Arcane Rising: The Darkland Druids - Book One, R Nicole [suggested reading TXT] 📗

“Put down the knife, Elspeth,” he said. “It’s over. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

I jutted out my chin in defiance. “I’m not going to let you kill us.”

“Kill you?” he scoffed. “Who said anything about killing?”

“I don’t believe you.” I tightened my grip on the knife, vowing to stab him if he got any closer.

“What lies has that Druid filled your head with, Elspeth?” Owen crooned. “Your power is useless without you to wield it. I just want to help you understand.”

My gaze fell to Rory, who was barely holding onto consciousness. They were both telling me the same thing…

“Give me the knife, Elspeth,” Owen urged. “Come with me and I will give you all the answers you deserve. I can tell you about your parents.”

I hesitated, his words striking me where it mattered the most.

“Elspeth…” he stepped closer, “this is all just a huge misunderstanding.”

I shook my head, thinking about everything he’d told me…and everything Rory had.

The man at Greyfriars hadn’t been trying to help me, but Rory and his mysterious dog had been there to stop him. Owen had been rather eager to help me when I’d gone into the police station. Then he’d conveniently ran into me outside the archives.

All Rory had tried to do was try to convince me I was in danger.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I snarled at Owen.

“So you’re choosing without fully understanding what you’re giving away,” he mused in a disappointed tone. “So be it.”

“I will attack you in self-defence,” I warned.

He laughed like I’d just told the funniest joke ever. “I have all the power here, Elspeth. Even if you get away, I have the resources of the Scottish police at my back. What do you have?”

“CCTV,” I hissed. “Evidence. Testimony. You’re crooked, Owen, and soon everyone will know.”

Owen laughed and shook his head. “The Druid already took care of the evidence for me. Leave them conscious enough for their illusions to hold and no one will hear you scream.”

I took a step back, holding the knife higher.

“You could run, but it would only be a matter of time before you were caught,” he went on. “You have no family, no connections, and no clue what you’re doing. If you try to go home, your passport will be flagged and you’ll be detained. You won’t be able to leave the country.”

Think, Elspeth. Think. Rory said I was a Druid, so I must have something I could fight back with. But how in the world did I find it?

Owen crept down the stairs. “She’s going to try to fight,” he mused. “Interesting.”

“Stay away from me,” I warned.

“You’re alone, Elspeth. No one is coming to save you. You have nothing. You are nobody.”

I trembled, a vision of my father being consumed by a firestorm flashed through my mind. Arms and claws twisted through the blaze, tearing at his bright yellow uniform, searing the flesh from his bones.

Tears fell from my eyes and the knife trembled in my hand.

Owen hesitated, his stride faltering…but it was only for a split-second. He lunged, going for the knife, and I stabbed towards him with a cry.

What happened next felt like slow motion. A blue flame enveloped the blade as it sank into Owen’s chest and his eyes widened in shock. Light exploded around us—its source unknown—and bounced off the walls of the buildings on either side of us.

Owen collapsed to his knees and the mask hiding his true nature slipped. Grey flesh bled through his Caucasian colouring and pitch-black eyes stared up at me as his mouth gaped, revealing his pointed teeth.

“You killed him, didn’t you?” I demanded. “You killed my father.”

“It wasn’t me,” Owen rasped.

“But it was one of you.”

All the pain, grief, and suffering I’d been bottling up erupted like a volcano. I twisted the knife, roaring my agony as thick, congealed blood seeped from Owen’s chest…and something inside me broke free.

Something powerful and unknown.

Something terrible.

Electricity sparked, connecting me to everything—the sky, the wind, the rain… The moss growing on the walls. The grass sprouting in the gardens at the bottom of the hill. The pigeons bustling around St. Giles Cathedral up on the Royal Mile. The tourists walking to and fro, shopping for tacky souvenirs. Even Rory, who was trying to fight off the intoxicating pull of unconsciousness.

And I felt the presence of Owen Murray…Chimera.

Coloured spikes burst out of my arm, crystallising as they shot into the knife and into the Fae who kneeled before me. Light pulsed and became so blinding that everything went dark…and the life tore from my veins.

7

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in an unfamiliar bed. Thankfully, I was fully clothed—apart from my boots, scarf, and jacket.

A fire crackled in an open fireplace, the warm glow lighting the room. The mingled smells of smoke and freshly spilt wood filled the room with a homely scent, and I sat up.

The black German Shepard was stretched out on the end of the bed, its eyes glowing in the firelight.

I stared at it for a moment before it lifted its head and looked at me.

“Woof,” it said.

I cried out in alarm as the extremely human sounding word rolled out of the dog’s mouth.

The door burst open and Rory came charging in. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the dog.

“Jaimie Fraser,” he scolded, “we’ve talked about this.”

The dog pushed off the bed with a sigh and sat before the fireplace…then began to change. Its spine bulged and grew, its hair shrank back into its flesh, and its snout changed into something human-like.

A mixture of shock, awe, and a little disgust overcame me as I clutched the blanket to my chest. Rory’s dog was turning into a man. A rather large, muscular, naked man.

He stood as the last of his animal fur faded—but still left behind a rather furry human chest—and grinned down at me. Taller than Rory by a whole head, his curly black hair fell into his eyes and