by Donna Grant
“And what about the other theory? That my parents left me?”
Her voice was soft, a long-held fear finding its way into her words. He knew with 99.9 percent certainty the theory was false. Ryder was doing a secondary search for anyone matching the descriptions of Daniel, Laura, and Kyle Atherton since the night they went missing.
Cináed covered her hands with his. “You told me how desperately your mum wanted you on that boat. Your brother shouted for you. Your mum offered the locket. I doona believe they left you.”
“Then where are they?” she asked, her forehead creasing.
“We’ll get you an answer. You may no’ like it though.”
She shrugged and shook her head. “I need closure. It’s the not knowing that has been the slowest death imaginable.”
“Aye,” he murmured, thinking about his dragons.
She shifted her hands and wrapped hers around his. “What did you lose?”
Just as Cináed was about to shrug off her words, he found himself saying, “Something verra important. I had to send them away to protect them.”
“Them?” she asked.
It was the sorrow in her blue eyes that struck him right in the chest. There were few times he had spoken to any of the other Kings about the ache that stayed with him constantly for his clan. All the Kings missed their dragons. There was no need to talk about it.
But that wasn’t the case with Gemma.
“It was the hardest decision to make,” he told her. “But I had to give them a chance. I doona know where they are or if they’re even alive.”
“Can you not find out?”
Cináed’s thoughts went to V. The King of Coppers was gifted with a sword that allowed him to not only check on the dragons, but to call them home when the time was right. Yet V had told them nothing of the dragons, and it was killing Cináed.
“There is a way, but it’s tricky.”
Gemma lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I think it would be worth it.”
“I doona agree. Right now, I believe they’re alive and prospering. If V checks on them, I could find out that’s exactly what is happening.”
“Or you could discover they’re hurting or dead,” Gemma finished and twisted her lips in regret. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”
“I understand about wanting answers. I open my eyes every sunrise and hope that I get the ones I want.”
Pale blue eyes lowered to their linked fingers. “Don’t worry. I’ve prepared myself for the worst, just in case. I know what my odds are.”
“There is much about this world you doona know,” Cináed cautioned.
“Like what?” she asked, her head cocked to the side.
He briefly thought about telling her the truth about himself. Would she throw him out of her house and tell him he was crazy? Or would she believe him?
Cináed shook his head. “There are many unexplainable things.”
“Are you talking aliens?” She sat back, pulling her hands from his. “I’ve watched enough Ancient Aliens to get where some people claim they’ve been here, and I’m not obtuse or ignorant to believe that we’re the only beings in the universe. However, I don’t think there are aliens among us.”
He missed the feel of her immediately, but he didn’t reach for her hand again. “Let me get this straight. You believe aliens are out there, but that they wouldna come here?”
“Precisely,” she said with a nod. “Why would they want to come here? Look at us. As a species we’re not exactly welcoming or willing to share. I believe they’re steering clear of us.”
“What about magic?”
She blinked at him. “You mean like magicians and stuff?”
“Some people claim they’re Druids who can see into the future.”
Gemma shook her head, but then she halted, a deep frown filling her brow. “Druids?”
Cináed studied her face. The word had struck something in her memories. He was sure of it. “That’s right. They’ve been part of this continent for hundreds of years.”
“My mother used to tell me a story about Druids.” Gemma rose and put her hands on either side of her head. “How could I have forgotten something like that?”
He slowly got to his feet. “Do you happen to remember the story?”
Her arms dropped to her sides. Her eyes might be focused on him, but her mind was a million miles away. “There was something about a brother and sister. Kyle used to make fun of how much I loved the story. I would make Mum tell it to me every night.”
“Was it from a book?”
Gemma blinked and came back to the present. “No, there wasn’t a book. At least not one that I knew.”
“How did the Druids fit in?”
“The siblings were Druids.”
Cináed nodded. “We need to get to the isle as soon as possible.”
“Now?”
“If you’re up for it.”
She shrugged. “What’s a few hours? Now or in the morning?”
“How soon can you pack?”
Gemma took a step back. “Pack?”
“In case we have to stay overnight somewhere.”
Her chest heaved, and he could see that she was debating on whether to go now that there was a chance they would stay on the isle. Then she blew out a breath.
“Give me fifteen minutes,” she told him.
Chapter Twelve
It was really happening. She was going back.
The closer Cináed brought Gemma to the isle, the harder it became to breathe. The helicopter—a luxury one with all the amenities, because why not?—ate up the miles entirely too fast.
She sat in the front with him. Gemma was beginning to think it was so he could keep an eye on her. His frequent glances in her direction told her that she wasn’t doing a good job of hiding the fact that she was actually considering jumping out of the chopper instead of returning to the place of her nightmares.
At first, the flight had been amazing. She had flown in planes before, but a helicopter gave another aspect entirely. Her eyes drank in the beauty, marveling at the landscape that she had never witnessed from such an angle.
