Chapter 30
There’s something you need to know.
Scott’s words hung between them. Elodie was glad she had told Scott about the incident in Edinburgh. That, along with her tears, lifted a huge weight off her. Now, however, she knew that whatever he wanted to talk about wouldn’t be something she wanted to hear.
“Tell me,” she urged.
He ran a hand down his face. The smile was gone. His face was set in hard lines, almost as if he steeled himself for what was to come. Which only made her heart beat faster.
“Scott?”
He looked away, making her feel like him holding her gaze was too difficult.
“You doona know how nice it is to have a community as you do on Skye. Druids in Edinburgh may never know there are others around. Sometimes, we find Druids. Other times, we doona. For many, many years, it was just me, my da, and my sister. We kept our secret close. We didna have a beach to ourselves where we could practice magic. We did it in the secret of our home, careful that no one could hear. And we never, ever did it outside of the house.”
While she had spoken, Scott had remained still. Now, he fidgeted. If they had been anywhere else, she was sure he would’ve stood and paced. Silence stretched, broken only by the patter of rain and the squeak of her wipers.
Finally, he released a long breath. “One day, I encountered Kevin at a pub during a football match. We were rooting for the same team. We had mutual friends, and our two groups spent the rest of the evening hanging out. Kevin invited me to a party the next day, and then I invited him somewhere. I’d never had a friend like him before.
It felt as if I’d known him my entire life.
I met Filip, and Kevin met my family. That went on for months.
It was Kevin who finally let it slip that he was a Druid.
So, I did some magic of my own.” Scott laughed at the memory.
“Next thing I knew, Kevin had taken me to a group of Druids. I got my family involved, too. It was like we’d finally found a place to be ourselves. ”
Scott slid his gaze to her. “It wasna anything like Skye, but it was close. Georgina Miller, or George as we call her, leads us. I no longer felt as if I had to hide. No’ that we go around doing magic everywhere.”
“I understand,” Elodie said. And she did. More than he knew. She had missed having other Druids around these past fifteen years.
He gave her a quick smile. “George sends us through the city to find other Druids.”
“Any Druids?” she asked.
Scott hesitated for a moment. “Aye. Both mies and droughs.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? Our two divisions don’t get along.”
“We’ve had to do something. Few understand what’s going on. Druids are dying at an alarming rate.”
She searched his gaze. “You think by banding together, you can stop the deaths?”
“We do.”
“How?”
He looked away and squeezed his eyes closed. When he opened them, he stared out the window for a full minute. “George is a seer.”
Few Druids had that gift. Hearing that made Elodie sit up straighter. “Can she find the killers?”
“Sort of. She sent Filip and me to find someone who could help us.” Scott then looked at her.
It took Elodie a moment to realize what he was saying. Shock went through her first. Then the cold hand of anger. “You two just happened to hear that I needed help with the cottage? It was a reason to get close to me.”
“Elodie, please, let me finish explaining,” he begged.
She shook her head. “You’ve been using me the entire time. No wonder you pushed me so hard to find my magic. You need it.”
“I…bloody hell,” he ground out, frustration making his voice rise. “I’m telling you all of this because you need to know.”
“Did you tell Balladyn?”
Scott’s gaze jerked to her. “No.”
“Why not? Haven’t you and Filip told me repeatedly that they could help?”
“They wouldna understand.”
“Why is that?” she demanded.
Scott gripped the steering wheel as he stared at her. “You’re the answer, Elodie. You can stop the murders.”
“Why didn’t you tell Rhona or Balladyn?” she demanded again. Elodie didn’t want to hear the pleading in Scott’s voice. She didn’t want to see his eyes imploring her. “I trusted you. Did you attack me so that I would trust you?”
“No!” he bellowed. “I would never do that.”
Her chest constricted as she thought of the feelings she had for him. “I thought you wanted me to move with you to Edinburgh because there was something developing between us.”
“There is something between us.”
She was going to throw up. Her stomach churned as her heart broke. “Yes, there is. Lies and deceit.”
He rested his forehead on the steering wheel and gripped it with both hands. “I didna lie to you. No’ once.”
“Omitting the truth is lying.” Her heart hurt so badly she wanted to double over and wail.
Scott lifted his head and looked at her, regret coloring his cheeks. “What lengths would you go to in order to stop people from being killed? How far would you go to get revenge for someone you considered a brother?”
Damn him. She couldn’t look away from his eyes as the truth slammed into her. “To the ends of the Earth.”
“That’s where I’m at, lass. I never expected you. I never anticipated finding myself fal—”
“Don’t you dare say it,” she demanded. Elodie couldn’t let him say the words. She would believe them, and right now, she couldn’t handle that.
He swallowed and sat up. “It’s the truth.”
“I don’t want to hear them.”
Scott nodded slowly.
“So, what were you going to do if you couldn’t convince me to go back to the city with you?”
