“What about the Light Fae?”
She lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “They aren’t uncommon on Skye.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“No, it didn’t.” She cleared her throat and dropped her chin to her chest. “Mum didn’t like Molly or me interacting with the Fae. She didn’t care if they were Light or Dark, she wanted us to keep our distance. But Molly and I came across one at the pub one day. I dared her to talk to him, but she wouldn’t do it. So, I said I would.”
Cathal didn’t like the turn this story had taken.
Sorcha glanced up at him. “He was nice. He flirted. I flirted. I was young and stupid, and I honestly believed I could control the situation. We met a couple of times without Molly knowing. We just talked. It was nice.”
“I take it that didn’t last?” he asked when her eyes got a faraway look in them.
She blinked, coming back to herself. “I think everything changed when I began keeping secrets from my family. We had always shared everything. I know that’s unusual, but we had an unusual family. Mum was definitely our parent, but there came a time as we got older that she turned into more of a friend. Not many can say that their mother and sister are their best friends, but that’s how it was for me. Every once in a while, we’d convince Mum to go out on a date. She was always being asked out, but there was never a second one. She used to tell us that she’d already found—and lost—her soulmate. I always believed it was her husband.”
“But now, after reading the journals, you think it was your father,” Cathal guessed.
“I do,” she admitted. “Neither Molly nor I asked her for a name. Looking back now, there were several instances we could’ve pushed her to reveal more.”
“You three shared everything. You didn’t believe she would keep anything from you.”
Sorcha snorted. “I felt so bad for keeping my secrets from her and Molly, and the entire time, Mum had secrets of her own.”
“I bet your sister did, as well.”
“Probably.”
He lowered his foot to the floor. “Just because you know that you’re a Halfling and your mum kept that from you doesn’t change the fact that the three of you were close and had a great family dynamic.”
“And yet, I’m the one who killed them.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
He drew in a breath. “There is nothing about you that I’ve seen that would lead me to believe you’re a killer.”
“Then let me change your mind. One thing we did often was hike and climb. We often freebase climbed, which means without the assistance of ropes. We were that good. Mum had been doing it all her life, and she taught me and Molly. I had been out late the night before, meeting the Light Fae. I was tired, and I didn’t want to go climbing. Mum said that we were using the ropes that day because I was cranky. Molly laughed, but Mum was angry. I think she had an idea of what I had been doing. I didn’t want her in my business. I thought I was old enough to make my own decisions. I knew that if she began to dig into my affairs, I would move out.” Sorcha paused and swallowed.
Cathal watched as she tugged on some of the skin up near her thumbnail. She didn’t seem to notice. She was too far into her memories.
“Sure enough, Mum began asking who I had been meeting. I refused to tell her. All I wanted to do was finish with the climb and get back home so I could change and go and meet him again. I was in the lead, with Mum and then Molly behind me. I clipped us in. I heard it. I know I did it.”
Cathal couldn’t take his eyes from her. She looked straight ahead, but her gaze was unfocused. Without a doubt, she was living it all over again as she told him the story.
“I wouldn’t have been so careless as to risk their lives,” Sorcha said in a soft voice. She blinked rapidly for a moment before a tear escaped to drop onto her cheek. She didn’t wipe it away as she continued. “I told Mum that it was none of her business and to leave me alone. I was in the process of trying to get a handhold when my fingers slipped. I had a firm grip with my other hand as well as both footholds. I gave my other arm a moment of rest and looked down at my mum and sister. Molly was telling me how selfish I was being as she climbed. Mum was looking up at me, her expression filled with worry. The moment she said my name, I turned away and reached for my next handhold. There was a snap. It was so loud that I hear it in my dreams sometimes.”
Cathal slowly sat forward. He needed to get closer to Sorcha, but he didn’t want to interrupt her thoughts. Not so much because he wanted to hear the story, but because he wasn’t sure what would happen to her if he did.
She swallowed loudly. “Then I felt something pull against the ropes around my waist. Before I could even look down, I heard Molly call for Mum. I didn’t panic. Neither did Molly. This wasn’t the first time we’d slipped. Mum was calm and patient as she helped Molly find her footing.” Sorcha’s gaze shifted to him then. “As I looked down at them both, I happened to look over to where I’d clipped us in. The carabiner wasn’t locked into place. I realized at that moment that Mum was taking the brunt of the pull from Molly. She was holding it off me so we didn’t all fall. I tried to climb down and reclip us, but when I did, it caused Mum to lose her grip. Still, none of us got flustered. To do that is certain death.”
Cathal gave her a nod and scooted toward her.
“When Mum lost her grip more, the weight she’d been holding came to me. Any other day, I would’ve had no problem supporting them both. I’d done it before. But the night before, I’d been out too late, drank too much, and I hadn’t slept. I was in no condition to be the lead. I knew everything came down to me holding on, but that awareness seemed to make every muscle in my body shake from exertion. I focused on keeping my foot and toe holds. Molly had never taken so long to get her grips. I didn’t realize that when she slipped, she’d cut her finger. Mum managed to lock in place and take some of the weight from me. The last thing I should’ve done was relax, but I did. I don’t even know what happened because I didn’t look down. All I know is that Molly screamed. Mum began yelling, telling her to stay calm. I managed to look at them. Mum must have seen that I wouldn’t be able to take any more weight. I knew if I didn’t do something that they were going to die. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I used magic.”
Cathal looked down at her hands to see that she had torn the hangnail off and her finger was bleeding. He rose and went to the other end of the sofa next to her chair and covered her hands with his, using his magic to stop the bleeding.
Sorcha looked at him then. “And it killed them.”
Chapter Eleven
The wave of guilt threatened to drown her, but Sorcha didn’t stop it. It’s what she deserved. Her mother and sister had counted on her, and she’d let them down.
“I know that isn’t true. Because if it was, you’d have red eyes, or you’d be a drough. And you’re no evil Druid.”
The sound of Cathal’s deep voice was soothing. She looked up into his face to find him near her. No matter what she did, she couldn’t look away from his scarlet eyes. One of his hands covered both of hers. It was large and comforting, just like his voice. Sorcha shook her head. “The magic I used was meant to clip the rope into place and secure us. It didn’t. My magic had never missed before. Mum kept telling me that she had the strength to hold Molly. I knew she did. Even with my sister injured. It should’ve worked. But everything that could’ve gone wrong that day did. I could do nothing as Mum’s foot slipped, and they both tumbled down to our last hook in. Do you have any idea how it feels to be safe and see your family fall? There was no time for magic, no time for anything. The next moment, they were both dead.”