“We’ll be gone before they know why we’re here,” Filip replied.
Scott released a breath. He understood the grief Filip felt since he was also dealing with it. Kevin might be gone, but at least Scott could keep his best friend’s brother alive.
“We can do this,” Filip added.
Finally, Scott nodded. “Aye. We can.”
CHAPTER THREE
Elodie was never going to the café again. She had thought she could be inconspicuous, but she should’ve known better. Everyone in Skye was a busybody—whether they were Druids or not. They were always in everyone else’s business. The stares alone made her want to jump on the table and give them something to gawk at.
The old Elodie would’ve done just that.
She inwardly winced as she set the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter. Her old ways were responsible for her current situation. Many on the island, Corann included, had tried to help her and Edie. Elodie hadn’t wanted any of it back then. She didn’t want it now, either. But even she could admit that she would’ve benefited from it after the incident.
Elodie snorted and opened the refrigerator to put in the milk, eggs, cheese, and yogurt. It wasn’t an incident. It was a catastrophe.
A fucking cataclysm.
She stood in the open door of the fridge as her memories took her back to that earlier time. They were like tar, sucking her down into a dark pit that she knew she would never come out of. She slammed the door on the refrigerator and the memories.
“No,” she stated firmly.
There was no way she would go down that lane. She hadn’t let those vile, revolting thoughts fill her head while she was away, and she wouldn’t let them take her now while on Skye—or in the cottage.
“They’re just memories. They don’t control me. I control them.”
Elodie put away the rest of the food. She loathed cooking about as much as she did Skye and the Druids, but she would suffer it so she didn’t have to go back into town. That had been insufferable. The latte had been delicious, but it wasn’t worth repeating the visit. Besides, she didn’t need to spend what little money she had left on frivolous things, and a latte was certainly that.
Her stomach was soured now, though. She had wanted to exhaust herself to the point of collapse so she could sleep. Cleaning all day had just about gotten her there. If only she hadn’t had the latte. The heavy dose of caffeine would keep her awake far longer than she wanted.
She tugged the cleaning gloves back on and went into Elias’s room. Everything remained exactly as it had been the day he left. Posters of rock bands: Linkin Park, Foo Fighters, and Thirty Seconds to Mars hung on the wall, along with scantily clad models and various photos of Elias and his friends.
Her gaze went to the floor. Elias had never picked up his clothes, but there was nothing there now. Even the bed was made. She knew Edie was responsible for that. How long had her sister kept up the house before she’d finally had enough and walked away?
Elodie had been gutted when Elias left. Then she had been furious. He hadn’t cared about her or Edie enough to check in or even make sure they were cared for before they finished school. Edie had been an absolute mess. To be fair, she had been, too. Elodie had never known how much of it was about the incident and how much of it had been Elias leaving. It didn’t really matter.
Then what had Elodie done? She had left Edie, too. What kind of sister was she to walk away?
“The kind slowly dying on this damn island,” she whispered.
Skye had been draining her of everything good in her life. If she hadn’t left, Elodie might be in jail with her mother. Edie had said that she understood why Elodie had to leave, but her sister wouldn’t have run if their places had been reversed. Then again, Edie was soft-hearted, kind, and forgiving.
Elodie took a step back into the hallway. She turned her head to look at the closed door at the end of the hall. The ghosts of the past were in her parents’ room. They weren’t banging on the door, but they were there. Waiting. Ghosts that might send her over into the deep end this time. Maybe she was destined for this and running away had only prolonged the inevitable.
Her life had been utter shite for so many years. No matter where she turned, no matter what she did, Elodie couldn’t seem to make any headway. She was spinning her wheels. There came a point when she had to recognize that fact. When she had to accept that the life she had dreamed of would never be.
Because the ghosts or demons or whatever name you wanted to give them were constantly over her shoulder, waiting to wrench away anything good and remind her of her place.
“You don’t have to go in there.”
Elodie shrieked and spun around, slamming her shoulder into the wall. Her gaze landed on Edie, and all the air left her. She slid down the wall with her shoulder throbbing and her heart racing erratically.
“I’m so sorry,” Edie said as she squatted before her, her face lined with concern. “I thought you heard me come in.”
Elodie closed her eyes, hating the adrenaline rush that pumped through her. It made her already queasy stomach turn, the latte threatening to come back up.
“Damn. I really scared you.” Edie sat beside her on the floor. She put a hand on Elodie’s arm and rubbed up and down in a comforting manner. After a few minutes, she said, “You don’t have to stay here, you know.”
It took great effort for Elodie to lift her head and open her eyes. “I do.”
“You don’t. There’s room for you with us. Or even at one of our rental houses. One’s coming open in a few days.”
That was Edie, always trying to help. She was the fixer. If a problem existed, she found a solution. Elodie smiled at her and shook her head. “I’ve hit rock bottom. Let me have the few tattered remains of my ego to stay on my own.”
“I wish you’d tell me what happened in Edinburgh.” Edie’s brow puckered.
Elodie really looked at her sister. Just a year older, Edie’s hair was a shade of darker blond. She kept her wavy locks cut to just above her shoulders and parted to one side. She wore only a little mascara, which made her blue eyes really stand out in her face. “You look so much like Mum.”
“Me?” Edie laughed and shook her head. “I think you do. You have her hair.” She reached out and touched a long strand. “I remember how she used to sit in front of her vanity every night and brush it. You not only got the exact pale blond color, but you also have her light blue eyes.”
“How did you stay on Skye?” Elodie blurted out.
Edie dropped her hand and sighed. “I was too afraid to leave.”
“I was too afraid to stay.”
“You were always stronger than me.”
“Bollocks,” Elodie said with a flat stare.
Edie chuckled and smiled wryly. “We both know I speak the truth.”
“You could’ve come with me. I tried to get you to leave.”
Her sister sighed again and drew her knees to her chest as she looked around the cottage. “The same reason you and Elias had to leave was what made me stay. Now, you’re back. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”
Elodie couldn’t hold Edie’s gaze. She had made it clear that she was leaving the first opportunity she got, but it was as if Edie refused to listen to her about that. “It is good to see you again. You only came to the city twice since I left.”