Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1) (16 page)

It took some time before I could pull myself together enough to get to my feet and start walking back. I was confused by what I’d seen and my thoughts were in free fall, tumbling one after the other as I tried to make sense of it all.

The one thing I knew was for certain was that I hated my true name. Layoch? I mean, come on. It sounded like it belonged to a boy. Had Daddy Dearest been wishing for a son? If so, maybe it was just as well he’d not stuck around long enough to meet me.

The journey back seemed longer. Perhaps it was because of the kerfuffle going on inside my head. Despite my sniffy attitude towards my true name, I kept seeing the expression in my parents’ eyes as they looked at me. It was haunting – and not in a particularly good way. My father didn’t looked like an evil murderer. He looked like a man grieving.

I was so focused on the recurring images that I didn’t notice the root jutting out from the ground until it was too late. The tip of my toes caught it and I went flying to the ground with a heavy thump, receiving a mouthful of dirt in the process. It was the only reason I didn’t scream aloud in pain. Who knew that a cracked rib could hurt so much?

I choked. ‘Nice move, Integrity,’ I scolded myself. Between tripping up over a pile of clothes in my own flat and a tree here, I was starting to think I was developing some serious coordination problems.  I’d need to get Taylor to put me through my paces when I got back to Aberdeen. I didn’t want my new colleagues at mountain rescue thinking I was as unbalanced and tottery as Bambi.

I pushed myself up gingerly, dusting the debris off my scarf with a hiss of irritation. Then there was a far louder hiss and something flew past my head in a rush of heat, almost blistering my skin.

There was a loud crash, followed by a strange sizzle. I glanced back into the clearing and gaped when I saw one of the trees behind me ablaze. There was another hiss. This time I paid more attention. I ducked down, covering my head in my arms as a genuine, honest-to-goodness fireball blazed past, slamming into another tree and immediately engulfing it in flames.

Pyrokinetics, I thought. That’s Byron’s second gift. I cursed myself for a fool for beginning to trust him and rolled to my right, away from the path and the danger. I move just in time. A third fireball appeared, flying much lower this time. If I’d stayed where I was, I would have been toast.

‘Man’s house is on fire,’ I muttered to myself, still rolling, although now I was away from the path it was harder to avoid the trees and, with every move, my ribs yelled up at me to stop. ‘He calls up the fire brigade and asks for help. “How do we get there?” asks the fireman. The man frowned. “Don’t you still have those big red trucks?”’

My shoulder crashed into one of the solid tree trunks and I yelped in pain again. No more fireballs appeared to be on their way; not surprising really. If I’d been standing up on the path – which I should have been – they’d have hit me already. Unless they were sentient fireballs that could weave in and out of trees, now I was in the dense wood I wouldn’t be hit. I got to my feet and stared at the blaze.

It might have been only three trees that had been struck but the ferocity of the flames licking at the dry branches meant that more of them were catching fire. Before my very eyes, the flames danced, attacking another one, blackening the bark and crackling with intensity. In less than five minutes the entire grove would be alight. The entire sacred grove that was so special some of the Sidhe thought I shouldn’t be allowed inside to taint it.

Cursing loudly, I uncoiled my scarf and ran towards the nearest tree, using it to whip at the flames and contain the fire. My movements were curtailed by my previous injuries and I couldn’t move as fast as I normally did. When I managed to stamp out one section of burning wood, another started up at the side of me. I ran from tree to tree and branch to branch, doing what I could. Shite, shite, shite.

With no water and no help, I was fighting a losing battle. Screw my stupid true name: I should have brought Bob along after all. Instead I’d thrown him into the hands of the man who might end up being my greatest enemy. Yet again, it was damned good luck that I was still alive. If I had died and Bob’s wishes were passed along to Byron – the villain – then goodness knows what might have happened.

I continued to fling myself from tree to tree, fighting the fire. The heat was tremendous and it was getting harder and harder to reach the flames, let alone douse them. Soon I’d have to abandon the grove altogether if I wanted to save myself. The sacred grove was screwed.

