I reached out with the elements and was surprised when all I felt was a gentle hum in the air. I could feel my body respond, but it wasn’t as intense as I thought it would be. I started walking slowly, but the closer I got to them the more excited I became. The elements were responding to my happiness, and I ran the last few hundred feet and caught my Granny Winnie by surprise when I flung my arms around her neck.
I think she was so shocked that she didn’t know how to respond but soon enough I felt her hug me back just as tightly, and we stood there holding each other. Even though, I was slightly angry at her for putting a plan into place without consulting me, I still loved her, and I had missed her. I gave her a smile and turned to Sidra, who was watching us almost with sadness. I hugged her just as tight, and I felt tears prick my eyes as we held each other.
“Thank you both for coming on such short notice,” I said
“Oh please Willa,” Winifred said. “Did you gain manners when you lost your mind?”
“Winifred,” Sidra said shocked. Even Mathias looked slightly surprised
“Nope, sorry you old witch, I may have lost my mind but not my fucking lovable personality,” I said
“Thank goodness,” she said. “I was worried there for a second.”
We both smiled at each other and laughed while Sidra shook her head. I did love Sidra my fairy Grandmother, but Granny Winnie and I had been through a lot together and we were also quite a bit alike. I knew that was her way of breaking the ice, and I loved her for it with all my heart.
“We need to talk about a plan,” I said a few minutes later as we sat on the back deck. The dogs both sat right by my side and chewed contently on large bones. I had no idea where they got those, but I was pretty sure Mathias had planned this for a few days. He was so getting his own treat tonight.
“What plan?” Winifred asked. “The enchantments are in place to keep the Fae and the Rau off the island. We are safe.”
“The enchantments are not foolproof as we learned with Sabine,” I reminded her. “Fonn also has a witch and warlock working with him. It’s not over. We need first and foremost to think about everyone on the island and how to keep them safe.”
“We evacuate them,” Mathias said as we all looked at him in surprise. “A few months ago I made a visit to the North American Fae Reserve in Vermont and talked to Marilei.”
“What?” I practically shouted. “Marilei is Lord Braonan’s niece. We don’t know if we can trust her. We don’t even know if Bran is on our side yet or not.”
“Marilei is first and foremost a loyal subject to her queen,” Mathias said. “She was appalled to hear of certain things and graciously offered her help.”
“I bet she did,” I muttered thinking of how the beautiful brunette flirted with Mathias when we went there to open a portal so I could get on the Isle of Skye initially.
“Marilei and her husband Grayston offered sanctuary to the clan on the reserve,” Mathias explained. “It may be a tight fit and people will have to double up in some of the cabins but at least they’ll be safe.”
“Who do we send with them?” Winifred asked
“Veronica and Kathleen can oversee the logistics,” Mathias said. “I also think Milton should go and set up security and equipment there.”
Kathleen was my former Guardian’s mother. A Rau vampire had killed her while she protected me, and I had a healthy amount of guilt and respect for Kathleen. She was older, but she was very smart, and if anyone could handle this massive undertaking it would be her. Milton was the head of the Guardian geek squad on the island, and I adored him. He had been a tremendous help in researching and locating items regarding the Fae Sanctity’s when we had initially heard of them.
“We need more people though,” Winifred said. “If something were to go wrong, three Guardians who are not the most experienced will not be enough to fight off any threat.”
“Lucian,” I said suddenly. “How many people are in his den or family?”
“I believe he has around twenty or so,” Mathias answered
“Who is Lucian?” Winifred asked and Mathias quickly explained who he was and how he could help.
“Lucian is alive and a Fae vampire?” Sidra asked astonished. “I must admit all this information that has come to light recently is rather overwhelming.”
“Do you trust him?” Winifred
“Yes,” I said quickly, answering for Mathias. “He’s supposed to go to Mathias’s island today and see if he can help…my dad.”
“I will call and speak to him,” Mathias said as he got up and went into the house. Winifred, Sidra and I sat there in an uncomfortable silence. I knew they were going to mention my dad, but I didn’t want to talk about him yet. I wanted to get everything else squared away first before I could face the thought of him being a vampire.
“Willa, I’m sorry for hastily making a decision that obviously hurt you a great deal,” Winifred said
“I understand what you did and why you pulled the trigger,” I replied. “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that my dad is a vampire though so if we could just…” I stopped as a sob tore through me. I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to feel yet. Sidra reached over and grabbed my hand in comfort as I wiped away my tears and sat up straighter in my chair.
“Sorry, I…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence. Luckily Mathias came back outside. He looked at me in question, and I just shook my head and silently pleaded with him to get back to business.
“Lucian is more than happy to offer his assistance with guarding the clan at the Fae Reserve. He and Beatrice would like to stay with us on the Isle of Skye for the battle though,” Mathias said. “We will have to make arrangements to transport a good amount of supplies from the blood bank for the rest of the vampires in his family.”
“I’m sure we can figure something out as far as how to store and move a large quantity of blood.” Winifred said. “When do you want to do this?”
