Chapter Twenty
Edan
Reginald was his sire’s name. Reginald MacRuari.
The bogle stood there with his arms raised. “The time is finally here. You have come to pay your sire’s debt finally.” The bogle looked like any ordinary man, brown hair, a head shorter than Edan was, but there was one thing that kept him from going after the creature.
Edan tensed, his mind so overcome with disbelief that he was frozen.
Confronted with the proof that there were indeed faeries, Seelies, and another world on Islay, he was unable to move or speak.
Something stood in front of him that was unlike anything he’d ever seen.
The creature’s hands looked more like claws, with deadly talons.
Half person, half creature, it strode in front of him like it was the most usual event in all the land.
Edan had to find out the truth before he went inside after Heilyn. Memories of his father’s rantings on his deathbed overtook any coherent thought he was having.
“They’ll steal you back.”
“They followed me. He tried to grab you out of my arms.”
But Edan locked his gaze on Ailith’s. “Tell me more about Reginald, Ailith. What exactly do you see?”
He could guess what she would see because his father’s mumblings near his death had sounded much like the vision she had already described.
His father told Edan how he had promised his first-born son in return for keeping the MacRuari fortress and land.
If he handed the laddie over to the faeries when he was born, his land would be fertile and lush, his clan would grow, and the faeries would protect his clan from attacks by other clans, keeping the Unseelie at bay.
His father had agreed because his clan was dying slowly from starvation.
He’d bargained with the devil, he’d declared. Had he bargained with a bogle instead?
But the man was feverish and beside himself. Roger had come in and told Edan their sire had turned daft. Catrina had told him not to listen to a word he said, that he made no sense at all.
Their sire had been telling the truth all along.
Ailith held her head and said, “The troll promised wealth and fertile lands and happiness for Clan MacRuari but said he needed payment. Blood was the only payment he would accept.”
“Whose blood?” Edan whispered.
Ailith gripped his hand and said, “Yours. He wanted your blood, Edan.”
It all came back to him, memories that had only come forth in nightmares, but now he saw them for what they were.
Reginald MacRuari had cried on his deathbed.
“I’m sorry. I could not let you go. I would not let that creature have you.
I ran to Jura. I refused. He promised to come for me. He’s here for me now. Run, Edan. Run!”
The poor man had sobbed and screamed on his deathbed before taking his last breath. Edan hadn’t understood all his words, but they were beginning to have meaning now.
Edan, Roger, and Catrina had made the decision to move to Islay afterward because it was where they grew up, where memories of their mother were strong, and where the family had been prosperous and happy. His father’s last words had been to run. Run as far away from Islay as possible.
It all made sense now: why they’d moved to Jura, why his father had stayed in hiding, speaking to none of his old clan, the clan that had been forced off Islay and Jura.
Everything his father had ever told him was true. Every warning he had laughed at. Every tale he had buried with the man.
The world tilted under him.
He did not let it show.
Lia stalked toward the bogle. “Let the bairns go. They have no place in this argument. Tell the evil overlord behind the hill to leave us be. I hate bogles, you included.”
Dyna gripped Lia’s hand. “What the hell is a bogle?”
Lia pointed to the beast in front of them.
“You’re looking at one, Gruin. They steal and lie across the land, leading the Unseelie into uncharted evil.
They can hurt humans, but they cannot hurt the Seelie.
They do the work for the Unseelie lords.
His lord is a disgustingly evil overlord whom I’ve never met, but I don’t care to either. ”
Edan assessed the bogle. He was a head shorter than Edan, stood with a wide smile, and Edan swore it had two score of tiny, pointed teeth. Other than that, he could have passed for a human except for his eyes. One was black and the other speckled, giving him the true otherworldly look.
Gruin’s voice echoed across the moorland. “You were promised to us, Edan MacRuari. Instead, your sire broke the bargain, and Clan MacRuari fell apart. He ran with you, but we managed to take a piece of you. We own your blood. You belong to us.”
“Is that what you want? Then take me. Free the bairns and I’ll go with you on my own accord. My sister will care for my daughter. Let her go.”
“Oh, I want your blood, but I want more. Your father caused me more trouble than anyone by breaking the bargain. I had to go to the head of the Unseelie and beg forgiveness. He blamed me! I trusted your father, but he stole you from us. And I have suffered for it ever since. You will pay your debt to me or suffer the consequences.” He raised his arms and deafening thunder wracked the area, making Ailith cover her ears.
Lia said, “Gruin, you rotten soul.”
Gruin’s voice dropped. “I have no soul, Lia. You know that. But we have a plan, my overlord and I. And you will help us achieve our goals or you’ll never see your bairns again. I knew you would come.” He crossed his arms and tapped his foot.
