They never got to play ball that night.
Her face fell in realization.
“Oh God,” she breathed as she closed her eyes.
“I got there before the 5-0 did,” Elijah said in a strained whisper. “And I can’t even tell you... how sorry I am that I wasn’t there with you that night. I should have walked you home, I just kept thinking... I mean, maybe... if I had... that maybe it would have been...” he choked out, slowly losing the battle to stay calm.
With tears in her eyes, she pulled him into her arms. It took all of her strength not to sob when he pressed his face to the side of her neck and broke down. He held onto her like life itself as his body quaked with silent tears. Skye shook her head as she clung to the unexpected familiarity he offered in a time of such uncertainty.
“No, Eli. God, no,” she said between sniffles and rested her chin on his shoulder. “It’s not your fault. Neither of us had any way of knowing. Besides, they were all vamps. Even if you had come with me, you couldn’t have stopped them. You would have been taken with us or ended up like...”
When she pulled away from him enough to see his face, she trailed off. The haunted, pained look in his eyes told her that he had seen the bodies of her parents. She clenched her teeth, wishing she had been able to spare him at least that much of it. They had practically been his parents, as well.
“And I would have lost you, too, you know?” She said weakly.
Elijah could only nod and take a breath to steady himself.
Clearing her throat, she forced a smile despite the tears in her eyes. “But I didn’t, right? And hey, look at you now, you look fantastic! How long have you been –?”
“Since a year after... that happened,” he answered quickly, eager for the change in subject.
“How did it happen with you? I mean, I kinda had a stranger walk up and chomp down on my shoulder,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
At that, Drostan cleared his throat guiltily and took a few steps back into the crowd.
Ciaran and Taran laughed and shoved him.
“Well, since next to nobody was doing jack-shit to find you guys, I started digging around on my own. After breaking a few arms, I managed to find out about the fògaraich – what they were, how to kill them, and most importantly, that they had been responsible for what happened to your family. I went hunting, spent that first year questioning and dusting every single one I could find, but no one knew anything.” He had a dangerous look in his eye as he continued. “And I asked hard, Skye. Trust me, if they had known anything, they would have been thrilled to share the information.”
She knew that was the truth. Elijah was a great guy – but he was capable of terrifying things when the ones he loved were in trouble. A memory crossed her mind of a coach that used to hang around the park where they played ball. One afternoon, when she had been there alone, he had made the mistake of trying to molest her. What he had failed to realize was that she was there waiting for someone. Skye had only been nine at the time. Elijah had been home on leave. The coach had never walked again.
She fought the urge to jump into Elijah’s arms now as he spoke, to hug him and weep with joy at having him back after all this time.
“It was during that period of interrogating and ashing every vamp in the city that I caught Ailean’s attention over here,” Elijah said, motioning over to the blonde.
Ailean looked around as if trying to figure out who Elijah was referring to. After a few seconds, he held a hand to his chest, feigning surprise.
“Oh, is tha tae say ya’ve finally remembered the rest of us standing here?” He teased and winked at Skye when she smiled.
Elijah laughed and shook his head. “Ailean asked if I wanted to become the fògaraich’s worst nightmare, to be a part of their eventual extermination. I’ve been a faol ever since.” He swallowed hard before taking her hands in his. “But even after I joined the pack, I never stopped looking for you, ya know? It limited what I could do, but I still asked the questions. Seemed like no matter what I tried, it didn’t bring me any closer to finding you. The trail was just cold.”
“Yeah, well I imagine it must have been,” she offered bitterly. “They kept me...” Her stomach twisted at the thought of finishing that sentence honestly and giving him an exact figure to obsess over. She averted her eyes and softened the blow by leaving it as, “For a long time.”
She realized in that moment just how thankful she was that turning into a faol had removed all of her scars. For the first time, she would have had a reason beyond embarrassment to hide them. It would have been unbearable to witness the devastation in Elijah’s eyes if he saw evidence of the torture that she had endured.