“The sooner, the better,” I answered quickly. “I’m going back tomorrow. Do you think we can have everyone ready to leave in three days’ time?”
“It will be tight but I’m sure the residents will pull together and be ready,” Winifred replied
“How are you going to evacuate them though?” Sidra asked. “The portal will have to be pretty large for that many people to go through it to the Fae Reserve.”
“I can open one,” I said. Winifred and Sidra both looked shocked.
“That’s a long time to keep a portal that size open Willa,” Sidra gently reminded me
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’ll figure it out. Once we get everyone off the island, I will let down the barriers so that the Fae can be allowed back on the island. I need you to come, as well as Machall. I have to start training and figuring out these powers. I need your help.”
“Of course,” Sidra said
“I also want you to talk to Marilei personally,” I said. “I want this request to come from you. She may be lovely and kind but at the end of the day I want her to realize that this is an order that is coming from her queen. She needs to be aware of the consequences if she screws us in any way.”
Mathias rolled his eyes, but I ignored him. I wasn’t messing around here. I liked Marilei, but I would have no problem tearing her from limb to limb if she betrayed us in some way.
“Marilei will shut down the portal at once,” Mathias said. “The only way anyone can get in and out of there is through the protective barrier in this realm.”
“I can shut that off as well as soon as the clan has gathered,” Sidra said thoughtfully
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll be in touch with you as when I get on the island Grandmamma,”
We all stood up, and I caught Granny Winnie’s eye and tried to convey to her that I wanted her to stay behind with us. Luckily, she took the hint.
“Is there a restroom here?” she asked. “I need to freshen up before I go home.”
Mathias showed her w
here the bathroom was, and she and Sidra had exchanged quick good-byes before Winnie disappeared in the house. Sidra opened a portal and gave me a tight hug before leaving. I watched her slip through and stayed until the portal disappeared.
“I assume there is a reason you want me stay?” Winifred said behind me. “I also forgot to ask how Sidra was able to open a portal to the island. I thought the enchantments forbade that action.”
“Only if we do it from Fairlia,” I answered. “The spell doesn’t work from this realm.”
Winifred swore under her breath. “I didn’t think about that in all the confusion. How did you know?”
“I didn’t,” I confessed. “I only figured it out when Sidra opened the one to you here. She wasn’t able to go through though was she?”
“No,” Winifred said. “She didn’t try though.”
“How’s mom?” I asked anxiously. Winifred had sighed before she answered.
“She’s not well Willa. She’s worried about you and misses you terribly. Your father’s recovery is like a yo-yo. He’s up one minute and down the next. We are all worried about her.”
“How did it happen?” I finally asked. I had to know everything about his conversion. I didn’t want too, but I knew it was time to hear about it from Winifred.
“The family was all there when Rhoswen and Cormac turned. Rhoswen’s transformation went a bit smoother after Summer stepped in and transferred her light into Rhoswen. Your father’s experience was different. We could all tell that he went too willingly. Patcoena, God bless him, tried to give whatever he could of himself to your father and for a few minutes we thought everything was fine.”
Winifred walked to the railing on the back deck and looked out over the mountains. “His body started to smoke and that’s when we realized the island was rejecting his presence. Robert came in the room, and he, and Riah gathered your father up and took off to Mathias’s island. I was aware of his home there, but I should have suspected he had facilities underground there to hold suspects.”
Mathias shrugged indifferently, and Winifred continued. “We didn’t know until he opened his eyes that he was more Rau than anything. The first few days were extremely difficult, but there has been a change.”
“What happened?” I asked
“Your mother was visiting him and stood too close to the bars,” Winifred said haltingly. I closed my eyes and held my breath for a moment before releasing it slowly. “He fed off of her and then curiously released her as she was close to death.”
“He stopped himself?” Mathias said
“Yes,” Winifred said. “Not only that but he started screaming for Willa.”
That was my breaking point. I started crying uncontrollably, and Cupcake whined frantically as Mathias gathered me into his arms. I didn’t know how to feel, but hearing that my father yelled out for me and even knew who I was made me happy and sad at the same time.
I calmed down, and Mathias wiped my eyes tenderly. Winifred watched us before speaking again.
“He is trying to remember everyone and who he is, but he has a long way to go before he can have our trust and be let out of his cell,” she said. “I went there, and when he smelled me, he went crazy, I can only imagine what he would do if he took a good whiff of you Willa.”
I nodded. “I have to see him.”
“I just hope that you can make peace with all that has happened,” she said as she drew me in for a hug.
“I don’t have a choice,” I said. “I just hope I can get on the Isle of Skye otherwise this is all going to become a real pain in the ass.”
“Oh you still have plenty of Gypsy blood in you,” she said
“Tell my mom I love her, and I’ll see her tomorrow,” I said. “I need to see him first though and I want to do it by myself.”
I stood back and opened a portal to her office on the Isle. She stepped in and turned around to give me a sad smile before waving goodbye. As the portal disappeared I fell back in Mathias’s arms, and we stood there for a long time before my stomach embarrassingly growled again.
