Page 44

Lorcan

Z adie didn’t attempt any spirited flying this time between Aberdeen and Kirkwall.

Maybe the tension I carried through every muscle in my body told her it would be a horrible idea.

Although had she done so, it might have distracted me from everything weighing on my mind.

When we landed, I transferred to the car waiting on the tarmac to take me to Tingwall.

The entire well-orchestrated trip put me on the ferry mere hours after Briar.

It didn’t stop my heart racing or my knee bouncing as the small boat navigated the choppy waters. The weather was not helping.

When we arrived, the wind whipped the water into white spray along the pier, the salt biting into my skin.

It felt like a warning I refused to heed.

Since we had boarded the jet in Manchester, I had tried to determine what I would say once I found her.

How would I explain that she was better off without me?

I vowed to figure it out later and opened the door to the small shack that housed the ferry office. A man stood behind a small desk, barely enough for him to sit behind. Maps and posters hung from tacks on the wooden walls.

“How can I help you?” he asked.

I glanced around the room, ensuring no one else was within earshot. “Was there a woman here earlier? Looking for Lyons Hold?”

He nodded. “She was. I gave her directions.”

I leaned forward. “And has she returned?”

The man shrugged. “No need to stop in here if you already have a ticket. Could be someone on the pier saw her, but I wouldn’t know.”

I clenched my jaw. “A lot of help you are.”

The man scowled. “I don’t know if she’s still up there or not, but you might want to get back on that ferry. There’s a storm coming in, and it’s already almost too dangerous for us to sail. This could be the last ferry out.”

My hands hit the desk as I leaned toward the man, my voice dropping low.

“If she’s up at Lyons Hold, I’m not leaving her.

So here is what is going to happen.” My pupils moved independently of the light as I channeled the familiar power.

“You’re going to find the person working on the pier.

You are going to find out if she was seen leaving. ”

The man’s face went blank as my words overtook his will. “Of course. I’ll go look for her.”

I took the pen and paper from the desk in front of him and scrawled my phone number. “When you find out where she is, call me. After you reach me by phone, you burn that paper and forget I was ever here.”

The man nodded, an emptiness in his eyes. “Absolutely. I’ll see what I can find.” He exited the room in a trance.

I stepped outside and scanned the area, ensuring no prying eyes before taking off at a run. The wind howled past my ears, my vision blurring as the sting of the rain and salt hit my eyes. At least, I told myself it was the salt and not my tears.

My stomach twisted as the memories clawed at the back of my mind.

I couldn’t count the number of times I had told the House of Lords that Lady Isobel should not be convicted, that there were circumstances beyond their knowledge that made me believe she had acted righteously.

If only compelling every one of them had been a real possibility, I could have saved her.

The echo of the verdict crawled into my ears, the cold finality slicing through the chamber, and Isobel’s face, pale and drawn, as they read her sentence.

At least I had saved her from the gallows.

Reality slammed into me as I stopped at the end of the path.

I wasn’t sure what I had intended to find, but this was not it.

As I stepped into what had once been the grand hall, memories of the past washed over me.

Had the portraits of Barons and Baronesses of Blackcairn that once dotted these walls rotted into nothingness?

The rain pelted me as I recalled this once proud family whom I had reduced to nothing. Not even their home remained.

I moved into the rightmost chamber—the dining hall, now barely recognizable.

Above me, wooden slats remained, the only remnants of Lady Isobel’s chambers, aside from the rubble that had collapsed on top.

That was probably the only thing that had spared this room over the years.

I turned to the fireplace, remembering the roaring flames, the echoes of laughter as we drank and warmed ourselves one cold night.

I inhaled deeply and stepped closer to it, my breath catching in my throat.

Briar had been here—recently, too. Her scent still lingered on the stone.

I tried to convince myself that the tightening in my chest was simply because I had been searching for her for so long.

I pressed my hand to the stone, wondering how I could have missed her.

But that meant I needed to return to the ferry before it left—back to Tingwall.

Without saying goodbye to my past, I retraced my steps to the pier. As I got there, my heart fell. The boat was pulling away. I slammed open the door to the office. “That ferry wasn’t supposed to leave for five more minutes. What the hell?”

The man looked at me. “I told you it was getting too rough to sail. The choices were to leave now or not at all.” He cleared his throat, and his eyes went blank. “I tried calling you, but there’s no service. The woman’s on that ferry.”

“Fuck,” I screamed before clenching my teeth and shoving a hand through my hair.

My hands shook as I bit my lips together.

She was there. She was right fucking there.

I looked out the window. Even with my gifts, there would be no way I could swim for her.

And how would I explain it to her even if I did?

A growl rumbled low in my throat. I was trapped on this damn island.

The man’s face remained blank where it should have been filled with fear. “Do you want me to find you a place to stay?”

Something in me recoiled at the thought of sheltering with the humans. I didn’t want to be near them.

I glanced around again.

There was only one place I wanted to be.

Without another thought, I stormed from the room and ran back toward Lyons Hold.