The Skye Trilogy: Isle of Skye, Isle of Night, and Isle of Dawn. * Bonus: Scrumptious Skye Confections Cookbook* (105 page)

“I’ll get to him in a minute,” he said

“Oh great,” I muttered

“The whole family was there for the conversion but as Veronica drained Rhoswen they knew something was wrong. Patcoena and
Summer could see her begin to embrace the darkness and acted. Summer chose to give Veronica her light like Patcoena did with me.”

“Did it work?” I asked

“Yes,” he said. “But now Summer is without her sight of the future.”

“That’s not good,” I said sadly. “Poor Summer, I can’t imagine how empty she must feel.”

“She’s ok with it from what I gathered,” Mathias replied. “She feels that what she did far outweighed the consequences of her losing her abilities.”

“That is so selfless,” I said absently

“Rhoswen woke up a few days later and she is indeed a Guardian of the Solas. She has also held on to some of her healing powers. She has several weeks of adjustment to overcome, but I hear she is doing splendidly.”

“Good,” I said. “What about my father, Mathias?”

“Your father was a whole different story,” he said. “No one wanted anything to do with turning him. It got to the point where Cormac threatened to go to London and find a random Rau to drain him.”

“Of course he did,” I said. “Who did it?”

“Finally after a few days one person did step forward but someone else interceded. He figured that the only person you would want to do it if it were deemed necessary was him.”

“Riah,” I said tearfully

“Yes, Riah turned your father.” Mathias said

“What happened?” I asked

“Cormac went too willingly like Rhoswen,” he sighed. “Patcoena saw this of course and stepped in to give whatever light that he had but it wasn’t a lot.”

“Mathias, tell me my father is a Guardian,” I pleaded as I started rocking back and forth. Mathias grabbed my hand and leaned into me.

“Willa, I’m so sorry Luv, but your father is more Rau than anything else,” he whispered in my ear and my world promptly fell apart.

Chapter Sixteen

I sat on the couch unresponsive. I couldn’t even speak. The thought that my father was now the Rau was a completely unrealistic thought in my mind. I couldn’t imagine him like that nor did I truly believe it just yet. My father was not an evil soulless creature of the night. I refused to believe that possibility.

“Willa,” Mathias said gently. “He’s not fully Rau. The Fae can never be…”

“Turned one hundred percent into the Rau,” I finished as my head shot up suddenly

“How did you know?” Mathias asked

“Machall mentioned it when he told us about Beatrice,” I answered. “So there’s hope, right? I mean there’s still a part of him lurking inside. He just needs some time to acclimate maybe.”

Mathias sighed and looked at me before answering. “Unfortunately, we do not know that at the moment. He has displayed characteristics of being particularly bloodthirsty.”

“Wait,” I said. “Where is he? If he’s on the island then he can’t be the Rau.”

“He was repelled almost instantly,” Mathias said

“Where is he?” I asked after Mathias’s words finally sank in my brain which had started to pound furiously

“He’s in an underground cell on our island,” he answered carefully

“What underground cell?” I asked dumbfounded

“I built one a long time ago in case a situation called for one,” he answered. “The enchantments on my island keep the Rau out but they do not kill them in twenty four hours unlike those that are around the Isle of Skye.”

“You built one for your father didn’t you?” I asked. “You wanted a place to bring him so you could torture him before you killed him.”

“Yes,” he answered. “I always knew I would kill my brother immediately but I wanted my father to suffer.”

“You put my dad in a cell that you built for your sick, despicable father?” I asked

“It was the only option…”

“Don’t tell me there were no other options,” I finally yelled after I jumped off the couch. “There were plenty of other options available but instead of believing in me you all took it upon yourself to make the most heinous decision imaginable.”

“Willa,” Mathias said as he stood and reached for me

“Don’t touch me,” I yelled. “Don’t fucking touch me right now. Don’t you get it? My father is now the very being that I was born to kill. Instead of giving me time to recover and just catching my breath everyone went ahead with this idea without even consulting me or thinking about the ramifications of their actions.”

“I agree,” he said

“You agree?” I asked mockingly. “If you agree with me Mathias than why didn’t you put a stop to this?”

“Winifred had already made up her mind…”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” I said. “If you really wanted this not to happen then you could’ve put a stop to this whole thing. Granny Winnie respects you and all you had to do was to tell her to hold off for a few days, but you didn’t. You didn’t fight for me, and you certainly didn’t fight for my father’s life.”

“Excuse me?” he asked in a low voice

“Excuse you?” I repeated. “No, fuck you.”

“Goddammit,” I screamed a few seconds later. The air started to whip inside the cabin, and I stared at Mathias angrily before running out the door.

I ran as fast as I could. I ran through the meadow and into the dense woods. I ignored the pain in my legs and chest. I had to get away. I had to be by myself. My father was a vampire. My father was more Rau than a Guardian. My father was more darkness than light. My father would probably try to kill me if he smelled my scent.

I stopped after I scrambled up a high ridge, and then the ground dropped off hundreds of feet. I was standing on a cliff, and the Rocky Mountains were spread out before me in majestic splendor but I didn’t see them. Images flashed through my mind of my father. Moving pictures that flashed from the time I was little until just recently.