“You’re hungry again?” he asked as his twinkled with amusement
“I’m always hungry,” I answered
“Come on, I’ll feed you and then we’re going back to bed,” he said as he led me inside
“It’s only like noontime,” I observed
“Not a tremendous amount of time left until we leave tomorrow, but I need to make good on my promise.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked confused as I watched him start making a huge sandwich
“I believe I said when you returned that I was going to make love to you so many times that you wouldn’t be able to walk for a week,” he replied. “I intend to keep my end of the bargain.”
“Well, who I am to get in the way of your lofty goals?” I asked laughing
Later that night in bed as I lay in his arms, with Cupcake on one side of me and Oscar by my feet, I let out a sigh.
“Well, I can say with all honesty that tomorrow will definitely be a challenge walking or even getting up out of bed.”
“I’ll have to try harder next time to ensure that you won’t be able to do it for several days,” he said as he placed a long searing kiss on my lips
“I will look forward to your efforts,” I replied sleepily
Chapter Twenty
“You’re bringing all those batteries with you?” I asked Mathias the next morning as we packed our belongings up to leave
“Of course,” he answered. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“No reason,” I said shaking my head. I shoved the last of our clothes into a large suitcase that Mathias had bought and headed downstairs. I was just going through the refrigerator when Mathias came down with our bag from the bathroom.
“Just throw all the food in those heavy duty trash bags and I’ll take it to the garbage station,” he said absently
“I’m not throwing all of this away,” I said. “Over half of it is practically brand new.”
“You want to carry food through the portal?” he asked incredulously
“You want to bring batteries and I want to bring food,” I said
“Fine but at least separate the half used stuff and I’ll get rid of it before we leave,” he said
“Roger dodger,” I said. Twenty minutes later I had three bags of food to take with us and two to go to the dump. Mathias just looked at my pile of food that I was keeping and rolled his eyes before taking off down the road at a sprint.
I did one last check of the house and made sure everything was straightened up in the rooms. I didn’t want Robert and Katya to come back to a messy cabin. I was also hoping that they would be able to come back. It was almost too much to hope that I would return, but I did want them to live. I thought about leaving the dogs here, but I just couldn’t bear to leave them alone for that long and even though it was selfish I had to have them with me for now.
Mathias came back, and I went right into his arms. We both looked around the cabin one last time, and I went outside with Oscar and Cupcake to wait for him to lock everything up and set the alarm. When he came out, I turned towards the meadow and opened a portal on the beach of Mathias’s island. I knew it was early afternoon, and when the smell of the salt air hit me I smiled.
We both stepped thru the portal, and Mathias had a hell of a time holding onto Cupcake but eventually he, the dogs and all our belongings were finally on the beach. I closed the portal and took several cleansing breaths. I could feel the magic enchantments that were around the island but they didn’t bother me too much. My stomach took a giant flip, but that was about all that happened.
We had just started walking down the path to the treehouse when I heard a sound. Mathias and I both stiffened and stopped in our tracks.
“Hello?” a voice called out and I recognized it immediately.
“Hi Patty boy,” I yelled back. Patcoena and Summer came around the corner and approached us cautiously.
“Willa,�
� Summer said kindly. “It’s so good to see you. You look wonderful.”
“Thanks Summer,” I said before turning to Patcoena. We had been through so much together in a short amount of time, and while I couldn’t say that we were close, we were definitely comrades in arms.
“Willa,” Patcoena said and I dropped my bags to walk in front of him. I gave him a short hug and stepped back. I could see the emotions in his eyes and it made me almost sad. I could tell they were both weary of me, but then I remembered something. Patcoena had been watching me my whole life. I may not have known him for that long, but he knew me for twenty six years, and I’m sure watching me lose my mind had to have been hard on him.
“Thank you for watching over me,” I said to him before turning to Summer, “And thank you both for helping with my father and Rhoswen’s conversion.”
“We tried so hard but…” Summer started to say
“That was more than enough.” I interrupted her. “So what brings you guys here?”
“When Winifred told us you were due to arrive today Summer, and I thought we would straighten up Mathias’s house and bring over some food. We wanted to make sure you were comfortable, and we also didn’t want you to have to worry about those pesky little details right when you came back.” Patcoena said
“Thank you very much,” Mathias said. “Willa brought an entire grocery store with her from Colorado but I’m sure she might have forgotten a few things.”
“I wasn’t throwing away the rib eye steaks, ok?” I said
Patcoena and Summer smiled while they petted the dogs. “We’ll leave you to settle in now but I’m sure we’ll see you soon,” Patcoena said
“I hope so,” I muttered. “I’m not sure if I can even make it on the island.”
“I’m confident you will be able to get there just fine,” Patcoena said
“Thanks again,” I said before they teleported away. “That was nice of them.”
The Skye Trilogy: Isle of Skye, Isle of Night, and Isle of Dawn. * Bonus: Scrumptious Skye Confections Cookbook* Page 90