if Rhona had a mean bone in her body.”
Now Scott understood. “Which begs the question of why you were frightened.”
“Exactly. I knew she wouldn’t hurt me. Not with words, and not with magic.”
“Yet the feeling was there. Did it go away?”
Rhona nodded. “Eventually. She searched for my magic.”
“And?” He tried to keep his voice calm, but he was too excited about the possibility of good news. He chanced a look at her again to see her gazing out the windshield.
“Her magic instantly calmed me. The fear evaporated. I hadn’t realized how much it had taken control of me until then. I’m amazed that I was still in her home. And then…”
She trailed off. Scott gave her a moment to collect herself. When Elodie didn’t expound, he urged, “What?”
“A memory resurfaced of the first time Mum took me to the beach to train. I recalled details as if it were happening right then.”
His heart thudded in his chest, hope rapidly spreading through him. Scott gripped the steering wheel tightly. He needed to be calm. If he pushed her too hard, Elodie would start to question him, and he wasn’t ready to tell her everything. Not yet. He needed just a little while longer.
“I remembered the feel of my magic moving through me,” Elodie said in the barest of whispers.
Scott glanced at her to see tears rolling down her cheeks.
He inwardly winced. Here he was, thinking about his organization’s plans, while she was suffering.
He felt like a cad. Shame washed over him.
Elodie was dealing with many traumas. He had no right to heap more on her slender shoulders, whether she could handle it or not.
The more he thought about it, the more Scott knew he had to call George and tell her to find another way to save the Druids. Even if Elodie found her magic again, Scott couldn’t, in good conscience, take her to Edinburgh and into war. Elodie had been through enough for one lifetime.
Elodie sniffed loudly and wiped at her face. “When the memory faded, so did the feeling of my magic.” She buried her head in her hands.
He reached over and put a hand on her shoulder as he pulled to the side of the road.
After putting the vehicle in park, he tugged her into his arms and held her as she sobbed.
He and every other Druid took their magic for granted.
He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to reach for it and have the magic not answer. It would be devastating. Shattering.
Try as he might, he couldn’t find words that would lessen her pain. Instead, he remained quiet as her pain enveloped them both. The patter of rain on the car pulled his attention outside. It was as if the sky were crying with Elodie. As if all of Skye wept with her.
To his shock, his eyes swam with moisture.
The longer they sat there, the more solidified he was in his decision to call George.
But he didn’t want to leave Skye. Not until he knew that Elodie would be safe from whoever was after her.
Scott would search for whoever was killing the Druids.
He would avenge Kevin’s death, and all the Druids who had been murdered.
Then, and only then would he be able to return to Edinburgh.
Elodie pulled out of his arms. He studied her tear-stained face and spiky lashes. She wiped at her cheeks. With a shaky breath, she sat back in her seat. “I can’t remember the last time I cried like that.”
“My sister always tells me that tears are cathartic.”
Elodie smiled as her pale blue eyes briefly met his. “I think she’s right because I feel better. Somewhat.”
“Good.” He hesitated, wanting to say more. But what? That he enjoyed holding her? That he liked that she had let him comfort her? It sounded so…trite. It sounded like something he’d say to charm someone.
And that wasn’t what he wanted to do with Elodie.
“I, uh…can we sit here for a little longer?” she asked.
Scott rested his hands on his thighs. “Whatever you want to do.”
“It’s just that, well, I have to talk about something.”
He unbuckled his seat belt and shifted so he could see her better. “Talk away.”
She nervously gripped her fingers before shooting him a quick glance. “It’s about why I came to Skye.”
“Take your time.” Scott would be lying if he said that he wasn’t curious about why she had left the city. Given her reaction, whatever it’d been had really upset her.
“I don’t want to talk about it, but Rhona’s right, I need to.
” Elodie nodded once. Her gaze remained focused through the windshield, presumably watching the raindrops run together.
“I can’t say that I was exactly happy in Edinburgh, but I was more or less content.
I worked at a printing office doing some dead-end job I hated.
But it paid the bills. My co-workers were nice—well, most of them. ”
Scott remained still, studying her as she spoke.
Elodie glanced at her hands. “Living paycheck to paycheck is difficult. I was looking for another job, hoping to find something that paid better. It was either that or find a cheaper flat. My roommate was trying at times. I knew it was wrong to bring someone in who I didn’t know, but I was desperate.
