Page 166 of A Courage of the Chosen

“Grandpa told me my father was Dorche. He and Granny killed him before he could get back to Elfayne and tell Raghnall where they were hiding. This is why the Druids said I feared what I am, and they’re right. I fear this power, what it can do, and what it might mean for me one day.”

“So how does that help Rachel?” Brodie speculates, breezing right past the fact I’m part Dorche.

“Last time we used my light, but it fights that magic because it knows I can destroy it. But if we used the shadow side of my powers to merge with hers . . .”

“You could somehow absorb it?” He finishes the sentence for me.

“That’s my thinking. I’ve been called The Chosen, and told that balance must be restored. What if I’m the key to it? This has to be why I was born with both. So that I can undo what Raghnall set in motion all those years ago.”

Brodie stares me down, then his eyes find Callahan. “What do you think?”

Cal sighs, running a hand through his stubble. “Elsie’s reasoning is solid. I don’t want to risk either of them like this, but there’s nothing left for us to try. The choice belongs to Elsie. And to you.”

A look passes between the two men that I can only begin to understand, so much on the line for each of them.

Tension boils around us and the scowl on Brodie’s face deepens while Callahan spreads his feet a little wider.

Brodie eventually breaks the quiet. “Will it hurt either of you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve barely touched the magic since I discovered it. Callahan didn’t even know until just before we completed the Anamara ritual.”

Something like hurt flashes across his face. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

I flinch at the question, both from the soft way Brodie asks it, and the betrayal in his features. I was so mad at everyone for keeping secrets from me, and have done the same thing. The irony of it all is a firm slap in the face, and it gives me a different perspective on why my family did what they did.

“I was scared. And that might not seem like much of an excuse to you. But I’ve already lost so much, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you all as well when you found out and turned on me, or worse. So I kept my mouth shut until I had no choice.”

Brodie considers my reply, dark brows pinched low, jaw working back and forth. He moves faster than Callahan can stop him, and for a single second, I think he’s going to turn all his formidable strength on me.

Instead, he suffocates me in one of his bear-hugs. “I told you when you first came to Morven that no matter what demons you were fighting, I’d have your back. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough when I said that, Elsie. I meant all of your demons.”

I bury my head into his chest and fold my arms around his waist.

“You could never lose us. You know that, right?” he says resting his cheek on the top of my head.

“I’m beginning to see that.”

“Callahan isn’t the only one who chose you,” Brodie whispers, only for me.

There’s a brick lodged in my throat, and I squeeze my eyes shut tightly. “I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you. But the next time you keep something from us, I’m kicking your arse from here to Caithness, got it?”

I scoff. “You can try.”

We let each other go to find Callahan hovering a few feet away.

“Think it’ll work?” Brodie asks the both of us.

“It’s our last shot,” I offer.

“Then let’s do it. What else do we have left to lose?”

Everything, says the look on Callahan’s face.

◆◆◆

We send word for Reyne and Eòghann after that, Brodie staying with Cal and I as we waited for them to arrive.