Shoulder the Skye, page 26
If none of them manipulated the glass, then someone else out there was. And quite possibly the person who commanded the mist, as well.
Rhona turned in a slow circle, her eyes searching the darkness and shadows for a figure or anything that could give her a clue. No matter how hard she looked, she didn’t see anything.
“Incoming,” warned a woman with an American accent.
Rhona whipped around in time to see the mist fight to expand, but the glass held it tightly, refusing to let it budge. The unmistakable soft clink of a lighter opening filled the silence before the rasping sound of a spark wheel igniting, and then the hiss of a flame as the light broke through the night.
She turned to see a man with auburn hair glance her way before whispering to the tiny flame. In an instant, a spark shot up and out, directly for the glass and mist, growing larger by the second.
Rhona was about to extinguish it when the American lifted her hand and said, “We’re trying to get rid of the mist. Wait.”
Rhona hesitated, hoping she had made the right choice. The flame reached the glass and mist, and as she watched, the glass separated just enough for the fire to slip between it and the mist. Within moments, the mist began burning off. Rhona’s lips parted in astonishment as it struggled much as a person would to stay alive.
Then it was over. One moment, the night was lit by flame, and then it was a tiny spark. With the mist gone, the glass fell to the ground in a pile, and the fire returned to the lighter.
The scrape of gravel broke the silence. Rhona looked over to George and stalked to the seer. “I’d stay right there if I were you.”
“Finn,” the American called.
The dark-haired man nodded before moving away from the unconscious guy at his feet to stand guard next to a woman while the American limped toward Elias and Bronwyn.
“You picked the wrong side, Rhona,” George said.
Rhona cut her gaze back to the woman. “Your mistake was coming to Skye, thinking you had the run of the isle.”
“He’s breathing,” the American woman shouted. “So is Bronwyn. But they’re injured badly.”
Rhona held up a hand when the fire walker started to move.
He flashed her a smile after putting away the lighter. Then he bowed his head in a gentlemanly manner. “I was hoping I’d get the pleasure. Carlyle Oliver, at your service,” he said in a refined British accent. He nodded at the dark-haired man. “That’s Finn O’Connor, and Sabryn Beaumont is with our friends.”
So these were Elias’s colleagues. The Knights. The others, then, were Sydney and his acquaintances.
“You can’t hold us,” George said with a smirk. “It isn’t like we can go to jail.”
Rhona quirked a brow. “Who says you can’t be detained?”
A small frown formed on George’s forehead. “No police, not even the Druids here, would hold any of us.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, you’re on the Isle of Skye,” Rhona said.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” George demanded.
Rhona smiled. “It means we have our own kind of punishment for Druids.”
Kerry seethed. She fumed.
She almost walked from her hiding place and showed everyone there just what happened to those who fought against her and the Ancients, but she managed to hold herself back. Much more needed to be done before she could put everyone in their place. She wouldn’t be the one to disrupt the Ancients’ plans.
Even if she wanted to show the others what she was capable of.
Especially Rhona. She would pay for disgracing Kerry. Then there was Bronwyn. Of all people, Kerry had been so sure of where Bronwyn stood. She had seen the darkness take the drough that night. There was no way Bronwyn should’ve come back from that.
How had Kerry gotten it wrong? But she wasn’t giving up on the Druid yet. The darkness was within Bronwyn, and it always would be. Kerry had been awed by the sheer strength of Bronwyn’s magic. But that was what happened when a family could trace their heritage to one of the first Druids.
The Ancients needed those like Bronwyn. And she would make an adequate assistant when the time came. Kerry just needed time to work on her. As much as the young Druid had angered her by protecting Sydney, Kerry had learned to play the long game as the Ancients did. Small losses were nothing. It was the bigger battles that mattered.
She slipped back into the shadows and returned to her car while the others were occupied with the wounded and securing the prisoners. She knew exactly where Rhona would take them because she had been housed in the ancient Druid prison within the Red Cuillin.
