“In case that’s what’s keeping you locked in your house.”
“I stay here—alone—because that’s how I like it.”
Rhona shook her head sadly. “We miss you.”
“You see me.”
“Not like I used to.”
Sorcha shrugged. “Unfortunately, that’s how it’s going to be.”
Rhona smiled sadly, then wrapped her arms around Sorcha for a hug. “I love you, cousin. Know that you’re the only one who holds onto the past. You’re young and beautiful and have so much to give. Please don’t keep yourself locked away here.”
Before Sorcha could reply, Rhona released her and turned on her heel to walk back to her car. Sorcha watched as the vehicle drove out of sight, Rhona’s words ringing in her ears. Sorcha wanted to ignore everything that had been said, but she couldn’t.
She limped into the house and went to make some toast. The moment she pulled the bread out, she realized that she had forgotten to send her grocery list to Noah. He picked up anything she needed from town and brought it to her for a small fee. It saved her from having to get out and…socialize. And it made him some money.
It had begun with his older brother, Harry. Once Harry finished his schooling and went off to start his life, Sorcha asked Noah if he’d like to take over the job. Noah had been quick to agree. And, for the past two years, things had been going fine. The only problem was that Noah was about to finish his schooling and leave Skye.
Sorcha found her mobile phone and made a list of items she needed to refill her pantry and fridge before sending it to Noah. She set her phone down and walked away to make her toast. She heard the mobile ding, letting her know that someone had sent a text. No doubt it was Noah letting her know that he’d be by sometime today with the groceries.
She didn’t look at her phone until she finished eating her buttered toast. The message was from Noah, but it wasn’t to tell her he would bring her items. She blinked at the text, then checked her calendar.
“Shite,” she murmured.
How had she forgotten the date Noah was leaving? She knew the answer. She’d been too wrapped up in leaving her home for Ireland and undertaking a dangerous mission to recall those details. Noah had left the same day she had, and she had completely forgotten about it.
Since she didn’t readily know anyone who could assume his position, it meant that she would have to suck it up and go into town herself. But that didn’t have to be today. She sent a quick text to Noah, apologizing and wishing him well in his new life. Then she grabbed her headphones and went to the sofa to listen to an audiobook. She’d think about dealing with her groceries later.
She soon realized that her head wasn’t in the book. She shut it off and removed the headphones. Her mind kept returning to the Fairy Pools. She didn’t want to go. No matter what Rhona said, Sorcha didn’t need to be there. Yet she couldn’t ignore the guilt that pulled at her. And she hated feeling guilty about anything.
Although that was the very reason she had gone to Ireland for her cousin in the first place.
Sorcha rolled her eyes as she dropped her head back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. The Fairy Pools were a place she had gone to with her family numerous times. And not just for their ritual. Skye drew people to it, those who had even a drop of Druid blood in their veins. But the Fairy Pools were something altogether different. No one who visited could deny the magic that seemed to surround the place.
They had been a particular favorite of Sorcha’s. During the summers, she could often be found swimming in one of the many pools, soaking in the sun, and gazing at the glorious mountains surrounding her. Even when it was too cold to swim, she hiked along the pools.
Thinking about it caused memories of her family to fill her mind. She grabbed her head in an effort to stop them, but it was too late. They had already infiltrated. Her mother laughing, her sister teasing her. They had been the Three Musketeers, doing everything together. They were closer than most families could even dream about. Not that they didn’t argue. With three women, the fights could get very heated, but they never lasted long.
A tear slipped down Sorcha’s face. She hastily dashed it away. Even after a decade, memories of her family could still gut her like nothing else. It was why she didn’t think back to those times too often. They might be good memories, but it was also a reminder of what she no longer had.
And what she had done.
Forgiveness wasn’t something she could give herself or accept from others. She deserved everything she had gotten. Whatever life she had thought to have had died the day her mother and sister did.
Sorcha blew out a breath and lifted her head. She looked around the small cottage she’d lived in for her entire life. At first, she hadn’t changed any of her mother’s decorating. But after a while, Sorcha needed to take away things that roused too many memories. Eventually, over the last ten years, the cottage had become distinctly hers. While her mother and sister had loved to collect all sorts of things, Sorcha was more of a minimalist. And that was reflected in everything from the furniture to the clothes she wore.
Her gaze lowered to her ankle. It was still a little swollen, but it wasn’t broken. She’d feared that the night of the storm, but she hadn’t wanted to think about anything but getting away from the cliffs. The drive home had only made it worse because she hadn’t been able to keep it elevated. Sleeping for as long as she had, had helped things, but if she wanted to walk normally again, then she needed to get the swelling down.
You could’ve asked Rhona to help with it.
The minute the thought went through her head, Sorcha got angry at herself. If she wasn’t going to do magic to help herself, she certainly wasn’t going to ask someone else to do it for her.
It would be so easy for you to fix the ankle.
It would, but this wasn’t the first time she had hurt herself. Nor would it be the last. Magic wasn’t meant to be used for such things. It was a powerful tool, and in the wrong hands, it could do lasting damage. As she well knew.
She shifted so she lay on the sofa. Sorcha used the pillows at the end to stack beneath her ankle to elevate the leg. She didn’t bother trying to listen to the audiobook again. Her thoughts were too jumbled for that. Neither could she read. She debated turning on the tele but decided against it.
Instead, she stared at the ceiling, going over everything that had happened in the last few months. The Isle of Skye had been a refuge for Druids. It had also been a stronghold that no one dared to threaten. All that ended with Usaeil. She had once been the Queen of the Light Fae, ruling for thousands upon thousands of years. But it had all been a lie. She had murdered her own family to take the throne. Her entire reign had been a deception since she had used glamour to hide the fact that she was really a Dark Fae.
Things got worse from there. Apparently, Usaeil had begun killing Druids to take their magic and strengthen hers. No doubt she had gotten the idea from the Others—which she had helped to create.
Usaeil had been the one to come to Skye and ask the Druids to guard the Fairy Pools. It gave the Druids a false sense of power that Usaeil had proven when she came to Skye and took two Druids, one of them Corann. Because the Skye Druids had more magic than other Druids, they increased Usaeil’s power significantly.
Corann, in his infinite wisdom, had known his role in the game Usaeil and Moreann—the Druid from the other realm—played. Corann had long known that his fate was connected to Moreann’s. It was something he’d kept to himself until the end when he’d shared it with Rhona as his spirit passed into the next phase.