Page 5 of A Fine Scottish Spell (The Magical Matchmakers of Seven Cairns #2)
“N o. It canna be.” The vial of infused oil slipped out of Mairwen’s hand and shattered on the slate floor.
The Ether, the thread of consciousness shared by all Weavers and wisely hidden from the goddesses and Defenders of the Highland Veil, had to be wrong.
According to its whispers, the unthinkable had happened.
A mortal, a fated mate, had been lost, disappeared from existence.
Mairwen immediately knew it was Emily’s soul that was gone.
She searched for the child’s energy, then closed her eyes and searched again.
Emily’s signature was gone from every level of awareness.
Stepping over the mess of broken glass and oil, Mairwen fisted her colorful skirts of sienna and dusky blue out of the way and ran to the meeting hall without regard to the cold, sleeting rain stinging her face.
In a distracted, subconscious way, she felt the weather was warranted.
The skies and all creation should weep for the loss of their precious Emily—not only a mortal but a direct descendant of their beloved Esme and the mortal the Spell Weaver had so fiercely loved.
“How?” she demanded as she burst into the practice room she knew Ishbel and Emily always used. “How could this happen?”
Crumpled in a heap on the floor, Ishbel lifted her gaze and slowly shook her head. “I dinna ken,” she said, her voice quaking with despair. “I thought the serenity spell would be one of the safest, especially with her habit of setting things on fire.”
Mairwen sank to the floor beside Ishbel and touched the ancient flagstones the goddesses had laid as the foundation of the building an untold age ago. “The warmth of her energy remains. It is strong.”
“Aye,” Ishbel said, “but for how long? And where did she go? Never in all my centuries have I ever had a student cease to exist as though they had never been. She did not gently fade away as most do when transporting.” Ishbel kept shaking her head as if wishing to change the memory.
“She simply went away. Was gone. Disappeared as if the goddesses erased her from all creation.”
“The goddesses?” An ill feeling of dread wrapped icy fingers around Mairwen’s heart and squeezed. She struggled to breathe. “Did you sense them? Do you suspect their hand in this?”
With heartbreaking despondency, Ishbel shrugged.
“I sense nothing. There is no hint, no trail of anything anywhere. It is as though our precious Emily was never born. All that remains is her warmth in the stones.” She pressed a shaking hand to her cheek as tears spilled over.
“What are we to do, Mairwen? I know she could be a tempest at times, but I loved her like a daughter.”
“Love, Ishbel,” Mairwen corrected. “You love her. Not loved as if she is gone from us forever. We must find her. Every plane, every reality, every timeline must be searched. We have never lost a mortal, and I intend to keep it that way. We shall send a clearer alarm through the Ether to all our Weavers on every level. Our Emily will be found.”
“Shall we seek help from the Defenders of the Veil?”
“No.” Mairwen clutched a fist to her aching heart. “They might seek wisdom from the goddesses, and I prefer to be better armed before the mothers demand that I explain. We will find her, and all will be well. I refuse to think otherwise.”
Ishbel covered her face and bowed her head. “I am so verra sorry. Please forgive me.”
Mairwen hugged her dear friend and whispered, “This is not yer fault. Come. We must make haste while the stones hold a remnant of her energy. Send her image with the alarm through the Ether, then join me in a search.”
Tears still flowing, Ishbel nodded, pausing for the slightest moment before she leaned forward and rested her hands on the flagstone where Emily had stood only moments ago.
After a few moments, Mairwen joined her, holding Emily’s memory in her mind while focusing her mystical senses on the whisper of heat Emily had left behind.
“Show me,” she whispered. “Show me where ye are, child.”