Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, we left for the estate.
áedán drove. Maybe áedán having a car shouldn't have surprised me, but it did.
I couldn't imagine him driving around Scotland, much less to England.
His car was a Land Rover that looked like it had survived multiple wars.
But it was clean inside, and it ran well.
He'd had it hidden in a shed at the back of the cottage.
“How long have you had this?” I asked as we pulled onto the main road.
“A while. It was a gift from Caelum.” He shifted gears smoothly. “He said I needed to stop stealing cars from tourists.”
I stared at him. “You stole cars?”
“I wanted to see the rest of Scotland, and driving looked fun.” He glanced at me, amused. “I always returned the cars. Though the first few werenae in the best shape. It took me a while to figure out the gears.”
“But you didn't even know how to use a checkout machine.”
“I went into town ten years ago, and that thing wasnae there.”
“Yeah, they're fairly recent inventions, and I imagine the Village Shop didn't get one right away.”
“It wasnae like I did a lot of shopping either.” He chuckled. “I just wanted to look around. See how big the island was. I saw the ocean.” His voice turned reverent. “I'd always thought my loch was enormous, but when I saw the ocean, I realized how little I kent of the world.”
“Would you like to travel? See the world?”
áedán glanced at me. “I dinnae ken.”
I fantasized about taking him around the world, showing him all the oceans and seas. We could go to the Aquarium. Or maybe that would upset him. All those dolphin shows upset me. Those creatures don't do well in captivity. No, I wouldn't subject him to that.
The drive south took most of the day. We stopped once for petrol and terrible coffee at a service station where a woman behind the counter stared at áedán as if he'd stepped out of a magazine. He didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he was so used to it that it had become background noise.
By the time we reached Castle Combe, the sun was setting. The village looked like something from a postcard—honey-colored stone cottages, narrow streets, a bridge over a stream. Tourists with cameras. A pub with hanging baskets full of flowers.
“It's just ahead,” áedán said quietly.
I knew that, but it surprised me that he did. áedán hadn't asked for directions during the drive, not once. He said he hadn't been there in years, but he still remembered the way. I was betting there was more to the story than he'd told me.
We headed up the road where a cab had dropped me not so long ago. Trees closed in on both sides, old oaks with branches that formed a canopy overhead. Then we came out of the tunnel, and I saw it—the metal gate with its arch of wrought-iron letters: Ne Obliviscaris.
The estate beyond looked abandoned, but I knew what lay beneath the enchantment. áedán stopped the car in front of the gate. It swung open before he could get out. Someone must have spotted us. We drove through, and the world shifted.
The ruin became the beautiful estate I remembered. It was early evening, and few people were about, but the scent of lavender and roses welcomed us. áedán parked in the lot to the right of the main hall, near the cottages. He sat for a moment, hands still on the wheel, looking straight ahead.
“How long has it been?” I asked.
“Since I was last here?” He exhaled slowly. “Forty years. Maybe fifty. It was when Caelum gave me this car.”
“And that was before your clan started fading, right?”
He nodded.
“So, your clan only started fading within the last fifty years?”
áedán nodded. “One by one. I dinnae ken why I'm still here.”
I stared at him, at his proud, handsome profile. “I don't know either, but I'm glad.”
As áedán looked at me, his hands lowered from the wheel. His eyes searched mine. The moment stretched on. I thought he might kiss me. I hoped he would. I even started to lean toward him. He leaned toward me. Then a thud startled us, and we both turned to look out the windshield.
“Zephyr!” I got out of the car. “You startled us!”
The young griffin stood on the hood, wings spread and eagle head cocked. He screeched at me.
Then áedán got out of the car and walked around the back to join me. Zephyr shirked and launched himself off the hood, right at áedán.
áedán caught him with a laugh. “Hey, Zeph.”
“You know Zephyr?”
“He was a wee thing the last time I was here, but yes.” áedán stroked Zephyr's head. “How have you been, Zeph?”
Zephyr yipped.
Then a door opened, and Zoe appeared. When she saw áedán, her face lit up. “áedán!”
She ran over to us, her bright leaves flapping in her hair. One fluttered to the ground in her wake. Zephyr abandoned áedán with a squawk and an eye on Zoe. He leapt to the ground and then hid behind me just as Zoe reached us.
Zoe pulled áedán into a hug that lifted him off his feet. “You absolute bastard, where have you been?”
He laughed, actually laughed, and hugged her back. “At the loch. Where I've always been.”
