Torment (Craving 2)

“What has that to do with…”

He put up his hand. “Listen to me, lass, ‘t’isn’t a simple thing. Loli is jealous. She saw yer glow and knew at once ye are a witch.”

“And that is a problem…why?”

“Witches here in Trinity have one of the three main counties. The witches keep to themselves and are nae a large band, but a powerful one. Their county is called The Land of Draoidheil. The Elfin…which is Loli’s county, are suspicious of the Draoidheil Witches. They have never liked one another. They have a Treaty, but ‘tis forever being shaken by some incident or other. The Elfin fortify their borders, but are forever concerned the witches will attack. That is because there are two major parties in Elfin. One wants war with the Draoidheil and the other doesna. Thus, the Treaty, which declares none of them may enter Elfin territory, is now, because of ye, in jeopardy.”

“But…I’m not Draoidheil. I’m not from Trinity,” I said, really flabbergasted.

“Aye, but there is the rub. How do we prove it, especially with Loli claiming that ye are Draoidheil?”

“What did you tell them?”

“That ye coom from m’own world, that ye are m’mate, but Loli says she saw the sparkle around ye and that ye are Draoidheil.”

“The sparkle?” I asked. “What does that mean?”

“She ‘t’isn’t lying about that. Ye have something very different. Love, ye do have a glow, but ‘tis something of a soft white light, very different than the silver sparkle of the witches of Draoidheil.”

“Are you in trouble, Devin?” I was seriously worried now.

“Nae…we have been friends…her family and I are friends. Tomin, her father, rules the council and is a fair and just Elfin. Loli means mischief, but I’ll sort it out once I prove ye dinnae coom from Trinity, but for now…I have to keep ye safe and ye best not visit me here.”

My heart sank. “Oh…I see. Apparently Loli has found a way to keep us apart.” I was jealous. Damned green-eyed jealous and frustrated by this new development.

“Aye, just until I can make them see she is in the wrong of it,” he said.

“How long will that take?”

“I am nae sure. Bobbie, they are suspicious of ye, as they are of all witches. All I can do is tell them ye mean to find a spell to take me to our own realm.”

“That doesn’t offer proof,” I said, more to myself.

“Nae, but I spoke the truth and I believe Tomin believed me. He knows I was working on finding a way home. The problem will be with the faction that hates the Draoidheil Witches.” Devin sighed heavily. “Tomin says, though he believes me, ye may not enter Trinity ‘til he gets it settled with the council.”

“Then I better hurry and find a way to free you,” I said softly.

“Aye, ye better do that and soon, m’bonnie, bonnie lass, or I shall go mad,” he answered with feeling. “Look, I have an idea and am meeting with Loli’s brother, father, and the lad who wishes to court her. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Right, okay,” I said, suddenly feeling like I was carrying the weight of the world. I watched him walk away. He turned and threw me a kiss and my heart ached. I had, in fact, intended to go to him late in the day and spend the evening. That hope was dashed.

I realized, in that moment, that he was the one bright, shiny thing in my life. My failure to free him loomed ominous over my head. At least, when I went to Trinity, we were able to be together…now, we didn’t even have that.

Well, I was going to have to work harder to free him, but how? And then like a bolt of lightning shooting threw me, I knew.

All I had to do was get all the notebooks to Beyland. That was all I had to do!

~ Sixteen ~

I WAITED FOR THE COVER of darkness before I walked up to the barrier that kept me from Devin. I knew what I had to do. Beyland would show me how to release Devin when I got him the rest of the notebooks. What was the point in stalling him? None that I could see. I knew we had agreed to feed him the notebooks in small dosages, but my gut told me to get those notebooks to him immediately. I had to free Devin!

Something was off.

I felt it as soon as I stood

in front of the invisible divide and gazed through the dark into the jungle on the other side.

I had not seen Devin in a few hours, and I couldn’t shake the ‘feeling’ that something was wrong. I wasn’t sure what, but my instincts were on high alert. I had to be ready for almost anything, as when I get to feeling like this, it usually spells trouble.