Then the land gave way to water and a cold hand of terror wrapped around her heart, squeezing it until she couldn’t catch her breath. She tried to close her eyes, but her lids wouldn’t remain down. They popped open, trained on the horizon, waiting breathlessly for the sight of her old home.
“We can turn around.”
Cináed’s voice came through the headphones that helped dim the loud hum of the whirling blades. She turned her head and met his gaze. He was giving her a way out, allowing her to return to the safety of her world where she had effectively become a hermit.
Except, she couldn’t do that. As much as she longed for it, she knew that he’d been right earlier. That night played in her mind constantly. It didn’t matter whether she was on the isle or a million miles away. There was no escaping it. She’d tried for years.
She didn’t consider herself particularly courageous. In fact, the way she’d lived proved just how cowardly she truly was. She might have continued on that course, but then Cináed had arrived and given her the locket.
Whether it was the sight of the necklace, Cináed, or visiting Dreagan and seeing the lengths he had gone through to look into her past, Gemma knew she couldn’t bury her head in the sand anymore. A line had been drawn, and it was time she took a stand.
For herself. For her sanity.
For her future.
“Gemma?”
She couldn’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses, but she knew they were trained on her. He waited patiently for her to make a decision. The little girl inside her screamed to retreat to the cottage and forget that any of this had even happened.
But the woman in her didn’t want to run. She might shake and tremble and inwardly shout and cry, but she stood tall. For now, at least.
“Keep going,” she told Cináed.
He bowed his head and retur
ned his attention to the front. Gemma continued to stare at his profile. She had the impression that Cináed was genuinely interested in helping her. She hoped she wasn’t wrong, because if he turned out to be a...she searched her mind for some analogy and kept coming back to a prince and frog.
It was a pretty decent parallel. Cináed, for all intents and purposes, was a prince. Gemma just hoped he remained that way. Because if he did turn out to be a frog, she might never again open herself up to anyone.
Without looking her way, Cináed reached over and touched her hand. It was a reassuring gesture, his way of telling her that he knew she was having a difficult time and he was there for her.
Gemma almost snorted out loud. No one had been there for her. Not once. The police, therapists, doctors, and anyone else who was able to get near her told her they wanted to help, but they lacked something in their eyes that gave her the assurance that they actually would help.
Whatever she’d searched for in others’ eyes she found in Cináed’s. As strange as that sounded. The odds had been stacked against her for as long as she could remember. And yet, somehow, Cináed had walked into her life and given her the little shake she had needed.
She only hoped that she could actually go through with what was about to happen. Would she be brave enough to stand on the isle and look at the spot she had last seen her family? Could she walk into the house and relieve the happy memories—as well as the worst?
“You can do this,” Cináed said, as if reading her mind.
Gemma blinked and looked out the front of the chopper. Numerous isles—large and small—dotted the dark blue waters. The first years of her life had been spent in bliss upon the isle with no one other than her parents and brother for company. She hadn’t thought it unusual since it was all she’d known. The times they had gone for supplies had been trips of joy and wonder, but she had always been happy to be back on their isle.
The chopper tilted as Cináed turned it. Gemma looked out the side, her eyes fastening on the remains of her old home. It looked as if it were barely holding itself together. And somehow that made her sad. Her once happy home looked depressed and desolate.
Cináed circled the isle twice. Gemma knew he was giving her time to take it in before landing. He also gave her a chance to decide if she could go through with it.
She looked at him and nodded before returning her attention to the isle. As he began to land the helicopter, she noted how green the grass was compared to the vibrant blue of the water. The tall grass swayed with the winds that swept across the barren isle. There wasn’t a single tree upon it. Only piles of rocks, boulders jutting out of the earth and protruding into the turbulent sea.
And yet, her parents had decided to inhabit the tiny block of land.
Gemma spotted the beach on the east side of the isle closest to the Scottish coast. She and Kyle had played for hours in the surf. It had been one of her favorite spots.
All too soon, she lost sight of the beach as they descended and softly landed. With a few switches, Cináed shut off the engines. She didn’t move, even when he removed his headphones and hung them up above him.
He took off his sunglasses and smiled at her. “How are you doing?”
“Fine,” she said.
He raised a brow and glanced downward. Curious as to what he looked at, Gemma followed his line of sight to see her hands gripping the sides of the seat as if it were the only thing keeping her alive.
She made her fingers loosen. The ache that assaulted her let her know that she had been clutching the seat for quite some time.
Cináed said something but his voice was muffled, making it difficult to hear him. She shook her head, hoping he might repeat it. Then he reached over and removed her headphones.
Time and again she found herself doing stupid things around him. Would it ever end?
After he hung the headphones up and returned his gaze to her, he gave her a heart-stopping smile. “I said, you can do this.”
“I thought I could. Now I’m not so sure.”
“I’m here to help.”