“For decades without visiting.” She set him down and held him at arm's length, studying his face. “You look tired.”
“I am tired.”
“Well, you're back now.” She turned to me, her smile crinkling her bark-like skin. “Welcome home, Ethan. It looks like your first assignment is going well.”
“Not entirely.” I glanced at áedán. “We need to speak to Julian.”
“Later.” She linked her arm through áedán's. “Everyone will want to say hello to áedán.” She looked up at him. “And you still owe me a chess match.”
áedán groaned. “You're never gonna let that go, are you?”
“You left in the middle of the game!” She steered him into the main hall. “I've been waiting years for you to finish it.”
We went down the corridor, stopping every few feet when someone greeted áedán. It didn't make sense. These people adored áedán. So why would they abandon him when he needed them? I was certain it was a mistake.
Zoe took us into the dining hall. The long wooden tables were full of people eating together. The smell of fresh bread, roasted vegetables, and something sweet permeated the air. I recognized several people I'd met before I left.
When áedán walked in, conversations paused. Then someone shouted his name, and suddenly half the room was moving toward him. Zephyr and I backed up, leaving áedán and Zoe to be swallowed by the horde.
I gaped as people hugged áedán and greeted him like lost family.
Zephyr, who looked unwilling to enter the throng, circled me until I picked him up.
We watched the joyous reunion together, while I pondered áedán.
He said they were “nice enough“ but this wasn't merely nice.
Why had he downplayed his relationship with the Velasca?
Maybe because he was hurt by what he saw as their abandonment?
“Too thin.” Mateo held áedán at arm's length and looked him over like a worried father. “Sit. I'll bring you something to eat.”
The crowd broke up at Mateo's declaration, and áedán returned to me.
We found seats at one of the long tables, Zephyr curling up on áedán's and my feet.
Zoe sat across from us, still beaming. A young man brought Zoe and me plates of food—roasted chicken, vegetables, fresh bread, and butter.
Then Mateo appeared with áedán's plate. On it was a grilled fish instead of chicken. So, he knew about áedán's preference.
I fetched us some water from the beverage table, and we ate as Zoe chattered on.
I watched áedán, still wondering where the sulky man who hated the Velasca had gone.
Then Matteo brought us a plate of chocolate chip cookies.
I went to fetch us tea, and Zephyr crawled out from beneath the table, beak lifted.
As I reached the beverage table, I heard a commotion and spun around.
Zephyr flew past me, a cookie clutched triumphantly in his beak.
I looked from him to the table where áedán was laughing.
After dinner, Zoe offered to take us on a quick tour before we went to find Julian.
When áedán agreed, it surprised me. I thought he'd want to confront Julian as soon as possible.
But he strolled between Zoe and me at ease.
Despite the hour, the sun hadn't set yet, but the air was cool, making it the perfect time for a tour.
As we walked the circular path toward the cottages, Zoe pointed things out to áedán. “The grounds have expanded since you were here last. We built new cottages for couples who want to live on the estate. Several are unoccupied.” She glanced pointedly at me.
áedán raised an eyebrow at her. “And what do you mean by that?”
“Nothing.” She grinned.
We passed the cottages and the vegetable garden. The smithy was dark and empty. But the clinic was lit.
Zoe motioned to it. “And Ravi finally got his proper clinic.”
“Good for him.” áedán nodded.
When we came to Baba Yara's workshop, we found the door propped open, and voices drifted out. Two people argued inside with the kind of intensity that suggested they'd been at it for a while.
“You're burning it!” Baba Yara's voice snapped through the air, sharp and exasperated.
“I'm improving it.” Brannoc's voice was full of gruff stubbornness.
“You're committing botanical murder!”
áedán's expression shifted to something fond. He went to the doorway and leaned in. “Hey, Baba Yara. Brannoc.”
The arguing stopped. I peered around áedán to see Baba Yara's cluttered apothecary—shelves crammed with jars and bottles, bundles of herbs hanging from the ceiling, a workbench covered in mortars and pestles, and mandrake roots hanging in various stages of drying like little men on nooses.
Baba Yara, bundled in her colorful scarves, looked up from the workbench with irritation that immediately melted into warmth. “My boy.” She crossed the room and took áedán's face in her hands. “Welcome back.”
Brannoc set down a piece of mandrake root that was smoking slightly, and his scowl transformed into something that might have been a smile under all that beard. “You look too thin!”