Highland Shift (Highland Destiny: 1) (44 page)

In the time since she’d followed the unknown wolf through the stones until this moment, she had realized the truth of the matter. No one could have kept him from her if he had wanted to be there. Faolan had made the decision to let Elena believe he’d died.

Brigid said, “You brought him around much more quickly than I anticipated, lass, thank you.”

“I’ll wait downstairs, while you all visit. Then one of you can return me.”

Faolan started to shake, and Brigid spoke softly to him, a calming spell. Earnan gave a rather dramatic sigh, cleared his throat, and began to speak.

“It is clear to me that we are all operating on differing levels of understanding here. No one leaves,” he looked pointedly at Elena, “until we talk and clear the air. Now bring a chair over and sit.”

Earnan pulled a chair to the side of the bed, and looked at Elena expectantly. She knew she was being childish, but she didn’t move, debating whether to wait downstairs despite
Earnan’s words. He pulled a chair over next to his and exchanged a glance with Brigid.

“Elena, sit in this chair so we can talk,” he said, adding a touch of Druid compulsion.

Elena turned away, and walked toward the bathroom, then leaned against the door jam.

“I will hear you out. Or, let me rephrase that, I’ll listen, as long as I can stand it, but I can’t take much more right now. I’m warning you… don’t lie to me. My senses are stronger than they used to be. While I’m in this room with you, I’ll know if you lie.”

She didn’t miss the look that passed between Brigid and Earnan. Faolan covered his eyes with his arm, but still said nothing.

“Are you sure this is the best time? He’s been through a lot,” Elena asked Brigid.

“You and he both need to hear this, and we must talk it out now. Your lives may depend upon it. You have each saved the other, but some force is working to keep you apart. Nay, not some force, someone, and we must have the answers.”

Elena blinked, but said nothing, Faolan kept his eyes hidden, so Earnan took up the tale.

“Since I expect it is useless to ask you to go first, my dear,” he inclined his head to Elena, “I will start, but this is mostly Faolan’s tale. We’ll go over it briefly at first and come back to answer questions later, since I expect you will need time to digest what I am about to say.

“On the eve of Beltane, Red was in a right panic when he got to the marina and you and Lilly weren’t there. He hoped it might only be car trouble, but he
couldna reach either of you by cell phone. He tried to reach us here, but we were out gathering and preparing for the ceremony, we did not bring a phone.

“Red drove as fast as he could to the farm, and discovered you
hadna been there. The hotel said you checked out the previous evening, but Red had spoken to Lilly the previous evening and knew you had not. He drove to Edinburgh, went to the hotel, and insisted they check the rooms, but they were empty.

“He called the satellite phone and let it ring until it was answered and demanded to speak to Faolan. Old Sheila, the housekeeper, had been told under no circumstances was she to interrupt the ceremony, and Red fought with her for all he was worth. He told Sheila that your life was in danger and you would die if he didna speak to Faolan, right away.”

He looked at Elena apologetically, “Although we were expecting all of you to arrive by boat earlier in the day, we had no reason to think something was wrong, and so we had gone ahead and started the ceremony. Someone would have had to start even if we had known you were in trouble. Sheila took a big chance and came out to the stones to find us in the middle of our ceremony.

“Brigid and I were performing the ritual, and Faolan was watching, when he sensed Sheila’s approach. He left the circle and she told him of Red’s threats and handed him the phone. Red was outside a restaurant called The Saucy Sorcerer, because that was the last place Lilly had called him from to say you and she were going out for dinner.

“Red could sense a compulsion enchantment, although it didna call to him, and after walking around the building, he believed there was a Ceremony of Beltane happening in the basement.”

Earnan rose from his seat and poured himself a glass of water from the tray. He seemed to be waiting for something, and Elena noticed his eyes stray to Faolan. Faolan had uncovered his eyes, and was looking at Earnan with a pleading expression. Elena sensed their wordless conversation. Whatever was coming next was what Faolan had been dreading.

Brigid looked at Faolan lovingly, patted his shoulder, and said, “You must tell her, son.” Then she moved from the bed to the other chair.

Elena crossed her arms, as if she could protect herself from whatever it was Faolan feared.

Without meeting Elena’s eyes, Faolan took up the tale, his voice low and bleak. “I had learned some new magick while you were gone. I can shape shift into a falcon and fly. I can use the standing stones to travel to the standing stones on the farm. I know you didna know of the stones before tonight. They have an enchantment, much like the door in the chamber. Only some can see them or sense them.

“I dared not tell you about them because I am bound to keep them hidden, and I was afraid Worthington had somehow learned of them. I thought perhaps ‘twas why he wanted the farm so badly.
” His voice grew faint and lost all inflection as he continued. “I used the stones and the falcon to reach Red, and arrived in time to see you being dragged from the building by a man, and he had Lilly over his shoulder. The compulsion of the building was strong upon me; I struggled to return to my human form, but only managed the wolf at first. A man followed you out the door, and was taking aim. I couldna shift. God forgive me, I leapt at him, just as he fired.”

His voice changed to a harsh whisper, “I saw you collapse, your blood was everywhere.”

“By the time I got far enough away from the building that I could shift back to human, the ambulance had already taken you to the hospital. Red had gotten Lilly out of the man’s car, put her in the truck, and was looking for me. I helped him get Lilly into a nearby hotel and left for the hospital.

“The doctor who came out to meet me was shaking, she was so angry. She told me that you were on a ventilator with a breathing tube, that you had lost enough blood it would be touch and go for the next few days, and that you had lost the baby. I begged to see you, but she said you were in critical care, and needed to be left in peace. The doctor said the police told her you had been shot when a large dog jumped at the man with the gun, and caused it to fire.

