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“Emmett, for fuck’s sake,” Mara hissed. “I’m trying to finish the damn story.” Emmett grumbled an apology, and Mara kept talking over him. “It closed the portals between Faerie and Scotland, stranding every magical creature on this side of the divide. The curse limited our own powers, too, cutting off a core part of every powerful creature from themselves. The Jacobite’s defeat was certain.”
The pain in Emmett and Mara’s eyes now was obvious, their faces pulled tight with sadness. Fern’s mind reeled with the horrible implications.
What could that possibly be like? In one fell moment, to be cut off from your friends and family? To be cut off from your own magic like that?
“You know what happened on the human side of things.” Mara shrugged. “The rest of us found one another over the years. We bonded together. We’ve been trying to find a way home ever since.”
Fern was shaking her head slowly, trying to absorb all the information at once. Scotland had magic, but it had been inaccessible for centuries. She wanted more answers, but her mouth opened and closed repeatedly as multiple trains of thought raced through her analytical mind.
“Why… Why not reveal yourselves? Why remain a secret? Have the fae courts reconciled?”
Mara held up one hand, silencing Fern. “We’ve reached a part of the story that isn’t ours to tell.”
There was no way to process everything she had learned, so Fern wasn’t even trying. Her eyes flickered between her coworkers. Mara fished out a tenner from her pocket and dropped it on the table.
“You need to get the rest of your answers from Calum.”
Chapter Six
Fern followed Emmett and Mara out of the pub. The atmosphere amongst the group had soured considerably. Fern could only imagine what it must have been like to have lived through that—to still be living through it.
Her head was spinning. This was more than she had ever fathomed when she came to the University of Edinburgh, and it would drastically change the direction of her research. Jet lag was creeping up on her again, and it was becoming impossible to ignore that she’d gotten off a flight only that afternoon.
As they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Mara slipped her arm through Fern’s and looked up at Emmett.
“I’ll walk Fern back to her flat. Do you want to go check on…?” she trailed off, but Emmett was already nodding.
“Aye. I’ll see to it.” He took a step closer to Fern, and much to her surprise, he wrapped her up in a hug.
Emmett let go of her just as quickly with a small, almost shy smile on his face. “Once you’ve got your feet underneath you, come by my office this week. I’ll answer all your questions. I’ve got some texts on Romanian lycanthropes that I need a second pair of eyes on.”
Fern’s face nearly cracked with the strength of her grin. “Yes! Forget settling in. I’ll be there tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Ms. McEwan.” Emmett seemed genuinely excited to talk about it with her, and she was sorely lacking for people to nerd out over magic with.
Emmett said his goodbyes and headed towards the college. Mara and Fern lapsed into comfortable silence as they waited to cross the street when a sharp sense of foreboding pricked at the back of Fern’s neck.
She almost fell as the strange sensation washed over her. Her skin erupted in goosebumps while adrenaline flooded her body. There was something that was trying to get her attention now.
Fern turned to look at Mara, but she was staring straight ahead. In fact, she wasn’t moving. Fern spun around, releasing her hold on Mara, and realized that nothing was moving. She could even see Emmett’s retreating form, frozen in place.
There was a pulse of power that crackled in the air like electricity, and a fresh wave of urgency enveloped Fern. It called to her from Old College, right across the street from where they stood.
Fern looked up at the building, and her heart caught in her throat. Standing on the steps of the Old College, staring at her…was Dr. Calum Welsh. His eyes were glowing with that strange, gold light again, and his features were sharper. The tension in the air shifted as Fern found her panic inexplicably ebbing away, replaced by something headier.
She stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak, but in a blink, he was gone. The city roared back to life around her. Fern stood on the sidewalk, unable to move.
Mara took in her pale expression, tugging on her arm. “Fern? Are you okay?”
Fern shook her head, forcing a weak smile onto her face. “Yeah, I’m fine! I think it’s the jet lag, you know? It’s finally catching up with me.” Mara didn’t look convinced, but she nodded slowly.
“Yeah, I can imagine it’s been a long day. Let’s get you home.” She gently pulled Fern into the crosswalk, leading her back to the flat. They said nothing for the rest of the way, too engrained in their own thoughts.
Mara seemed on high alert, her gaze pivoting constantly as if she was evaluating for threats. It put Fern even further on edge. What was in the darkness that she hadn’t known about before? Her own thoughts tumbled around in her mind on hyper speed, and it was enough to make her head spin.
Why is it so important that they keep their existence a secret? How does Calum play into all of this? Is there a reason they brought me here?
They had assured Fern that her position at the university was legitimate, but like a true academic, she was waiting for multiple sources to confirm it. The news had already rocked her world enough for one day.
