Chapter 20
“Then what book do we have?” Ronan asked.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Cody said.
The Chief Elder banged on the table to quiet everyone. “Are you telling us that the book we have isn’t real?”
“If you’ve had it that long, it can’t be,” Tavis said. “I took the book with me in the time vault. I promised Quinn that I would protect it. Quinn Douglass, the Keeper.”
“That’s Sorcha’s great-great-grandfather,” Duncan said, looking at the outspoken woman, who looked surprised.
“He said it had been stolen many decades before,” Tavis said.
“Stolen by whom?” the Elder asked. “Did he know?”
“He didn’t say, except that he’d made a terrible mistake and thought he could fix it.”
“You think Quinn Douglass was involved in this theft?” the Elder asked. “If the book had been stolen decades before, he would have been very young.”
“We thought he was protecting his father, who was the Keeper during that time. As he lay dying, Quinn admitted that he came to America with us to steal the book back. We thought he came to look into Nigel Ellwood’s disappearance. He was a Watcher who disappeared.”
“Yes,” the Elder said. “We all know of Nigel’s mysterious disappearance.”
“Nigel believed there was a traitor in the clan. After one of our Watchers had ominous dreams about Nigel, Quinn was appointed by the Council to find out what happened to Nigel and look into his accusations. After Quinn died, we found a letter on him from Nigel to the Council. He believed someone in the clan was selling warriors’ names. Ian and I believed our brother’s name had been sold to a demon.”
There was a gasp from the women, and a few of the men, and Faelan’s knuckles whitened.
“Nigel suspected that the Keeper was involved. Nigel had been given permission by the Council to go to America and build a place there, a second seat for the clan, so they weren’t all in one place. Nigel believed the book was in danger. He wasn’t sure how deep the treachery went.” Tavis cleared his throat. “He even thought that the Council might have been involved.” The members of the Council looked affronted, as if it was blasphemy to utter such a thing, but Tavis continued. In for a penny. In for a pound. “He took the book with him, thinking it was better if it was believed to be missing. But when Nigel saw ancient demons near his castle—this castle—he wrote to Scotland asking the Council to send warriors to transport the book back to Scotland.” Tavis glanced at Sorcha, who looked pale. “We believe neither Quinn nor his father told the Council about Nigel’s letter.”
“What happened to Nigel and the book?” Shane asked.
“One of the Watchers from my time said that Nigel was never seen again. Quinn knew where the book was, so Ian and I stole it back.”
“Where was it?” Ronan asked.
“Right here, in this castle. Hidden in a secret compartment. Both the compartment and the castle were cloaked.” He looked at Anna. “Like Tristol’s fortress where Anna and I were prisoners.”
“The demons have had our clan’s Book of Battles all these years it was missing.” Niall looked horrified. “Bloody hell.”
The Council turned as one and frowned at Niall. It would seem cursing was still frowned upon.
“My apologies,” Niall said.
“We believed one of the demons, or perhaps all of them, stole the castle and the book since it was cloaked,” Tavis continued. “We figured it must be sorcery. The interesting thing is that when Ian and I arrived, we expected a battle, but all the demons were dead. Just like all the vampires were dead in Tristol’s fortress.”
“Sounds like a turf war,” Declan said.
“I’ve heard nothing of this,” Sean said, his bright eyes clouded with alarm. As the Keeper of the Book, he had reason to be alarmed.
“This is disturbing,” the Chief Elder said. “Very disturbing. We’ve never known what happened to Nigel Ellwood. It has come to our attention that Bree Connor is a descendant.” The Elder’s eyes fell on Bree. Faelan made a disagreeable sound and put his arm around his wife as if defying the Council to show any interest. Tavis had heard talk about the Council’s interest in Bree and Shay because of their unusual abilities.
“If all this is true, then where did the book we have come from?” Duncan asked.
“We believe Frederick, my ancestor, found it hidden in the chapel,” Bree said.
“Does this mean there are two books?” Brodie asked.
“I’ve never heard such a thing,” Sean said. “I can’t believe there were two books. We need to see the one Tavis had.”
All eyes turned to him. “I’m trying to remember where I put it. I know I had it when I came out of the vault. I can’t remember seeing it after that. Angus could have stolen it.”
Anna immediately jumped to Angus’s defense. “Angus wouldn’t steal the book. He spent months searching for it.”
“Maybe he hid it,” Faelan suggested.
“That’s possible,” Tavis said.
“But where?” Shay asked.
“I don’t know. We were in a house of some kind. It was white, I think. There was a woman there.” Tavis frowned, trying to remember.
Bree leaned forward. “That sounds like Mrs. Edwards’s bed-and-breakfast. Angus was there. He had a notebook with him.”
“That’s where Tristol captured me.”
“Remember that dream I had about you?” Bree said to Faelan. “The one where the dark-haired man snatched you? It must have been Tristol taking Tavis. He looks like you. I saw a dark-haired man in the hallway, and he gave me the creeps.”
“What did he look like?” Tavis asked.
“He was gorgeous, tall, long dark hair.”
“Sounds like him,” Tavis said. Faelan had been there in the room next to his. What a bloody damned coincidence.
“If we’d known,” Bree said, “we could have saved you so much pain.”
“I’ll go to the bed-and-breakfast and look for the book,” Anna said.
“I’ll go,” Tavis said.
“I don’t need help—”
“I’m coming.” Tavis frowned at her. Fire flashed in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything more. “I should let you know,” Tavis said to the Council, “Michael assigned Voltar to me.” That got everyone’s attention.
Anna stood up. “You can’t be assigned to Voltar. I am.”