The Skye Trilogy: Isle of Skye, Isle of Night, and Isle of Dawn. * Bonus: Scrumptious Skye Confections Cookbook* (66 page)

“What do you want Sabine?” I asked. “Your army is dead.”

“I want you,” she said. “If you don’t agree to come with me then I will snap her neck.”

“Look I don’t know what you’ve heard but I don’t play for the girl's team.” I said. “I’m flattered, really, and I’m totally down with equal rights for all but…”

Sabine clutched my grandmother’s neck tighter. “You think you’re so amusing. All I have heard since I came back to this God forsaken island is how Willa is so clever and funny.”

“I was voted class clown my senior year of high school.”  I said. “I have the yearbook back at my house if you want proof.”

“I cannot wait to see the shell of a person you become when we strip you of your powers.” Sabine sneered. “We’ll see how many humorous you are then.”

“I’ll have you know I was pretty entertaining before I even knew I had any powers.” I replied. “Now release my grandmother before I burn your skinny ass and fake weave to smithereens you fucking douchebag.”

Sabine’s eyes went wide at my insult. “Someone ought to wash your mouth out with soap.”

“My mother did do that one time with Lava soap and guess what?” I asked. “It only made it worse.”

Sabine shifted slightly and pulled on Winifred’s neck even tighter. I knew that mouthing off to her wasn’t the smartest idea, but the longer I stood there the angrier I became. I could see my grandmother was weak from the magical battle she had engaged with Sabine. I also saw that the pallor of her face was getting whiter and whiter.

My eyes followed her every move. I knew she was going to snap her neck no matter what I did. I tried to think of the way to get my grandmother out of harm’s way, but I couldn’t. Even if I could catch Sabine off guard, she was still fast enough to kill Winifred, and there was no way of knowing what my freaky fire would do to my grandmother.

“Let her go Sabine.” Mathias said

I turned around in surprise. How dare he? I told him to stay put.

“Mathias, you can’t save either one.” Sabine said. “I have all the cards in my hand.”

“I’ve never been much of a card player.” Mathias replied. “Let her go.”

Sabine giggled. I was sickened by her display. I felt myself grow even more infuriated when she continued to laugh. I could feel a massive amount of anger and contempt well up inside of me. Instead of flinging my fire at her, I flung my hatred. I saw her stumble and release my grandmother. Mathias sprinted past me and grabbed a very weak Winifred. When he stopped we both had the same bewildered expression.

“Get her out of here now, Mathias.” I said through my teeth but still he looked indecisive

“No. Save Willa, Mathias,” my grandmother croaked

Sabine rolled her eyes. “Good Lord, what a bunch of saps.”

I was getting angry by Mathias’s reluctance to leave. Didn’t he see I could take care of myself? I thought

That was until Sabine flew at me and grabbed my neck. When she tried to turn it, I saw stars dancing before my eyes. Suddenly she was being ripped off of me. Mathias reached into her chest and tore her heart out. He grabbed her head and pulled it off before throwing it to the side.

When our eyes met, I gave him a tearful smile. The battle was over, maybe not the whole war but I’m sure by killing Sabine we had made a chink in the Fae Lords armor. When I heard my grandmother gasp, I rushed over to her side.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What hurts?”

She shook her head and stared at Mathias in horror. At first I was confused but then I noticed why she was in such shock. Mathias’s eyes were glowing red. He had let down his guard and shown Winifred what he was.

“Gran, it’s not what you think.” I started to say

“Mathias?” she asked. “Your eyes are red.”

Mathias shut his offending eyes, and I could visibly see he shoulders sag. I knew he was ashamed. He had tried for so long to keep his true nature under wraps but tonight he had failed.

“It’s not what you think.” I repeated, but she wasn’t listening to me. She rose to her feet shakily and walked over to him. “Please, let him explain.”

“Look at me.” she ordered Mathias. When he finally opened his eyes they were a rich, whiskey color that I loved so much. My relief was short lived though. Winifred wasn’t going to let this go.

“What are you Mathias?” she asked softly

Several Guardians joined us in the street. They all stayed back. I cursed to myself when I realized that they must have seen everything on the security cameras.

“Mathias?” Winifred asked again

“I don’t know.” he finally answered. Winifred stepped away from him and looked at Robert. He barely spared me a glance when he walked by me. He stopped in front of Mathias and flicked his wrist. Suddenly about twenty more Guardians joined him. I saw him hesitate before he slapped silver chains around his wrists, and that’s when I lost it.

“What are you doing?” I yelled. “This is Mathias. He’s not a criminal.”

“Willa…” my grandmother started to say as she took my arm. I pulled out of her grasp.

“This is insane.” I shouted. “Release him at once.”

“Willa, you need to calm down.” Winifred said

“Fuck off. Now let him go!”  I screamed

“Willa!” she said in shock but I was beyond any reasoning. My mate was being chained, and I wanted blood.

Willa, you need to calm down. If they were going to hurt me they would have killed me already

This is crazy. I won’t let this happen

Please, you’ll only make this worse

“Worse?” I shouted. “How can this get any worse?”

Robert flew at me and grabbed my arms. I felt my fire tingle on my fingertips but pushed it down when Mathias yelled my name in my head.

“Willa. I know you’re mad right now but listen to me. Mathias is going to be detained and questioned. That’s it. We are not going to hurt him.”