Elias clawed through the layers of consciousness, his anxiety high. He was worried about something. No, he needed to get to someone.
Bronwyn.
“She’s safe. Relax,” someone said softly.
It took a moment to recognize Sabryn’s voice. Elias forced open his eyes to find his friend sitting beside him. She wore a weary smile. Her right arm was in a sling, and she had cuts along her neck.
Elias shifted and immediately regretted it as pain shot through him. He grunted and closed his eyes as he fought a wave of nausea.
“Yeah. I’d stay still,” Sabryn advised gently.
“Where am I?” he bit out.
“The manor.”
“Did we…did we win?” he asked and opened his eyes again.
Her deep blue gaze met his. “We did, indeed.”
Elias searched the library for Bronwyn. “Where is she?”
Sabryn’s gaze skated away as she pushed to her feet and faced the hearth, careful to keep her weight on one foot, signaling another injury to her leg. “She’s in the parlor.”
“What are you no’ telling me?” he demanded.
Sabryn turned to face him. “She’s not woken, Elias. We can’t find any injury that would keep her unconscious. We all saw her hit her head…”
“And it’s her second head injury,” he finished. Elias gritted his teeth and used his hands to help him sit up. The room spun, but he fought against it.
“About bloody time,” Carlyle said as he strode into the room. He rounded the sofa and stopped. “You had us worried.”
Elias took in the black eye and giant bruise along the left side of Carlyle’s face. “What are everyone’s injuries?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sabryn said.
Elias just stared at her.
Carlyle blew out a breath and moved to the chair, slowly sinking into it. “Our fearless leader there has a dislocated shoulder and a fractured kneecap. Finn has a broken wrist, two broken fingers, and bruised ribs. I also have some damaged ribs, along with the loveliness you see on my face.”
“And you?” Sabryn asked.
Elias blew out a breath. “Everything hurts. No’ sure I could pinpoint exact things right now.” All he wanted to do was sleep for a year. He was physically and emotionally spent. He fought to pull up his last thoughts. “The mist was coming for Bronwyn and me. What happened?”
“The manor’s windows shattered,” Sabryn said. “Every damn one of them. The glass contained the mist.”
“Who thought of that?” he asked.
Carlyle shrugged and then winced. “It wasn’t us. I thought it was Rhona, but she said it wasn’t her.”
Rhona. That was right. She had been there. “Where is she?”
“The house wouldn’t let her inside. She called a few of her people, and they took George, Sydney, and the rest away,” Sabryn explained.
Elias was having a hard time keeping his thoughts in line between his pain and his worry about Bronwyn. It took great effort for him to move first one leg and then the other to place his feet on the floor. “If none of us caused the glass to break, then who did? Bronwyn was out cold, so I know it wasna her.”
Carlyle exchanged a look with Sabryn. “We’ve been talking about that. I think it was the manor.”
Elias turned his head toward the open windows hidden by the closed curtains. “Bronwyn used blood magic on the house. It has protected her. But for it to respond on its own?”
“It’s something to consider.”
“Like the manor acted on its own? Like it was sentient?” Elias asked, his brows raised.
Carlyle’s face pinched in pain as he shifted in the chair. “I find it hard to believe myself, but it makes sense. We may never know. It isn’t as if we can ask the house.”
Elias steeled himself before he scooted to the edge of the cushion. He fought another debilitating wave of pain.
“You shouldn’t be sitting up, much less standing,” Sabryn scolded as she put a hand on his shoulder to steady him.
He looked up at her. “I have to see Bronwyn.”
Instead of fighting him, Sabryn nodded slowly. “We’ll help.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Elias told her. “Your knee, remember?”
Carlyle grunted loudly as he stood—and promptly fell back down. “Bloody hell, that hurts,” he said between clenched teeth, his face pale. He found his feet on the second attempt and faced Elias. “I’ll help.”
