Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
Rowen’s breath snagged in her throat as panic slammed into her.
Her pulse stuttered once, then became a frantic, thunderous rhythm as dread surged in her chest. She spun, her boots ripping grass from the earth as she sprinted toward the cottage, every instinct wailing for her to run faster.
The world narrowed to the pounding of her feet and the mounting roar in her ears.
She waited to see Mason throw open the door, to step out and ask what was wrong.
There was no sign of his face in the windows, no indication that he had been watching.
She called to her magic. It flooded her veins and pooled in her palm as she lifted her hand.
With just a thought, magic shot forward and into the door.
It wrenched open with such force that it banged against the wall and bounced back.
She shoved her shoulder into it as she rushed inside.
“Mason! MASON!”
Rowen dashed about the cottage, her anxiety rising with each empty room she found. She stumbled into the kitchen, hysterical and terrified.
“Maaaasoooooooon!”
Even as she screamed for him, she knew he wasn’t there. She was alone. The very thing she had dreaded. Her knees knocked together as her legs went weak. She gripped the table, knocking one of the chairs over with her frenzied, wild grab. Yet somehow, she stayed on her feet.
No kept repeating in her head. As if refusing to believe what was all around her would somehow change the outcome.
A shaking breath filled her lungs, the air more like shards of glass than any kind of relief.
She looked down at her hands. She couldn’t feel them.
Everything was numb. This had knocked her on her ass.
She had believed she was clever, offering to be bait.
Oh, how Edie and the evil must have laughed.
But how had they known the plan? Unless…
She shook her head, unable to reconcile the truth.
She didn’t want to believe that someone in the group—someone she trusted—had leaked the information.
But how else would they know? How else would her enemy have known?
Rowen righted the fallen chair and straightened.
Then, she slowly made her way to the back door.
It hung open, only a three-inch gap, but enough for her to look out as she approached.
There was no sign of any of the others. Balladyn hadn’t shown himself either.
It appeared as if she really was on her own in this battle. And it was battle.
There was no denying the stakes at hand. It wasn’t just her life on the line—it was a firmer foothold on Skye.
She opened the door wide and stood in the entrance, scanning the area. Clouds moved lazily while sheep continued to graze. There were no signs of cars or the roars of engines, but the cottage was set far enough from the road that she had never heard any of that to begin with.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
Once more, the voice sounded all around her.
It began on one side of her head and finished on the other.
But it wasn’t inside her mind. She recalled how the evil had asked her to let it in.
It hadn’t been able to get inside her before, and it still couldn’t.
It was a small win, but one Rowen would gladly take.
Rhona had spoken about Kerry mentioning how the false Ancients had spoken to her. Rowen would bet her meager savings that it had gotten into Kerry’s head just as it was in Edie’s. But not hers. Not now.
Not ever.
“What did you do with Mason?” Rowen demanded.
The offensive laugh sounded around her again. “We didn’t do anything to him. Or your other friends.”
“Then where is he?”
“Perhaps you should instead inquire about where you are.”
An icy hand of panic reached for Rowen again. It would be so easy to fall back to that emotion, to let it sweep her up and away. But she would be right back where she had been before. The only way she would get through this was by taking emotion out of it.
How many times had her aunts told her cousins that when they were learning how to control their magic?
That Thornevale adage was on a plaque in her mom’s house.
It was sage advice, but knowing what to do and actually following through were very different things.
Besides, learning magic was one thing. Confronting a nameless, faceless malevolence out for her soul was another.
Rowen stepped out of the cottage. Was her foe right? Were the others somewhere else? Or was this another trick? It couldn’t get into her mind, so how would it make her believe she was somewhere else?
If she were to survive this, she had to focus on herself first. Once she was victorious, she could worry about Mason and the others.
The wind continued to howl about her, its frosty bite chafing her cheeks.
She didn’t know if she was still on Skye, but the soil felt real enough.
Just as the damp air felt tangible. The Ancients might have been silenced, but nothing could erase the fact that Skye had held hundreds of thousands of Druids throughout time.
She didn’t need to hear or see them to feel their magic. From the very first moment she had arrived, she had sensed the power of the isle. It was all around her, waiting to be recognized, yearning to be used. It was there for any who dared to imagine its existence—Druid or not.
The evil needed her scared. It wanted her to believe she was alone. But she wasn’t alone when her ancestors stood beside her. That didn’t slow her racing pulse, however.
A tight ball of fear coiled in her stomach, a reminder of what was at stake.
Nothing about this fight would be easy or quick.
This wasn’t about physical prowess on the battlefield.
It was about wits and cunning. It was about the strength of her mind as well as her magic.
The only way to win was to outsmart whatever held her.
“We have no wish to harm you. If we wished for that, we could’ve done it at any time. We’ve been trying to reach out to you, but your mind is strong. You wouldn’t let us in.”
