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“Like how an earthquake produces aftershocks?” Emmett asked, pulling a tiny notebook out of his pocket. He pushed his plate aside and started jotting notes at the table.
“Yes!” Ayda nodded eagerly, getting more excited. “It’s likely this is an ancient curse…or a very old one, at least. It’s probably been in the bedrock of the Shetland Islands, and it got shaken free when Fern broke the other curse.” Ayda suddenly paused, blushing slightly. “Not—not that I’m interested. Because I’m not. And I’m not helping.”
“Of course.” Hùisdean shrugged. He struggled to keep a smirk off his face. Ayda was also incredibly passionate when she started talking about magic, and he’d do a long list of things to keep her going. “You don’t want to help,” he said.
“What’s been happening on the islands?” Emmett licked the tip of his pencil and kept scribbling.
“The non-magical residents don’t have any idea that it’s happening. Anyone magical has been rapidly losing their abilities. Most people now don’t have any connection to magic at all. A few people have…not responded well.” Hùisdean’s tone sobered, and he started to feel nauseous.
“Have you not responded well?” Ayda asked softly.
Hùisdean opened and closed his mouth a few times, attempting to speak but finding himself at a loss for words.
“They go insane,” Calum offered gravely. His brow furrowed, and the rest of the table got quiet. The scraping of forks and knives stopped, and no one dared speak a word, haunted with memories of the time they’d slowly lost their magic during Scotland’s curse.
“It’s one of the worst things to watch happen to someone.” Hùisdean sighed heavily, rubbing at his temples. “The elves have the most magic left, but that’s mainly due to our connections and proximity to Norse magic. It’s where we’re descended from. We live on the Shetland Islands now, but our ancestry is the only thing slowing down the curse. Rest assured, it will eventually finish us off.”
“If you don’t stop it.” Ayda looked straight at Hùisdean, her lips pulled in a tight line.
“Correct,” Hùisdean sighed. “But we need help to do so.” He knew they needed Ayda’s help, but he didn’t know how to convince her to do it.
“We’ll all help you,” Calum interjected again. The brothers agreed, and the conversation resumed around the table, but Hùisdean could feel Ayda’s eyes on him the whole time.
Chapter Four
Ayda wiped the sweat off her brow and turned up the incline on the treadmill. After lunch, the storm hit hard, and Calum insisted on portal travel only. Ayda hated portal travel; she had never gotten used to it, which always made her nauseous. Emmett then insisted on staying the night to check out some of the books in his father’s library, and he extended the invitation to Hùisdean, who eagerly took him up on it.
Ayda knew Calum was only trying to look out for her and keep her from driving on wet, unpredictable Scottish roads. But somehow, this had led to her being trapped at the O'Neil estate with Hùisdean, something she'd rather avoid.
She punched the buttons on the treadmill again and forced herself to run a little faster. Hùisdean had been a thorn in her side since meeting him. Her mother always had a problem with the elves. Some elves could be quite elitist when it came to earth magic users, believing they were superior when it came to the practice, especially over humans. Luckily, it was a dying thought process. Since Scotland spent hundreds of years under a curse, magical folks from all walks of life banded together to survive. When Ayda was helping the O'Neil brothers defeat their uncle, the last thing she’d needed was a cocky elf who constantly nitpicked her work.
After hearing more about the Shetland Islands’ curse at lunch, her conscience started to pick at her. It's not fair to let your pride get in the way of helping people. Ayda’s thoughts wouldn’t stop. Will you let people suffer because you don't like one elf constantly looking over your shoulder?
Ayda grunted as the burn in her thighs started to turn into a cramp. She pushed past it and tried to get her brain to stop spinning, but typically, only magic could get her brain to shut up. Ayda was prepared to start her cooldown when the door to the gym swung open. Hùisdean walked in, strolling as if he owned the place, his eyes going to Ayda. As soon as he saw her, he smirked as if they were already in another competition that Ayda knew nothing about.
Her brow furrowed, and she didn't greet him, turning her gaze back to the treadmill and pushing the incline up again out of spite. Hùisdean was dressed in modern workout clothing as opposed to the tunics he usually wore. Ayda wanted to run right through the wall at the sight of him in cycling shorts with his long hair pulled up.
So he's not compensating for something. Ayda grimaced. There goes that theory.
She pretended to ignore Hùisdean as he casually walked over and hopped on the treadmill beside her. Ayda watched out of the corner of her eye as he turned it up precisely one incline higher than hers.
You don't need to respond to him baiting you. Ayda attempted to stop herself but found that she was already speeding up her treadmill.
Hùisdean's smile grew as he matched her speed and took off at what appeared to be an easy jog. Ayda was already in a full sweat and had been running for nearly twenty minutes. It didn't help that Hùisdean’s long legs now tempted her. He certainly doesn't skip leg day, either.
Ayda tried to control her breathing. She knew she should slow down because she had already been running for longer than Hùisdean, but her competitive streak was three miles wide, and she couldn't bear it.
“Are you doing all right there?” Hùisdean chose that exact moment to ask her gently, still smiling and barely breaking a sweat.
“Fine,” Ayda snapped.
“It sounds like you should slow down a bit,” Hùisdean offered, full of saccharine sweetness.
“I don't like talking during my workouts,” Ayda nearly growled, panting between her words. Hùisdean reached over and turned off Ayda's treadmill, cocking an eyebrow at her.
“What the fuck was that for?” Ayda cursed, slapping at Hùisdean's hand. “I know my limits.”
“I don't think you do.” Hùisdean suddenly sobered up, turning off his machine. “You're not even sucking in a full breath. You'll pass out if you keep running at that pace.”