“And chance us both falling?” Elias asked, somehow managing to find a grin.
Carlyle laughed before his face contorted in pain. “You’re an asshole for doing that.”
“No’ my fault you laughed.”
A fine sheet of sweat covered Elias by the time he got to his feet. He didn’t know if anything was broken because everything hurt.
“I want it noted that it’s a mistake for you to move,” Carlyle said.
Elias nodded. “Noted.”
He used furniture and walls to steady himself as he agonizingly made his way to the door. He glanced into the hallway and saw the distance he had to walk without something to hold on to.
“Bet I’m looking good right about now,” Carlyle replied from behind him.
Elias chuckled. “I stand a better chance alone. I doona have to look at you to know you’re swaying.”
“You’re both swaying, idiots,” Sabryn stated.
A knock on the door had all three of them turning their heads toward it. Sabryn moved around Elias and limped to the entry. She opened it a crack to peer outside. Then she pushed the door wide. Elias spotted Rhona with Balladyn beside her.
“I’m hoping you can allow us inside,” Rhona said to him.
Elias shrugged. “We can try. You and Balladyn are welcome.”
Rhona tentatively put a foot out and was allowed entry. She walked in with Balladyn on her heels. “It looks like you all need some assistance.”
“Perhaps you can talk him into returning to the library,” Carlyle said.
Elias shook his head. “I have to get to Bronwyn.”
“Then let me help,” Balladyn said as he moved toward him.
Elias took the Reaper’s hand, and when he blinked, he stood beside Bronwyn’s sofa bed in the parlor. She lay so still that he had to touch her to make sure she was still alive. Bending caused him pain, and he would’ve toppled over had Balladyn not caught him.
“Looks like we need healers,” Rhona said as she entered the parlor.
Elias tried to nod, but the room went black.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“You should’ve called for me.”
Rhona stood at the manor’s door and waited for the healers to arrive. She glanced at Balladyn. It was the fifth time he’d made such a comment. He had been less than thrilled when he learned what she had faced alone. Even though she’d tried to tell him that she had to do things on her own, his protective nature wouldn’t let it go.
“I’m fine,” she told him.
His red eyes didn’t move from her face. “I don’t question your abilities, love. I just don’t like you standing on your own when you don’t have to.”
She reached over and took his hands as she faced him. “There will be times I have to when you’re doing your Reaper duties. We both knew that.”
“I do,” he said tightly. “That was before all of this went down.”
She squeezed his hand as she heard the approaching cars. “Thanks for repairing the windows. That will save Bronwyn a hefty sum.”
“I’ll feel better once I know who caused the windows to shatter.”
Rhona let her eyes move around the manor’s large entrance hall. “Sabryn thinks it was the house.”
“It would be highly unusual. Then again, the Stewarts have lived in the manor for generations. You said it was built by Druids, which means magic has been in it from its very foundation.”
She frowned. “And Bronwyn used blood magic on the manor.”
“You’ll get details when Bronwyn wakes.”
“Let’s hope the manor allows the healers inside.” Rhona opened the door as four Druids stepped out of their vehicles.
Just as she feared, the house wouldn’t allow them in. She had to call for Carlyle, who allowed them entrance. Rhona led the Druids into the parlor, where Bronwyn and Elias lay together on the bed.
“Let’s see to these two first,” she told the healers. “Then we’ll focus on the rest.”
Sabryn shook her head. “I know how much magic it takes to heal someone. Bronwyn and Elias are more important. My injuries will heal in time.”
“So will mine,” Finn stated.
Carlyle bowed his head. “What they said.”
Rhona met Sabryn’s gaze. She liked the leader of the Knights. They were an unlikely team, but they worked well as a unit. She suspected they had similar traumas that’d brought them together. Elias was loyal to them, and they to him.