Rowen turned in a slow circle, searching for the owner of the voice. “Show yourself.”
“Soon. Now isn’t the time.”
“What do you want from me?”
“We’re righting the course of our kind, as Edie already explained. We wish you to join us and find your rightful place in the new era that will soon unfold.”
Bile surged in Rowen’s throat. “And if I reject your offer?”
“Refusal isn’t an option.”
“I’ve already chosen my side.”
“You chose wrong. We’re giving you a chance to switch sides.”
Rowen walked farther from the cottage, unsure of where she was going, but following her intuition. Or maybe her ancestors were leading her. “You’ve killed Druids.”
“There are always casualties in war. The weak and the obsolete must be removed to make room for the new generation.”
“You act as if you’re going to create new Druids.”
There was a brief pause, followed by a low chuckle. “Something like that.”
“Explain it to me,” Rowen urged as she hopped over the stone wall and continued walking.
“Druids are weak. That has to change.”
“What about the Fae?”
“You needn’t worry about them. They will be dealt with.”
Rowen balled up her hands and pulled the sleeves of her sweater over them in a bid to keep her fingers warm. “The Fae have more magic than we do. Even the strongest Druids can’t compete with them.”
“Once you join us, nothing will stop us from rewriting history. The Fae will be removed, as will the Dragon Kings.”
“You want this to be a world for humans only?”
“It will be a world of Druids only.”
Her heart clutched. “Are you telling me you’re going to kill anyone without magic?”
“We won’t,” it replied shrewdly.
“Meaning, your new Druids will.”
“Do you have any idea what we can do together? How powerful we can become?”
Rowen headed toward the loch. “If there was ever a time for just Druids, it is long gone. You have no right to rewrite the world.”
“We’re the Ancients. We’ve lived through the past and witnessed everything. This is the only way before the Druids die out.”
“Then maybe it’s what needs to happen.”
“We won’t allow that.”
The longer Rowen spoke to the voice, the clearer it became that it wouldn’t change its mind. The plan was already in motion. That it could so easily justify the annihilation of millions turned her blood to ice.
“Do you honestly expect me to join you after what you’ve just told me?”
“It’s the right thing for you to do. It’s the only thing to do.”
Rowen barked a laugh, outraged by its conclusion. “Right? You think this is right?”
“We’re protecting the magic.”
“You aren’t the Ancients. And even if you were, I’d still say you’re wrong. Once more, I’ve made my choice. Nothing you say will change my mind.”
“Don’t be so sure of that,” it replied in a deadly, soft tone.
She suppressed the chill that ran down her spine. “Go ahead. Deliver your threats. Is this when you tell me Mason’s life is in your hands? Or Ferne’s?”
“How about your mother’s?”
Perhaps Rowen should’ve expected that comeback, but it hit her square in the chest, snatching her breath. Then she remembered who her family was.
This thing might not be the Ancients, but it was formidable. She’d told the others she wasn’t a fighter, and that she would only get in the way in battle, but right now, she wanted to hurt the evil taunting her. Hit it over and over again until it lay bloodied and dead at her feet.
“Good luck with my mom—or any of my family, for that matter. They won’t be taken easily,” she proclaimed as she stopped on the loch’s shore.
The voice issued a low, knowing laugh, its amusement unmistakable. “Why haven’t you asked why we chose you?”
Because she was afraid to know the answer, petrified it might see something inside her she didn’t want to admit. “I don’t care.”
“Liar.”
The word was drawn out, laced with delight and excitement. Rowen gazed at the rippling water as the sky and surrounding mountains reflected upon its surface.
“You have a gift rarely given to Druids. A talent so formidable that it makes you shine as bright and vibrant as the moon in the night sky. An ability that will change the course of not just this realm, but many others, as well.”
It was just as Rowen feared. Merely hearing the words made her want to vomit. She shook her head, denying the evil’s words. “You’re wrong. I know what I can do, and it isn’t that special or potent.”
“Oh, child. You’ve barely tapped into your magic. Let me show you what you can do.”
The Scottish landscape blurred and shifted before her eyes until she looked down at Earth, the continents laid out before her. And amid it all were glowing lines, dissecting the world. She recognized the invisible sacred energy channels—or ley lines, as they were called.
She stared at them for a long time before she became aware of a figure beside her.
Rowen glanced over, only to see herself with her arms outstretched.
Each time she moved one of her hands, a ley line would shift, sometimes cutting off its power while amplifying it in other places across entire regions.
Shock reverberated through her, but before she could resolve any of that, the scene distorted once more. When it cleared, she stood in a murky, gloomy place. She knew without asking that she stood in The Grey. On either side of her were tall walls, papery and indistinct like membranes.
Once more, she saw herself, but this time, she was opening a rift between the dimensions with just a wave of her hand—a permanent doorway.