“It was difficult getting away being married and having the bairns.”
What she didn’t say was that it was easier for Elodie to travel. It was the truth, but her vow never to return to Skye had kept her away. Elodie didn’t like the conversation. She needed to turn it. “I tried looking for Elias. I wish I knew where he was. Have you heard from him?”
“A few times a year.”
Elodie felt as if she had been kicked in the gut. Her brother had reached out to Edie but not her. Why? What had she done to him? He was the one who’d left. He was the one who had ignored her cries to stay. “So, he’s purposefully not talking to me.”
“I don’t know,” Edie said with a shrug, but she wouldn’t meet Elodie’s gaze. “I told him where you were. I even gave him your number. I thought he might contact you. But you shouldn’t feel left out. Our calls are less than two minutes in length. Then, it’s months before I hear from him again.”
“You don’t have to sugarcoat things for me.”
Edie snapped her gaze to Elodie. “I’m not.”
Elodie waved her words away. Time to change the subject again. “I wasn’t expecting you tonight.”
“I started thinking about you being here at night. Thought I’d offer our place once more just in case you changed your mind.”
“You’re my favorite sister. Just in case you didn’t know.” Elodie flashed a bright smile.
Edie rolled her eyes and laughed. “I’m your only one, so that doesn’t count.”
“It absolutely does.”
Her smile died, and Edie’s expression grew serious. “You can tell me anything. I’m here for whatever happened. I’m not sad that you’re on Skye again, but I wish you’d let me help.”
“You are helping me.”
“You know what I mean.”
Elodie did. She wanted to change the subject again, but she knew that look in her sister’s eyes. Edie was like a dog with a bone. She wouldn’t let it go until she got a satisfactory answer. “I wish you could, but I got into this mess, and I need to be the one to get out of it.”
“Are you in danger?”
Elodie thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. She hoped she was right. “Like I said, I’ve hit rock bottom. Staying here and cleaning up the old place will give me the time I need to sort things out. I’ve mucked up my life pretty epically. I’ve been drowning for a while, but I didn’t want to acknowledge that fact. Then, life made me.”
“You’re the strongest person I know,” Edie stated, sincerity shining in her blue eyes. “If anyone can pull themselves up, it’s you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“It’s the truth.”
Elodie snorted and leaned her head against the wall. “I’m not sure my behavior before I left constitutes strength.”
“Everyone deals with grief differently. That was how you handled it.”
Elodie groaned as she thought about it. “It was fucking horrible. Why didn’t someone knock me upside the head? Grandmum? Grandda? Corann? You? Anyone.”
Edie put her hand on Elodie’s knee. “Because everyone was grieving, and no one knew how to handle the aftermath of…things.”
“The incident,” Elodie said for her.
Edie nodded. “Yes. That.”
Even now, after a decade and a half, it was still difficult for her sister to talk about it.
“Have you talked to someone?” Edie suddenly asked.
Elodie pulled a face. “That isn’t something you bring up in conversation. And, no, I didn’t tell anyone.”
“I meant, have you talked to a therapist?”
Elodie stilled. She slowly shook her head. “Have you?”
“Yes. For the past seven years.”
“Has it helped?”
Edie’s lips twisted with her one-shoulder shrug. “In some ways. I think it would’ve been better for all of us if we had spoken to a therapist right after it happened. All those years of carrying it around was like a weight hindering me.”
That’s exactly what Elodie felt—weighed down. Though hers was more than just the incident.
“Finding a therapist you connect with isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it. I can give you the name of mine. I think you’d like her.”
“Maybe,” Elodie said. “I don’t know if I ever asked, but do your children have magic? Trevor doesn’t, right?”
A pained look crossed Edie’s face. “No, he doesn’t. Unlike Mum, I told him who I was and what that meant if we married. I also told him that I wouldn’t leave Skye. He accepted all of it. I wonder what would’ve happened had Mum done that with Da.”
Elodie remained silent as she looked away. She didn’t want to think about that.
“The kids do have magic,” Edie continued. “I’ve been teaching them the old ways like Mum taught us. They know their heritage, and they’ll be training with other Druids. I was so relieved when they were born with magic. We’re down to around four thousand Druids on Skye now. We used to outnumber everyone. Each year, more and more are born without magic.”
Elodie’s heart constricted painfully. “Why are they losing magic?”
“They marry those who don’t have magic, of course. Therefore, our blood is being diluted at a rapid rate. It’s worse around the world. We still have a good presence here, but I wonder how that will be in a hundred years. Fifty?”
Elodie swallowed.
“I’ve not had a chance to catch you up on things.” Edie scooted to the opposite wall so she could lean back. “Corann passed away.”
“I heard.”
Edie’s brow quirked. “You went out?”
“To get some groceries, but I didn’t talk to anyone. Rhona and Balladyn came to see me here.”
“Wow,” Edie said, her face showing how impressed she was. “Corann chose Rhona himself. We just had a full-scale battle on Skye.”
Elodie was taken aback. “What?”
“The Warriors and Druids from McLeod Castle came, as well as the Dragon Kings. We joined the Reapers to fight against the Fae Others.”
Elodie squeezed her eyes closed for a second. “Wait. Hold up. First, the Fae are allowed back on Skye?”
“It would seem so.”
“And who are the Fae Others?”
“The Others began with two Druids from another realm, who aligned with two Fae and two Druids of our realm in an effort to defeat the Dragon Kings.”
Elodie took off her gloves and listened with interest. “I always dreamed of seeing a Dragon King. They were here? I hate that I missed that, but how stupid do you have to be to take them on?”
“Apparently, not as idiotic as you might think. The Others nearly won, but the Kings prevailed. The story goes that Usaeil, the Queen of the Light Fae, was part of the Others and had turned Dark—hiding that fact for years. She was killed, and Corann took out the leader of the Others, a Druid from another realm. It took all his magic to defeat her.”
“Sounds like a good ending.”
“You’d think, right?” Edie said and flattened her lips. “Unfortunately, the Fae and even the Druids realized how much more power they could get if they formed a group. So, Dark and Light Fae worked together and created the Fae Others, intent on taking out the Reapers.”