He took a breath and then slowly released it. “I intended to call George today and tell her to find another way.”
“Because I don’t have magic?”
“Because you’ve been through enough. There has to be someone else who can help.”
Elodie looked out her window and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t want to soften toward him. It was so easy to believe him. She had from the very beginning.
“I never lied to you,” Scott said again.
She wished he had waited to tell her at the cottage. Then she could have told him to leave. Instead, she was stuck in the car with him. She could get out and walk in the rain, but it was her car. Elodie debated whether to make him get out. She knew he would.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Everything I did, I did for Druids everywhere.”
“You should’ve told me everything from the beginning. I would’ve helped.”
He sat there for a moment in silence. “We couldna take the chance that you’d refuse and tell Rhona.”
“Tell Rhona what, exactly?” she asked as she looked at him.
“Maybe it’s better if you doona know.”
She glared at him, letting the full weight of her fury reflect in her eyes. “You’ve come this far. Tell me all of it.”
“My group is a Druid Other faction.”
All the air escaped Elodie. “The Skye Druids just battled the Fae Others, and you come with this news?”
“We didna have a choice. Someone had to do something,” he replied. “The police had no idea of the connection, and it wasna as if we could tell them.”
Elodie had been out of the loop regarding Druid news. Until she returned to Skye, and Edie had filled her in on everything. If she hadn’t known about the Others, then she wouldn’t have thought twice about helping Scott. But she knew now. All of it.
“Do you understand what you’re doing?” she asked.
He gave her a flat look, his expression turning hard.
“Of course, I bloody well understand. I’ve watched my friends be killed.
I’ve stood by, helpless and waiting for the authorities to figure it out.
Then George had a vision, and I was willing to do anything to keep any more Druids from being murdered. ”
“You’re part of a group of Others. The very thing my sister and every Druid on Skye fought against. You do understand what the Fae Others were attempting, don’t you?”
“We’re no’ them. We’re different.”
“I don’t think there is a difference.”
He searched her gaze before nodding. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
He put the car in gear and pulled back onto the road without another word. Elodie’s heart grew more troubled as they got closer to the cottage. When he pulled onto her drive, Filip came out of the garage where he had stored their materials.
Elodie didn’t think she could handle any more of Scott’s excuses.
She was out of the car and running to the house before he had even shut off the ignition.
Her hands shook with the news she now had.
It was information she couldn’t keep to herself, but if she went to Rhona, they would force Scott and Filip to leave.
It was what they should do. The Others, in any form, were dangerous.
Mies and droughs gathering together, three of the most powerful from each group combining their magic to become more formidable. The Fae Others had sought out the Reapers to kill and had used Skye to do it. It made sense that Druid Others would be murdering Druids.
The door to the cottage opened. Elodie stilled in the kitchen, waiting to hear Scott’s boot falls behind her. Instead, a lighter tread approached. She knew it was Filip before he called her name.
“Elodie, can we talk?” he asked.
“I think it’s better if you leave.”
He cleared his throat. “What about the work on the cottage?”
Damn. She had forgotten about that. Payment had been made. She could ask for it back, but he’d already bought supplies. “Finish. Quickly.”
“We will.”
She whirled around and met Filip’s gaze. “No. Just you. I don’t want him here.”
“It’ll go faster with two people.”
“Then find someone else. I don’t want to see him.” She didn’t want to see Filip either, but she hadn’t slept with him.
Elodie fisted her hands at her sides. She had felt something with Scott. And that made everything hurt a thousand times worse. Because she had thought…hoped…there was something more between them.
“I understand,” Filip replied softly. He turned to go, then paused. He swiveled his head back to her. “We just want to stop the killings.”
“Everyone does. Joining a group of Others isn’t the way to go.”
“The group was formed five years ago. We’ve never done anything like the Fae or the original Others. You doona have to believe me, but it’s the truth.”
She watched him walk out of the house. Elodie didn’t know or care if they stayed. She couldn’t think of anything but the words swirling in her head, things she wished she didn’t know. Because now she had to go to Rhona. She had to speak out against Filip and Scott.
Do you really?
Elodie pivoted and started for her room. She halted at the sight of the door to her parents’ room. For just a second, she thought about going inside. Flinging open the door and waiting for the ghosts of the past to descend upon her.
But now wasn’t the time. She wasn’t ready, emotionally or mentally.
Her throat grew tight when she thought about all the things she had shared with Scott. Things she hadn’t told anyone. Ever. And yet, it had been so easy to talk to him. It had been so easy to be with him.
She walked into her bedroom and sank heavily upon the bed.
Then she fell back and stared at the ceiling.
Skye was supposed to have been a new start for her.
No. That wasn’t true. Coming home was meant to give her time to face the past while she fixed up the cottage.
After the sale of the house, then she was supposed to start a new life.
Why then did it feel like she had started something already? Something she didn’t want to lose.