Making one last effort, I let out a war whoop and threw myself towards the flames, praying that the velocity of my body would do something to stamp them out. Before I reached them, however, something knocked into me and I was shoved aside rudely. I blinked teary eyes against the now billowing smoke, my mouth dropping open when I realised who it was.

‘Stay the hell back, Tegs!’ Brochan shouted. ‘I’ve got this!’

He raised both his hands. I was beyond glad to see him but I wasn’t sure what he could do to help. He might be a merman but, as the stoor worm had already attested, we were a long way from the sea. The sea that Brochan was terrified of.

I tried to rush forward to help but I was beaten back. The fire was too strong. I stumbled backwards, unable to do anything more than watch as Brochan grasped at air as if he were pulling it down. The atmosphere felt heavy and unnatural and I jumped as thunder rolled across the sky. Brochan didn’t react; he simply continued to yank at the air.

And then I felt it. One little drop splashed on my cheek. I gasped as hope sprang anew. The drop turned to a drizzle. Before I could blink again, it became a deluge.

The rain sizzled on the fire, steam flying up as the weaker flames were extinguished. More and more water fell until Brochan and I, and all the trees around us, were soaking wet.

I ran over and wrapped my arms around him. ‘You did it!’ I croaked. ‘How did you do it? Thank God, Brochan. This place is important.’ It really was. After what I’d experienced in the clearing, I was no longer the blithe and dismissive person I was before I’d entered.

‘I’m a merman, Tegs, you know that. It’s a simple matter of the water cycle.’

His face was wan and drawn and I realised that it wasn’t a ‘simple matter’ at all. ‘Thank you,’ I said into his ear. ‘Thank you.’

‘Someone’s really got it in for you.’

‘You can say that again.’

‘Someone’s really…’

I smirked.  ‘Yeah, yeah. Come on.  Let’s get out of here before they try again.’

Foregoing the path in order to keep ourselves safe – and Brochan’s presence hidden ‒ we tramped through the trees while he filled me in on his news. It was slow going because I was hurting all over now, but at least it allowed Brochan plenty of time to cover all the details.

As the trumped-up charges against both him and Speck were entirely false, it wasn’t difficult to get them released. Of course, the sizeable wad from the sale of the Lia Saifire had helped. Money talks. Taylor had stayed behind in Aberdeen to ensure there was no further fall-out while the rest of the gang vamoosed over here.

‘You had no problem getting through the magical barrier?’ I enquired, stepping over loose bracken.

‘Your friend came through.’

I snorted. ‘Charlie? He’s not what I’d call a friend. He does have his uses, though.’ I shot Brochan a curious, albeit grateful, look. ‘How did you know I was in the grove?’

He shrugged. ‘We have got ourselves a prime piece of real estate. Some disused tower towards the east side. It’s got great views. We were able to watch you walking with that Sidhe guy then entering the spooky forest.’

‘It’s a grove.’

‘Whatever it is, it’s not natural. Even from our vantage point we couldn’t see anything. It’s all obscured by these damn trees.’ He poked one as if scolding it for existing.

I was puzzled. ‘Then how did you know I was in trouble?’

‘I didn’t. We only knew you were alone. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to come and talk to you.’ He looked troubled. ‘It’s just as well I did.’

I nodded fervently. ‘Amen to that.’

Going by what Byron had said, only one person was ever allowed into the grove at any one time. I wondered if that was merely tradition or if Brochan had gained access because he wasn’t Sidhe. Either way it gave me an edge on all these Fey wankers. Doing the unexpected and the unthinkable seemed to be the only way I’d have of surviving this stint.

‘The smartest move is for all of us to lie low. It’s not ideal and I know you’re hoping for a fresh start in Oban but we’ve talked it over and, if it’s okay with you, we might come and join you. Just temporarily,’ Brochan added hastily. ‘We don’t want to cramp your style or anything.’

I laughed, then regretted it when my ribs complained again. ‘You lot are hardly going to cramp my style. I’m more likely to get extra cool points for having you with me.’

