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"Apologize to her," Mananan said.
"I'm sorry for touching you, Ella," Dan ground out through his teeth. Mananan let him go with a hard shove, and Dan stumbled out of the bar.
Ella was shaking, the room closing in about her. She couldn't stand to be there any longer. Mananan seemed to sense it and gestured to Gayle. She came over with a wary look in her eye.
"I need a container to put her food in," Mananan said. She hurried off to the kitchen, returning moments later, and boxed up what was left of Ella's chips and burger.
Ella was numb as she tapped her card to the EFTPOS machine on her way out. Dan was back, sitting with his friends at a table, and shot them a glare. As one, the group seemed to rise to their feet, getting ready for a fight.
"Don't," was all that Mananan snarled at them, and they sat down again like obedient dogs. He opened the car door for Ella before going around to the passenger side and getting in. Her hands were shaking as she started the car.
"I'm sorry..." she began, but he cut her off.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. That piece of shit is lucky that he is still drawing breath right now." Mananan was so angry, she could feel it vibrating out of his aura. "Did he always speak to you with such disrespect?"
Ella drove them out of the parking lot and headed back towards the lighthouse. She didn't really want to discuss her relationship with him but found herself doing so anyway.
"He thought my abilities were bullshit, like I was some sort of stage magician turning tricks. It got to a point that I couldn't live with it any longer. I found out the hard way that he's not a good person." Ella licked her dry lips. "He was insulted that I left him, and he's never gotten over it."
Mananan hissed in annoyance. "I meant what I said, Ella. If he comes anywhere near you again, I will kill him."
The threat should have worried her or at least made her a little afraid of him. Instead, she felt like she finally had someone in her corner. The whole town loved Dan and had thought that she was crazy for leaving him. They had treated her even more like an outcast and something to be gossiped about. They wouldn't have believed her if she told them that he had hit her when she'd broken it off or that he had been emotionally abusive the whole time they were together.
"I think you scared him away, so I doubt he will bother me again. Thank you for stepping in when you did. Your brother is right. I really do need training on how to block people out. I never thought I would meet anyone that would be able to help me," Ella replied. The tension in her stomach relaxed as soon as they pulled into her driveway and came to a stop at the lighthouse.
They got out of the car and went inside to her little kitchen. Mananan passed her the box of food.
"You need to eat before you can do magic," he said gruffly.
Ella really didn't feel like eating but knew he was right. The burger and chips had gone cold, but she still forced herself to chew and swallow. The shaky feeling from the confrontation slowly left her as the food settled inside her stomach. She hated that seeing Dan still caused that kind of reaction in her. She had a duty to the lighthouse; otherwise she would leave that town for good.
"I need to go down to the beach and collect things before I scry. The tide should be down low enough now to have kicked up some shells and rocks for me to use," she said, breaking the silence in the kitchen. Mananan still looked like he wanted to go back to the bar and finish what Dan had started.
"I will get the Formorian talisman and the map so we can begin," he said and disappeared into the lounge room.
Ella had never touched a magical object before, so she washed her hands and tried to clear her mind. Dinner had been a bust, but she wouldn't let it get in the way of the task at hand. She had a job to do, and she wouldn't let her past rule her present any longer.
11
Astorm was rolling in and turning the horizon gray and silver. Out on the little beach, Ella walked along the shore, where the waves touched the sand.
"I need to touch the talisman before I collect anything," Ella told Mananan.
"I don't know what you will see when you touch it, but I'm warning you now that it will most likely be dark and violent. Are you going to be okay with that? I don't want to push you after the day you've had," he replied.
"Thank you for your concern, but I really am fine. Freya and the others warned me about the Formorian mage who created it. It's going to be uncomfortable, but I know that it can't hurt me."
Mananan didn't look convinced. "All the same, don't hang on to it for very long." He opened the onyx box and held it out to her. Inside of it was a bundle of twigs that had a black thread tying them together in a strange looking rune. Her intuition told her not to touch it, that it would hurt, that it was a thing of evil.
Her fingers hovered over it, and she took a cleansing breath of the sea air. She could do this. She touched the talisman and sank into the sensation of her gifts.
Unlike at the bar, where the visions went thick and fast, the magic coming off the talisman slid over her like hot tar, suffocating and drowning her in sensation. She fought the urge to pull her hand away and let the power roll over her.
When the images did come, it was like a malicious spike of rage in her mind. She saw the forest glade where the talisman had been found, felt the magic of the mage who had woven the sticks together and infused them with power.
His hate for the fae consumed him, driving him to unspeakable acts for a revenge on a slight that happened so very long ago...
Ella let go of the talisman and stepped back from it. Mananan's concerned face came into view once more.
