Shoulder the Skye (Skye Druids #2)(23)
Author: Donna Grant

 

“I’m looking for our friend. Elias?” he heard Sabryn ask.

 

He exited the parlor and stepped into the wide hallway. “I’m here,” he called as he walked into the foyer.

 

Bronwyn didn’t open the door any wider. In fact, she had hardly opened it at all. She looked back at him as he grabbed his coat.

 

“I’ll be around,” he told her.

 

She lowered her gaze, her fingers gripping the door handle so tightly her knuckles turned white. “It’s better if you forget all about me.”

 

Elias didn’t say that was an impossible feat. He shifted so he could see out the small crack to his friends. Sabryn’s deep blue eyes met his. She was tall for a woman, but Finn was even taller. Instead of a smiling face, he saw the worry reflected in his friend’s dark eyes.

 

“You’ll want to rethink leaving, mate,” Carlyle said from behind Sabryn.

 

“We’d like to talk for a moment.” Sabryn eyed the door. “May we come inside, please?”

 

Bronwyn shook her head when Elias looked her way. He slid his gaze back to his friends. “I’m afraid no’.”

 

“It’s important,” Sabryn insisted.

 

Bronwyn opened the door all the way, allowing him to see his friends clearly.

 

“I take that to mean we’re not invited,” Finn stated.

 

Elias wrinkled his nose. “Things are…complicated.”

 

“Why haven’t you answered our calls and texts?” Sabryn demanded.

 

The irritation and fear mixed in her voice put Elias on alert. “What is it? What’s going on? Is it my family? Are they safe?”

 

“Your family is fine,” Carlyle replied.

 

Elias frowned and focused on Sabryn. When she quirked a brow, he sighed. They weren’t going to tell him anything until he answered their question. “Remember the bastard from the other day?”

 

“The one who confronted her?” Sabryn asked, nodding in Bronwyn’s direction.

 

“Aye. He came last night with some friends. They attacked her.”

 

Finn leaned to the side to better look at Bronwyn. “That’s why she’s so pale then?”

 

Elias ignored him. “There were five of them. I knocked each of them out before getting Bronwyn into the house.”

 

“Why didn’t you leave? You could’ve come to us,” Carlyle interjected.

 

Elias glanced at Bronwyn to see her watching him. She feared what he would tell his friends. “That wasna an option. Bronwyn has protected the house.”

 

“I’m aware,” Sabryn said tightly. “I’ve already tried to shove my way inside. Did you leave last night?”

 

Elias shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. “She was banged up pretty badly. I barely got her inside before she fell unconscious. It was then that I went to call you, but my mobile must have slipped out of my pocket during the fight.”

 

Finn held up Elias’s phone, waving it. “We found it.”

 

“So?” Elias asked Sabryn. “What’s the problem?”

 

“Are you sure you didn’t leave?”

 

Elias’s frown deepened. “Aye, I’m sure. I was concerned about Bronwyn, and I wasna sure how long the assailants would be out. I decided to stay until she woke, and I knew she didna need a hospital.”

 

“And you’re positive all five were alive?”

 

A pit opened in Elias’s stomach. “As you can see, none of them are here. They woke and left.”

 

“They might have left, mate, but not all of them are alive,” Carlyle said.

 

Elias tried to swallow as he digested the news. “What?”

 

“One of them was found dead this morning,” Sabryn replied.

 

“If one of them died, it was by accident,” he told them. “Maybe they dumped the body when they realized that.”

 

His friends’ silence made it difficult for Elias to breathe.

 

“They found the body at your place,” Sabryn told him.

 

The blood rushed in Elias’s ears, drowning out everyone’s words. He saw their mouths moving, but he heard nothing. He took a step back, trying to find something to grab and stay upright. This couldn’t be happening. He hadn’t killed anyone, and he certainly hadn’t left to dump a body at his place.

 

The world pitched around him, and it felt as though something were sucking at his feet, pulling him down. He blindly reached out for something, anything, when soft fingers met his. He clutched at them, grateful for the anchor. The room began to slow its wild spinning.

 

He searched his mind, going back over each encounter he’d had with the five individuals the night before. He was ninety-nine-point-nine percent certain they had been alive.

 

“It wasna me,” he said, unsure if he said it to the others or himself. “I wouldna. No’ when I’ve already been blamed.”

 

The fingers in his tightened, drawing his gaze. He turned his head and found himself looking into hazel eyes. The green was darker now, making the copper stand out even more. He saw sorrow and understanding in her beautiful depths. That helped calm him, easing more of his panic.

 

He took a deep breath and looked at the Knights. “It wasna me.”

 

“We know,” Finn stated.

 

Carlyle nodded.

 

“You’ve been set up,” Sabryn said. “It’s why I don’t think you should leave here. Not just yet.”

 

Elias shook his head. “I gave Bronwyn my word. There are places I can go.”

 

“Not like here,” Finn said and looked up, taking in the size of the manor.

 

Sabryn’s gaze turned to Bronwyn. “Elias is a good man who is being framed. We need to find out who is responsible and why they’re focusing on him. We’ll pay.”

 

“Nay,” he said.

 

But Bronwyn asked, “How much?”

 

Sabryn grinned. “A businesswoman. I like you already. How does a hundred pounds a day sound?”

 

“Deal,” Bronwyn said. Then she looked at him. “They’re right. No one will look for you here. Even if they do, they can’t force their way in.”