Brochan grinned, relieved. ‘Now we’ve got the money to sort out Taylor’s debts and we’re out of jail, we can all skedaddle. Is there anything you need to fetch before we leave?’

I sighed. Skedaddling was incredibly tempting. Unfortunately I had to choose another path. ‘I can’t go,’ I told him reluctantly. I explained about the Foinse.

‘I’m not sure if you were paying attention, Tegs, but one of those people who’s so desperate for you to stick around and save them, just tried to kill you. Do you really care if the magic fails? I understand things will be bad for a lot of people for a while but maybe you need to think long term. If this weakens the Clans’ hold, it might end up being a good thing.’

‘Where’s the line, though? Is one death enough to shove the Sidhe into oblivion? Is one hundred?’ I ran my hand through my hair. ‘A million? Because that might be what it takes.’

Brochan was silent for a moment before replying. ‘It’s not up to you to save the world, Tegs.’

I bit my lip. ‘Actually, in this scenario it might be.’ What I left unsaid was that the trippy images I’d just experienced had made me wonder if I’d done the right thing by abandoning my Sidhe heritage. Maybe I was going to stick around here until I had a better grasp on all this Adair shite.

More light started filtering in through the trees. It was clear we were reaching the edge of the grove. I halted and gazed out. ‘You should go. You and Lexie and Speck. You should all leave. Go to Oban. I already have a deposit down on a house. Use it.’

‘Do you really think we’d abandon you here? No chance. We’re family, remember? We’ll stay and do whatever we can to help you out. With this Foinse thing and,’ he paused, ‘whatever happens after that.’

Brochan was one shrewd merman. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I whispered, ‘Thank you.’

He beamed. ‘So what’s the plan?’

I considered. ‘There’s the guy who walked me down here. One of his Sidhe Gifts is pyrokinesis.’

Brochan whistled. ‘So you think it was him who chucked those fireballs at you?’

My mouth thinned into a grim line. ‘Possibly.’

‘How many gifts does he have?’

‘Just the two. Which is two more than me. I don’t need any freaky Sidhe magic though. What I have to find out is if he wants me dead. If he does, then I need to know.’ I pushed away the surge of dismay I felt at saying those words out loud. Our childhood encounter notwithstanding, I’d known Byron for all of three days; I knew him no better than he knew me. Why he’d gone to such an effort to bring me here to simply kill me didn’t quite fit; neither did the fact that he wouldn’t benefit in any way from the Foinse failing. But fireballs after his announcement of being gifted in pyrokinesis? I couldn’t shake off my suspicion.

Brochan threw me a sidelong glance. ‘Forgive me if I’m mistaken but aren’t Sidhe supposed to get their Gift when they get their true name? If you just received your name, then…’

I interrupted him. ‘I feel fine.’ Apart from a cracked rib and singed eyebrows. ‘Apparently Sidhe also get sick. Something to do with their physical body accepting the Gift. I reckon that because I’m an adult that time has passed.’ I grinned at him. ‘It’s a good thing. It makes me more human than Sidhe.’

‘If you say so.’

I punched him on the arm. ‘I do.’

He smirked. ‘So you’re going to confront this guy?’

‘Nah. I’ll do a little reconnoitring first. The others were prepared to delay the journey to the Foinse if I got ill. I’ll pretend I am so that I’ve got enough time to find out what’s going on.’ I thought of Bob and my mouth turned down. ‘He also has something of mine that I want to get back.’

‘Sounds good,’ he said approvingly. ‘We can help with all that.’

My eyes gleamed. ‘You can. There are enough other species and races around here that you three can probably wander around the Cruaich more easily than I can.’

‘What do you need us to do?’

I met his eyes. ‘Find out what really happened to the Adair Clan.’

Brochan sucked in a breath. ‘Are you sure?’

I nodded. ‘I am.’

‘Okay. We’ll use the signal to get in touch with you once we have something.’

I shook my head. ‘No. I have a better way.’ Expect the unexpected. ‘You can summon me. Layoch. My true name is Layoch.’

Brochan’s jaw dropped. ‘You shouldn’t have told me that, Tegs. If I know your name then…’