Lia wasn’t intimidated. “You destroyed a clan because of that bargain. They owe you nothing. Edan owes you nothing, and surely a wee lass of one summer owes you nothing. You had no right to take the bairns because of a decade-old mistake on your part. His father is dead. Leave it be, Gruin. Erena will not be happy.”
“Erena does not frighten me either. We want all of Islay, and you’re going to help us gain control.” Gruin set a hundred snakes slithering across the top of the hill.
“Oh, stop your dramatics,” Lia said, causing the snakes to disappear with one wave of her hand.”
“I never liked you, Lia.”
“The feeling is mutual, Gruin.”
Edan took two steps forward. “Open the hill, and you’ll have me if you promise to free the bairns. It’s a simple trade.”
“Nay,” shouted Ailith. “If you go, you’ll die, Edan. You cannot go.” Something deep inside her warned her about the hill. A vision of Edan lying on the ground, blood coming from his ears, came unbidden to her. It was a land she didn’t know.
A faery hill.
“I’ll go for my daughter. Do we have a bargain, Gruin?” Edan’s fists clenched so tight he thought his palms would bleed.
“Your blood for your daughter? I can consider that.”
“And Milo. And the other bairns too.”
“Hmm,” he said, crossing his arms and stroking his chin.
“Nay, Edan. He’ll kill you.”
Edan strode forward. “I have to go for them, Ailith.”
“Nay, don’t go. He’s lying.” Ailith ran after him, but she stopped as soon as she noticed something. The grass.
He continued to walk, but Lia’s voice stopped him. “Stay back, Edan. He’ll suck you into the hill once you’re close enough…” Her words trailed off as she stared at the ground surrounding the hill.
As Edan moved forward, the blood in his veins hummed, the grass beneath his boots blackened and withered, the faery rings collapsing into dull, broken shapes.
He slowed, then stopped, his gaze dropping to the ground as unease crept up his spine.
The destruction halted with him. When he took another step, the grass ahead died instantly, as though recoiling before he touched it.
Step by step, the blight followed his path, and the strange warmth in his blood flow stayed with him.
A chill settled in his gut. This was no chance happening, no trick of the light. Whatever force he carried, the land itself was answering it, retreating from him in silent warning. What in God’s name was he doing to this place?
Lia moved closer, then recoiled, her face pale.
Edan didn’t stop, moving straight toward the bogle, but the creature let out such a loud screech that Edan froze.
The bogle moved back, then spun around and pointed a talon at Edan.
“Do not take another step. Here are my terms if you wish to see your daughter again: bring me three hairs of the banshee within seven days. My overlord requires them for his collection, and they alone will prove your allegiance to your daughter. That and your blood. Bring me the banshee hairs, and I will trade you for her. Only then will I free the lass.” He paused, his black eye narrowing.
“This is but the first of what I’ll require, son of the promised one.
There will be others. There will always be others. ”
“Nay!” Edan yelled, chasing after the man. The bogle looked over his shoulder, laughing as he entered the hill through an old wooden door that slammed shut and vanished.
But Lia had seen inside. The smile drained from her face.
Dyna came up behind her and said, “What is it, Lia?”
The wind whipped, the trees swayed until branches broke, the cracking echoing through the air, and the hill shrunk before them once the bogle was inside.
Lia’s gaze locked on the hill. She kneaded her hands and whispered, “It’s the same one.”
“The same what?” Edan asked. “Do you know something about that hill? How to get in? Tell us. You have to tell us.”
Lia whirled around and stalked away.
Dyna called out after her. “Lia?”
Lia froze, turned around and looked at the group, the smiling, pleasant wee lass they all knew oddly absent.
“Lia, what is it?” Dyna chased after her, Ailith now behind her.
Edan had no idea what was happening. He’d just begun to change his beliefs, finally accepting that there were faeries. Just as his sire had warned him. His father’s words held new meaning. Never go back to Islay. They’ll take you, Edan.
There was no denying their existence any longer. He’d seen them with his own eyes. A bogle, a faery, a growing faery hill, grass that died, flowers that wilted. All these years and his sire had been warning him.
He should have listened. Stayed away. Lived on Jura. Not brought his sister back. His denial wilted faster than the flowers at Dunyvaig. He fought to slow his breathing.
Lia tilted her head, listening to something none of them could hear. “We’ll get your daughter back. And we’ll get your son back, Catrina. But fair warning, there’s much more going on than you could ever guess. I have someone I need to see.”
A mist covered Lia and she disappeared.