“She said you couldna have visitors for at least two days and to go home, she would call me as soon as I could visit you. I didna leave, I stayed waiting for you to wake, for any sign you could forgive me. After the third day, the doctor came to me and said you had been moved to a new facility and were being placed under a protective order at your own request. You didna want to see me or anyone else. The doctor knew things only you could have told her. She said ever since you had known me, someone was always trying to kill you. You told her you’d nearly died three times, and now this last one had cost you your baby. She said you didna want to see me again.

“At first I thought she was being sympathetic, she said sometimes these feelings of blame lessened over time. I left a number, in case you changed your mind. The doctor said it sometimes took six months or more for the emotional healing necessary, but it would be very dangerous for your mental health if I tried to see you.

“A week later, the doctor called me to come to the hospital, she had your note.” He stopped, as though he thought he’d reached the end of the story.

Elena waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t, she prompted him, “What note?”

“You said you never wanted to see me again, that you blamed me for the loss of our baby. I was to get whatever items I needed from the farm before you were released from the hospital.

“The doctor was very clear that you had written the note and were of clear thought. She said you had told her I was responsible for your getting shot, and in her opinion, I should be arrested, but that you just wanted me gone.” The last part came out in a rush, delivered without inflection while he looked out the window.

Faolan had directed Lilly, Red, and Brigid to help him secure the farm. They packed up all the belongings, the books, even the cats and taken most of it to Beauly. Then he and Brigid had placed the protective wards around the farm and they all returned to the island.

“
Och, lass, I realize you are better off without me in your life, you had nearly been murdered twice before this, and now by my own hand, I nearly took your life. It cost us our child, it cost us everything. I understand why you couldna’ look at me, I canna even look at myself.”

Elena kept her shield tight around her, she couldn’t go through the grief of losing him again, and she didn’t yet know whether to trust what she was being told. It didn’t make any sense. Could Brigid or Earnan have something to do with all of this?

Then Brigid spoke, “Lass, you have the most powerful shield I have ever encountered. You must lower it a bit so you can sense Faolan… sense all of us. I know you must wish to protect yourself, ‘tis plain you have been hurt badly, but we doona’ yet know how. You have heard Faolan’s story, and you sensed my anger at you when you arrived. Does it not make sense to you lass, that I would be angry? You have my word we will not intrude, but you canna know if we tell you the truth unless you lower your shield.”

Elena looked Brigid then Earnan in the eye, before turning to Faolan. He would not meet her gaze. She lowered her shield
slightly, trying to taste the atmosphere, sense the lies. Faolan’s despair washed over her, a flood of emotion, of loss. His grief was palpable, his self-loathing knew no bounds. Elena gasped with the pain of it.

She turned to Brigid and Earnan again, and sensed their love for Faolan, for her. Brigid said, “He has been that way since he returned to the island without you. Is it any wonder he turned toward the void today?”

“Turned toward the void, what do you mean?”

“Aye, lass, just before you lay with him, I felt him slip into the void. When you put your hand on his chest you felt his last heartbeat, but his spirit had already gone. Before I could warn you, you cried out with such
power as I had never heard before. I know of no Druid power that can bring a man back from the void. Lass, I doona’ know exactly what you are, aye, we have all sensed Druid, but there is more to you than that.

“You saved his life today, you brought him back from the void. Can you bring him back from his despair? Will your story ease his heart?”

Elena went to Faolan, sat on the edge of the bed, and took his large hand in her small ones. She lowered her shield, not all the way, but further so the others could sense her story, as well as hear it. With a sigh, she began.

“I went to the doctor’s office, and met Gabhran MacLachlan. You were right, Brigid, he is powerful, but I sensed more. There were two sources of power, a duality about him, and a sense of impending struggle. I let him sense a little of my power and he responded right away. I am sure he is untrained. Or rather, he was untrained. I don’t
know about now. He refused to give me any more information once I warned him about his power. I tried to get him to come with me, but he said I needed to return the following week and perhaps we could speak more of it then. He didn’t even confirm I was p…pregnant.” She swallowed hard and waited a moment before she could continue.

“That night, I insisted Lilly and I go to a restaurant near his office, The Saucy Sorcerer. I realize now there must have been some type of enchantment on it that drew me in. Ordering felt like a tremendous burden and I finally asked the waiter if there were any unlisted specials. He acted as though I had won the grand prize. Other staff visited us throughout the meal and they fussed over us, or maybe it was just
me. Lilly said they brought a special dessert, although I have no memory of that.

“The next thing I knew, I was on the floor, tied back-to-back with Lilly. Worthington and Liam were there, and Worthington said he would have us killed as part of the ceremony. Later
, Liam returned by himself and injected Lilly with something to make her sleep. He injected just a little into me, he said it was so I couldn’t invade his thoughts. He said I was powerful.”

Faolan still wasn’t looking at her, but he hadn’t pulled his hand back. She knew the ending would be painful, but maybe this next part would make him angry. Anger would be preferable to the despair that poured from him.

“Liam kissed my neck, and said he wished he could keep me for himself, but that I was to play an important role at Beltane.” Faolan’s hand jerked in hers. “He said I would be a sexual sacrifice, but that he would cast an enchantment so I would enjoy it, and then I would be a blood sacrifice. When he kissed my neck, he said I was carrying your child, that he could feel it. He said it would make my sacrifice that much more potent.”

Faolan finally made eye contact with her, and she could sense his fury.
Good, it’s a start.
“Then he put me to sleep, and the next time I woke there was a ceremony and people were in the room. Almost everyone had on dark robes, but I figured out which one was Worthington and which was Symington. Gabhran was there too, but he wasn’t in a robe. I tried to call out to Gabhran, but my voice felt paralyzed. He heard me a couple of times with his mind, but kept getting drawn back into the ceremony.