I sank down on the ground and leaned my back against a large boulder. I was vaguely aware that this whole scene was similar to my personal hell on the mountain top in the Air realm. I wasn’t afraid though. I was way too devastated to fearful. I felt like someone ripped my heart out and was tearing it apart.

My handsome amazing father was a vampire. The first man I had ever loved, the first man I had ever danced with, the man who gave me life, had willingly sacrificed himself so that my mother and I would be safe. I knew what his reasons were. I didn’t have to have those explained to me. I knew my father better than almost anyone.

I knew that in his mind he did it to ensure that I would never have to use my powers that had made me crazy. He didn’t want me to fight a war. He wanted me and my mother to be safe on the island for the rest of our lives without worrying about any invasion of the Rau or the Fae. He did what he had always done my entire life. He protected me first without any regard to his own wellbeing.

How could I possibly be mad at him? I thought to myself. I would’ve done the same thing for either of them in a heartbeat. I knew going into this there would be some casualties of war. I had prayed for everyone’s safety but at the end of the day I was fully aware of what might happen if I set this plan in motion when I stepped through the portal to Fairlia.

I realized that some would say Fonn and Sabine brought the war to us but regardless I still would’ve turned myself into this massive weapon. It was the best thing to do because this whole thing affected thousands of people and if I had to do it again I would without hesitation. I never in a million years though could’ve imagined that my father or even Rhoswen would have to turn into a vampire. It wasn’t so much the vampire part that upset me but how it all came about.

I wished that my grandmother would’ve had more faith and confidence in me. I know I was a bloody, insane asylum mess when she saw me, but she could've waited at least a few weeks before making such a momentous decision. There were many other aspects about this that was so wrong that I had a hard time keeping the list in my head at the moment.

I was having difficulty concentrating on anything since all I could think of were memories of my dad. I remembered a game we used to play when I was little. He would hide little trinkets all over the house and mark them with numbers. I would have to use a map to figure out the clues and only when I had all of them could I get my treasure.

It was silly and fun but sitting here now I realized how much time and effort he must have put into those treasure hunts. We hadn’t reminisced about that game for years. I could see him helping me put bait on a line and teaching me to throw my rod out just right. I never was interested in fishing. It had been just an excuse to spend time with my dad.

I smiled as tears rolled down my face when I thought of him teaching me how to drive a stick shift. I was horrible at it because the whole concept seemed so foreign and ancient. He kept pushing me to learn how to do it properly. It’s like riding a bike, he said, once you know how to do it, you’ll never forget. He was right of course, but I was very relieved when my first car they had bought me had been an automatic.

His face started to blur in my brain, and all I could see was him with red eyes. It was such a horrific picture in my head. The fact that my father was now a vampire was just wrong.

Why? I asked to the heavens. Why him? I started shouting. The air whipped around me, and the tree roots began to make their way over to me. I felt their comforting embrace as they wrapped around my body, and I held on to them with a death grip.

A small fire danced in front of me as a thundercloud began to form off to the west. I hadn’t reached out to the elements. They had come to me in my time of need, and I could feel their strength surround my body.

I don’t know how long I sat there but when I thought about Mathias I sighed with regret. I didn’t blame him. I had lashed out at him, and he didn’t deserve that from me. He had done nothing except try and give everything of himself to me, and I had pushed him away like a piece of trash. I remembered what the ghost of my great grandfather said. This is what I lost. I lost a piece of my father. How big that piece was I didn’t know quite yet but I knew he might never be the same. I needed Mathias now more than ever. I needed him to keep me grounded and stable because I was always one step away from losing it completely.

Most of all, I just wanted to be with him because I loved him.

I stood up and tried to release the elements, but they wouldn’t leave me. I tried again and felt a small fission of fear. I knew that they thought I needed them, but I couldn’t handle them for this long. I begged for them to go, but they stubbornly stayed put.

That’s when I started to feel anger. They were angry on my behalf, and they wanted me to release them as violently as possible. I didn’t want hurt anyone, especially Mathias, but I had to figure out a way before they overtook my mind again.

I decided to teleport and was almost happy when I did it with no problems. I stopped in the meadow and hoped that was enough of magical release, but they were still under my skin. When I started scratching myself, I knew I had to get to Mathias quickly.

I found him on the back deck and when I tried to talk he put up his hand for me to be quiet. I took a deep breath to calm myself. I wanted to give him the courtesy of listening to what he had to say, but I was in the middle of a mini crisis right now.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry Willa, you’re right I could've fought Winifred on this more…”

“No,” I said. “I’m sorry for saying that to you. Look, I need you to…”

“No, please,” he said as I groaned inwardly. The creepy crawly feeling was back I wanted to scream

“I’m not sure if I could’ve stopped this or even delayed it, but I could've tried harder for your sake. I knew only too well what this might do to you, but I was so wrapped up in protecting you right at that moment. My only focus had been on you and how I could help make you better. I let something happen that should never have taken place without your input, and I apologize for that.”

“I accept your apology,” I said. “Look I’m having a little problem here…”

“I know you are, and I’m here if you let me help you,” he replied. “I will do anything I can to make things right again.”

“I’m glad you said that because I’m about to explode.”

“What?” he said confused