Page 118 of Anywhere

“The power call? Yeah, I felt it,” he said, his eyes fixed on the road and his face as concerned as my own.

“Da sound be da call o’ death,” Elewyen said from the back seat.

“Aye,” I said.

Every second felt like an hour until we flew around the final bend in the road. I saw no one around, which was strange. Not a single neighbour or passerby was in the large gravel lot. The car squealed to a stop. I barely got the brake locked into place before jumping from the car.

“Caitlin? Where ya be, lass? Caitlin, call out fir help,” I yelled as I ran to the side of the pub, but there was no sign of her. I was forced to step back as the flames roared higher and the heat pressed into me.

“Rhys, over here,” Rook called.

I ran back to the car, but Rook wasn’t staring at the pub. He was looking up at the old oak tree in the middle of the gravel lot. I didn’t want to look up. I knew what I was going to find. Following his gaze, rage filled me at the sight of Caitlin’s body.

She was hung by a rope around her neck. The sword through her stomach and knives sticking out of her mouth and eyes told me she died painfully. This was a message to me. Whoever attacked the Faction was still on the island, and they just delivered a personal blow.

I looked back at the pub that only a handful knew about, or at least I thought so and ran through the possibilities. None of them seemed to fit. Lochlan, Caleb, Mari and Belle. None of them had anything to gain by doing this, and it wasn’t in their character. It didn’t make sense unless I was being followed.

Slowly turning in a circle, I let my power reach out as far as possible to see if I sensed anyone with magic skulking in the shadows, but I didn’t feel anyone.

Looking back at Caitlin, my heart ached that she was caught in the middle of a personal vendetta.

“Oh, Caitlin, I’ma sorry,” I whispered.

A puddle of her blood was already at the bottom of the tree, an envelope pinned to the front of her skirt.

“Who would do something like this?” Rook asked.

Elewyen stepped close to my side and slipped her hand into mine. Her eyes were kind like she knew what I was feeling and needing. The little squirrel, Barry, sat on her shoulder and gave me the same compassionate expression, and it seemed so right to see him sitting there like a little guardian angel.

“Her spirit was used fir somethin’ evil. No’ a bit of her lingers,” Elewyen said, what I also felt.

“Aye. I’ma gonna cut her down.”

Stepping away, I jumped for the lowest branch and pulled myself up. Whoever did this had help or was extremely strong. Neither option was comforting, considering the malevolence behind the act. There were no more than five minutes from when Caitlin screamed to our arrival.

Hopping from branch to branch, I looked directly into Caitlin’s face. Guilt ravaged my gut. This was on me. She would never have been in the crossfire of a Faction war if I’d never introduced her to my world. This was why we didn’t bring Flitters into our lives. There was only one way they ended up.

Untying the rope, I lowered her body to Rook, who laid her out on the small patch of grass. He removed the envelope and opened it as I jumped from the branch.

“Do me wanna know what it says?”

“Let this be a warning. Finish the triad, and more of those you love will die.” Rook looked up from the paper and handed it over. “Someone really doesn’t like us together.”

Elewyen shivered, and Rook wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Rook may have thought that he wouldn’t make a good one—even I had doubted it—but he was proving with each passing day just how wrong everyone was to doubt him.

Laying my hand over the envelope, I felt for a spell or anything else to reveal who this fucker was, but nothing lingered. Whoever this was, they were extremely good at staying hidden. Walking toward the pub that had been nestled on this hill for many generations, I crumpled up the letter. No one threatened me. If they hurt anyone else I cared about, they would see just how dark I could become.

“Dis is what me tinks of yer threat,” I growled and tossed the ball into the bright flames. The paper crackled and blackened immediately before turning to ash. “Do either of ya wanna get out before dis gets worse?” I turned to face Rook and Elewyen. “‘Cause dis is no goin’ ta get better from here ‘til da threat be six feet in da ground.”

Rook’s brow lifted, and I could feel his annoyance before he spoke. “I told you, I’m in for the long haul, and no asshole will change my mind.” Rook crossed his arms.

My gaze fell on Elewyen, who looked down at Caitlin and then back to me. “Dis be da same as dose dat burned da villages?”

“Aye, I be pretty certain it is,” I said.

“Den I be goin’ nowhere but wit ya. Killin’ innocent babes and girls ta send a message be evil. I hunt dose dat do dis kind of cruelty. I’ma no’ gonna be stoppin’ now.”

“I’ma needin’ ta take her body to her home. I cannie leave her lyin’ dere like dat. It be wrong an’ disrespectful,” I said.