“Let him go Robert before I kill all of you.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” my grandmother shouted. “You saw his eyes. We need to find out more about what Mathias is and what he has kept from us.”

“You don’t need to chain him like some kind of fucking animal.”

“Willa Cecilia.” Winifred admonished. “You will leave at once. This is ridiculous.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” I sneered. “I’m not leaving Mathias.”

All of a sudden I felt a trickle of magic come over me. I turned around in shock when I spied my mother standing behind me.

“Stop,” I said weakly. “I have to help Mathias.”

“Willa, you have been through a lot this evening. You need to rest and let your body replenish its magic.”

“Don’t tell me what I need.” I said softly. “The only thing I need...Is…”

Those were last words I could force out of my mouth before I slumped to the ground and let sleep take over my body.

Chapter Eighteen

I struggled against the darkness that was pressing down on me. I tried to break through, but my whole body felt paralyzed. Sometimes I would almost wake and hear voices around me. I had a vague recollection of waking and screaming Mathias’s name but then I was being sucked back into oblivion of my forced sleep. Finally, I felt my mind and body connect at the same time. I cracked opened my eyes and assessed my surroundings.

I was lying in a hospital bed with my arms were strapped down. Riah and Julia were sitting at a table across from me playing cards. I sat up as best as I could, but the restraints made it difficult. I yelled out in frustration drawing their attention.

“Willa?” Julia asked cautiously. “Willa, it's ok, you’re in the hospital.”

“Get these fucking restraints off of me right now.” I said through gritted teeth

“Well, it seems like she is back to normal.” Riah muttered before leaning over to release me. He paused for a second and looked at me.

“What?” I asked. “Get me out of here now Riah.”

“I’m not sure if I should Willa.” he said uncertain

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I wasn’t some mental patient that was going to hurt myself. I had to get out of here. I had to see Mathias. When the door to my room opened, I stiffened slightly when I saw it was Oliver and my parents. I was so mad at my mother right now I couldn’t even look her in the eyes.

“Oliver, would you please tell Riah I’m not suicidal.” I said

Oliver cleared his throat before speaking. “Willa, how do you feel?”

“How do I feel?” I repeated incredulously. “I feel pretty pissed off right now. Not only was I put under a spell by my own mother but I woke up to being restrained to a goddamn hospital bed.”

“You became somewhat violent, so we felt it was best for your protection as well ours.” Oliver answered

“If you don’t untie me, I am going to become even more violent than you can imagine.”

My father sighed and walked over to my bedside. “This is ridiculous.”

He undid the restraints, and I threw back the covers.

“Willa…” my mom started to say but stopped when I glared at her. I was not getting into this right now. I had more important things to focus on at the moment.

“I want everyone to leave, except my father.” I said. I walked over to the window and tried to ignore the silence that had come over the room.  I heard my dad try to comfort my mother, but I blocked out his words. Finally, I turned around and faced him.

“Where is Mathias?” I asked

“Mathias is being held in a cell.” he answered

“Why?” I asked

“Willa, Mathias is fine. No one is treating him as a criminal or an enemy. All we want are answers. We just want to figure out who and what he is.”

“He’s the head Guardian on the Isle of Skye.” I said

“Did you know he was the Rau?” my father asked softly

“Mathias is not the Rau.” I replied. “This is crazy. I need to see him.”

“There is going to be an informal hearing in a few hours…”

“There’s going to be an informal hearing?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “I thought he wasn’t considered a criminal?”

“Winifred wants to have a meeting to ask him questions.”

“So she’s holding a meeting in front of everyone?” I asked in disgust. “Why doesn’t she meet with him privately? This is ridiculous.”

“We just want answers.” Cormac said

“Well, I have to go get dressed.” I said. “I’m assuming it’s at the Guardian offices?”

“Willa, I’m not sure that is a good idea. You’re highly volatile right now. Mathias doesn’t need you to come in to cause any more chaos.”

I was quiet for a minute. I understood where my dad was coming from, but he didn’t seem to grasp how I was feeling.

“I’m not going to cause any disruptions. I just need to see him.” I said again, almost in desperation. “What would you do if this were Mom?”

My father sighed and drew me in for a hug. I responded stiffly for the first time in my life. I didn’t want nor need any affection or comfort. I wanted to see Mathias and make sure he was all right.

“We need to talk about what happened with you as well,” he said when he released me. “What you did Willa was astounding.”

I had no desire to go over my actions. I knew that what I had done was pretty powerful but none of that even mattered to me.

“I’ll see you in a few hours. “ I said before teleporting to my house. I stripped off the hospital nightgown and went right into to the shower. I stood underneath the pounding sprays and picked up the soap Mathias used. When the spicy scent hit me, I started to cry. I knew I was teetering on the edge of sanity.

You can’t perform that much magic without it leaving some kind of mark. I felt both drained and anxious all at the same time. I could still feel my fire lurking under the surface, as well as the air gently pulsating around me. I called upon the earth to ground me. I needed the calming effects that it would bring me.

After a few minutes, I finally stopped crying and felt a wave of peace settle over me. I knew marching into this hearing with my guns blazing would be of no help to Mathias.

I threw on some clothes and headed upstairs. Cupcake greeted me exuberantly as usual, but Polly sat on a stool by the counter quiet.

“Hi.” I said to her as I sat down next to her at the counter

“Hi.” she returned. “So is it safe to talk to you?”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” I asked. “Are you afraid of me as well Polly?”