Therefore, you are in danger, Brydie, more so than any other Daughter, and it is a miracle you have gone undetected for this long. You need to come to me, Brydie—to your home here in Scotland. Here you will find all the answers you need: the prophecy, who you are, where you come from, and most especially, where you belong.
In order to ensure your safety, I have sent Gage with this letter. He will accompany you to Scotland. You have no reason to fear Gage. Trust him implicitly and without question—he is your Guardian and would give his life for yours if need be.
I know this sounds unbelievable, but it is true, and I can prove it. I eagerly await your arrival in Scotland. Come quickly, for Talorgan is watching.
All my love,
Nora
I had to read the letter through twice before I could breathe normally.
It sounded fantastical. Too incredible. Not like Nora at all. She’d been sharp and quick of mind with a no-nonsense attitude. But there was no denying the script in the letter was hers.
With numb fingers, I folded the paper and slipped it back into the envelope. My thoughts turned to the person in the kitchen. Nora had told me to trust him. Could I? I wasn’t sure, but I did know that with Nora gone, Gage was the only one with knowledge of this life.
Resigned that my path lay with Gage whether I liked it or not, I pushed myself to my feet and walked into the kitchen on trembling legs. I found Gage standing in front of the stove, stirring a pot on the element. It wasn’t a vision I had anticipated, and it made James’s attack seem farcical—as if it had been a strange dream.
He felt my presence as soon as I entered, his eyes cutting to mine.
“You read the letter.” It was a statement.
I nodded.
“I imagine you have questions.”
“Yes.” I had a lot. But first, I needed to know his story. “What’s your place in all of this? Who are you?”
He released the wooden spoon and turned to face me, his blue eyes sharply contrasting with the midnight strands of his hair. “Like Nora, I’m also a Druid. And like Nora, I’m tied to the same prophecy as you are. We are all part of the same clan—The Oaken Tree.”
I swallowed tightly, quashing the rush of panic that accompanied his words, and lifted Nora’s letter. “Is it all true? That I’m part of a prophecy thousands of years old, that was instigated by a Celtic goddess?”
“Yes.” He did not break my gaze. “I can appreciate it would be hard to comprehend, but you must have questions after what you’ve seen tonight. You must know that what happened with James tonight was not normal.”
I bit my lip; he was right. James had been acting strangely—almost maniacal. As if he had enjoyed taunting me, enjoyed threatening me. And that look of hatred had been very real. As if weighted down by years of emotion.
“He was not himself,” I admitted softly. “I’ve never seen him act like that before. What happened to him?”
“He was touched by Talorgan.”
“Touched?” The term was unusual. “What does that mean?”
“He was possessed.”
My ears roared at his admission. As if it was commonplace. As if he dealt with this situation regularly. “Okay,” I breathed slowly. “So, James only wanted to kill me because Talorgan possessed him?”
“Yes.”
I released the breath I’d been holding, relief flooding through me. Gage’s confirmation absolved the crushing weight on my chest. I had been questioning James’s attack for the last few hours and couldn’t understand why he had attacked me. What I’d done to deserve such hatred—especially after he’d given me the opposite message at Iguana earlier this morning.
I raised my eyes back to Gage. His concentration was unwavering, singularly focused on me. The attention was unnerving. “Nora also tells me that you’re my Guardian, that you’re bound to ensure my safety. Is that true?”
He lifted his chin, his eyes glinting with an emotion I couldn’t decipher. “It’s true. Cailleach demanded that every Daughter of Winter be armed with her own Guardian, and so it is prophesied. The first Druid to be given this task was my ancestor. This burden only follows the male line, and chance dictates which son receives the mantle.” His lips firmed as he added, “From a young age, I was told that the target was Nora.”
“Then you found out about me,” I whispered, struggling to move past the word ‘burden’. It was an admission that he was as tied to the prophecy as I was. Resented it, probably more than I did, given that he’d lived with the knowledge of it all his life.
“Yes. Then I found out during Nora’s last breaths that she had a granddaughter who lived on the other side of the world.” He took a few steps toward me, and I immediately flinched, feeling vulnerable at his proximity.
My reaction caused him to pause, and his voice was gravelly as he bit out, “Do not fear me. I’m not going to hurt you—I can’t.”
I held his dark cerulean stare. “Is that by choice or because prophecy requires it,” I demanded.
A muscle clenched in his jaw. “Both. I’m no monster.”
I couldn’t help dropping my gaze to his hands. I could still see those long, tapered fingers around James’s neck. “Is that what you tell yourself? Does it make your actions more acceptable?”
Gage’s fists clenched, and he leaned in, close enough for his breath to touch my cheek. “You know nothing!” he ground out. “Having grown up on the outside, you have no idea what we face—the tasks laid before us, the training regime we’ve had to follow from birth. This prophecy isn’t just restricted to your family! There have been thousands affected by Cailleach’s actions; thousands of lives lost due to a binding decision your ancestor made. And those of us affected cannot help but follow the path she laid.”
His face was a dark thundercloud, the beautiful bone sculpture twisted into a vicious snarl. A chill whispered down my spine. An acknowledgment that I’d prodded the beast too far. It wasn’t like me, but I felt angry, hurt, and confused. It had begun as a slow simmer while I read Nora’s letter, then built to a blazing heat as her words had settled in my bones.
As I read the letter, I’d understood that my life had been a cage of lies. It confirmed that my father had lied to me. Not only about the family legacy but about my existence. How could he have denied me my heritage? Kept my birth a secret? And—I hesitated—removed all memory of my magic?
I released a breath and said softly, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I feel like everything has unraveled, and I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t know what to think—who to trust! My mind is spinning! How could my father hide all this from me?”
“Parents don’t always make the wisest decisions for their children.”
His murmured admission teased at a past I was curious to know more about, but I immediately sensed his withdrawal, as if he was annoyed that he’d shared that. I clasped my hands together tightly, stilling their fidgeting. “So, what happens now?”
His voice was firm. “We leave for Scotland.”
I didn’t want to go to Scotland, the country I’d been firmly denied entering. I could still remember how brutally explicit Nora had been when she’d told me I would not be welcome there. “Why?”