Rhona wasn’t a healer, but she would add her magic to theirs. The five of them moved to Elias’s side of the bed and linked hands. She cast a look at Balladyn, who winked at her before she closed her eyes. Her magic rushed through her, answering her call. She joined in the ancient chant of the healers.
The magic that filled the room made her body tingle with awareness. Chills raced over her skin, and the hairs along her arms stood on end. For just a moment, she could’ve sworn she heard the drumbeat of the Ancients. Or maybe it was her imagination.
Rhona’s breath locked in her lungs when she felt magic coming from beneath her. The only other magic besides hers she had felt was Balladyn’s, but this was unmistakable. It wasn’t Reaper or even Druid magic. It was stronger, brighter. It cut through her with dazzling intensity, and in its wake, she felt a connection to Skye that she’d never had before.
She focused on it, strengthening the bond that she innately knew was important. The magic suffused her in a blanket of warmth and peace. And, somehow, she understood that the isle had acknowledged her as the leader of the Skye Druids.
The quiet stillness, the serene tranquility that saturated Rhona was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She knew the potency of Balladyn’s Reaper magic. She knew the strength of hers. And the combination was one that had never occurred before, leaving its own kind of sway.
But this, the pure magic of the earth that came directly from Skye was something else entirely. It may have taken her a while to accept the position Corann had given her, but it wasn’t until now that it felt as if she were supposed to be here.
Rhona tried to hold on to the magic as it began to wane. She wasn’t ready for it to leave, but she couldn’t hold it any more than she could stop the tides. As it slipped away, an image of Corann standing at the Fairy Pools filled her mind. She had often found him there. The place was magic. Not because it had been how the Fae had come to the isle, but because the magic was more potent there.
She’d only had to visit the pools, just as Corann had, to feel the rush of magic again.
Rhona realized the chanting had stopped. She opened her eyes to find Balladyn in front of her, his face lined with apprehension as he held her hands.
“Where did you go?” he whispered.
She smiled, remembering. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Rhona glanced to the side to see Elias sitting up, his hand gripping Bronwyn’s as he stared at her in earnest. Rhona’s eyes then moved to Bronwyn, who still hadn’t woken. Rhona turned to find Finn and Sabryn fully healed. Carlyle walked into the parlor with bruises still on his face.
“Ah. You’re back with us,” he said. “I’ve seen the healers out. Lovely people who don’t like being told that I’ll be fine without them.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “They still checked him out before they relented.”
“We were getting concerned about you,” Sabryn said.
Rhona shook her head. “I was fine. Promise. When do they expect Bronwyn to wake?”
“They don’t know why she hasn’t,” Balladyn told her. “They healed the concussion as well as the fracture in her hip.”
“She should be awake,” Elias said.
Rhona swung her gaze to him. “She will. Give her time. While we wait, tell me everything. I need to know about George and Sydney, as well as Bronwyn’s use of blood magic. I’m also extremely curious about what she opened to stop the mist.”
“Aye. I’ve an interest in that, as well,” Balladyn said.
Elias’s bright blue gaze moved between them. “Bronwyn can open portals between dimensions.”
“We stood in it for a short while,” Sabryn added.
Carlyle nodded. “That was where we were when DI Frasier searched the manor for Elias.”
“We weren’t alone in there,” Finn said.
Rhona’s gaze jerked to the Irishman. “What do you mean?”
“I saw a shadow on the other side. It seemed to know we were there.”
“Bronwyn plans to remove Beth as soon as she wakes,” Elias said.
It was just one surprise after another. Rhona raised her brows. “I’m sorry, but did you say Beth is in there?”
Elias swallowed and glanced at his hand holding Bronwyn’s. “You want to know everything. I’ll tell you.”
For the next thirty-two minutes, Rhona and Balladyn listened as Elias and his friends detailed it all. When they finished, Rhona sank into a chair in disbelief. She could hardly wrap her head around learning about Robert Stewart’s murder. She hated that Bronwyn had felt she couldn’t turn to anyone in her time of need.