She hesitated, not sure what to do.
He unfastened his seatbelt and looked forward. “You’ve done everything on your own for so long that you believe you have to continue doing that. You can do this on your own. I believe you can do anything you want all by yourself.” His head turned to her. “Asking for help doesna make you weak. Just the opposite, actually.”
“How?” she asked.
“It means that you recognize two things. You have someone you know will be there for you, and that while you’re capable of handling whatever it is, you choose no’ to.”
The way his gray eyes held hers, relaxed and unruffled, helped Gemma take her first easy breath since she’d climbed into the luxury chopper.
“Look at what you’ve accomplished,” Cináed continued. “What you went through would have broken lesser people. Yet you no’ only survived, you thrived. You made your own way in the world, figured out what you loved to do and made a career out of it. You stood on your own against the world. If you can do that, you can do anything.”
Tears stung her eyes, and she had to look away lest she begin crying. “No one has ever said anything like that to me before.”
“Someone should have told you that every day of your life.”
She took a deep breath before she unbuckled the harness holding her into the seat. Her hand was on the handle of the door, but she couldn’t quite make herself open it. She then slid her gaze to Cináed.
“I’ll be right there,” he told her before he exited the helicopter and walked to her side.
He opened the door and held out his hand. Gemma slid her palms against his. A calmness stole over her as soon as his fingers wrapped around hers. She didn’t hesitate to climb out of the chopper.
The moment her feet met the ground, a shiver went through her. But she didn’t rush back into the helicopter. Instead, she stood strong. Because she had Cináed by her side.
He gave her a smile of encouragement. “I told you that you could do it.”
“Standing here is different than walking around.”
“It just takes one step at a time. You’ve been doing that your entire life.”
Gemma lifted her face as the sea breeze ran over her. No matter how many times she had gone to the coasts and lochs around Scotland, there wasn’t a place that could smell as heavenly as this isle. No matter the season, she had known only absolute happiness until that fateful night.
“Life was good here,” she told Cináed. “Very good. So much laughter.”
“Hold tight to those memories. You’re going to need them.”
She swallowed and swung her gaze to him. “Where do we go first?”
“That’s your decision. You take me where you want to go.”
Without hesitation, she walked toward the beach. True to his word, Cináed remained beside her, never letting go of her hand. Gemma blinked against the sun that went in and out of the clouds drifting past.
They had left the storms behind at Dreagan, which was exactly where she hoped they remained while she was on the isle.
When they reached the beach, a smile pulled at her lips. “I learned to swim here. This stretch of white sand was just another portion of what I considered paradise.”
“It’s a verra beautiful place,” he murmured in agreement.
As much as she wanted to remain right there, she knew she couldn’t. Gemma turned and faced the buildings. The one in the middle was the house where she’d been born. It looked even worse from the ground.
“The house has fallen into complete disrepair. Da would’ve hated that,” she said.
“The isle is yours. You could have it repaired anytime you want.”
His words made her frown. “Mine?”
“Did you no’ realize?”
She shook her head, shrugging. “If anyone told me, I don’t remember. So this is all...mine?”
“Aye.”
“Oh.�
��
He rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand. “Shall we walk to the house?”
Gemma moved closer to Cináed. Now that she had taken the help he offered, she leaned on him more and more. It was a foreign experience to be supported by someone else, but she had to admit that it felt nice.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s time I went back inside the house.”
Chapter Thirteen
Cináed was rather impressed with how well Gemma was doing. Being on the isle was having a huge impact on her. She gripped his hand with the force of ten men, but it was the troubled look that filled her eyes that he wished he could erase.
But only she could do that by facing her past.
They walked to the house. Her steps were slow, hesitant even. He didn’t rush her, letting her set the pace. He continued to see if any spells or wards could be found while Merrill searched in the water. Even though the two of them had already been to the isle, this time Gemma was with them.
When he and Gemma finally reached the residence, she stopped at the front door and touched the ivy that trailed from the lattice structure they walked beneath.
“Da wanted roses,” Gemma said, looking up at the plant. “It was Mum who preferred ivy. She loved it. And Da gave her everything that she loved. At one time, there was ivy everywhere.”
“It certainly has flourished here,” Cináed pointed out.
Her fingers released the runner as her arm dropped to her side. “I used to try and jump up to reach it every time I came into the house.”
Gemma focused on the door, which allowed Cináed to look around for some sign of Merrill, who had decided to travel by water. Merrill chose to follow some of the currents around the isle to see if he could find anything else at the bottom of the sea.
The door creaked loudly when Gemma pushed it open. It was so warped that it didn’t shut properly. He tightened his hand around hers, and she gave him a grateful look before she stepped over the threshold.
Cináed had recently been there, so he kept his attention on her. Minute emotions ran over her face. Shock at the state of things, bitterness at having her life stripped from her, and the pain of remembering that horrible night.
