It was one thing to arrive by teleportation. She couldn’t exactly get back the way she’d come. And she didn’t want to ask her father or uncle for help either. Sorcha decided to walk the grounds and lose herself in the vast garden behind the manor as she thought about Cathal. She didn’t want to worry whether or not she’d see him again. There was a very real chance that she wouldn’t.
Whoever he and Aisling were, they weren’t normal Fae. She sighed wistfully as she looked at the sky to see the sun beginning its descent. Sorcha wasn’t sure what her life would be like from here on out, but she knew she would never be the same. The person who had locked herself away in her home for a decade was no more.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The moment Cathal arrived on Death’s realm, he teleported straight to the white tower and bellowed for Erith and Cael. The two appeared immediately.
“What the hell happened?” Cael demanded as Cathal laid Aisling down on a table.
Cathal rested his hands on the table as he struggled to keep standing. “The Fae group of Others.”
Erith’s lavender eyes studied him as she frowned. “Sit.”
“I need to get back to Sorcha,” he said. As he pushed away from the table, the world went black.
Erith watched over both Cathal and Aisling for the next day as their bodies mended. Cael insisted on helping things along and used his newfound power to heal them. She knew her Reapers would survive, but she couldn’t help but worry. There was more to the story that Cathal hadn’t been able to tell her before he passed out.
The news that the Fae group like the Others had been responsible for the injury to her Reapers left her furious.
“How are they?” Eoghan asked as he entered the chamber.
Erith lifted her head and regarded him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cael watching her. “Their bodies are healing.”
“But?” Eoghan pressed.
Cael blew out a breath. “There was something different about the magic used against them. It was…very potent.”
Potent enough to take down a Reaper. Nothing should’ve been able to do that to her family.
“They’re here and healing. That’s good news,” Eoghan said. He clasped his hands behind his back. “The rest of my group is eager to locate the Fae responsible for this.”
Erith shook her head. “Not yet. I’m not going to rush into anything until we figure out what the group is, who is leading them, and what they want.”
“Seems pretty clear. They wanted to kill two Reapers,” Cael pointed out.
Eoghan’s black brows drew together. “The only reason Cathal and Aisling were in Scotland was because of the Halfling. Do you think it has anything to do with her?”
“I think we should ask Cathal,” Cael said.
Erith’s gaze jerked to Cathal to find his eyes open and watching her. She rose and went to stand beside him. “How do you feel?”
“Better than before,” he replied as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
Eoghan nodded to Cathal. “Good to have you back. Care to tell us what happened?”
“How is Aisling?” Cathal asked instead as he peered past Erith to the bed behind her.
She glanced at Aisling before meeting Cathal’s gaze. “She’s healing quickly. She’ll be fine. Now, I think it’s time you tell us everything.”
Cathal blew out a breath as he ran a hand down his face. Then he began his story. Erith had known there was something about the Halfling. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have drawn Cathal’s attention. But Erith would never have guessed Sorcha’s connection.
As Erith listened to Cathal’s story, she realized that he had feelings for the Halfling, especially given the things he wasn’t telling them. She didn’t point that out, and neither did Cael or Eoghan. They waited until he finished his retelling before any of them said anything.
“She had that kind of power?” Eoghan asked in surprise.
Cathal raised his brows as he nodded. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was… pure. I don’t even think Sorcha realizes what is within her grasp.”
“Did her stepmother know, you think?” Cael asked.
Erith shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever known of a Halfling who is half Skye Druid. The combination of two powerful families created Sorcha and her magic.”
“She seemed surprised by it,” Cathal told them. “And based on her story, she never had that kind of magic before.”
Erith exchanged a look with Cael before she told Cathal, “Sorcha always had that kind of power. It wasn’t until she needed it that she was able to use it.”
Cathal frowned. “That isn’t true. She could’ve used that power to save her mother and sister.”
“You misunderstand Death,” Eoghan said. “Sorcha came to your defense.”
Cathal paused for a moment before he jerked his chin to Aisling. “Not just me.”
“It was you. Trust me,” Cael said.
Erith watched the play of emotions cross the Reaper’s face. She wondered if Cathal knew that he was in love with Sorcha. Some Reapers were loud and boisterous, and others were quiet. Usually, it was the quiet ones who had suffered the most. Eoghan had been such a Reaper. So was Cathal.
As for Aisling, her pain was a hundred times what any other Reaper had ever endured.
“How long have I been unconscious?” Cathal asked.
Cael said, “A day.”
“I need to see Sorcha.”
Erith issued a nod. “I assumed you would.”
“I’d…I would like…” Cathal dropped his chin to his chest and grew quiet.
Erith looked at Eoghan and Cael and waited for them to leave. Once she was alone with Cathal, she walked to the bed and sat beside him. Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Finally, she said, “I know what you want to ask.”
“I’m afraid you’ll refuse me,” he said without looking at her.
In all her time with Cathal, she had never known him to be afraid of anything. To hear him admit that now proved just how much he loved Sorcha. “You don’t want to ask it because I’ve let the other Reapers have the women they love by saying those women have proven themselves to me. By helping us out against Bran or aiding a fellow Reaper.”
“Aye.”
“What do you think Sorcha did? Had she not stepped in and used her magic, it’s very likely both you and Aisling might have been killed.”
Cathal’s head turned so that he looked at her. “You’ve not asked why I didn’t call for help.”
“Because you knew the Fae Others were after you, and you didn’t want any other Reapers to be hurt,” she said.
Cathal blew out a breath and nodded. “It almost got Aisling killed.”
“You don’t just have a team, Cathal. You have a family. You felt that about the others, but I think you’ve come to realize they think that about you, as well.” She got to her feet and faced him. “Sorcha is waiting for you. It’s up to you what you tell her. As for me, you have my blessing to tell her who you are.”
“What if she says she doesn’t want to be with me?”