I needed help with the rent.” Elodie paused for a long moment.
“Kate wore expensive clothing and carried name-brand purses. But she worked as an office assistant somewhere. There was no way she could afford such things on her salary. She liked to go out. A lot. She often asked me to go with her, but I always declined. Until one day when I said yes.”
The rain began to fall faster. The wipers cleared the window, but a moment later, the water had blanketed it again.
“That’s when I found out what she really did.
” Elodie shook her head, her lips twisting.
“She wormed her way into parties and to rich men’s tables.
” Elodie looked at him. “You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to do.
If you dress the part, they think you’re with the group.
It was the first night I’d let myself have fun in…
ages. I danced. I drank the free-flowing champagne. And I laughed.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Sounds like you needed it.”
“I did. I just wish I would’ve done it with someone else.
When I realized that I’d had too much to drink, I went looking for Kate but couldn’t find her anywhere.
I thought maybe she had left with someone.
I was drunk. Not a good situation for a woman alone.
I managed to find my way to a bouncer and asked for help.
The club made sure I got into a cab, and it took me home.
Kate wasn’t there either. I didn’t make it any farther than my sofa.
That’s where I was in the wee hours of the morning when the police banged on my door. ”
Scott frowned, the story taking a turn he hadn’t expected. “What did they want?”
“Seems some of the men at the party had their wallets stolen. The police demanded to see my bag. Since I knew I hadn’t done anything, I gave it to them. Imagine my surprise when they opened it and a man’s wallet was inside.”
Scott raised a brow. “And Kate?”
“Gone. Along with a few other wallets. I was arrested, of course. I swore I had nothing to do with it, but it was hard for anyone to believe me when the proof was right there. I lost my job because I couldn’t make the bail and stayed in jail for a few days.
I couldn’t pay the rent because I didn’t have a job, so I lost my apartment.
To add insult to injury, Kate also stole my debit card and cleaned out my bank account.
There wasn’t much there, but it left me with nothing.
Fortunately, she didn’t know about my second account where I had a little savings.
I spent weeks working with the police to give them everything I knew about Kate.
Since she had also robbed me, and I only had one wallet—not to mention I didn’t leave with her—they eventually dropped the charges.
Though I had no way to get my job back. I had no choice but to return to Skye.
The sale of the cottage will give me a little money to go somewhere and start again. ”
“What about Kate?” he asked. “Did they catch her?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. I want to forget all about that ordeal. I just wanted to have a night where I forgot about everything. Instead, it upended my life.”
Scott reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You survived it, though.”
“Someone at my age being homeless and without a job? It’s terrifying.”
“How long did Kate live with you?”
“About eight months.”
He twisted his lips. “Seems like the universe made sure you had to return to Skye.”
“I’ve thought that, too.”
His gaze lowered to their hands. It felt right to be with her. To touch her. Just as it felt right to be on Skye. The island had seduced him, beguiled him. Or maybe he had been enchanted.
He knew Elodie had bewitched him.
“I should have my life in order by now.” Elodie shrugged. “It just feels as if I can’t get my feet under me.”
“Maybe that’s because you were no’ meant to be anywhere but Skye. This is where you belong. Think about how many things had to happen to send you back here.”
Her nose wrinkled. “I have. It’s a little unsettling.”
“Doona think of it that way. Think of it as a course correction. Skye is in your blood. Just as you are part of it.”
“Now you sound like my sister and Rhona.”
“There’s no denying that Skye is special. I’ve fallen for the island.”
Elodie’s lips curved into a grin. “Have you now?”
“Without a doubt. This place is,”—he paused, searching for the right word—“paradise.”
“Even with Druids being killed?”
The reminder made his gut churn. “That’s what brought us here. It bothers me that the murders didna start in Skye until Filip and I arrived.”
“The same could be said about my reappearance.”
Scott didn’t reply because he was thinking about George’s vision.
“You think it’s me?” Elodie asked in disbelief.
He quickly shook his head. “I doona.”
“You weren’t so quick to say that just now.”
“I was thinking about your attacks.”
Her brows drew together. “You think something followed me here to kill me?”
There was a distinct possibility. Scott knew that if Elodie had any chance at all, he had to tell her everything. The truth, however, might change things between them forever.
“There’s something you need to know.”