I walked home on shaking legs, the Beithir’s words echoing in my skull. Whatever hope I’d allowed myself to feel during dinner, whatever crack had opened in my carefully constructed walls, it sealed over now, cold and final.
I couldn’t pursue this thing with Graham. I couldn’t let myself love him, no matter how much I wanted to.
The water was watching.
And the water would wait.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AGNES
Ihadn’t slept.
How could I, really? After that?
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it—the Beithir rising from the dark water, those ancient eyes fixed on mine, its words searing into my brain.
Daughter of lies.
I’d finally given up on sleep around four, made a pot of tea I didn’t drink, and curled up in a chair watching the sky lighten softly over Loch Mirren. The water looked so ordinary in the pale light. Just a loch. Just water and sky and the hills cupping it like the mug of tea I’d forgotten to drink.
But I knew better now.
I was tied to the loch in ways I didn’t yet understand. Liora’s words floated back to me.
“But seeing that thread at the loch, the one connecting youto the Stone ... I think they’re related. I think whatever that dark strand is, it’s tied to your bloodline. And it’s tied to whoever you love.”
And now, I could kick myself for not having worked harder to uncover more of the curse surrounding my family’s history. Why had I pushed that into the background? I was forever putting everyone else first and, apparently, this was now coming back to bite me in the arse.
Gran’s voice echoed in my memory.Blood remembers what the mind forgets,her fingers twisting the silver ring she always wore, the ring that I wore on my own finger. I touched it now, a nervous habit I’d developed since her death. The metal was cool against my skin, offering no answers.
By the time I’d showered, dressed, and convinced myself that I could face the day if I switched from tea to coffee, I was ready for the pre-work meeting of the Order of Caledonia being held at the castle. It was one of the few times that everyone could get together, and I was beginning to feel like I needed to share what Liora had told me.
About my connection to the loch.
To the Beithir, apparently.
Guilt churned low in my gut, even though I, personally, had done nothing to wrong anyone. But it appeared an ancestor of mine had.
Maybe the sins of the fathers, or in this case, mothers, somewhere down the line.
I walked to the castle because I needed the movement, though I gave the loch a wide berth. Instead of taking the main street, I looped around and up the back, away from the water, and approached the castle from a little gravelservice lane that wound up the side of the hill. Sure, it took me longer, but I needed the fresh air to clear my head and work out what I was going to say to my friends.
I shouldn’t be so nervous. We were all in this together, weren’t we? Still, I wasn’t technically a part of the Order, and now it seemed I might be a hindrance too.
The library was already half-full when I arrived. Sophie stood near the fireplace, deep in conversation with Lachlan, their heads bent together in that way couples had when they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. Lia was setting out tea and biscuits on the long table—because of course she was, the woman couldn’t help herself—while Munroe hovered nearby, sneaking shortbread when he thought she wasn’t looking.
“She sees you,” Shona called out cheerfully as Munroe’s hand froze mid-reach. “She always sees you.”
“I’m taste-testing,” Munroe said with dignity. “It’s part of my quality control protocols.”
“You’re a menace is what you are.” But Lia was smiling as she swatted his hand away, and I realized that I wanted that easy affection they had.
I slipped into a chair quietly, hoping to avoid attention, but Willow caught my eye immediately and made her way over.
“You look like hell,” she said, settling into the chair beside me. Even for an early morning meeting she looked fabulous, wearing wide-leg leather pants and a slouchy soft cashmere top that dripped off one shoulder.
“Good morning to you too.” I narrowed my eyes at her. I was starting to get annoyed at everyone telling me how shitty I looked.