“I know,” he choked out. His jaw was flexing as he looked down at the ground. “And I know you tried to find me when you escaped.” He squinted as he looked back into her eyes. It was so painful for him to discuss this. Had it been just the two of them, he would have been a wreck right then. For over a decade, he had no idea whether he was chasing a ghost. But for three years now, he had been dying to see her – to see for himself that she was still alive. “A few of my old neighbors watched my place for me after I moved in with the pack. When they called and said they saw a blonde girl scoping the place out, I just knew it was you. I didn’t know how it could be possible, but something in my gut told me, ‘that’s Skye. Somehow, against all the odds, she survived’. It killed me that I wasn’t fast enough to catch you.”
Skye frowned to herself at that. She had little to no memory of the night she escaped, but in response to his words, bits and pieces formed in her mind. They were hazy at best, just a fleeting glimpse of the past...
She remembered her desperation to reach him. No matter how vague the rest of the memory was, that much was crystal clear. She recalled looking into his windows, and the heartbreak she felt when she found that his apartment was empty. Elijah had always been synonymous with safety and protection in her mind. She had wanted nothing more than to sleep knowing that she could trust the person watching over her. But he was gone... and she thought she had lost the last person in the world who cared for her.
Skye had to take a steadying breath before she could form a reply. Seeing the sympathetic look on Ailean’s face, she knew Elijah must have lost it that night. So much for softening the blow, he knew exactly how many years she had been held for by those monsters.
“Well, your gut was right. That was me,” she answered numbly. Just when the sadness started to weigh down on her, a large, comforting hand began rubbing her back. She gazed up at Taran appreciatively and closed her eyes when he kissed her forehead. “Eli, I’d like you to meet my mate, Taran,” she said as she leaned back against him. “Taran, this is Elijah, the only person alive who knew me when I was just plain old Skye.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Lord Taran,” Elijah greeted respectfully as they shook hands. “But don’t believe a word of what she just told you,” he warned with a smirk. “I’ve literally known her since the day she was born and I can assure you, sir, she has never been ‘just plain old’ anything.”
Taran laughed and nodded, “Oh, of tha I have no doubt. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Elijah.”
“And this is Ciaran,” Skye continued, holding up her hands to the Irishman as he took a step closer. “For some strange reason, my wolf has decided that she owns him.”
“Hey, if a man’s to be owned by anyone, it ought be a woman capable of beating him to a pulp, don’t ya think?” Ciaran joked. “Pleased to meet ya, bud. Sorry about nearly tearing ya apart a moment ago and all tha.”
Elijah chuckled and shook his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, too, Lord Ciaran. And I’m really sorry that I forgot to ask permission before hugging her,” he offered sincerely as he turned to Taran. “I swear I’m not the type to ever be intentionally disrespectful. It’s just...” His eyes wandered back to Skye and he smiled in relief. “Seeing her alive and well after fearing the worst for so many years... it kinda thre
w me.”
“Understandable, lad,” Taran assured as he put an arm around Skye’s shoulders. “No worries. Your offense was forgiven the second this smile came to her lips.”
“Forgiven by you, yes – but judging by the growling, I get the distinct impression it took a while longer for Lord Ciaran here to decide not to gut me.” Elijah observed.
Ciaran winced, “Oh, so ya noticed?”
“It was a bit hard to miss.” Taran teased. “I nearly had to put a muzzle on ya and Ailean both to ensure the pup’s safety.”
Ailean grinned at that and nodded that it was true.
Ciaran cleared his throat guiltily. “Again, sorry for the numerous injuries ya so very nearly sustained,” he offered.
Elijah laughed and turned his attention back to Skye as she spoke.
“And this is Drostan. He’s the bastard that bit me,” she introduced and smiled at the scowl Drostan gave in response.
“Yeah, we’ve met before,” Elijah told her. “Good to see you again, Lord Drostan.”
