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“I think so.” Lachlan shifted in his seat. “Yes, he’s awake and moving around the library.” The O’Neil brothers’ supernatural hearing meant they always knew what their guests were getting up to in their house. Hùisdean heard Emmett hadn’t taken long to put some wards around his rooms when he visited with Pippa.
Hùisdean flashed a thumbs-up and left the kitchen instead of saying anything else. He used to be confident regarding his place in the world. Now, he was facing an unparalleled crisis back home that threatened his people, and he couldn’t stop being attracted to the witch who hated him. Oh, and he needed her help.
How the mighty have fallen, Hùisdean quipped sarcastically. He took the stairs two at a time to get back to his suite, trying to tell himself it was the espresso, not Ayda, that had his blood pumping.
Hùisdean grabbed his bags and dropped them near the front door before heading to the library. Calum was sitting in one of the tufted wingback chairs, perusing a book that looked older than he was.
“Calum?” Hùisdean said by way of greeting, poking his head inside the library. “We’re getting ready to depart if you’ll do us a favor and open that portal to Kirkwall.”
“Ah! Yes, of course.” Calum put his book down and clapped his hands, standing up and walking towards Hùisdean. He was wearing a smoking jacket—which Hùisdean realized Calum always preferred to wear before dawn and after sunset—and remained the picture-perfect image of a prince. If Hùisdean didn’t like Calum so much, he’d be the first to admit that he was intimidated by Calum.
“How are you doing, old friend?” Calum’s voice dropped to a whisper as they headed towards the front door.
Hùisdean sighed. “Well, the magic on the Shetland Islands is dying. Ayda is only coming to help because she lost a bet and hates me. How would you take that?”
“I have been in almost that exact situation,” Calum laughed. “Well, Fern was only here for her graduate program, and she told me she wouldn’t help. It took a few weeks to convince her.”
“How did you survive?” Hùisdean groaned.
Calum shrugged, his expression sobering. “For a while, I didn’t think I was going to. I’d all but given up. It’d been centuries, mind you.”
“I can’t even imagine. I knew it was happening. You’d come to visit, and we tried to help…but now that it’s happening to the Shetlands…”
“I know.” Calum nodded, putting his hand on Hùisdean’s shoulder. “You’ll find a way to beat this curse. Magic can’t be destroyed, Hùisdean. You must figure out how to work with it at any given time.”
Hùisdean opened his mouth to respond, but they rounded the corner to the entryway. Ayda was already saying goodbye to Lachlan, Emmett, and Darragh, and Hùisdean shook his head. Calum gave him a knowing look and a small clap on the back, pushing him towards the group. Hùisdean shook off his anxieties and plastered a broad grin on his face.
“I’ll have to return for another proper visit,” Hùisdean grinned. “It seems I’m only ever at Lochmaddy when there’s been some great tragedy.” The brothers laughed, and the group said their goodbyes. Hùisdean and Ayda picked up their packs—Hùisdean was pleased to see that Ayda had packed light—and Calum opened a portal. A slight twinge of jealousy went through Hùisdean. His abilities to generate portals had been one of the first things to go.
It will come back, he reminded himself. Break the curse, and you can portal to that little bar in Lisbon you like.
Hùisdean gave Calum an appreciative salute and jumped through the portal, landing on the wet docks at Kirkwall. Several groups of people were milling about, arriving from the overnight ferries that brought them from the Shetland Islands. The ports were small, with only room for a handful of boats and larger ferries, but Hùisdean inhaled the salt water and smiled. He was closer to home; he could feel it in his bones, which eased some of the ache.
“What time does our ferry leave?” Ayda stepped through the portal behind him, adjusting the pack on her back, looking a little queasy. “I thought most of the ferries were overnight. Is there a reason we’re here at dawn?”
“I didn’t say we were taking a ferry.” Hùisdean started walking to the furthest pier, and Ayda followed him. “I said we were taking a boat.”
“Fine.” Ayda rolled her eyes. “You know what I fucking meant, Hùisdean. Are you going to be this insistent on being an ass?”
Hùisdean ignored how his stomach flipped when Ayda snapped at him. “This is just my natural personality. They say never to dim your light, you know.”
“It’s not dimming your light. It’s about not acting like a fucking iPhone flashlight that a boomer didn’t realize was turned on.”
“Oh, I like that one.” Hùisdean clapped mockingly. “Besides, here we are. Your chariot awaits.” Hùisdean stopped in front of the tiny dingy, fully aware of what it looked like to outsiders. Ayda’s jaw dropped, and she stared at the minuscule boat before returning to Hùisdean.
“What in the hell in this?” Ayda practically shrieked. “This cannot be safe to take to the Shetland Islands. That is a fucking dingy.”
“Yes, I know.” Hùisdean shrugged, hopping onto the small boat. “Are you getting on or not?” Ayda stared at him for a minute, and he knew she was trying to figure out if he was serious. He looked back at her with a raised brow, and Ayda grunted something under her breath. She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and finally relented, stepping down from the pier to the boat.
Hùisdean knew what she saw as soon as her feet hit the deck. The boat was only glamoured to look like a small dingy. When Hùisdean traveled by boat—which he sometimes had opted to do, even when he had all of his magic—he traveled on his ship.
“Oh my god.” Ayda gasped quietly, looking around the expansive ship. It was built like a knarr, a Viking merchant ship, except Hùisdean had it scaled up and added a lower cabin. The bright green sails were embroidered with his family’s crest in gold thread. All the wood had been hand carved, with motifs and runes carefully displayed throughout the ship. The prow of the boat featured a giant dragon, painted in full color, which was currently whipping its tail back and forth and looking around the port eagerly. It was a colorful piece of art, magic, and architecture. Hùisdean could spend an eternity onboard and be at peace.
“Welcome,” a deep voice called out from the casting deck, “to the Barufakr.”
“Wyn!” Hùisdean laughed, running up the steps. “I thought you would’ve gone home.”
“And miss the opportunity to haul your ass back to Mum? I don’t think so. She’s going to be furious you’ve been gone so long.”