The men shared a meaningful look as they shook hands.
Skye frowned. “Really? When did you meet?”
“A few years back,” Drostan answered vaguely.
For some unknown reason, Elijah cut in at that point and changed the subject.
Mentally, Skye groaned and flipped to a fresh page in the ‘WTF’ notebook of questions to be addressed at a later date. This bizarre little exchange between Eli and Drostan most definitely called for a new entry.
“I’ve never packed as fast as I did when Ailean said we were coming here to meet the first woman to withstand the change and said her name was ‘Skye’,” Elijah confessed with a laugh. “At first, I was afraid to hope that it might really be you. But when I got here and spotted guys walking around with broken noses, I knew damned well it couldn’t be anyone else.”
“Yeah, he knows her, all right,” Ciaran mused.
“Tell me, Elijah, ya’ve reached your tenth year already. How are your studies coming along?” Taran asked in genuine interest.
Ciaran smiled discretely, knowing full well what his brother’s motivations were for asking such a question.
Elijah leaned back slightly, closed one eye, and looked skyward as he struggled to piece together a reply. In slightly unsteady words, he responded at length in Gaelic.
Taran gave an impressed laugh. “Nah bad, pup! Nah bad at all. And your other languages, how are ya doing with them?”
“German and Russian huv been easiest fur him,” Ailean offered. “He huz taken tae Spanish, French, Italian, Thai, Greek, and some others wi’ nae a bother – but I’m afraid he huz nae talent at all fur our language,” he teased.
“That might have something to do with the fact that ‘your language’ isn’t just Gaelic,” Elijah countered. “It encompasses everything spoken on the Celtic Isles in the past four millennia. All of you ancients speak your personal long-extinct language, plus like 15 different dialects of Gaelic from a hundred regions and points in history. One second, I’m struggling to follow along while you’re speaking Éire Goídelc that went out of use in Ireland in the 6th century. The next, you’re chatting in what I can only assume is an antecedent language to Pictish that hasn’t been spoken since about 2000 BC. A moment later, you slip into modern day Scots Gàidhlig. And the best part? You don’t even seem to notice when you switch to a different one! You just use whatever the person you’re speaking to uses.”
“S’pose tha’s true,” Ailean conceded and exchanged a knowing smile with Taran. “Bottom line, he’s the best pup I huv.”
“You can speak all of those languages?” Skye asked skeptically.
Elijah held up his hands. “Whoa, not fluently, little blue. At least, not yet. I still have a long way to go.”
Her brows drew together in perplexity. “But why would anyone even want to learn so many in the first place?”
Judging by the way everyone spun to face her, she gathered that this was an odd question to ask.
“Did Drostan nae tell ye of yer studies, wean?” Ailean asked and shot his brother an incredulous look. “Whit kind of numpty bites a pup and dizn’t speak aboot it beforehand?”
“I’d be the kind of numpty,” Drostan said with a smirk. “And it’s only because we’ve nah the chance to speak of it. This is the first day we’ve seen one another since I gave her the bite.”
Astonished murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“You mean since you pounced on me and chowed down on my shoulder without saying a word to me in advance,” Skye corrected. She smiled triumphantly when all of the others gave him mortified looks.
“Aye, right – who pounced on who, now?” Drostan challenged with an arched brow. “I recall it being ya tha leapt onto me, first of all.”
“Same old little blue,” Elijah muttered.
“And just so we’re clear, I have valid reasons for the way it was done,” Drostan assured before casting a purposeful look around the group. “Though, as all of ya as old as myself are aware, I can nah get into those reasons until after a Gathering. And we’ve still yet to so much as get approval to call for said Gathering since we’re out here, gibbering to one another, instead of attending the meeting we are now so terribly late for.”
“Uh oh,” Ciaran breathed in realization. “I did try to get us in there on time, yeah? None of ya go lying and blaming this on me.”
“Why? E’ery other time it’s yer fault,” Ailean teased.
“Right, but this time it’s nah. Ya know how I hate taking credit for trouble nah of my own creation,” Ciaran said with a grin.
“As rare as such a thing occurs,” Taran muttered as he turned and took Skye’s arm in his. “All right, the rest of ya best go on and get to your seats. We’ll be in shortly.”
“See ya inside, wee sister,” Ailean said, squeezing her arm as he passed.
“And I’ll see you around,” Elijah told her, smiling warmly as he backed toward the door.
“Wait, you’re not coming with us?” Skye asked, taking an involuntary step toward him. Her voice betrayed her panic at him leaving her sight.
“No can do. This meeting is for the ‘big dogs’ only,” Elijah joked. “But I’m staying here in the castle, and you’d better believe that I’ll be coming to visit you whenever I can.”
“Sure,” she managed weakly. Her nostrils flared as she forced a smile for him. “I mean... I’ll see you around.”
Ciaran and Taran cast one another purposeful looks. Taran nodded his head slightly. They were in agreement on what needed to be done about the Elijah situation.
31: The Trinity Binds...
Long after Elijah had disappeared through the doorway, Skye remained locked in place, feeling like she was losing him all over again. She could still see him through the bus window as it pulled away...
“Ready to meet the eldest of our kind?” Taran asked.
She looked over at him and tried to mask the pain she was feeling.
“It’s funny how you ask that as if ‘no’ was really an option,” she joked unenthusiastically as her eyes wandered back to the empty place where Elijah had been standing.
“You’ll see him again soon, love,” Taran assured softly.
“Yeah... I know,” she answered halfheartedly.
Part of her felt like the reunion had been fleeting. He had a new life out there in the world – hell, so did she now. They were on separate paths. Her chest ached knowing that entirely too soon, goodbyes would need to be said between them.
“So, what’s this meeting thing we’re going to?” She asked.
“It’s to request a call for a Gathering,” Taran began as he led her into the castle. “While I can nah explain exactly what tha is just yet, know tha it is only there tha ya will get the answers ya need. Now, this is a formal meeting, so there are a few things to remember. Ya must be mindful of your temper, show respect, and nah speak out of turn.”
Seeing the challenging expression that immediately came
to her face, Ciaran cut in. “All your brawling ever land ya in front of a judge back in the States?”
“This is hardly the time to be commending her for violent –” Taran began in annoyance.
“Yeah – under aliases, of course. Why?” She asked.
“This is a lot like tha – with all the, ‘yes, your honor’ and ‘no, your honor’ and holding your tongue and the like,” Ciaran explained. “Except here it’d be ‘yes, Latharn’.”
“Ah, got it,” she said, nodding in understanding.
“Wait... d’ya mean to tell me tha ya actually had something helpful to say for once?” Taran asked incredulously.
“It’s been known to happen from time to time,” Ciaran laughed.
“I do believe you’re having a positive influence on him,” Taran muttered to Skye.
“I don’t think it’s possible for someone to be a bad influence on him,” she whispered back.
“Oh, she’s got ya pegged, my brother,” Taran laughed.
“Damn, already?” Ciaran whined.
“There’s just one problem with your courtroom advice,” she told him.
“What’s tha?” He asked curiously.
“I was always held in contempt,” she said with a sly smile.
He sighed and shook his head. “Well, in tha case, at least this is bound to be interesting,” he offered.
“Just show Latharn respect, Skye. He has earned it, I give ya my word,” Taran assured as they reached the doors of the meeting hall.
After considering it for a moment, she nodded that she would.
Taran breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. When ya enter ya are expected to bow to Latharn. I know ya will nah be happy to do so, but it is a formality tha must be honored. He is the leader of our entire clan.”
“He is not the leader of me, my love,” she breathed as she turned and studied the towering double doors before her.
They did not need to see her eyes to know who was speaking. The change in her was evident, even with her back to them.
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